When the slow season strikes, it's time to put some energy into pumping up that brand. These five exercises will show you where to start.

On your mark. Get set. Good.

Good approach for the off-season, that is, and a prime situation to be in—perched in a power position, reputation honed, and ready to grow—when things start to pick up again.

The following five exercises are designed to help you get there.

Exercise 1: Strengthen connections with your current customers

Shift your focus to your tried and true: your current customers, who require no acquisition costs and, with a little nurturing, could become one of your most valuable marketing assets.

"Attracting a new customer costs far more than keeping an old one happy. Not only that, but an old customer is far more likely to bring you new people via word of mouth than someone who isn't even a customer yet," Seth Godin wrote in a recent blog post.

For example, this MarketingProfs case study shows how Toronto-based FreshBooks, an online invoicing service, was able to more than double its customer base over the last year, much of that through word-of-mouth. How? By surprising customers with dinner invites, going out of its way to send a little something special when a customer has a baby or even just a bad day, and fostering friendships that go beyond the typical client-vendor relationship.

Another example comes from Roselle, IL-based Exhibitgroup Giltspur, an experimental events/exhibit marketing agency. Its leadership team was able to completely turn the company around, increase sales more than 12% a year, and decrease client shrinkage by 75%, all through the development of a client-centric culture.

Among the client-focused initiatives it implemented:

• Holding one-on-one meetings between company executives and clients with the sole intention of listening to client needs
• Making the executive team's contact information readily available to all clients
• Producing competitive audits for clients along with recommendations for how they might better engage their target markets
• Incorporating small gestures, such as providing airport transportation at conferences, into all of its client-facing activities

Exercise 2: Stretch into the industry expert position

Content that illustrates your level of expertise, understanding of the marketplace, and best-practices in action can work to establish credibility—as well as increase organic site traffic if you can also effectively incorporate popular keywords.

A good place to start is case studies of successful client campaigns that demonstrate your core competencies as a business or professional. Your approach, however, should not be to simply tout your products or services; instead, it should aim to showcase the challenges overcome and the benefits achieved by your client in a way that potential customers can relate. For a little inspiration, check out the MarketingProfs case-study archive; you can even borrow our format, if you like.

Once written, case studies should be posted to your site, then shared with current and potential customers as well as industry media, which may end up featuring your story and lending additional credibility to your business.

You might also get your name out there by contributing content to industry organizations or by answering questions on LinkedIn's Answers forum; but in all instances, understand that credibility will come through your ability to impart knowledge and provide value to readers.

Exercise 3: Build your network muscle

A recent article by Jefferson Graham in USA Today tells how Hansen's Cakes of Beverly Hills has realized a 15-20% lift in sales since one of its staff began using her Facebook status to relate her daily cake-decorating projects to customers, and how a barbecue lover with a special bacon recipe landed a book deal and a "thriving ad-supported BBQ blog" after his Twitter update found its way to CNN and The New York Times.

Those are great social-media marketing success stories, but one of the reasons they worked was because, in both cases, sizable networks had been established ahead of time. The cake decorator, for example, had 2,000 friends on Facebook, and the barbeque lover had already accumulated 1,500 followers, at least one of which re-tweeted his message and helped to propel the dissemination process.

To build you network on Twitter, it's important to show potential followers that they have reason to follow you; you should offer insightful, interesting tweets that relate to their interests. Take the time now to develop and execute that strategy, then try following others with similar interests in anticipation that they might recognize the value you provide and return the favor.

Another approach might be to hold contests or organize offline events for your followers in an effort to keep them engaged and perhaps spread word to their friends. Another MarketingProfs case study recounts how four Oklahoma City brands came together to host a local "Tweet-up" (a real-world meet-up of Twitter contacts), resulting in not only additional followers for all involved but also stronger connections between those brands and their followers.

Also consider some of the old-school networking methods: e.g., getting involved in local clubs and industry associations, joining the chamber of commerce, and making new connections face to face. As you do, don't forget to exchange all of your contact information, Twitter IDs included, then follow up by reconnecting through email, social sites, and professional networks such as LinkedIn.

Exercise 4: Tighten your copy and extend your ads

Researchers at Oregon State University and Western Oregon University analyzed associations between company earnings and advertising expenditures during the five recessions that have occurred since 1971. Their study found that advertising contributed up to three years of increased earnings for companies that continued to promote their brands recessions, with the greatest impact coming in the first year following the recession.

That finding demonstrates the importance of not slashing advertising, even amid a slowdown, when there's a need to cut costs. But note that the content of your messaging is equally important.

Drastic price cuts, for example, do not send the right message to consumers, nor do they help fortify the brand for long-term growth. One study found that "companies that lower the prices of their products during the recession may risk damaging long-term brand perceptions because suspicious consumers assume something is wrong with the product or brand if it's being discounted"; moreover, 70% of consumers polled said such tactics lead them to believe "the brand is normally overpriced" (Futures Company's Dollars & Consumer Sense 2009 study, as reported by Marketing Charts).

Consumers, instead, are looking for brands they can trust both now and in the long run. A prime example comes from the automotive industry, where federal-aid recipients Chrysler and General Motors Corporation have seen their sales slide a combined 45%, compared with 33% for other carmakers, due to a lack of consumer confidence in, and resentment against, the two automakers, the Los Angeles Times reported. Moreover, "in the first two months of the year, the number of buyers considering a GM or Chrysler vehicle fell 12 percent and 33 percent respectively.... At the same time, Ford saw a 12 percent increase in consideration," the newspaper reported.

But even Ford Motor Company, which garnered some credit for refusing government assistance, has realized the need to adjust its messaging in tune with the current consumer experience. Taking a page out of the Hyundai Motor Company marketing book, the company recently announced plans to cover car payments for buyers who become unemployed—a much more compelling and trust-building message than the usual instant rebates or employee-pricing tactic.

So far, that approach has worked well for Hyundai. Through the first three months of 2009, Hyundai's "US sales are up half a percent, compared with an overall industry decline of 38%," according to The Los Angeles Times, which writes that so far no buyer has asked the company to make good on its promise.

Exercise 5: Stimulate a sense of goodwill

Campaigns like those of Hyundai and Ford, or Domino's Pizza's "Big Taste Bailout," which claims to abet the respectable people of "Main Street" over those of disreputable Wall Street, aim to elicit goodwill among consumers.

But an alternative, and more direct, means for tapping into consumers' humanity comes through supporting a good cause. According to Cone's 2008 Cause Evolution Study, 85% of Americans claim to "have a more positive image of a product or company when it supports a cause they care about...and 79% say they would be likely to switch from one brand to another, when price and quality are about equal, if the other brand is associated with a good cause."

An example comes from American Express, which promised to donate a dollar toward the restoration of the Statue of Liberty for each new card application and a penny each time a consumer used one of its cards during the three months in which the campaign ran. Cone reports that "consumer card usage increased by 27 percent and new applications grew by 45 percent," but those were just some of the advantages realized through this campaign. American Express also benefitted through "increased employee morale, loyalty and productivity; enhanced recruitment...[and] additional investors."

Pro-bono and cause marketing can further assist in enhancing a creative or business portfolio (remember, too, the opportunities for case studies!) and in opening doors to new contacts, such as a nonprofit's board of directors and others who may also operate in the for-profit sector.

Such has been the case for New York City design firm MSDS, which has found that it can demand more creative leeway than with paying clients and thereby better showcase its distinct design capabilities through those projects.

MSDS president and chief creative officer Matthew Schwartz notes that working with nonprofits has also helped the company develop a good reputation in select circles, which has led to a variety of unsolicited projects arising strictly through referrals.

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Downtime isn't panic time; it's time to catch up on all the little housekeeping, brand-building tasks that have been put off due to time constraints.

In addition to positioning yourself for future success, you'll likely find that exercises like these can help to keep yourself, and your staff, both busy and optimistic.

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