For nearly every person, the word “summer” conjures up fond memories of relaxing under the sun, family vacations to the beach and barbeques on the back porch. And while these folks might not immediately think of it, summer is also a prime season for shopping.
This means that, as an ecommerce business, your marketing needs to be on point and relevant to your potential customers during these warmer months, often filled with frivolity. Just think of these tips below as your marketing sunscreen. As long as you apply them properly, you’ll never get burned.
1. Run Time-Sensitive, Content-Appropriate Advertisements and Deals
One of the simultaneously beautiful and saddening things about summer is that the season always seems to be fleeting.
So, use that feeling of temporality to your marketing advantage. Running limited-time, summer-themed offers and advertisements will not only create a sense of urgency in your customers to follow through with a purchase, but they will also push traffic to your online store, and you’ll benefit from the auxiliary purchases that they bring in.
2. Give Discounts for Spreading the Summer Love
Social and mobile go hand-in-hand, and by enabling users to share your content easily, you’ll extend the reach of your offers. For example, offer discounts to customers who post pictures of themselves using one or more of your products while on summer vacation and encourage them to share these pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.
3. Cross-Promote a Summer Experience with Another Ecommerce Retailer
Many brands are trying to cash in on the same summer flow of fun and money, so rather than promoting just yourself, try advertising a whole experience with another brand or two.
For example, your brand and other brands can collectively promote the fun idea of a summer barbeque and feature your brands for the meat, the charcoal, the grill, and more in your ads. All of these companies stand to benefit from this sort of cross-promotion, and you’ll be able to pool resources and attain a greater reach as well.
4. Keep in Mind That Summer Time is Family Time
Nearly any business can offer a special family deal that attracts not only your target audience, but also everyone connected to them, since they move as a family unit.
One way to do this is to offer group rates or family-oriented, discounted specials for your business’s non-peak hours or days.
Give families a reason to come at your off-times and you’ll benefit from bringing in the extra money while they’ll benefit from avoiding a whole lot of peak-hour hassle.