Engaging Strategies to Heat Up Your Summer Marketing

JJ TysonSeasonal Marketing

Engaging Strategies to Heat up Your Summer Marketing

Summer is here! That means warm temperatures, high spirits, and endless opportunities for summer marketing. As the heat drives customers outside, it creates numerous opportunities for different industries to thrive.

Since summer is all about having fun, retailers everywhere can join in and help customers create a summer to remember.

As students go on break and vacation planning hits its peak, retailers that offer products within the realms of toys, games, books, activities, and outdoor equipment can expect to see increases in sales and performance. In short, summer is an ideal marketing season for all online businesses.

Why is Seasonal Marketing Important?

The lives of customers are constantly changing, often in ways that marketers have no reliable way of predicting. Since it’s impossible to market to every customer’s unique experiences, seasonal marketing offers a powerful way to speak to customers in real time.

A full, in depth analysis of summer marketing is available in our new e-book, “The UpSellit Summer Marketing Guide.” However, we also wanted to offer you a few of these strategies at a glance, to show you how valuable the Summer Guide really is. Let’s take a look.

Independence Day

If you’ve ever questioned the efficacy of an Independence Day marketing campaign, it’s worth noting that consumers spent over $7 billion in 2018 to celebrate July 4th.

Anything someone might need to wear, use, or have outdoors is a potential marketing opportunity for the holiday.

In addition, since many brick and mortar businesses are closed, Independence Day has become a major shopping day for online retailers. It’s the perfect time to promote summer inventory and create the sense that summer has arrived.

Top of Mind Remarketing

July 4th is a great time to revamp your email remarketing strategies. Summer is synonymous with fun, and nobody wants to miss out. (FOMO, anyone?) Invoking urgency can be a powerful way to encourage purchases. Whenever possible, make sure your messaging indicates that deals and incentives are time-sensitive.

By combining incentives, urgency, and seasonality in your remarketing emails, you drive customers to purchase with little friction. Here are a few examples of email subject lines that do all three.

“Beat the Heat with Summer Deals: Save 10% While Supplies Last”

“We’re Turning Up the Heat: Get Free Shipping for a Limited Time”

“Too Hot to Miss: Get a Free Gift When You Shop Our Summer Sale”

Festival Season

Festivals have come a long way since Woodstock. Once considered a somewhat niche activity, the popularity of art and music festivals has expanded rapidly, with over 800 held in the U.S. every year. According to Nielsen, a global information company, 52% of Americans go to at least one live performance annually.

The popularity of these festivals means more marketing opportunity for brands and businesses. Since attendees tend to treat festivals like an experience or vacation, they’re often willing to spend on products or services that will make it their event of the year.

Festival Recommendations

For customers, attending a festival means seeking out lots of new products. Since customers are often unsure of what to bring, businesses have an opportunity to fill in those knowledge gaps with product recommendations.

By leveraging customer purchase patterns and browsing behavior, you can create a highly personalized ‘Festival Checklist’ for your customers. Recommendations and essentials can include:

  • Shorts, t-shirts, tank tops, and other lightweight clothing
  • Hats, sunglasses, jewelry, and other accessories
  • Tents, sleeping bags, backpacks, and camping supplies
  • Camel backpacks, reusable bottles, and other water storage
  • Wireless electronics, portable chargers, and battery-powered lighting  

Implementing a series of product recommendations that highlight completed looks is also a great way to increase average order values.

Wedding Season

Although weddings occur year-round, September marks the beginning of peak wedding season, which extends through October. In 2018, 5 of the 10 most popular wedding dates were in September. Overall, the wedding industry was estimated to be worth $72 billion in 2018.

With 2.5 million weddings taking place every year in the U.S. alone, wedding season creates a huge opportunity for ecommerce businesses. The average wedding guest spends over $800 on the occasion, including travel, accommodations, clothing, and gifts. What’s more, most attendees spend between $100 – $200 on a wedding gift.

Wedding Wishlist Strategy

Traditionally, couples-to-be register at a particular store, creating a large wishlist.

Even if your site doesn’t offer a traditional wedding registry, wedding season is an ideal  time to utilize a wishlist strategy.

Giving couples the option to create a wishlist serves as a powerful lead capture tool and ensures purchases are made through your store.

Product recommendations personalized wishlists by suggesting products that have been “favorited” by other customers. Such tactics boost customer confidence as they search for the perfect gift for the occasion.

Wishlists should be shareable so couples can send their list to guests, who can then directly purchase from your site. Consider adding an on-site Wedding Gift Guide that actively suggests products others are purchasing together or frequently.

Most products are fair game, as couples are usually building a new home together. Just be sure to keep suggestions in the $50 – $300 range, as that tends to be the gift-giving sweet spot.

This is Only a Preview

Want to learn more? These strategies and many others are included in UpSellit’s Summer Marketing Guide. It’s packed with new insights and ideas to optimize your summer strategy. It’s a great resource and it’s totally free! Make the most of the season and download it today!

Summer Marketing Guide