The Importance of Early Planning for Summer Campaigns
To ensure a successful summer marketing campaign, businesses should start planning early to capitalize on trends and maximize their impact. Just as summer bodies are built in the winter, successful summer campaigns are built in the winter. If you are reading this in the spring or summer, it’s okay there might still be small things you could do.
1. Evaluate Last Summer’s Campaign Performance
If you had a summer campaign last year:
Reviewing the successes and challenges of last summer’s campaigns can provide valuable insights to shape your strategy this year. Look at the numbers and ask yourself the following questions:
- How much did it cost?
- Was it profitable?
- What was the goal?
- Did we achieve what we set out to do?
- How many of the sales/bookings turn into repeat customers?
Now think about how you can improve what you did. You can ask yourself the following questions:
- What was the most successful part of the campaign? Can I replicate that?
- What was the worst part of last summer’s campaign? Can I eliminate that?
- How can I automate as many things as possible?
- Is outsourcing this campaign an option?
2. Understand Your Target Audience’s Summer Behavior
Analyze how your target audience’s needs, behaviors, and interests shift during the summer months to create campaigns that resonate. Summertime can be quite unpredictable depending on the industry you are in. People are more likely to go outside of their routines with summer travel, children being on summer vacations, the warmer weather bringing people outside more, etc.
Think about your audience, how is summer impacting the way they shop with you? If you are in the children’s education space, parents are not in the usual spaces as during the school session. This summer campaign might help you bring more business in a slower season. If you are in the body wax industry, people are already thinking of your services. This summer campaign might be a chance to upsell some services or create loyal customers who will come back in the colder months.
3. Align Your Campaign Goals with Seasonal Trends
Set clear campaign goals that align with popular summer trends, such as outdoor activities, travel, relaxation, etc. Think about how you can incorporate summer-related activities into your campaign. For some, it might be something simple like imagery that aligns with summer and for others, it might mean that you hold some type of event related to summer.
4. Design a Content Calendar and Stick to It
Develop a detailed content calendar now to ensure consistent and timely delivery of your summer marketing messages. It is very important to know exactly when you want certain messages to reach your audience. For example, if you have a summer campaign surrounding an event, you want to make sure that your audience has enough time to think about your event before they book it. Having a clear plan of when you want to deliver different content will make your whole campaign run more smoothly. Issues almost always come up during the campaign so you want to have as much done as possible beforehand.
5. Optimize Your Website and Landing Pages
Ensure your website and landing pages are optimized to handle increased traffic and deliver a seamless experience for summer campaigns. If all goes well, you will have many people heading to your website or landing pages. The worst thing that could happen is if people get there and either they forget what they are there for or they can’t complete their purchase. To prevent these from happening, make sure the pages they are heading to match the campaign efforts they came from. Make sure that the imagery and verbiage match what they might have already seen on social media, emails, ads, etc. Secondly, make sure that you speak with your developer about how an increase in website traffic might affect your website.
7. Monitor and Adjust Your Campaigns in Real Time
Track your campaign performance closely to make real-time adjustments and maximize results. Setting up your campaign is only one of the first steps. Once your campaign starts, you need to look at the numbers to see if you are hitting some of the benchmarks you have set. If you feel like you are not on track to hit your goals, it’s okay to adjust your strategy. Just don’t get caught up in the minor details as campaigns take time.
Start Planning Now for a Sizzling Summer Campaign
By starting your summer campaign preparations early, you set your business up for a successful and profitable season. Make sure you set clear goals at the beginning so you know exactly how your campaign is running. Don’t forget to track your campaign while it’s happening and reflect on it once it’s over so you can start planning your next campaign. If you need help staying organized, you can download our new marketing planner.
Other helpful blogs:
How to Identify Your Target Audience in Digital Marketing
Images Matter – How to Select The Right Imagery for Campaigns and Content
- Preparing For a Successful Season: Start On Your Summer Campaigns Now - January 30, 2025
- Ask the Experts: Your Top Questions About Social Media Answered - November 17, 2024
- How to Grow Your Property Management Business With A “3M” Method - October 17, 2024
0 Comments