It is a very short week. With the July 4th holiday on a Tuesday this year, many businesses closed on Monday, leaving a three-day week. Some people will take the rest of the week off. That leaves the few who will be so busy trying to cram five days into three that they won’t have time for marketing, right? What can you expect from marketing in a short week?

Logic may tell you that short weeks are bad weeks for marketing. However, you might consider bucking the traditional wisdom to be able to reach a fresh audience. For instance, if you use an e-blast tool to send out marketing campaigns, many e-mail vacation notices list a person in charge of taking calls while another employee is away. What if you sent your marketing message to the person manning the store while your normal contact is out of the office? You would be able to expand your reach to another person, and you might get some marketing traction with the new person.

However, there are two better reasons to send out a marketing campaign in a short week after a holiday. First, your competition is not doing so. Any time you can beat your competitors in the marketing race, you should do so. Too often, businesses try to copy their competitors. Effective marketing helps your brand stand out from the competition, not blend in with everyone else. Second, the days coming back from a holiday are not the same as the days leading up to a holiday. Last week, people were thinking about what they were going to do with their July 4th weekend. They were distracted with thoughts of what was about to happen. Now that is all past, and people are back to work. You have an opportunity to reach a much more focused target market. As the gears of industry start to turn again, why not get your marketing message out in front of those tending the machine?

There are good times to put your marketing in front of consumers and bad times. Each target market is a bit different from the other. However, one of the keys to being effective in marketing is knowing when consumers will be most receptive to your brand. Will the short, focused week right after the holiday work for you? It will if you can get your marketing message to the right people.