How to adjust to summer changes as a DTC startup
Crucial tips to get the most out of the summer months
Hi all,
With summer around the corner, one of two things can happen:
The first: excitement! Holiday plans, the sun is shining, what is not to love. Oh, and if your product is extra popular in the summer, that is an added bonus.
The second: fear… The summer slowdown. The unexpected dip some companies might see in their sales cycle during the summer months.
While average consumer spend increases over summer, certain DTC brands often don’t consider behavioural changes in their customer base: people are online less, outside more, abroad more. So some brands might see a dip.
Now with larger brands they often have accounted for this dip, but for smaller startups where every month counts it kind of sucks.
How are you meant to go to the beach as a growth nerd with those dreaded numbers in the back of your mind?
I hated the summer months at Heights when I was Head of Growth, people don’t feel like new supplements when they are already enjoying a summer high. But with the right strategy we still managed to see some month-on-month growth during those months.
So let’s break down what is happening and how you can turn that summer slowdown into a summer spree.
Why do sales slow down in the summer?
For brands that typically see a slow down there are a few things happening:
People’s holiday plans impacting their consumption, e.g. I decrease my coffee subscription frequency for when I’m away
Those holidays also mean might be relaxing somewhere rather than a cheeky online shopping spree
People tend to increase their time outdoors leading to less time online
For parents potentially less time with the kids at home
Choose a summer spree or prepare
If you want to get sales back up you need to understand the above related to your product:
How has your product usage changed?
Let’s go with my coffee subscription. If you can get me hooked on homemade ice coffees and frappuccinos I’m going to still order. Espresso martini anybody? So pre-summer changing the language, highlighting which beans are good for it, or even seeing which upsell products / bundles would be suitable could be impactful.
Even if they aren’t online as much, an interesting relevant offer could be what hooks them back in. You can experiment with alternative seasonal messaging using the same creative to see what resonates more during that period, and then build creatives around it.
If you have the data you can also analyse which channels are more steady in the summer and focus in on them, same in terms of product type and target audience. That allows you to go all in on the right areas.
Finally, really focus in on your existing customers, they will be less elastic in demand in the summer than potential customers who put it off.
But if all you see is high CPAs despite it and you know people aren’t going to use your product in the summer that is also ok. It is better to set targets that account for seasonality than blindly the same percentage each month (appreciate this isn’t always easy with investors).
Instead you can use this valuable quiet time to prepare for the next quarter. This can be on building stronger foundations, e.g. internal projects that are necessary but you’ve been putting off.
For example, improving your email flows is invaluable, but usually gets less love than ads.
Next to that you can use that headspace to come up with creative campaigns for afterwards and take the time to prepare that properly. It also gives you a chance to spend more time researching and identifying additional opportunity areas to focus on.
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Recommendation
A shameless self-plug, but I wrote an article that talks about when to hustle around obstacles (i.e. summer spree) or to focus on building your growth foundations (i.e. prepare).
I look at more ways to remain productive and on an upward trajectory when you’re blocked by other obstacles like lack of development resources, lack of data etc.
Check it out here.
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I for one am quite excited for the summer, I’m excited to spend some time resetting with friends. No matter what strategy you take I hope you do take some time for a break and a reset, that will give you much needed energy to hit the ground running if you do expect a slowdown.
Daphne