The problem isn’t winter
Hello my lovely,
Winter has arrived... and so has that familiar little panic.
This week I was sitting with the team at one of the spa businesses I help operate, looking at bookings, targets and the weeks ahead.
And there it was.
That familiar winter dip.
The phone was a little quieter.
Bookings were taking slightly longer to come in.
Clients were being more cautious with their spending.
And almost immediately, the ideas started flying…
Should we run a special?
Should we discount a treatment?
Maybe we need to post more?
Should we boost something?
Quick! Someone make a Canva post. 😅
Sound familiar?
This is the reality for many spas and salons in South Africa right now.
Winter often brings a quieter trading period, and when the diary starts to soften, marketing suddenly becomes urgent.
But as we worked through the figures, I found myself saying something that I think every business owner needs to hear:
The quieter months don’t create marketing problems.
They expose them.
When a spa is busy, it is easy to assume the marketing is working.
The diary is full.
The phone is ringing.
Clients are spending.
Everyone feels positive.
But when things slow down, the gaps become much easier to see.
You realise your database has not heard from you in months.
Your social media may be getting likes, but it is not generating enough bookings.
You are posting because you feel you should, but there is no clear strategy behind it.
You do not know which campaigns actually produced revenue.
You do not know where your clients are discovering you.
And when bookings slow down, the only solution that seems immediately available is another discount.
That is not a marketing strategy.
It is a reaction.
Marketing should not begin when the diary becomes quiet.
It should be the system that helps prevent your business from disappearing when the market becomes more competitive.
But the landscape has changed.
Posting beautiful treatment images is no longer enough.
Boosting a post is no longer enough.
Having thousands of followers is no longer enough.
Your clients are searching differently.
They are reading reviews.
Watching content silently.
Asking friends.
Comparing multiple businesses.
Using Google.
Using AI.
And often making a decision about your business before they ever contact you.
The businesses that understand this new journey will become easier to find, easier to trust and easier to choose.
The businesses that do not will keep fighting harder for attention in an increasingly noisy market.
TODAY, REGISTRATIONS OFFICIALLY OPEN.
In just two weeks, on 22 July, the WPC Marketing Masterclass begins.
For five weeks, we are going to work together to rethink the way you market your business.
Not only your social media.
Your entire marketing ecosystem.
How people find you.
How they choose you.
How you build trust.
How you create visibility.
How you use AI without losing your authenticity.
How you build a database and community that you own.
How you create campaigns that generate revenue.
And how you measure whether your marketing is actually working.
Because I do not want you heading into the next quiet period asking:
Should we run another special?
I want you to know exactly what to do.
THERE ARE ONLY 50 PLACES.
Access will be offered to the people on the interest list from the top down, with those who registered first receiving access first.
If you have already registered your interest, keep an eye on your inbox.
Your registration details will be sent during the day today and again on Monday, followed by daily reminders and important information leading up to our start on 22 July.
Please do not register your interest again if you are already on the list.
If you have not yet registered your interest, it is not too late.
But with only 50 places available, I would not leave it much longer.
👉 Click here to register your interest:
Winter will pass.
The diary will become busier again.
But the marketing landscape is not going backwards.
AI is not going away.
Social media is not becoming less competitive.
Your clients are not becoming easier to reach.
And the noise is not going to disappear.
The question is whether your business will be better prepared the next time the market becomes quiet.
We begin in two weeks.
Five weeks.
Fifty people.
And a completely different way of thinking about marketing.
Will you be one of them?
See you next week,
Marisa
P.S. A quieter period is not always the problem. Sometimes it is the clearest indication that the business needs a stronger marketing system.
