6 Marketing Strategies for the Summer

As the weather heats up, people begin to get into a more relaxed mindset. School is out, vacations are planned, and everyone is ready to soak up the sun. It’s because of this that businesses often lose traction. Around this time of the year, businesses should take the opportunity to develop some creative marketing tactics. Need a place to start? Here are 6 marketing strategies for summer.

1. Summer Holidays

Fourth of July, Labor Day, Back to School, National Best Friend’s Day.. throughout the summer there are dozens of national days and national holidays to use as a springboard for fun little promotions and campaigns specific to the season. Take advantage of these summer days to drum up interest from potential customers. Create a sense of urgency with a fun interactive countdown in order to boost conversions. Special occasions are always times for sales as most customers are searching for deals around national holidays.

2. Giveaways

Who doesn’t love a giveaway! Hire a street-team of eager brand ambassadors to spread your message to prospective costumers. Meet them face-to-face and offer them samples of your product or branded ‘swag’ like bags, water bottles, frisbees, or coolers.
Social Media Contests
Giveaways are also super popular on social media. A contest where you ask your followers to like and tag a friend is always super effective and can garner you tons of new likes for your page. Consider offering swag to the winner or maybe something grander like tickets to a concert or football game. Make sure you remember to get their information in the process through a lead form!

3. Sponsor or Participate in a Local Event

Outdoor events like races, concerts in the park, and marathons require sponsors. Without the support of businesses, local or otherwise, it’s nearly impossible to gather all of the funds necessary to host. Often times these events allow your brand and your name to be placed in front of hundreds of new potential customers through social media or with something as simple as signage. Increase your brand visibility by having a representative on site in a booth. They can distribute flyers, business cards, and even run promotions. Do some research and find events in your area then come up with a plan to set your business apart.
Attending and sponsoring these events means you can also highlight your local involvement on social media. Showing the things that you do for the community is a great way to gain customers trust.

4. Redouble Your Social Media Efforts

It’s common for businesses to forget all about social media when they’re booming or dreadfully slow, but it’s more important now than ever to double your efforts. Your customers are still liking and sharing and posting photos, they’re still tweeting. Don’t let social media fall to the wayside. Facebook posts tend to spike in the summer and brands can take advantage of this by following the trend of potential customers.

Get creative. Increasing the sharability of your paid posts is a great way to make sure you get the most bang for your buck. Did you know that video content shares over the summer of 2015 increased over 43%? Video content is a great way to maximize your relevance and take advantage of the peak in content. Similarly, be cognizant of the summers most popular tags and topics. People use the keywords travel, running, beaches, parties, and movies often. Cater to your audience and find a way to incorporate these topics into your posts.

5. Make Mobile a Priority

92% of summer-related conversions are made from a mobile device, according to Facebook. Users are still connected via their smartphones even while users are away from their computers and on the go and in order to optimize your content for mobile, you should keep your messages and copy short and sweet and use imaging to draw people in. Emojis are always a great attention grabber as well and research shows that messages with emojis in the subject are 56% more likely to be opened.

6. Build Momentum

Your marketing efforts during the summer should only build momentum for the fall and winter. Reach out with newsletters, discounts, and offers all year round in order to keep your audience engaged and interested! The biggest mistake most businesses make is ramping up their marketing campaign for a season and not keeping up with it through the year. It’s important to maintain that same energy so that you can continue to build upon your already growing fanbase. If there just aren’t enough hours in the day, consider partnering with a digital marketing agency like Colossus Media Group to make sure you’re seeing the results you want. Let’s build something together.