Summer is the season for beach trips, vacations, picnics, barbecues, and outdoor activities galore. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, everyone is looking for any opportunity to kick back and relax. Brands looking to capitalize on summer sales may find it difficult to reach their customers while their minds are elsewhere. Luckily, the season offers a plethora of opportunities for savvy digital marketers to cash in.
Stay Current with Trends
The key to any digital marketing campaign is to stay relevant. You need to find your target audience’s atmosphere and penetrate it. To do this, consider what’s going on around you. What summertime trends, terms, or hot topics will allow your brand to join the conversation in a meaningful way.
For instance, summer is the hot season for a purveyor of barbecues and grills. However, a company centered in the electronics industry may find themselves struggling to reach their consumers. If they’re not coming to you, then you need to go to them.
Go Mobile
With the rise of M-commerce, consumers are making more purchasing decisions from mobile devices than ever before. Beyond purchasing, it’s essential that your website’s design and user experience (UX) are compatible with mobile devices, as users being directed from social media will most likely be viewing from smartphones or tablets, as opposed to desktops or laptops. If your website wasn’t already optimized for mobile, now is certainly the time. While mobile compatibility is a core year round strategy, it is especially crucial during the summer when many people are traveling or on vacation.
Get Social
Summer is the season of social sharing – whether people are posting vacation pictures on Facebook or Instagram or sharing party ideas or recipes. Your brand needs to be visible wherever your audience is. Running ads on social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram, are one way of meeting your customers in their territory. Your brand can also engage personally with its audience simply by having a more active social media presence. Like, comment, and share things from your followers and you may find that they return your engagement with their own.
Involve Your Fans
While the warm weather may drive people to sit back and relax, there are endless opportunities for brands to engage with consumers, especially on a personal level. People respond very favorably when brands involve their customers on social media- whether it’s reposting fan photos of customers wearing the company’s product or videos using their service. Get your followers engaged on social media by asking them direct questions or requesting feedback, even something as fundamental as, “How should our team celebrate Labor Day?”
If you notice your sales stalling out in the summer months or if you’re seeking a way to drive more engagement, consider a campaign focused on a contest or giveaway to keep your brand in the public eye. Ask your followers to share your post, like your page, and comment on what they love most about your product or service. Tactics like this can be a great way to maintain excitement all summer long.
Use the Time to Prepare
Even with all the momentum you can create for your brand during the summer, keep in mind the season approaching around the corner. As the dutiful Stark’s from Game of Thrones always say, “Winter is Coming” — and with it comes the holiday season. If all else fails, you can use the summer slowdown to develop a winning holiday marketing campaign.
What’s your favorite method for keeping your audience engaged over the summer? Tweet us @lotus823 and let us know!