Nowadays, sunny summer days aren’t an obstacle for retail marketers. Shoppers constantly stay “plugged in”, even when relaxing poolside. In fact, summer shoppers are 2–3x more likely to browse and shop on the go, from beach loungers to airport lounges, making mobile-first experiences more important than ever. In this post, we’ve curated three ideas for the best summer marketing campaigns to inspire growth in your brand’s customer engagement this season.
Summer marketing campaigns we’re loving
A unique summer marketing campaign for eCommerce is sure to grab the attention of your audience. Let’s look at our top 3 picks of the best summer marketing campaign examples that have nailed it, and how you can replicate those recipes!
Summer marketing campaign #1: Leh Berry: Beat the Heat
Why we liked it:
For your eCommerce summer marketing campaigns in 2021, consider combining fun designs with effective summer marketing campaign slogans. Once you have these two components, you can create an awesome campaign with product bundles.
Customers love the feeling of getting a bargain, and bundling allows retailers to employ a popular psychological tactic. Bundled pricing convinces consumers they’re getting a great deal, even when they are driven to purchase additional items that they normally would not purchase. Sometimes, consumers end up buying items in the bundle at a higher price point than if sold separately!
How to replicate this tactic for your store:
- Fun designs are essential to the best summer marketing campaigns. An eye-catching design is certain to generate intrigue and allow your display to stand out from the crowd. For quick inspirations, check out the template library from an eCommerce marketing automation solution like ContactPigeon.
- Once you have the design, get inspired to create your own creative summer marketing slogans. Look to Leh Berry juice as a successful example. Their “Beat the Heat” campaign is super relevant and great copywriting.
- Next, build your product bundles. Consider which products go well together from your product offerings. There are several options to consider when deciding on the product bundle. One way is to create the bundle based on products that are complementary to each other (e.g., matching top and bottom). Alternatively, you can let data decide the combination by offering products that are often purchased together. You can use ContactPigeon’s native product recommendations when building the bundles.
Additional tips:
- When someone views one of the products within the bundle trigger a dynamic pop-up triggers to up-sell the product bundles. This gives your customers a chance to see the bundle offer in case they haven’t seen it already.
To easily set up pop-ups and skip the hassle of learning Photoshop or CSS, all you need is a Dynamic Pop Up Editor like in the video below.
- Also, you can use Facebook Custom Audience from your existing contacts on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network. Then, use the Ads to target consumers who have viewed similar products in the past.
Estimated time needed to set up: 3-4 hours
Summer marketing campaign #2: Sunny Co Clothing’s Viral Red Swimsuit Giveaway
Why we liked it:
This Instagram giveaway has become an annual event for Sunny Co Clothing. It proves to be exceptional in growing brand awareness. The giveaway? This trendy FREE red bathing suit — a $65 value! All you need to do is re-post Sunny Co Clothing’s photo on Instagram and tag the brand.
The first year, this summer marketing campaign generated 341,042 likes and 121k comments! It’s a great way to have customers become instant brand ambassadors for your brand without even realizing it. From reposts on social media to word of mouth, you generate a hot viral summer marketing campaign. And, you do it without breaking the bank on advertising.
How to replicate this tactic for your store:
- Define the scope of your giveaway. For example, set parameters for what prizes to give away. Also, decide the total value, how many items, the giveaway’s timeframe, how winners will be chosen, and so on.
- Select what channel to promote your giveaway. Ideally, pick one that can largely amplify the social network effect.
- Design corresponding creatives.
- Set up a giveaway Landing page for your social media campaigns. The landing page should describe the giveaway and how to enter. A great idea is to “personalize” your landing page with a channel-specific variation. For example, visitors from an Instagram post, you can ask them to “like us on Instagram”, like Sunny Co Clothing did with their giveaway.
- On the landing page, you can ask visitors to opt in to push notifications (if they haven’t done so already). You can use push notifications to announce winners and further nudge entrants on a limited-time offer.
Estimated time needed to set up: 3-4 hours
Summer marketing campaign #3: J.Crew’s Summer Time Creative Survival Guide
Why we liked it:
This summer marketing campaign is ready to convert! Remember, your marketing campaign should be optimized for both mobile and desktop in order for shoppers to open, click, and buy. What’s more, you need a responsive, personalized campaign to grab shoppers’ attention even when they are on the go during the hot summer months.
How to replicate this tactic for your store:
- Responsive campaign designs optimized for desktop and mobile are essential components to your summertime marketing success. The best summer marketing campaigns need beautiful, colorful designs. This campaign does it all, really, really well. A great summertime tip is when you can’t provide sales, try to invest elsewhere (such as graphics and designs) to draw users in and convince them to convert.
- Use FOMO and clear summer-themed CTAs. One of the most important tips for marketers is to include a countdown clock to create scarcity and FOMO. J.Crew’s FOMO of their sale ending today, alongside a clearly marked CTA, the summertime sale code “JULY”, makes it one of the best summer marketing campaigns.
- Personalization equals conversions. Use a drag-and-drop email builder to design personalized campaigns that represent your brand image and style. Create fun summertime taglines, subject lines for email campaigns, and use breezy summertime colors. Try J.Crew’s color scheme out — it’s cool and refreshing, just like a coconut!
Estimated time needed to set up: 1-2 hours
Fun summer holidays
There are many summer holidays to inspire great marketing campaigns besides the 4th of July. We’ve looked at our top 3 picks of the best summer marketing campaigns we’re loving. Now, let’s look at 5 fun holidays to help you tap into shoppers emotions and increase your summer conversion rate:
1. Flag Day (June 14)
Think patriotism for inspiration. Showcase products that are red, white, and blue. Help make shopping, decorating, and entertaining easy peasy for your shoppers.
2. Summer Solstice (June 21)
Celebrate this astronomical event, the longest day of the year, with extra savings and specials. It’s a great idea for a one-of-a-kind summer marketing campaign for eCommerce!
3. Hammock Day (July 22)
It’s summertime, and your customers are chilling out. Creating easy, breezy summer marketing campaigns is the perfect way to tap into the mindset of your audience! Use this day, which celebrates chilling in a hammock, to promote summertime savings and deals.
4. Friendship Day (August 2nd)
What a sweet holiday! Help your customers celebrate those they love and cherish by creating one of the unique and best summer marketing campaigns. Offer sweet deals such as BOGOs (buy one for you and one for your BF), and so on.
5. National S’mores Day (August 10th)
Everyone loves S’mores! And nothing says summertime like sitting around a campfire and roasting these sweet, gooey treats. Get inspired by the spirit of summer. Think about long summer days, friends, and family. Offer sweet sales on this yummy holiday!
6. Back-to-School Campaign (August-September)
The ring bells every September, and pupils and students have to return to classrooms for the next school year. Year after year, we see a rising number of brands, coming from a wide variety of niches, invest time and effort to spot catchy Back to School marketing ideas to increase seasonal revenue. Any brand should definitely do the same!
Discover more seasonal & holiday marketing campaigns by top brands
- The Best Thanksgiving Campaigns We’ve Ever Seen
- The 21 best Valentine’s Day campaigns the world has ever seen
- The 27 best Black Friday campaigns of all time (2022 Update)
- The 7 best Easter campaigns of all time
- 10 Mother’s Day Marketing Campaigns We Loved
- 17 Father’s day marketing campaigns we will never forget
- Best Back-to-School Campaign Examples: How 26 Big Retailers Nailed It
- 14 Back-to-School retail ideas to boost revenue
Automate your summer sales
To stand out from the crowd and beat the heat, you need a unique summer marketing campaign for eCommerce. Remember, summertime is fun-time. Although your customers are still plugged in and online, you need to make special efforts to grab their attention and engage them with your brand.
In this post, we have provided all the tools and knowledge you need to try 3 of the best summer marketing campaigns for eCommerce. We hope these examples and tips will inspire you with more summer marketing ideas for the ongoing hot summer days.
Going forward, be sure to keep up with the latest trends and eCommerce-related summer marketing ideas. This way, you’ll stay in the loop and get even more ideas for you to try in your own summer marketing campaigns! Now you’re chillin’.
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