As the year winds down and the holiday season approaches, small businesses must delicately balance joy and celebration with the pressure to boost revenue, meet ambitious year-end goals and maintain customer engagement, setting themselves up for a successful new year.
Across the construction industry, small businesses (SMBs) must navigate tighter budgets, shifting customer expectations and the ever-present demand for outstanding service and quality. On top of that, the long-tail impacts of inflation are impacting how consumers engage with small businesses this year, according to the Small Business Now report by digital marketing firm Constant Contact.
The study polled about 1,600 small business owners from the United States, Canada, the U.K, Australia and New Zealand, to gain insights about their strategies, concerns and expectations as 2024 comes to a close. In addition, more than 3,000 consumers were surveyed to learn how their preferences and behaviours impact buying decisions at the end of the year.
Inflation’s impact
In Canada, more than half (56 per cent) of consumers say inflation has contributed to a decrease in their spending at small businesses in 2024. Nine in 10 of the small businesses surveyed have had to adjust their business due to inflation, including cutting back on expenses, increasing prices and improving efficiencies.
Furthermore, the majority of small business owners surveyed cite barriers to marketing their businesses effectively during the fourth quarter. According to survey results, 72 per cent of SMBs struggle with either budget limitations or a lack of time for marketing during the fourth quarter, and about a third (33 per cent) of those surveyed say it’s difficult to come up with new ideas. For the construction sector specifically, 36 per cent of respondents note difficulties in getting customers to engage with marketing during the holidays.
Cautious optimism
Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock.
High prices in key categories are causing consumers to be more deliberate about where, and how, they spend, but Constant Contact’s study found that Canadians still want to support small businesses. More than 75 per cent of consumers indicated they are likely to support a local small business they haven’t engaged with before during this holiday season. To tap into this trend, many SMBs are adapting their strategy to highlight their value in other ways – including the quality of their products and services, personal attention and local connections.
For Crystal Creek Homes, a home builder based in Calgary, this means making small adjustments to how their business is marketed to ensure they are top of mind for their customers not only during the fourth quarter, but throughout the entire year.
One key strategy is to start Q4 marketing implementation early, says Karla Takasaki, marketing manager of Crystal Creek Homes. She explains the company typically begins planning for the fourth quarter at the start of the summer, which enables them to be in-market with their quick-possession campaign by early September.
“Our primary goal for the final quarter of the year is to sell all completed quick-possession homes,” Takasaki notes. While there’s usually a balance between pre-sales and quick-possession homes, she explains the company’s marketing efforts at the end of the year focus more on homes that are ready for immediate move-in.
Marketing makes a difference
As Constant Contact’s report states, an early start to digital marketing planning can pay off. “About 33 per cent of those who describe their holiday marketing last year as extremely effective say that they started preparations in Q3 (July to September),” the report states, arguing that waiting until October to start preparing is a missed opportunity. Of the Canadian SMBs surveyed, just 10 per cent start preparing for Q4 during the summer months of June, July and August.
Takasaki also notes the important role customer segmentation plays in rolling out an effective digital marketing strategy. “It’s really crucial that we identify and target the right buyer in today’s market – ideally, someone ready to make a move before the end of the year,” she says.
The company uses Constant Contact to assist with email marketing to the right individuals. Using the platform’s segmentation tools, contacts can be split into customized groups based on any combination of their engagement with past emails. For Crystal Creek Homes, this allows the team to target efforts to homeowners who are looking to upsize or downsize.
A core part of their strategy to boost sales in Q4 involves enticing customers with attractive promotions and monitoring how customers are engaging with emails and other forms of communication. In particular, the reporting feature offered by the Constant Contact platform helps Crystal Creek Homes stay in the know when it comes to customer activity.
“At this time of year, we frequently share promotions, incentives, and available homes. Our email frequency increases as we engage with qualified buyers and encourage referrals,” she says, noting that regular reviews of analytics help to measure how effective email campaigns and messages are. “Constant Contact’s reporting features, which include open rates and click-thru rates, have enabled us to experiment with new approaches and refine our messaging and calls to action.”
Crystal Creek Homes isn’t the only small business seeking reward from the introduction of well-timed promotions and incentives. According to the survey, 29 per cent of construction-based businesses surveyed say discounts and sales are most effective for driving revenue towards the end of the year; 13 per cent of the same group reported success through exclusive offers and early access deals for subscribers.
Rather than overhauling the entire marketing plan, a small shift in strategy has proven successful for Crystal Creek Homes when it comes to growing the bottom line during the last quarter of the year. Starting early, targeting the right customer and introducing promotions have all contributed to year-end success. And, with the right digital marketing platform in Constant Contact, they have everything they need to carry their momentum into the new year.
For more information on how Constant Contact can help your construction business market its products and services more effectively, visit constantcontact.ca and sign up for a free trial today.
Created by Amplify by Annex, in partnership with Constant Contact and On-Site.
