Summer can be a challenging time for many businesses. The weather is heating up but that doesn’t mean that your marketing efforts should be cooling off. Summer means that we are half way through the year, which is a perfect time to reassess your marketing plan.
Use this time to percolate some new ways to connect with current customers, welcome new customer, reconnect with former customers, and celebrate your referral resources. Targeted messaging, community events, contests, and discounts are summer marketing secrets that you can deploy for increased success.
Make your summer marketing messages fun and relevant
If you don’t have an appropriate message for the summertime that will appeal to customers, you might want to scale back your marketing for the season. For example, a winter activity sports shop isn’t going to appeal to an audience during the summer months; save your advertising budget for an appropriate time of year.
Video Marketing
Going viral via video is still one of the fastest ways to get your product in front of a large target audience. People are bored at the office during the summer and would love something to take their minds off work. Of course, that is easier said than done. Viral video content needs to be engaging, stand out, be well researched, and be eye-grabbing (or slightly wacky and weird). Then once you have found the right combination it needs to be set free on social media.
Blog
Content marketing is one of the hottest topics in 2017, it is essential king of marketing. If you don’t have a blog, start one. A blog fits perfectly into any ad campaign and works well if you plan on getting more social as it gives you one more thing to offer your audience.
Studies have shown that blogging frequently (3-4 times weekly) give companies a big advantage over those who aren’t blogging. You can also ask people to guest blog to help extend your reach to their circles. Using people in your industry or in similar industries can help you push your presence to new territories.
With everything from holidays to weekends away this summer your customers will be on the go and what better way to stay in contact than bulk SMS. With 98% of messages read within the first three minutes of delivery. Your customers won’t miss your marketing efforts, wherever in the world they may be! According to research, 91% of consumers who opt-in to receive SMS messages from a business see those messages as somewhat or very useful.
82% of consumers open every single message they receive.
How can you ignore SMS with stats like that!
If you’re not providing a mobile option for your customers in this day in age, you’ve really got to get up to speed. Being online – Facebook, Instagram, etc. isn’t enough anymore. With everyone’s lives becoming so fast-pasted, it’s important you provide your customers with an alternative to calling (especially those of you in the service industry, restaurants, salons etc.).
Summer Sales and Discounts
Sales are usually tight during the summer. That means competitive pricing and deals are more important. Even the slightest edge over a competitor might get you a few extra sales. That also means running promotions or sale events centered on the numerous holidays are important. If you don’t, you can bet your competition will!
You could possibly offer summer themed specials and promotions designed specifically for summer months.
Don’t Forget Social
If you are experiencing a lack of engagement on social media don’t let that discourage you during the summer month. Your customers are busy. Remember to maintain a strong presence, continue gathering reviews so that seasonal visitor can find reliable recommendations without the word-of-mouth suggestions businesses normally rely on.
Although summer can be challenging for many businesses it is also an opportunity to boost your sales by adding a bit of fun and creativity to your marketing strategy.