Summer marketing ideas
Posted on 24th May 2022
Summer has arrived so you might want to make some plans for sales and promotions to take advantage of longer days and warmer evenings. Here are some marketing ideas for you.
Family fun
The school summer holidays affect us all. If your customers are likely to be parents, they will be looking for ways to make the most of time spent with the family. If you sell to other businesses, they will want to cover summer leave and brighten up the workplace.
Why not get in touch with your inner child? Think back to your own childhood and imagine how you could catch people’s attention during the holidays with naughty seaside postcards, a sandpit and some buckets and spades in the car park, or free ice cream when people visit your store or office.
You can even involve youngsters in your summer marketing campaign with design competitions, treasure trails, and discounts on dressing up days.
Collaboration
All sorts of businesses can be affected by a decline in sales during the summer months. You could work with a neighbouring business or one in a complementary market to make the most of your marketing budget. You might even start a much longer-term partnership if you find another business that shares your values and can help you to grow.
Hold an awareness event
People like to know what’s important to you, as well as what you do. You can generate interest and raise funds for a cause you support at the same time. Alternatively, there are a lot of awareness days you can highlight. For example, in July and August there are:
Thank You Day for the NHS (4 July)
Ask an Archaeologist Day with the National Trust (21 July)
Samaritans – The Big Listen (24 July)
Cycle to Work Day (5 August)
Afternoon Tea Week (8 to 14 August).
Whatever you choose, try to find an imaginative approach that will help you to stand out from the crowd. If you’re using social media, don’t forget to include a relevant hashtag to reach more people.
Pop-up promotions
People hate to miss something good, so you can keep them interested by telling them to follow you on social media or visit your website to see new and exciting deals that are only available for a single day. So, for example, if you sell umbrellas, you can keep an eye on the weather forecast and time an offer for the day before rain is expected.
Be open for business
We all change our routines in the summer thanks to the higher temperatures and extra daylight. You might win over valuable new customers by opening earlier or later, especially if you sell tasty barbecue food or garden furniture. Take a look at your website analytics to find out who is visiting your site outside normal opening hours to see what might work.
Go on the road
Depending on your business you could look out for special events where you could set up a stall to test a new product or just to meet some new people. You could try offering sets of products like picnic hampers, blankets and frisbees. You could think up an interesting way to demonstrate your gardening equipment or to show off your latest clothing range.
The best price is ‘free’
You’ll certainly be noticed if you offer something for free. It could be a low-cost branded item like a drink bottle or beach toy that your customers can enjoy for a few weeks. The key to success is to make sure it relates to your business so people will remember you. Ideally you can collect email addresses in exchange for your freebies to give your autumn marketing a boost.
Make sure you take a break too
Many small business owners miss out on the summer fun, so make sure you plan some downtime for yourself and let people know if they will be unable to reach you or of your shop or office will be closed.
Share the good news
Whatever your marketing plans this summer, advertising in Pulse magazine is a good way to let people know what you’re doing.
There’s still time to book advertising space for the summer editions - you can see more details here.
Please contact us to find out more.
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