Jay Leonard
For many small business owners, summer is the busiest time of year.
For others, the slower summer months provide an opportunity to relax and catch up before the busy season comes back around.
Regardless of what time of year it is for your business, coming up with content ideas is a marketing challenge that’s hard to avoid.
The good news is that summer also comes with some great sources of content inspiration, and is a great time to try something new.
Here are 8 things you can try before the summer ends:
1. Use the calendar
The calendar is a great place to look for inspiration.
In addition to major holidays like the Fourth of July and Labor Day, there are also some lesser-known holidays you can tap into for fun and creative content ideas.
Make sure to choose the days that are relevant to your business and that you think your audience will enjoy.
July is Independent Retailer Month, National Hot Dog Month, National Cell Phone Courtesy Month, National Blueberry Month, and National Ice Cream Month.
July
7/1: Canada Day
7/5: Work-a-Holic Day
7/6: Take Your Webmaster To Lunch Day
7/7: Tell the Truth Day
7/13: Embrace Your Geekness Day
7/13-7/14: Major League Baseball’s All-Star game & Homerun Derby
7/21: National Junk Food Day
August is National Golf Month and Family Fun Month.
August
8/3: National Watermelon Day; Friendship Day
8/5: Work Like a Dog Day
8/9: Book Lover’s Day
8/14: Left Hander’s Day
8/15: Relaxation Day
8/17: National Thrift Shop Day
8/21: Senior Citizen’s Day
8/22: Hug Your Boss Day
2. Celebrate the season
Beyond holidays, there are several seasonal activities that are relevant to the summer months. Bar-B-Qs, vacations, beach or lake trips, avoiding bugs, activities for kids, getting ready to go back to school, summer heat, camping, etc.
Does your business help individuals enjoy any of these seasonal events and activities? Share any relevant information for your audience to enjoy.
A few ideas to get you started:
- Backyard BBQs: Grilling tips, recipes, DIY lawn games, or party planning tips are simple content ideas people love to share.
- Advice for those heading outside: Share your best tips and tricks for staying cool during the hot summer heat, enjoying a stress-free camping trip, or secrets for keeping the bugs away!
- Tips for vacationers: What travel tips, packing tips, book recommendations, or activities for children can you offer to your fans and followers?
- Back to school: For many families, getting ready to head back to school can be stressful. Help your audience plan for the start of the school year with your best lessons for getting organized.
3. Run a campaign
Running a summer-themed campaign is a great way to generate attention for your business in a way that’s relevant and engaging to the people you’re trying to reach.
For example, you may already have an annual summer sale or an event at your store or office. One of the best ways to promote these activities is to create a content plan that incorporates your different marketing channels — like email and social media — to help get the word out.
In addition to events, you could also try a summer-themed Facebook fan promotion to help build your fan base and turn fans into customers.
4. Try something new!
If the summer is a slow time for your business, take advantage of the downtime and try something new.
Maybe you’ve been putting off trying a new social network — like Instagram or Pinterest.
Or maybe you’ve been thinking about trying to use mobile apps to support your marketing efforts.
Take the time to learn something new this summer. You can use what you learn to do more business all year long.
5. Repurpose existing assets
If you’re tight on time this summer, look for opportunities to repurpose assets you’ve already created throughout the year. That way, you’ll still be able to keep your audiences engaged, even if you’re not able to create anything new.
Here are a few ideas to keep in mind:
Feature a piece of content that got a lot of attention on social media in your next email newsletter, or vice-versa.
Turn a written piece of content into a fun and engaging visual asset. You can use a tool like PicMonkey or Canva to create images and incorporate text.
Start a “best of” series. Instead of just cross-promoting your content on different channels, you can call out your top performing content as a way to attract your audience’s attention.
6. Get personal
Showing off what goes on behind the scenes is a great way to show the human side of your business, as well as a great opportunity to build authentic relationships with for your audience.
Get personal by introducing the members of your team that help your business run smoothly. Who doesn’t love seeing the employees behind the brand? You can use Instagram to quickly snap a photo or record a quick video.
Use Instagram in the same way to create testimonials from happy customers about their experience with your business. By capturing customers in the moment, you can create content that truly connects your audience to your business.
7. Reminisce
Do you have a fond summer memory that you can share with your customers?
Participate in this trend and give your audience a glimpse of the past by celebrating ‘Throwback Thursday’ or ‘Way Back Wednesday’ on Twitter or Instagram.
Include the hashtag #TBT for ‘Throwback Thursday’ or #WayBackWednesday with an image that highlights a milestone from an earlier time.
Even if you’ve already shared this content, you can do it again. People will appreciate you bringing back happy memories.
The content could be from years ago—or just last month, it’s up to you!
8. Share On-The-Go
For many people, summer means one thing: time off.
Last year, Facebook activity on mobile jumped 20 percent in the month of June.
Reach your customers and stay top-of-mind between their vacation check-ins with social media content. If you’re lucky enough to squeeze in a vacation yourself, keep up with your marketing by sharing content from your mobile device.
Whether you’ll be relaxing or hard at work this summer, I hope these content ideas help you add some extra creativity to your communications or at least overcome writer’s block!
Do you have any other summer tips that we missed? Tell us all about them in the comment section below.
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This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
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