It’s harvest season, and farms all over America are pulling in corn, beans and wheat to feed families across the globe. Most of us will do our harvesting at the grocery store or farmer’s market, but there’s something quintessentially American about the harvest season.
For those who work in a less seasonal job, aligning marketing strategies with harvest feels festive, more attractive than, say, “third quarter review and planning session.” So, we’re calling this your Marketing Harvest.
There’s plenty to be done at every stage of the marketing calendar, and there are certain activities that align well with each season. During autumn, teams review the past year and plan for next year, much the same way farmers do during harvest time.
Assessing the Yield
Farmers are in tune with what their land is producing and harvest is when they take the full measure of their yield. Of course, disaster can still strike or harm can come to grain in transit, but the initial concern over weather, weeds and pests is wrapped up.
Harvest season is a good time to review your marketing strategy and assess its performance. Did it yield the growth you anticipated?
This is the time to track how your marketing measured up in areas like email campaigns, social engagement, website traffic and SEO performance. While the year still has several months to go, it’s a good opportunity to refine your strategy if you detect weaker-than-expected growth.
Nurture Those Slow-Moving Crops
When everything else is golden, it’s hard not to notice those last few plants hovering between green and yellowy-brown. You can see that they could go either way, so it’s time to pay them a little attention and help them finish a solid growing season.
These are your leads that you’ve been chatting with all year. It’s tempting to let them slide down your priority list, assuming you’ll either bug them too much or that you’ve done all you can.
Is that true, though? Maybe it’s an opportunity for you to offer value, find where your brand distinguishes itself to solve a certain pain point or strengthen the relationship between you and your potential customer.
You know your brand offers the solution they need; you may just need to focus on them a bit and help them make an informed decision with someone they trust.
And don’t fall into the trap of thinking that conversion is too challenging; more than half of marketers say that it’s become easier to improve conversion rates than it was a decade ago.
Critiquing the Strategy
As harvest season slows down, it’s expected that there will be some contemplation of the various factors that may have contributed to a better yield. From fertilizer applications to soil quality and irrigation strategies, there are plenty of areas to adjust for the following year.
Your marketing strategy may require a critical eye as you move into autumn. By looking at the yield, you can begin to detect areas where you need to change your strategy. For instance, you may have leaned heavily into what your data told you about audience behaviors on social media. You went against your gut feeling and let the data direct you—a completely reasonable approach, by the way. After all, according to Statista, there are 5.66 billion social media users worldwide, so that data should be pretty good.
But maybe you want to mix things up and give your experience and expertise a more equal voice alongside your data for the remainder of the year.
You may also find that your paid advertising demonstrates potential for growth in lead generation, a part of your strategy that is lagging a bit. Or it may be time to rebalance the mix of social media platforms you use and find a way to connect with audiences more effectively.
Celebrate Your Wins
Barn dances. Harvest parties. Hayrides and bonfires. There are so many great ways to celebrate the harvest with a party.
You should celebrate, too. You saw more click-throughs on your email marketing than last year. Your how-to video series stirred up engagement on social media and your new product got a shout-out by a well-known expert in your industry.
Don’t get too tangled up in your plans to improve your marketing strategy before you take some time to celebrate! Whether it’s a high five or an all-out party, taking time to recognize what’s going well in your strategy keeps your team motivated to go after it all over again.
Plan for Next Year
The year isn’t over yet, but it’s a good idea to begin thinking ahead. Where might you need to make adjustments to keep up with new social media trends? Are there any targeting tools you should be checking out for 2027?
One big term to get familiar with is the AI visibility score. It’s an indicator of how AI summaries are referencing your content. Don’t stress; your SEO still matters and it’s an evolving area, as search always is.
It’s also a great idea to test drive your website as if you’re new to it. Better yet, ask a friend unfamiliar with your site to pay a visit. How does it do as a digital representative of your brand?
If you haven’t done any updating in the last year or two, you’ll want to include this as a part of next year’s budget. Your market and your brand change every year, so make sure your website is keeping pace.
If you’re ready to wrap up harvest season and improve your yield for next year, we’re here to help. From fine-tuning your marketing strategy to helping you find what differentiates you from your competitors, SJC Marketing has the expertise and tools you need to drive growth. Contact us to learn more.