Marketing for Seasonal Businesses

For Chicagoland businesses that make most of their year in a few months and can’t afford to lose the season.

131%

more revenue

full season, against the first

1 in 3

first-season customers

came back and ordered again

64%

of package revenue

from the top two tiers, up from 49%

A Chicagoland fall porch display business, July to October 2026 against its first season. Read the case study

A short season punishes slow marketing

When most of your year happens in ten weeks, there’s no time to find out in October that the plan didn’t work. A slow start isn’t a slow month. It’s most of the year.

The default plan is also the expensive one: buy ads when the season opens, lead with the cheapest option, and start from zero again next year.

So we start somewhere else. What would a customer be worth to you if they came back next season?

How we market seasonal businesses

Lead with the version you want to sell. We build the store or site around your full package, with the add-ons as part of it instead of extras at checkout. Customers tend to pick what you show them first.
Bring last season’s customers back first. Before the season opens, we email the people who already bought from you. They know your work, and they don’t cost a click.
Show the work all season. Social content runs through the whole booking window, while people are deciding, not just the week you launch.
Build a page for each town you serve. One page per community, not one page with a list of names. It’s more writing, and it puts a page about someone’s own town in front of them.
Buy ads only where they earn it. Paid search can work when people are ready to book. It’s rarely the first fix, and in the case below ads played no real part in the growth.

What it looked like for a Chicagoland fall business

One of our clients designs and installs fall porch displays across 15 Chicagoland suburbs. In its first season, most orders were the cheaper packages, and social and email were close to unused.

The full season, July to October, against the first season

Revenue grew 131% and paying orders grew 153%

The store, rebuilt around the top packages

64% of package revenue from the top two tiers, up from 49%

First-season customers

1 in 3 came back and ordered again

July 1 to September 9, both seasons

Social visits up 245%, organic search visits up 57%, and 533 visits from email, a channel that was close to unused

Read the full case study

What’s included

A store or site built around your best package, with add-ons as part of it
Email to past customers before and during the season
Social content through the booking window
A local page for each town you serve
Paid search tested where people are ready to book, and cut when it doesn’t sell
Tracking on every order and form, so each sale has a source
Monthly reporting in plain numbers: revenue, orders, returning customers and where they came from
You own the store, the email list and the data
No long-term contracts

Who this is for, and who it isn’t

It’s for seasonal businesses that do good work and want more out of each season. Think fall and holiday decor, lighting installs, pool openings and camps: anything people book in a short window.

It’s not for anyone hoping one season fixes everything. The first season shows what sells, and the second is where you act on it. If you can only commit to one, wait until you can do two. We’d rather say that now than after your money’s gone.

Anyone can run ads. The hard part is being worth running ads for.

Common questions

When should a seasonal business start marketing?

Before the season, not when it opens. The store changes and the email to past customers need to be ready when people start deciding, which for a fall business means planning in early summer.

Do seasonal businesses need Google Ads?

Sometimes. Ads work when people search to book, and they’re easy to measure. But they’re rarely the first fix. In our case study, revenue grew 131% with ads playing no real part: the store, email and social did the work.

How do you get last season’s customers to come back?

Ask them before anyone else does. An email before the season opens costs very little, and they already trust you. In our case study, 1 in 3 first-season customers came back and ordered again.

Should we lead with our cheapest option?

Usually not. Customers tend to pick what the store shows them first. Leading with the full package took the top two tiers from 49% to 64% of package revenue in our case study.

Is there a contract?

No long-term contracts. You own the store, the email list and the data, so if you ever leave, all of it stays with you.

What is a customer worth to you if they come back every year?

That is where we would start. Get in touch for a free strategy session. Thirty minutes, no commitment, and you’ll leave with a specific first step whether or not you hire us.

Get in Touch