The weather is warming up, and the kids are out of school. It must be summertime! And for businesses, that means a new season of sales and promotions. But how do you make sure this season’s sales are the most successful yet? Here are five digital marketing tips to promote your summer sales.
Design eye-catching social media graphics
Summer is a great time for visuals. The sun is out, everything is nice and bright, and everyone is participating in exciting activities. Use some of that seasonal fun to inspire graphics that promote your summer sales campaigns on social media.
According to research, around 70% of the entire U.S. population uses some form of social media. That makes it a great place to promote your sales. However, because so many people use social media, it also means you have plenty of competition if you want to stand out.
To capture users’ attention, make sure all your summertime social media graphics are well-designed and adequately capture that summertime essence. If you need a little help getting started, check out some of the social media graphics templates available on sites like PosterMyWall to speed up your designs without sacrificing quality.
Use summer hashtags
While you’re designing social media posts, don’t forget to include plenty of summer-themed hashtags. Hashtags are a great way to get your posts in front of users who might not follow your page, and people are always looking for fun seasonal posts.
Here are a few of the most popular summer hashtags to use in your marketing content:
- #sunsoutbunsout
- #sweetsummertime
- #summernights
- #schoolsout
- #summerfun
- #funinthesun
Whenever you use a hashtag, just make sure it fits your content. It doesn’t make sense for a text-based graphic of your sale prices to be labeled as #sunsoutbunsout — unless you’re promoting a sale for sandwich buns!
You can also use popular hashtags to influence your content creation. Make posts that fit a popular hashtag just so you can use it to get more attention for your summer sales.
Run a summer giveaway
Giveaways are a powerful digital marketing strategy for two reasons: First, they encourage more engagement from your existing customers. Second, they help you extend your marketing reach, since more people will want to participate in the giveaway. (Nobody can resist a freebie!)
For example, at the start of your summer sale, post on social media that anyone who purchases one of your sale items will be entered to win a $50 gift card to your business. Not only will the giveaway encourage more people to check out your summer sale, but they’ll also want to share the giveaway with their friends and family, bringing even more people to your business.
You can choose anything for the giveaway prize. Just make sure it’s something your customers will actually want. The more enticing it is, the more people you’ll get to participate!
Keep up with the holidays
There are a ton of holidays that happen over the summer, and they make great promotional content for your summer sale. For example, when your standard summer sale digital marketing graphics and tactics start to feel old, refresh them with a 4th of July-theme.
Here are just a few of the holidays you can use in your summer sale digital marketing promotions:
- Memorial Day
- End of school
- Father’s Day
- 4th of July
- Labor Day
- Back to school
You can also use some of the more offbeat holidays to inspire your campaigns, like Hug Your Cat Day (June 4), Emoji Day (July 17), or Lazy Day (August 10).
Start a summer email campaign
It might be one of the oldest forms of digital marketing, but email still reigns supreme when it comes to getting a return on investment. The average email marketing campaign generates an incredible $36 for every $1 spent! So why not use it to promote your summer sales?
Email is great because you can reach your customers individually. There’s no waiting for them to stumble on your content, like with social media. Your messaging goes straight to their inbox. Before you start any summer sales, line up a few promotional emails to let your customers know they’re coming.
Ideally, you’ll want to start sending emails about your summer sales a few weeks before the sale starts. Then, continue to remind customers between one and two times per month so they won’t forget to check out your amazing deals.
And remember all those amazing social media graphics you designed? They can be repurposed for your email promotions, so you can save time making designs from scratch! Remember to promote all your amazing summer contests and giveaways in your emails, too.
Make this year’s summer sales the most profitable yet
Summer is a great time to bring more customers into your business. Everyone is happy and enjoying the nice weather. Use some of that positivity to promote your summer sales with a digital marketing campaign.
When you’re ready to start marketing your sales, remember to use only high-quality social media graphics, host a summer giveaway, keep up with the holidays, and start an email campaign. With all your digital marketing strategies working together, your small business might just have the most profitable summer yet!
