It’s no secret that the summer months can be a slow time for sales. Fans are off on vacation or saving up for trips, and bills may be higher. With this in mind, it’s important to be proactive about attracting customers during the summer slump. Instead of throwing your hands up in defeat, consider more-for-less incentives, clever use of old content and promotional strategies. By turning up the heat on your sales, you can attract more customers and increase your bottom line. Read on for creative ways to keep your sales hot all summer long.
Limited-Time Sales
Take advantage of the slow summer months to promote older content in new ways.
One easy way to keep your sales going through the end of summer is to offer 24-hour or 48-hour sales. By promoting these short-term sales and promotions on a regular basis, you can keep interest high while still avoiding burning out your customers with overly frequent sales messages. This strategy also creates a sense of urgency and encourages customers to take action quickly, which can lead to more sales. You can target different customer segments with different sales and promotions within that same time frame. That way, you’ll get the most out of your sales efforts and ensure everyone gets the best deals.
Offer Discounts on Older Content
Take advantage of the slow summer months to promote older content in new ways. Offering content that is at least six to 12 months old with a deep discount or big promo ensures newer content remains high-value, while giving you a chance to expose fans, new and old, to content they may have missed before, or weren’t interested in at the higher price point. The “Christmas in July” concept is a great example of this. You can recycle holiday content and get double use out of it by offering discounts and promotions for fans to enjoy during the summer. A well-timed discount or promotion can be just the boost your sales need.
Custom Orders
Adding custom orders to your summer specials is an easy way to attract customers, increase sales and create easy-to-reuse content. Offer a discount on custom orders purchased within a specific time window. With this offer, you can also control the custom: You’ll say their name, give them a choice from a preselected outfit option for an extra cost, and they get a solo. This can be a great way to generate content that you can reuse later, as well as increase your sales.
Use Slowdowns to Work on Strategies
The summer months can be a great time to focus on getting creative with your promotional strategies. Take some time to go through your archived promotional content, such as teaser clips, photos and captions. Select the best items to create a “summer blowout” promotional package and get your fans interacting with your posts. You can also use this time to re-strategize your weekly wall post schedule to focus on sales, discounts and bundle offers. This will ensure that your fans get the most out of their interaction with you during summer.
Be Smart When Scheduling Chat Times
It’s important to be strategic about when you schedule your chat times. During the summer months, many of your fans may be taking a break from chatting online. To make the most of your time, analyze your metrics and focus your energy on the times when user interaction and activity is highest; this is the best time to generate sales. Also offer sales and discounts on sexting to engage with fans during these times. Send personalized messages to those who purchase your content and thank them for their support; it’s a great way to build relationships and show appreciation.
Maintain Your Posting Schedule
To keep fans engaged, keep up with your regular posting schedule, even as you announce promotional discounts where it fits best. This might look like panty sales on Monday, personality posts on Tuesday, custom/bundle discounts on Wednesdays, polls or games on Thursdays and content bundles on Fridays. This keeps your fans interested and continuously engaging with your content on a regular basis. Plus, offering a variety of discounts regularly helps to ensure that you are not burning out your fans with redundant promotions.
Don’t Rely Solely on Scheduled PPV
Relying solely on scheduled PPV is not the best move during the summer slump. Instead, consider using fan engagement opportunities to encourage sales. Reach out to fans and thank them for their loyalty by offering them a discounted bundle of solos or a 50% discount on any video they pick. This is a great way to show appreciation to your most loyal fans and encourage them to keep spending. Furthermore, you can use this as an opportunity to interact with them on a personal level, strengthening your fan relationships in the process.
The summer can be a slow time for most businesses, but it doesn’t have to be. With the right strategies, you can still draw in customers and generate sales. Using these strategies will allow you to make the most of the slow season by offering more for less. And while I have you, don’t forget to use the slower times to work on strategies and start to plan your end-of-year content!
Megan Stokes is co-founder of NMG Management and Fanwire, specializing in content distribution and management. As a veteran of the adult industry, she enjoys sharing the knowledge and data she has collected over time with those who seek her help.