Summer Marketing Tips to Free Up More Beach Days

Make your holiday setup your usual setup

At the busiest time of year, we not only do all of our required work, but we manage to create our marketing plan and schedule all our online marketing for while we are off too! So why don’t we do this all the time?

Here’s how to keep your digital marketing plan going while you enjoy the summer

1. Make a marketing plan
2. Create any images ahead of time
3. Set a budget for advertising spend
4. Make a schedule for your advertising
5. Decide how responses will be handled
6. Delegate where you can
7. Automate everything possible.

Make use of summer events, if they’re a good fit

In summer, the way we relate to the world is different. We are outside more. We’re more social. We eat differently. We often do different things with the longer hours of sunlight. In business, summer changes what you can say to people. For surf shops, summer is the perfect time to deliver the right message: Upgrade your summer gear before you hit the beach. For bike shops, the Tour Down Under is the perfect time to sell bikes, accessories, and the idea of being part of the big race. Whatever it is, don’t be afraid to tap into what the season brings to your business.

Take advantage of key dates to keep it interesting

Campaign scheduling that takes advantage of key dates makes starting and ending campaigns easy. You can book-end your campaigns with significant dates. For example: From Australia Day to Valentine’s Day, from Valentine’s Day to Writers’ Week. Define your own summer calendar based on key dates, and build your campaigns to fit. It will stop you wondering what to promote or schedule. But it also has a range of other benefits.

What are the benefits of using set dates?

• It helps you build client-focused campaigns because you’re focused on what your clients are thinking about
• It stops you wondering what to do next
• It gives you instant structure
• It makes brainstorming campaigns easier.

If you aren’t sure whether you are building your campaigns right, contact us for an obligation free conversation.

Know what people are searching for… then help them find it

One under-utilised tip that really helps is to know what your ideal clients are looking for. Then, make it easy for them find it.

It sounds simple, and in principle it is. But in practice it means looking at your data over the past summer periods to understand common search patterns. Then, adjust your advertising and search engine optimisation strategy to address it. In some cases this might mean rethinking what you offer. If you usually run life drawing courses in summer, but your data shows people are searching for water colour classes, consider changing the program to meet people’s needs.

Know how to respond, then delegate and automate!

Sitting down and really thinking about how to respond to people is an important element of any marketing plan.

Think about:

• Will customers go through to a call team?
• Do you need to think about responses in social media?
• How are emails being handled?
• Who is on leave at this time of year, and will that change your ability to respond to people?

Then, break up the work into small pieces and delegate it effectively. Automate whatever you can and schedule ahead. Pre-scheduling posts, emails, and ads is powerful and convenient (especially when the beach is calling).

Schedule your check-ins

No matter how well you do all the steps above, you still have to check in on how your marketing plan is going. It requires hands-on review and sometimes responses. Everything that you can schedule or action up-front is the equivalent of banking time that you can spend elsewhere. And it stops you constantly thinking about it!

This is why you need to schedule your check-ins. Keep notes at each point about what you’re checking and why. Then set a timer and use the time productively.

By following these simple tips, you will discover the freedom of a well-managed online marketing campaign. It’s not something that you should think about all the time. Especially when you’re relaxing with friends!

If you’d like more information about how you can achieve summer-time freedom, contact our friendly team today.