The weather is heating up, summer is just around the corner and I can feel the chill vibes making their way into my flip-flopped feet. Whether you’re looking to sink your toes into the sand or hit every rollercoaster east of the Mississippi, we all look for a little escape during the summer. But there's one issue, your business waits for no man (or woman) to come back from vacation!
Can you have your cake and eat it too when it comes to the summer months, it just takes a little planning and adding in some flavor into your marketing.
I've got 6 marketing hacks to make your business sizzle this summer while you chill on the beach!
Start A Referal Program
You have over 100 people on your marketing team, right? You might not think so, but you do!
All of your current customers and followers are waiting for an incentive from you and they'll help spread the word in a moment, it's as simple as a referral program (which seriously can be simple!). Think about something you can offer (that your followers and current customers actually want) and what you, in turn, need to get the most value out of it.
You could do:
- Free 20 people and receive a free summer kit
- Share a coupon code and get $10 off your next purchase
You can even create and manage your referral program in your
Wavoto account, making your website a one-stop-shop for your marketing.
Make Something Interactive
Do you remember the 10-year challenge? It was everywhere online! How about the ice bucket challenge? Now think back even more, have you ever shared quiz results, before and after pictures, or even a #PinterestFail?
These were all interactive social posts where you felt involved with a group of people and you can recreate the same thing with your online audience! Put together 5-10 posts promoting a challenge in some way relating to your business and in every single one of your pre-written social posts ask others to join you and give it a try (or even challenge others, like the ice bucket challenge).
What is something related to your business where people can feel a part of something? One that I participated in for
Corgi Things was a #corgithingscookiecontest held at Christmas to promote the purchase of their new corgi cookie cutters. There were tons of entries and it was so fun to see all the people who participated and it created tons of free content for Corgi Things. Additionally, it sold a lot of cookie cutters as well, win-win!
(I'm really proud of my cookies and basically, look for any excuse to show them off 😂)
Hold a Contest
Take your interactive challenge a step further and make it into a contest! This is exactly what Corgi Things did above! People love chances to win free things, especially when it's something your customers or social followers will find valuable and useful.
Whether you incorporate user-generated content (UGC) or have followers share your post, people will get involved as long as the actions are simple (have you seen those "follow circle" contests on Instagram, such a pain and really irritating, but a partnership contest or a picture share contest are much easier to join and receive easier engagement!).
You could easily ask your followers to “Take a picture wearing our flip-flops doing your favorite summer activity”. and share it tagging your account and using a specified hashtag, which is also more likely to engage their followers as well, seeing as,
98% of millennials are more likely to engage with a friend’s post over a brand post.
Picture this: an interactive contest where the audience has to create a post and share their referral code to win. Oh my. Your marketing strategy just got filled for the whole summer!
Build A Partnership
One of my favorite things for small businesses and entrepreneurs to do to grow their business is to team up with another, non-competitive business! Whether it's sharing each other's favorite products or showcasing how to use them in a joint workshop, cross-promotion to each other's audience is a great way to lift each other when you are feeling a lull.
One of my favorite photographer's does this whenever she has a wedding workshop. She gets a wedding dress she can promote, she teams up with florists, jewelers, and make-up and hair stylists. Not only does she get to promote her upcoming workshop, but she also builds partnerships with other local businesses promoting their services (and her own) in the process.
Think of businesses that are related to yours, like a yoga shop partners with an essential oil distributor or a dog collar company teaming up with a local dog walker!
Reuse, Recycle, Repurpose (Content)
One of the great things about social media is that posts are fleeting. That's right, I said it, people having so much content in front of them is a good thing! You can share your best content (i.e. most engaged, most conflicting, most impressive) over and over again every few months and it will be engaged with time and time again!
Look back through your blog articles, videos, or just top Facebook post to see which one received the most likes, comments, and shares. Change up the caption and schedule it into your social strategy again (even if that social strategy is just scheduling reposts 😉).
Check out the Sue B. The Instagram Expert talking about just this thing this past week!
She says "Here are a few simple ways to repurpose old posts
- Assemble the previous post images into a multi-image carousel post or a slideshow video (I like using Flipagram)
- Add a new caption to a post that got great engagement.
- Incorporate new design elements onto the image - you can take a previous post’s image and then edit it in Stories (there are so many creative editing tools)
- Use a hashtag like #throwbackthursday to reshare old content
Repurposing content can be a huge time-saver! I suggest to do it sparingly. You don't want your followers to see the same image that they saw last month. I think sharing something from 6 months back is ok."
Ask for Reviews
Isn't it interesting how most reviews tend to be really good or really bad? It's because people want to be heard when they have a great or terrible experience. If you're constantly serving your customers with an amazing experience - start asking for reviews this summer and see the amazing things people have to say about you!
Not only can you share these reviews on social media, but you can also incorporate them into your email marketing, website, and a webstore!
Summer won’t wait for you to get organized. Grab your sunblock and your flip-flops and get ready for the beach. But before you do, plan your summer marketing hacks in advance. Prep your material, schedule your posts and emails, and put your audience to work.
I know we all earn our living through all these devices we depend on. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll take one of those extra Fridays off and unplug for a day. After all, your new marketing department has you covered.