6 Marketing Tips Your Small Business Needs to Know This Summer

There’s no denying the summer months are a great opportunity to market your business to potential customers.

And while marketing strategies for the summer seasons are certainly industry-specific, we always suggest planning ahead for summer marketing ideas to ensure you’re getting the best results from your summer campaigns.

So, where can you start? 

We’ve put together a few summer marketing strategies you can start using today to boost your sales, attract new customers, retain existing ones, increase brand awareness, and more.

Tip #1: Plan for the Canadian Holidays

Summer hosts four major holidays: Victoria Day, Canada Day, Civic Holidays, and Labour Day. 

These long weekends are among the most popular for sales and serve as a great way to grab customers’ attention.

Start by brainstorming awesome holiday-themed deals and creating digital and physical advertising to match your theme. 

PPC campaigns convert and enhance your ability to reach your target audience during the awareness, engagement, and conversion stages. 

Depending on what you sell, you’ll want to start planning your campaign creative and messaging well in advance so everything is ready to go when the holiday approaches.

Tip #2: Host a Summer Customer Appreciation Event

Summer long weekends are the perfect time for customer appreciation events, and your options for leveraging these events to boost your summer sales are unlimited.

These celebrations say “thank you” to your customers and employees and build goodwill throughout your community and customer retention. 

Bonus: you can claim customer entertainment as a business tax deduction as long as you have a clear purpose for it. 

Get people talking about your brand with fun community events like:

• National Ice Cream Day is the third Sunday in July — plan an ice cream social!
• Community-wide picnics at a local park
• Viewing parties for sports events
• Partnering with a local restaurant or winery to get your products and services noticed

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Tip #3: Target Tourists

Here’s where you can tap into your potential and use it to drive your success. If your industry caters to tourists, like accommodation, food and beverage, shopping, and entertainment, just to name a few, give them a reason to stop by and say hello. For example, grilling restaurants can drum up business by offering hot summer BBQ specials. 

Or, target tourists by offering a discount to anyone who shows an out-of-province ID. You can tie in locals with this strategy, too — if an area resident brings someone from out of town to your establishment, offer them a freebie or discount on their next visit. 

Remember to spread the word about your events. A strong social media presence, actively posting, and making your business look alive and relevant will help attract new visitors. You also want to rank high in your local search rankings; those unfamiliar with your area will likely use their smartphones to find local hotspots.

Tip #4: Create a Family-Focused Email Campaign

Summer is a time for togetherness and making lasting memories with friends and family. Therefore, businesses should aim their summer email marketing toward parents and families. An efficient way to do this is by personalizing your emails to promote August’s Family Fun Month. Segment your email lists, and create family-oriented email campaigns offering valuable content directly to your target audience:

• Local family attractions
• Educational resources to keep kiddos occupied during the summer
• An informative article about UV safety tips can help build trusting relationships and differentiate your brand from your competitors 

Tip #5: Hold Giveaways and Contests

Canadians love free things! Get people excited, involved, and engaged with your company by promoting the heck out of it on social media and your website. Prizes can be summer-themed depending on the business, or since summer is a time to “chill and relax”, maybe an iPad, Kindle, or new patio furniture.

Your marketing team can gear contests to anything directly tied to your business. Restaurants can hold an eating contest, with the winner receiving a free weekly meal for the rest of the summer. Are you a professional cleaning service? Hold a “Worst-Looking Room” contest where the winner gets a free summer cleanup. Boost participation by offering a 10% discount on your products or services to all who enter. The more fun and humorous they are, the more effective your giveaways and contests will be. 

Tip #6: Summer-ize Your Socials

Social sharing increases by at least 26% throughout the summer months. 

Keep up with the summer social media trends and stay at the forefront of your audience’s feed with engaging posts. 

It’s important to create fun summer themes for your posts. Showcase your brand in the community, happy customers, and other engaging content that makes your business appear alive.

If you haven’t heard, MAP Social is a total game-changer for businesses looking to boost their social media presence..

Ready for Explosive Growth This Summer?

Preparing ahead of time is the most crucial tip for summer marketing success. Leaving everything to the last minute to start promoting your brand is one of the biggest mistakes you can make. 

Plan ahead and get creative in order to ensure your marketing strategies roll out seamlessly. 

Market. Advertise. Promote. Rapid, sustainable growth starts with CCC’s award-winning MAP solution — your complete digital marketing experience. 

Learn more