How To Thrive With Your Summer Marketing

When it comes to enjoying the good vibes that come with warmer weather, summer is no time to take it easy when it comes to your online marketing.

Summer specials are particularly relevant as more people are hopeful for a more normal school year and fall just around the corner. Amazon Prime Days deals (that are mirrored by brands like Target, Walmart, and Best Buy) and back-to-school specials offer plenty of shopping incentives. This summer as the country emerges from stifling Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, Americans will also be thinking about outdoor leisure activities and kickstarting travel plans.

With people spending more time away from home, keeping customers engaged can be a challenge for e-commerce retailers. But that doesn’t mean summer has to be a lost season. By utilizing clever seasonal marketing campaigns and traditional best practices, savvy brands can keep their online sales from going cold during the long, hot summer. Here’s are a few tried-and-true tips to help you do just that:

Focus on Summer Trends

Knowing what people do more of during the summer and the products and services they’ll need can help provide insights to help you target your marketing strategy. Even if their activities don’t specifically match your brand’s products or services, thinking of clever tie-in twists will bring it all together. For instance, a company that specializes in health supplements can focus on the fact that people are more physically active in the summer. A footwear brand can promote sensible shoes for travel. Connecting the dots will help you develop targeted messaging that resonates with your customer base and beyond.

 Dress Up Your Website 

Summer is a happy time of year and the warm weather brings about positive feelings in people. Your website visuals should reflect that sense of joy with inviting, summer-themed graphics. This can include lively typography, warm color palettes, and pictures of people having fun in the sun. And don’t stop with summer; continually updating your website with the changing seasons will help your brand look up-to-date and responsive. Think fall foliage in October and snowflakes in January. This type of seasonal branding gives an all-important personal touch that customers appreciate and respond to.

Add A Summer Section 

Adding a summer section to your online store can be a great way to promote hot new arrivals, clear out old items, or highlight specials or promotions. Additional emphasis can be put on products that lend themselves to vacations or outdoor activities. Including a time limit on this section will add a sense of urgency (“Hurry! These specials will disappear on Labor Day.”). And once you’ve got it up and running, be sure to let customers know through email blasts, online advertising, or social media.

Revisit Past Marketing Content

It’s smart to revisit successful past seasonal marketing content. Older content is most likely still relevant by giving it a refurbished twist, and sprinkling in updated keywords will make it as good as new. Revising and upcycling content is a great way to get more mileage out of your archives while giving your SEO a boost and saving on resources.

Give Away Freebies

Customers love getting free stuff, and giving away freebies is a great way to reward your customers and create a buzz about your brand. Think about giving away items that suit summertime activities, like water bottles, buttons, stickers, or t-shirts, and then include it with every online transaction. Then make sure you promote your giveaway through customer email, newsletters, social media, and online advertising. Customers will likely tell their friends about the free offers, which can drive even more business to your site and boost both customer loyalty and retention.

Get Quirky With It

The summer months are full of quirky holidays that can give a sense of timely fun to your campaigns. Chocolate and candy retailers can have a field day with July 28th’s National Milk Chocolate Day. Travel booking sites can use August 7’s National Lighthouse Day to offer specials to beach or lake vacation destinations with famous lighthouses. Eco-friendly brands can do something special on World Ocean Day (June 8) or other holidays that focus on environmental awareness. Again, clever thinking can help build links between these obscure holidays and your specific brand, even if none seems to exist.

Think Ahead

It’s never too early to start planning for the major holiday shopping events that close out the year, starting with back-to-school sales and promotions. The summer is a great time to build excitement about upcoming deals by offering sneak peeks into your after-summer sales events. Make good use of your mailing list to email customers exclusive news about future discounts or to preview new products that will be available for the holidays.

Thrive During The Summer Months 

Making the best of the slower summer months takes being proactive, creative, and focusing on developing and launching new campaigns (or upcycling old ones) that will drive traffic to your ecommerce website. Relying on traditional best practices and experimenting with new fun ideas will be the best strategy for engaging with your customer base, raising your conversion rates, and ultimately, heating up your summer sales.