Digital Marketing Trends 2022: Summer Edition

No matter what business you’re in, Summer brings changes. For some, this may be your busiest season. Employees are taking breaks, customers go on vacation, and the mood shifts from serious to a bit more lighthearted.

So what does this mean for your marketing strategy?

Creating The Best Summer Marketing Strategy

Thinking about how the summer impacts your potential customers already puts you a step ahead of many competitors. Here are a few ways you can take advantage of marketing during the summer months.

Get Social

Many of your customers are likely on vacation or taking more frequent trips over the weekend. This means they’re spending more time in the car, lounging poolside, or dining out. They’re probably not spending much time with devices, but when they are, it’s likely to scroll social media for a few minutes to catch up on what’s new with friends and family.

Here are some tips for marketing on social media during the summer:

• Stay at the top (of the funnel) — this is a great time to focus on your branding and top-of-funnel strategies. It’s unlikely someone on vacation is going to immediately convert, but a summer-themed branded display ad or a lighthearted blog post can expose new customers to your brand and position them for future remarketing efforts.
• Keep it light in organic posts — now is not the time to berate your customers with heavy advertising. This is a great time for your “fluffy” content that’s geared more toward engagement than lead acquisition. Ask your audience about their favorite memory at a lake, or post about a team member’s birthday or pet. Keep your audience engaged with your brand in the summer so they’ll remember you after the vacation’s over, and they’re ready to get back to business.
• Push your social game just a little farther — If you don’t use social media at all or often, now is the time to start posting more frequently. If you already post but never pay for advertising, try boosting a post. If you already boost posts, try using ad manager to create a complete ad campaign. If you’re already paying for ads, consider shifting some of your advertising budget from paid search ads on Google or Microsoft to social media advertising.
• Capitalize on seasonality — evaluate how your target market shifts during the summer. College and schools are on break — is this your client base, or does it impact your client base? As mentioned below, the Summer Slump exists — do you offer something that could help other companies battle this? Think of the changes that will come with summer, and how you can leverage these changes within your marketing language and style.

Get in the Summer Spirit!

Summer is a great time to show you’re fun, too! Get in the summer spirit at the workplace and across your digital marketing strategies.

Here are some ways your business can celebrate summer:

• Run a contest — have your employees dress up in their best beach day outfit and have customers vote on their favorite. Or, have your customers submit their best beach photo on social media and select one to win something.
• Share your employee celebrations — now is a great time to take a business outing with your employees or have an employee appreciation get-together. Take lots of photos and share them in your newsletter, on your blog, and in social media.
• Create a video — make a TikTok video featuring the hit summer song, or give a quick tour of your building in an Instagram live video.

Evaluate Your Budget

Now is a great time to reflect on how your budget has served you the last 6 months — and how to move forward. Did you see awesome results and feel comfortable increasing your budget? Do you want to pare down on unnecessary spending?

Position yourself for a stellar third and fourth quarter with a review of your budget and shift your efforts where they’re needed most.

Value Your Employees

We all know that employees who feel more valued do better work.

The summer slump is a real thing, and being understanding of this seasonal shift in the workplace will help your employees continue bringing their best selves to your projects and deliver on your digital marketing efforts.

This Fundbox article goes into detail about the data behind the summer slump, and outlines some simple ways to support your staff during this time, including:

• Be flexible with schedules and establish a “summer Friday” or other weekday where employees can leave a few hours early
• Have team-building activities and outings
• Respect vacation time

Plan Ahead for Fall and Winter

Yes, this post is about summer marketing, but we couldn’t end it without mentioning that fall and winter will be here before we know it. So. Many. Companies. wait until October 1 to start planning for Halloween, and until November 1 to work on their holiday and Black Friday strategies.

While planning ahead is important for every digital marketing strategy, it is critical for SEO. Now is the time to discuss your marketing strategy for the second half of 2022 with your digital marketing agency or in-house marketing department.

The Key Takeaway?

Just considering the shift in your customers’ habits in the summer when developing and executing your digital marketing strategy will put you ahead of many of your competitors. Try just one or two ideas, and observe their impact. You’ll be happy you did!

Nicole Vesota

Vice President & Project Manager

Nicole has been working in online marketing since 2007 when she joined Top Of The List. She loves creative endeavors and spending time with her daughter.