A few years ago, we published our Back to School, Back to Business blog post providing you with 10 ideas to jumpstart your fall marketing. This was such a popular post–not just for you, our awesome readers–but it was also something we enjoyed coming back to, year after year, when looking for some fall marketing ideas. Summers tend to be slower in the business world. Kids are off from school. People are on vacation. And the world just takes a collective break. But as August comes to a close, and kids have started returning to school, entrepreneurs and business owners all seem to be itching to get back into the swing of BUSINESS. So, this year, we figured why stop at 10? We are proud to present…

 

11 more fall marketing ideas!

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1. Optimize a page on your website

If you are unfamiliar with optimizing a website for organic search, start small with the goal to optimize one page on your website.

 

Identify a key phrase that you want to optimize the page for.

 

Choose a phrase that has high search volume, and low competition (TIP: Use the Keywords Everywhere Chrome and Firefox plugin).

 

Include that key phrase in your page title, meta description, headlines or subheads, page content, image alt tags, and image file names.

 

Use a tool, like Yoast SEO for WordPress to help guide you in the right direction.

 

2. Create a Lead Magnet

 

You are an expert in something relating to your business. Why not share that expertise?

 

Your expertise will help build that Know, Like, and Trust factor with potential customers.

 

Creating content that your viewers can download and learn from or implement immediately can help set you up as their go-to expert.

 

You will create happy customers and brand love (and maybe build your list while you’re at it–see #11!).

 

3. Get involved in the community

 

Simply put, Pay it Forward.

 

Networking is a great way to get your name out there, but it’s not the only way.

 

Getting involved in the community, with organizations you believe in and care about, can be as useful, if not more gratifying, than networking.

 

Choose an organization and give back. You’d be surprised how much it may, in turn, help your business.

 

4. Use a new social platform

 

If you’ve ever had a discussion with us about social media, you’ll know we strongly advocate for getting good at the right platform before trying to add more platforms to your repertoire.

 

This tip assumes you’ve been nurturing and perfecting that one platform for a while now, and are ready to try a new one.

 

If you’ve been successful at Instagram, for instance, maybe it’s time to give Pinterest a try (or any other platform that (a) you aren’t on already, and (b) is a good fit for your target market.

 

I can’t stress that last part enough, though.

 

Choose a social platform where your customers or target market already are.

 

5. Create a marketing plan for your fourth quarter 

 

If you don’t set goals, you’ll never achieve them!

 

That’s why marketing plans are so darn useful.

 

Write down what you plan to accomplish by year’s end, then lay out a set of action items that will take you there.

 

Simply writing down your goals may be the push you need to get you past the wishing stage and into the doing stage!

 

6. Run a Facebook Ad Campaign

 

Have you yet to dabble in Facebook ads?

 

Or perhaps you gave them a try, but just for ‘fun’?

 

Whichever category you fall into, a great strategy for fall marketing would be adding Facebook ads to your marketing plan and carve out some room in the budget for them.

 

You don’t need a HUGE budget for Facebook ads, but it has become a pay-to-play world.

 

Your Facebook business page may or may not be getting good organic results, but either way, you can increase your reach and awareness with a good Facebook ad campaign.

 

7. Ask your favorite customers/clients for referrals

 

Take this opportunity to jot down a list of the customers or clients you currently have that represent your ideal clients.

 

From that list, determine who you can reach out to, remind them why you love working with them, and ask that they remember how important referrals are to your business.

 

At the very least, you will remind your current clients how amazing they are, and at the most, you will end up with a few qualified referrals and potential new business!

 

8. Audit your website

 

When was the last time you really looked at your website?

 

Clicked through all the pages and made sure the links all worked?

 

Checked your site out on all the web browsers, on a tablet, and on a smartphone?

 

Read through all the content to make sure it’s up-to-date?

 

Made sure your hours, address, and phone number were correct?

 

Updated the information about your services?

 

Added to your portfolio (we fall behind on this one a lot!)?

 

Added a case study?

 

Updated your staff bios?

 

Or even just taken a look at your site with fresh eyes to see if it still measures up against your competition?

 

Now is a great time to do that audit, and create a plan to update your website.

 

Updates to your website also trigger Google to re-index your site, which is a plus for your SEO!

 

So while you may be saying to yourself, “Auditing my website isn’t really a marketing strategy,” you would be wrong!

 

9. Repost or Repurpose or Refresh an old (but favorite) blog post

 

Just like what I’m doing now! I took an old blog post and found a way that I could improve on it by creating a new expanded post.

 

This may also mean taking an old post and using it in some other way:

 

Create a video for YouTube.

 

Do a Facebook live about it.

 

Use it as the backbone to a lead magnet.

 

Create a SlideShare from it.

 

Make an infographic out of it.

 

Or, maybe you have an old post that needs to be updated.

 

Keeping your older posts relevant is just as useful.

 

For instance, if I had written a post about website hosts five years ago, my recommendations about the best hosts may have changed with the times, and there may be new ones that I’d want to add.

 

10. Sponsor an event 

 

A great way to get some name recognition locally is to sponsor an event in your community!

 

We sponsor several different events in the fall: Rock The Nest, the Mid-Hudson Marketplace, and The Arc of Ulster-Greene Holiday Auction.

 

Sponsorships come in all different shapes and sizes.

 

Don’t run away screaming from this because you think a sponsorship is only available to businesses with thousands upon thousands of dollars to spend.

 

Look for a sponsorship that suits you.

 

From larger corporate sponsorships to smaller item specific sponsorships, and even in-kind sponsorships, there’s absolutely opportunities for any business.

 

11. Build your email list 

 

Have you ever heard it takes 7 (or 10, or 13) touches to convert a lead?

 

What if a number of those touches could be automated through email?

 

Most email marketing services allow you to create automated email flows once a subscriber is added to a list!

 

Finding a way to build an email list is a great first step to adding leads to your funnel.

 

Sign people up for your list at an event.

 

Add a signup form on your website.

 

Add a signup link to your social sites.

 

Send out lead magnets to attract leads and get them on your list.

 

Building your email list is a great first step towards creating new leads and new business!

 

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For more fall marketing ideas, check out our previous post: 10 Ideas to Jumpstart your Fall Marketing

 

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