Digital Summer Marketing Ideas For Online Ads and More

Schools Out for Summer! 

There’s a sense of freedom and possibility that only summer brings. The days start early and the evenings end late as the daylight lingers until almost 10 pm. Wardrobes become light and airy. The buzz of energy from all the living things around you is palpable. 

The urge to leave work early and pass the evening at an outside bar sipping a cucumber mojito and laughing with friends is practically an epidemic (at least in Portland). You need to find ways to use this unique time of year to your advantage. 

Turn Everyday Shopping Into An Experience

Take advantage of people’s willingness to go out more, and stay out later with an in-store event; like an after-hours shopping session with a live DJ and spritzers. Or set up a sidewalk sale to catch customer’s eye when they’re on their way to their next location.  

If you typically see a drop in sales during the summer because your product or service isn’t compatible with the warmer weather, it’s time to run a summer sale or promotion. There are plenty of people who just can’t pass up a good deal, regardless of if they need that item at the moment or not. 

All About the Images for Summer Ads

By now we all know humans are visual creatures and would prefer to look at pretty pictures than read a description. So show them how to have their best summer ever at your rental property; playing volleyball with your portable lightweight net; or by rocking the hottest new looks from your clothing subscription service. 

The light in summer is amazing, so get those images up and running, and change them out often. There’s also a different feel to June and July than the dog days of summer in August, so make sure to really think through how behaviors and attitudes change throughout the season and make adjustments to your image selections accordingly. 

If you have an e-commerce business or a national brand you need to be thoughtful about varying local climates. In the PNW, June can be a wash, with spring rains dragging on until the 4th of July. But your customers in Arizona and Nevada may already be hitting their heat limits and heading for cooler AC’d activities. Adjust your summer ads and imagery accordingly for different geographic locations. 

Turn up your Facebook and Instagram Advertising Strategy for Summer

If everyone is outside living their best life, in their stunner shades, are they even on Facebook? Will they see your ads? Yes, because they still need to login to upload their best shot of themselves chilling on the beach. 

But rather than bust your butt trying to craft the most eye-catching ads during the time when everyone’s photo game is hitting its peak, use that to your advantage, and find ways to encourage users to talk about your brand or product for you. 

Activate Your Brand Advocates

Summer can be a great time to run photo and engagement contests that get users to generate unique summer content for you. 

Do you sell hiking boots? Run a contest that has people post pictures of their epic hikes and outdoor adventures in your boots—have them tag you in it, or make up a specific hashtag for the campaign. 

Do you sell beauty products? Have them post pics of their fresh glowing skin, and open up voting for the best pic. Voting competitions are a great way to get individuals to activate their own networks for the benefit of everyone.

Summer Advertising that can Build Up your Sales Pipeline for the coming Seasons

Like we discussed in our winter marketing campaigns post, some industries really need to be advertising a couple of seasons ahead. It’s time to change up the ad campaigns you’re running to inform users what projects they need to start now, to ensure they’re ready in the coming fall or winter. 

Look for Win-Win Summer Advertising Opportunities

If your city is like ours, the parks department really turns it on in the summer with a ton of free or very low-cost activities. Events like movie screenings, concerts, festivals, and—my personal fave—Shakespeare in the Park. 

You can be a sponsor for one of these events, which will build some brand awareness and recognition through increased visibility for your company name and logo. Or you can take a step further, like giving away tickets to the event with in-store or online purchases the month leading up to the event. 

If there aren’t good opportunities to partner with your city, find another business to partner with. Remember that after-hours shopping affair you need to plan? It would be great if you could get a taco truck to park out front and feed customers on their way out. You expand your reach and visibility by getting both marketing teams talking up the event.

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Lost in a Haze of Summer Advertising Ideas?

You don’t have to do this alone. We love creating new ad campaigns to reach out to specific customer audiences or creating content that will motive users to take that jump from a looky-loo to a paying customer. Let’s talk!