Summer is a season of vacations, long weekends, and spontaneous getaways. Your audience might be lounging poolside with a gaggle of kids or taking a solo trip across Europe, but that doesn’t mean they’ve tuned out entirely.
In fact, relaxing often brings with it mindless scrolling and indulgent shopping habits, and it gives otherwise busy individuals the chance to catch up and stay connected. This can create a great opportunity for marketers, even if your customers are technically “out of office.”
Here’s how to continue marketing to your audience, even if they’ve embraced a more laid-back summer mindset:
Prioritize Mobile-First Content
People on the go are consuming content differently—mostly on phones, and often in short bursts. This means your content needs to be mobile-friendly and scrollable.
This might mean prioritizing Stories and Reels for short-form content that is easily consumed in a visual format. But it can also be as easy as acknowledging shorter attention spans by shortening your newsletter and email subject lines. If your content isn’t fast-loading and thumb-friendly, it’s likely to be skipped during busy summer months.
Use Automation to Maintain a Steady Presence
Here’s one wrinkle: Your audience might be idly scrolling on the greens at the golf course or the sands of the beach, and they’re not entirely disengaged—but with competing interests (like that beautiful breeze and the swim-up bar), you still need a consistent presence so that you can capitalize on their attention the moment it turns back to their screens.
But you don’t need to be glued to your laptop to maintain an active presence online; a little planning goes a long way.
From chatbots to help users navigate through your website and complete purchases to software that schedules your summer email blasts, there are plenty of tools that can take the work off your team’s plate while keeping your customers engaged consistently throughout the summer.
Experiment with Lighthearted Campaigns
Remember those “How I Spent My Summer” writing prompts? They might not have been as fun in a schoolroom setting, but these kinds of ideas can translate well when it comes to lighthearted, seasonally themed marketing campaigns. For example, a summer reading list or playlist for the next road trip could be fun ways to engage with your audience while providing a non-salesy “value add.” Think of it as giving customers a reason to open your email or visit a custom landing page—building on your relationship while reminding them of why they love your brand.
And if it makes sense for your brand and its community, you could also consider facilitating an in-person event, like a pop-up near a park where local families pass the hours in summertime.
Set the Stage for Fall
Even as you keep it light for summer, you can start seeding interest in what’s coming next. Use your current content to build anticipation. For example, tease your upcoming products with sneak preview content and images.
The most important thing to keep in mind is that summer marketing isn’t about anticipating your audience’s OOOs. It’s about adjusting your tone, your timing, and your tactics to fit the seasonal rhythm. Because no matter where in the world they’re vacationing, your audience is always just one click away.