End of season? Or is it…

What we call season—the six-month marathon of marketing endeavors beginning in November and ending in April—has been a fantastic frenzy for us. One of the busiest in recent memory. Perhaps in part due to the deluge of new arrivals intending to stay year-round (new prospective customers relocating from out of state) in addition to our ever-growing multitude of seasonal residents here to enjoy themselves.

Everything—particularly in the services sector—was quickly scheduled out, well in advance. For example, if you wanted to take a top-of-the-line airboat tour of the mangrove jungle we call the Everglades, you might be out of luck unless you already made reservations 90 days in advance.

Clients were fast-tracking projects. So we were fast-tracking projects. Competitive sets were changing overnight. In fact, advertising for luxury residential towers and five-star resorts not seen in local, regional or digital media at the start of season suddenly made their presence known on television, in the Sunday papers and all over the internet and social platforms earlier this year. Unlike in years past, new businesses were going far beyond mere preparations to launch next season—they’re launching immediately.

And if all of those developments weren’t exciting enough, dealing with a volatile stock market, global supply chain issues, labor shortages, inflation and the Russian invasion of Ukraine made season highly challenging and unpredictable.

Quiet places became beehives of activity. Most notably, Marco Island which is, for lack of a more accurate word, booming. Home builders who formerly exclusively served Naples are capitalizing on the island’s significant untouched inventory of waterfront lots with direct gulf access. Comparable lots are extremely rare in Naples and sell for a much higher per-square-foot cost.

We are only about four months away from celebrating the agency’s 15th anniversary. And we have several team members reaching milestone anniversaries, including Rob Kerns (six years), Erik Vilnius (four years), Jama Dock (three years).

And we are very excited about partnering with The SWFL 100, an integrated digital publication and content marketing platform featuring 100-word articles and short videos providing a view into the people, news, events and ideas making Southwest Florida what it is today. Articles and videos are featured on The SWFL 100 website, distributed through their weekly e-newsletter and shared on their social media pages to nearly 50,000 of Southwest Florida’s business and thought leaders. We’re already seeing the proven benefits.

This partnership is a paid service WCG is initially offering free of charge to our retainer clients to extend and enhance media exposure. While it is based on earned media, we view it as an evolving form of searchable content creation and management, a growing sector within the marketing field. Without a doubt, it is a creative way to share client news.

So, how’s your season?