By: Karen Roe

What time is it? It’s crunch time! In marketing land, like wondering if the groundhog will see its shadow, we’ve got 6 more weeks (ok 7!) of real time, best case scenario, before the world takes solace in ‘summer vacations’. It is not that working over the summer is impossible, in fact some very important work can occur during this historical ‘downtime’. It is just incredibly difficult to string together a series of live meetings during the July/August months as professionals often have staggered schedules and less ‘availability’. To make the most of your travel budget and time away from the office, take advantage of this active window and get out there! The first 3 weeks of May (skipping Memorial Day Weekend) and the month of June are prime time for active marketing. What can you do to maximize this critical window, post ‘tax time’ and Q1 reporting? Here is one great idea:

Check Out the Conference Circuit: There are several major players hosting conferences over the months of May and June. Identify these forums and whether it is too late to jump on any last-minute events (perhaps at deep discounts if they aren’t sold out). If you have missed them and can’t get in, but potential prospects are coming to your area to attend a local event, perhaps there are some prospects you could encourage to visit your offices while they are in town? Additionally, these organizer’s websites often list the agendas, speakers and sometimes ‘past’ attendees, which are great sources of data if you are seeking information on whose who in a particular space.

Look for our continued series on May Matters in this blog in coming weeks.