Are You Ready To Spring Into Action?

Dear Reader, Spring Into Action

Spring officially arrived this weekend.

Around Gramercy Park, green specks of new plants started peeking through the dirt. (And, yes, there’s really dirt in New York City!)

Even better, a few brave flowers sent up colored buds, like tiny flags of spring. They let us know that, despite the past year, where COVID cast its dark shadow, Mother Nature was still alive.

While many non-retail US businesses follow a calendar year, companies elsewhere start their tax year on April 1st (and this isn’t a joke!)

With one last week of March to go, the first quarter of 2021 is coming to a close. So you have another chance to start again.

Remember “Do-Overs” from school yard games when you were younger?

According to the Merriam Webster Dictionary, it’s a real thing. It defines a do-over as:

“A new attempt or opportunity to do something after a previous attempt has been unsuccessful or unsatisfactory.”

Let’s be honest, after a year of COVID, we’re all fatigued.

Most notably from spending most of our waking hours in front of a screen, whether it’s your computer, your phone, your television or other device.

via GIPHY

So what can you do?
Put on your marketing pants since you continually have to make your products and services look new and attractive to your potential buyers to get them to purchase.

To help, use these 2 examples grounded in the 4Ps of Marketing, namely, product, price, place and promotion.

1. Daily Media Entities Offer Special Columns. These articles focus on special topics or select writers.

Why do media entities include this special content?
Because they can’t depend on news stories to attract attention every day. So they use these other offerings to add to their mix. For example, The New York Times is adding to its Game and Cooking sections.

2. Restaurants Offer Specials. This dish changes everyday or every week. It’s often based on seasonal products or special deals available from suppliers.

How do these specials help restaurants?
These dishes provide variety for patrons, especially those who visit frequently. In addition, they allow the restaurant to charge a premium for these selections. This adds profits to their sales.

Actionable Marketing Tips:
Use these 3 options to add variety to your organization’s work day.

Lunch and Learn. Adopt this pre-COVID activity to engage your team. Get executives to talk to your staff. Instead of a canned talk, let your team ask questions.
Interview suppliers. Use this opportunity to work better with your suppliers and distributors. Invite them to chat with your team and work together to brainstorm new ideas. Even better, add gamification.
Show and tell. Turn the tables on this grade school activity. Let your employees show off their family or pets. It’s a great way to get restless family members involved and adds socialization without interrupting people’s schedules.