Marketing Delmarva: Seasonal Marketing | Tips and Tools for Celebrating Autumn

Seasonal changes are a wonderful time to implement some new ideas and tools into your marketing plan. While many people are busy with back to school activities, re-adjusting family schedules and new challenges for sports and other events, the biggest shopping season of all lies just around the corner. Offering tips and suggestions to your customers and followers, whether you are in retail, restaurant business or advertising, provides opportunities to think outside the normal content and perhaps branch out into a new approach or promotional ideas.

Let's take a look at a few ways that almost any business can incorporate a festive approach to their outreach and marketing tasks. While several of these are meant to showcase specific types of retail or nonprofit organizations, my goal is to illustrate how widely such promotions can be used. Of course we address some ideas for your social media marketing, but to be honest quite a few of the suggestions listed here could also be used to bring some fresh content to your online channels. Once you have a few examples, I'm hoping you will feel inspired to go out and create your OWN seasonal celebrations which fit the type of industry you are in!

• Utilize themes which match the date. Leaves, shades of light orange, golden colors and rust would be an ideal palette for September, as the days are just beginning to transition into cooler weather. Go easy on the Jack 'O' Lanterns and Halloween-type images as that can be your next step to move into as October arrives. (Note to those decorating their establishments; don't ditch the lighter autumn colors of decor as those can take center stage AFTER Halloween when the focus is on Thanksgiving).

Ideas for shop owners and retail locations:

Plan a themed promotion or event in your store and have customers pull colorful paper leaves out of a basket for small prizes or discounts on certain items.
Host an afternoon tea or casual open house with cider, pumpkin cookies and a sneak peek at some special holiday items.
Create a list to give out featuring upcoming events that you will be holding later in the months leading up to Christmas or dates such as Small Business Saturday on November 25th.

• Print some images of your storefront or town or Main Street and hold a coloring contest. You can turn many photos into a coloring page at sites online, many of them which are free. Display the artwork in shop windows or string them on festive garlands draped from the ceiling. Offer stickers, small autumn-themed lollipops OR granola bars to your participants when they bring in their art and have customers vote for the top winners in a few categories to be drawn several weeks later.

• Tourism Marketing: If you are an area attraction or destination for visitors, decorate the walkway, entrance or front door with straw bales, cornstalks and mums for a pretty atmosphere. Add a couple of signs on wooden plaques or chalkboards in "Photo Spots" encouraging folks to stop and snap an extra picture. Don't forget to include signage which reminds guests to tag your page or site on social channels and to use your custom hashtag!

• Is your community suitable for a wagon or hayride? If you are in tourism then you know the value of engaging with visitors and offering them a look at your shops, down towns or local attractions. Look into organizing such a a feature which can delight guests of all ages while showcasing your local area.

• Nonprofit organizations can catch the fall fever as well. A food bank could post their individual needs on images of leaves rather than one large list. Share thoughts from your past events with a focus on gratitude and giving to others especially during the holidays.

• Animal shelters might feature their adoptable pets in harvest color hats or scarves, perhaps set up an outdoor photography area with pumpkins and straw bales for a unique picture-taking session. Play up the time of year as a way to depart from just average, everyday photographs and you just might capture some new views and followers with your presentation.

• Last but not least, don't overlook your social channels. Replace the standard cover photo with one from last fall or edit your logo into an autumn wreath or drop a PNG clip art of a scarecrow or pumpkin into the image. Small tweaks such as these provide a little departure from the standard, normal color schemes which are present all year long, and a few minutes to change out such graphics are a festive touch which brings attention.

Hold a contest on Instagram for photos of leaves, or storefronts decorated for the season.
Tweet or post an interesting fact on your Facebook page each day, such as holiday traditions, the history of candy corn, decorating ideas or recipes.
Create a custom hashtag if you don't already have one.

Are your wheels turning yet?? I know mine are! Check out some of these articles I came across online which discuss a variety of ways to get into the spirit of the upcoming holidays: