How to Heat Up Your Marketing

With its searing sun and longer days, summer has a way of breathing new life into people and fostering a carefree spirit. Amid all this invigorating energy, you may be eager to capture some sizzling sales—and that may require some temporary marketing strategies beyond your usual year-round tactics. Try some of these creative approaches to attract consumer attention, intrigue your target audience, and convert more leads this season.

A countdown series

Urgency is one of the most proven and trustworthy sales tactics, which is why just about every business has utilized some form of “Get it before it’s gone!” verbiage at one point or another. But a novel technique worth attempting involves doing the exact opposite: make customers wait. Rather than immediately releasing a new product, service, or promotion, schedule a date for the event, then promote it with social media banner ads, advertisements such as postcards, and email newsletters themed around a daily or weekly countdown to the occasion. Focus on awareness messaging with subject lines like “Two weeks left until Free Consultation Day! Book yours now!” This will not only stimulate consumers’ curiosity but also make them feel like insiders who are in the know about an exclusive opportunity.

Follow up regularly with updates as the calendar ticks down to whatever you’re premiering, even if it’s something as simple as a Customer Appreciation Day with temporary discounts. And don’t forget to incorporate summer imagery and messaging. All those sunshine, beach, and watermelon motifs are at their peak appeal right now, so be sure to leverage them to better engage your audience.

Summer mailers

In any season, your goal should be to create content that accomplishes the three Es of successful marketing:

• Educate with informative content that clues your clients in to relevant data.
• Entertain with engaging copy and appealing imagery.
• Endear by making your clients feel like members of a special mailing list.

In summertime, this means producing materials that leverage the adventurous spirit of the season. Think mailers related to your contacts’ interests to inspire their next excursion or ones that demonstrate how your products are of particular benefit this time of year. For example, send them a brochure featuring high-quality images of a new product alongside detailed descriptions. Or create summer guidebooks that feature local entertainment recommendations and organic CTAs back to your business (For instance, “Landscaping makes for a beautiful home, and a good homeowners insurance policy will help safeguard your new investments.”).

Dedicating ample time and effort to crafting such top-tier mailers—or enlisting a marketing service to produce them for you—may help you better connect with consumers and promote excitement for your brand, ultimately enabling you to convert more leads this season.

A getaway giveaway

Summer is practically synonymous with travel, and for those who lack the time or resources to plan a getaway, give them something to drool over: a vacation package. If implemented properly, such a promotion can spell huge results for your organization. For example, when software company OptinMonster ran an online giveaway to promote an upcoming sale, it tripled the size of its email list and experienced thousands of shares across social media, culminating in a viral campaign. Best of all, it signed 3,500 new clients to its software—all by holding a single product giveaway.

Depending on your budget, your vacation package can be as simple or as comprehensive as you like. Offer certificates for a local spa, or go all out with free flights to an all-inclusive Caribbean resort. The more value you include, the more likely people will engage with your giveaway campaign.

Once your prize is set, aim to make the entry process as simple as possible. All customers should have to do to enter the raffle is, perhaps, refer five contacts to your business, fill out a satisfaction survey, join your mailing list, or try a new product. (Just make sure to check federal and state laws regarding giveaways when making your rules to ensure you’re in compliance.) Promote this giveaway at your office, across your social media platforms, and in email newsletters, and prominently feature enticing language such as “WIN A BEACH VACATION PACKAGE” or “Enter our raffle for a summer getaway today!” With such an appealing incentive, customers won’t hesitate to flock to your brand.

Customer appreciation events

Nothing says summer like an outdoor gathering, so to foster familiarity with your clientele and thank them for their business, invite them to a local event such as a garden happy hour, family-friendly carnival, or park cookout. “One of your best and most effective marketing tools at your disposal is the client appreciation event,” writes Desiree Homer of EMRG Media, a New York City–based marketing and event-planning agency. “These events can be monumental in driving new business, inspiring repeat customer purchases, and fostering incredible branding.”

Theme your event around summer to create urgency—an ordinary luncheon could read as typical, but a beach-themed barbecue will feel like a can’t-miss occasion that only happens once a year. At the event, make time for you and your team to mingle with clients, which can dissolve the barrier between seller and buyer and engender a culture of togetherness. Your customers will begin seeing your team as more than just anonymous figures and instead as trusted family. (And who could ever leave family behind for a competing business?)

With some creative approaches this summer, you can not only generate buzz about your organization but also express your unique brand identity to your target audience. The most lucrative promotional techniques do both in unconventional ways that help you rise above competitors in your industry segment—and potentially outperform them.

TAKE ACTION:
Consider refreshing your typical marketing campaigns with these innovative summer strategies. How could you roll them out in your organization?