Fun online summer marketing ideas

By Felicia Guthrie

I think most of us can agree we love summer, right? So why not bring some of the summer fun into your summer marketing strategy as well? Plus, it’s a great opportunity to refresh your strategy and try something new, and exciting.

If you’re ready to heat things up this summer, keep reading for a few fun online summer marketing ideas.

HOST A GIVEAWAY

Who doesn’t love a good contest?! Whether your business or brand is relatively small, massive, or somewhere in between, a summer giveaway can be a great opportunity to boost social media engagement, get some excitement around your brand, and have fun!

Giveaways can be pretty flexible too. For example, you could do a collab with other brands or businesses to create a joint giveaway that offers a fun themed summer gift pack or summer experience. Or you could just go it on your own. I’ve seen brands and businesses offer gift cards, merch, and free products.

If you are doing a giveaway on Instagram, you can ask that people tag their friends (which introduces more people to your brand) and save the post (this is important because it helps you get recommended by the Instagram algorithm). You can also invite people to share to their Stories and allow for multiple entries (every comment/tag is an entry) which will boost your engagement. All of it will help you boost visibility within Instagram’s algorithm.

Alcoholic beverage brand, Palm Bay Spritz has had a bunch of contests not just this summer, but all year. They recently gave away these super cute branded bathing suits. This was a great choice because it gave them the opportunity to give away branded merch, the potential of User Generated Content when the winner posts photos of them wearing it, and it fit perfectly with the upcoming summer season!

What you do should be aligned with your brand, so giveaways will be a bit different for everyone. Stay true to your brand and have a little fun with it.

CREATE A SUMMER EXPERIENCE

Recently, canned wine brand, BABE Wine, launched their Summerlier (SUM-MER-LEE-YAY) campaign which works on many levels. Let’s start with the name which is a play on “sommelier” which is basically a wine expert. Next the “summer” play on the name change is because this is the first summer (kind of) out of lockdown. So, while becoming a wine expert (sommelier) can take lots of time, becoming a Summerlier with BABE Wine, can be done through an easy and quick questionnaire on their website. Once you’ve done said questionnaire, you’re welcomed into the “literal cutest group of humans who DGAF about elitist world of wine and are making the most of summer 2021 with a can of BABE in hand.” They have made it fun and cheeky – like the brand – and made it topical for summer.

They also used it as an opportunity to give away free stuff. By becoming a Summerlier with Babe Canada, you also get the opportunity to snag a little gift from them (like a super cute pink “Babe” straw)

Bud Light Canada is another example of a brand who created a summer experience… is it just me or are these alcoholic brands killing it right now? They recently launched a summer pop-up event (for the first 100 people in line). The pop-up, a wax bar called the “Bud Light Wax Bar,” offered complimentary waxing and free Bud Light beverages, all in celebration of having a #SmoothSummer. Check it out here.

SUMMER EMAIL DISCOUNT

Looking for more ways to heat up your summer marketing? Try hot summer deals! You can even utilize your email lists to create exclusive subscriber deals for summer. Did you know 60% of consumers subscribe to companies’ email lists to keep tabs on promotional messages and 44% of consumers check their emails to find out if there is any deal/discount?

CELEBRATE SUMMER “HOLIDAYS’’ & NATIONAL DAYS

There are tons of national days of celebration throughout the year that you can take part in! For example, you can use these days to create fun themed giveaways, discounts, challenges, and more.

Here are just a few examples of upcoming national days and ideas for each:

• National Friendship Day and National Sisters Day

  • Double giveaway: Tag a friend/sister you’d share with for a chance to win a cool prize for you and a friend/sister.

  • The prize, as determined by you, can be summer themed. For example, got an upcoming summer launch? Include it in your giveaway! Again, you can even team up with another brand to create a summer prize pack. What about matching scrunchies for you and your bestie? Cute.

• National Dollar Day

  • Offer some sort of deal, I.e. shipping only $1 for 24hrs or special $1 deals for the day

• National Nonprofit Day

  • Donate x amount of proceeds on one day to a non-profit of your choice. In 2021, people want to see businesses take a stand and talk about issues that are important to them, so this may be a great way to showcase an important cause that’s close to your heart.

Palm Bay Spritz (yes, I know… I love them) celebrated National Pet Day by giving away branded outfits for one lucky winner... and their pet. Take a look here!

Are you ready to have some fun with your summer marketing?! If the answer to this was YES but you just need a little more guidance, book a free 20-minute consultation with us and we can chat!

We hope you have an amazing summer!