The post-holiday season isn’t always a fun time when you’re a small business owner. The holidays are over, and you may not be as busy as you used to be. This also means you’re probably not bringing in as much revenue, especially if you’re a retail business dealing with customer returns. (Yikes!)

Does this sound like you? You’re not alone if it does. But let’s answer the obvious question: How do you get back on track?

It’s true, consumers tend to spend a lot of money during the holidays. So they might not come in as often (or at all) after the new year, which leaves you with less revenue. But you can still get them to come back and spend a little more, if you properly motivate them.

To help you start, here are 5 easy tricks to bring holiday shoppers back after things slow down.

1. Create campaigns to invite them back.

Even if you were busier than normal during the holidays, you probably still took time to collect contact information from shoppers who bought from you. So why not use it to reach out and encourage them to come back when business slows down?

How to re-engage holiday shoppers:
  • Run an analysis of your holiday sales, and see who bought what.
  • Identify customers who purchased certain items, and group them together.
  • Create email or text campaigns for each group with offers that might resonate.
  • Entice customers with a coupon or discount code they can use to come back.

Even if a customer only bought a gift card for someone, that doesn’t mean they can’t come back and treat themselves. All they need is your friendly email to remind them to do so.

It’s easier to do this if you’ve got a customer relationship management (CRM) tool. A CRM allows you to group customers in your contact list based on what they bought from you, then reach out and sell to those groups accordingly.

Pro Tip: Look for a CRM that seamlessly integrates your contact list with email and text marketing tools. Thryv, for example, saves you time by letting you manage your contacts and campaigns in one single place.

2. Jump on the new year bandwagon.

People love making New Year’s resolutions (even if they don’t always keep them). And lots of those are pretty familiar. Getting fit is important to some people. Others may want to travel more often. The fact is the majority of these resolutions center around some kind of self-improvement.

But did you know you can tap into this as a way to bring holiday shoppers back?

For example, if you run a fitness center, offer a “New Year, New Me” special to earn more sign-ups. If you run a travel agency, offer deals for consumers making travel plans for the new year. See where I’m going with this?

New Year’s resolutions help drive business by appealing to that consumer desire for self-improvement. Promote anything that helps customers stay healthy, organized or productive, and they’ll feel much better about opening their wallets.

3. Unveil a new product or service.

OK, I know you might be thinking this is totally counterintuitive. After all, there’s a general impression that customers are too spent (pun intended) after the holidays to care. But there’s a clever way to do this successfully.

A lot of retail businesses remain somewhat dormant during the post-holiday period. They might feel since customers don’t typically spend much money during that time, it’s not worth putting effort into their marketing.

For you, the savvy business owner, it’s a great opportunity to promote a new product or service. The key word here is “new.” Many people enjoy the feeling of renewal right after the New Year.

Capitalize on that feeling of newness by offering something they’ll want to try, like:

  • The latest facial treatment at your skin care clinic
  • A revamped menu at your restaurant
  • A new workout class at your fitness center

Pro Tip: A little incentive never hurts when offering customers something new. How about a small discount or a gift with purchase? It just gives customers one more reason to buy from you!

4. Beef up your social media presence.

As I mentioned earlier, some retail businesses tend to neglect their marketing after the holidays. This means their social media pages are a bit quieter than normal. But there’s no reason yours should be. Remind customers you exist, and market your post-holiday campaigns by staying on top of your social media.

A staggering 92% of shoppers say visuals influence their buying decisions the most. If you’re not already doing so, showcase your business with photo and video content on your social media pages.

Easy ways to do this:
  • Experiment with Facebook and Instagram Story features to raise awareness about sales or new products.
  • Create an IGTV channel, and upload longer video content like tutorials.
  • Run a contest asking users to submit photos showing how they use your product. Reward the best one with a small prize.

Additionally, try a caption contest, and ask users to caption a photo you’ve provided. Make it a cute or funny photo users will want to engage with.

Check out how Animal Ark Veterinary Hospital uses a cute caption contest to engage users.

Don’t let customers forget about you after the holidays. Get a head start on your competition, and keep your social media presence active and humming.

5. Go nuts with fun, uncommon holidays.

Holidays aren’t just limited to the ones we’ve already got on our calendars. There are lots of wacky and fun holidays besides major ones like Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day. Ever heard of National Donut Day? What about International Talk Like A Pirate Day? (Arrrrr!)

Sure, these are good for a chuckle or two. But they’re also an avenue to bring holiday shoppers back, especially at the start of the year. Identify which holidays make sense for your business, and mark them on your calendar.

Pick holidays you can easily build campaigns around. For example, February 20 is National Love Your Pet Day. This one’s a no-brainer if you own a pet-centered business. Encourage customers to show their love for Fluffy by scheduling his annual vet check or pampering him with a grooming session.

Dress up your social media posts and email campaigns with cleverly-themed language that speaks to the holiday. If you use holiday-themed puns and language, link them to whatever product or service you’re promoting.