By Maverick Steffen | Daily Marketing Advice

A few of the small businesses that have contacted us from New Jersey (summer resort towns) all seem to share the same frustrating mind-sets: "advertising in the winter (off-season) is a waste." I'm going to tell you this is not only false, but also CRAZY!

In the early 90's, a certain deodorant company took a wild route and began aggressively advertising television commercials during the winter season. At that time, most deodorant companies only advertised during the summer season because this is when people purchased the greatest amount of deodorant.

Makes sense, right? In England this may be especially true because so many people don't use deodorant unless they anticipate sweating.

What was the result of advertising during the off-season?

That deodorant company increased their sales by 34.6% the following summer. The reason for this was simple; while other deodorant companies were sitting on the proverbial sidelines all winter (off-season), this ambitious company was the only one advertising deodorant. Essentially they dominated the deodorant market in the absence of their competitors.

Advertising is no different than a race- the more competitors advertising, the harder it is to win. Despite whether you think people are watching or not, this advertising race for more revenue never stops. The bottom line is the longer you stay in the race, the greater your chances of winning.