Like all areas, sponsorship and advertising sales will ebb and flow throughout the year. Tracking your gross sponsorship sales revenue is a critical part of annual planning. Month over month and (eventually) year over year mapping will help you understand trends in your market, letting you know when and where your efforts are best served.

The Summer Slump

One area we often see a sales slump is in the summer months. Kids are on summer vacation, people book time off to go on trips, everything gets quiet. While you can’t always change this, you can plan for it.

  1. Launch a sponsorship sale for the slowest summer months (mid-June - mid-August) earlier in the year. You can offer BOGO sales, a percentage discount, special rates for returning customers, etc. 
  2. Have as much of your summer newsletter and display sponsorship sales wrapped up by the end of June as possible.

Plan summer specific series that a local sponsor might want to underwrite. Here are some examples of series you could produce:

  1. Staycation Tours in your City/Town
  2. Top 5 Vacation Spots (within a ~3 hour drive)
  3. Top 5 lakes/campgrounds in your state/province
  4. Best patios to hit
  5. In-depth event calendars
  6. Community events (block parties, pool parties, etc)
  7. Vote on restaurants/food trucks
  8. Summer book club

Holiday Seasons

Holidays throughout the year can provide opportunities for higher value sponsorship campaigns. 

  1. Underwritten content series on specific holidays
  2. Holiday events happening near you
  3. Local artist/product gift guide