Every business has peaks and troughs of demand, but what few entrepreneurs realize is that the troughs are entirely optional. If your business lurches from feast to famine, or every year business drops off around the holidays, take heed of these 5 easy marketing strategies to swing into action.

1. Run a big referral campaign for a set period of time to encourage clients to bring in new friends. I did this for a private gynecologist client during the summer months when business typically slowed to almost a drizzle because most of his clients were moms busy taking care of kids on summer break. We made the campaign fun and threw in some really good incentives to come in and refer a friend, with the end result being his normal slow period became one of his busiest.
2. Go back to all your unconverted prospects and offer them a special incentive to become a client. Entice them with an irresistible offer by way of a direct-mail campaign (very few businesses bother to do this yet it’s a big source of low hanging fruit).
3. Create an email campaign to all your existing clients with a special offer on an existing service, or introducing a new service for them to try out (aka an upsell).
4. If your business is seasonal, then don’t be afraid to create early bird specials with amazing offers to stimulate demand, bring in cash and get your customers excited for the upcoming season.
5. Hold a client appreciation event, focus group, or educational workshop to re-engage your clients, add value and provide an opportunity to educate them about some of the different ways you can help them.