For some of us, the sheer thought of ‘taking it easy’ this summer just isn’t an option. You have a business to run, right? Products to sell, proposals to write and everything else that falls in-between!

However, that doesn’t mean your customers are thinking the same way. People enjoy cooling down a little during summer and relaxing. Although, does this apply to social media? Will customers want to be seeing constant sales posts from you? Between June and September can prove to be a difficult time for businesses to actually sell, and you are probably wondering how you keep your customers eyes on you during this period.

The good news is, social media won’t be quiet anytime soon – especially during summer. However, it’s important that you’re adapting to the changes. We’ve curated four tips that could come in quite handy for managing your social media this summer.

 

1. Remain Relevant & Use Current Events.

You know something that doesn’t stop during the summer – well, all year round? The news. If you can ensure that your business and social media is remaining relevant by associating with current events, you’re a step ahead already. This can come in the form of reacting to current events on your business account or even sticking in a few jokes to liven things up – humour always gets a good response. Just remember to keep it clean!

 

2. Competitions? Yes Please!

Everyone loves a good competition right? We’ve certainly seen a big increase in small companies taking part in hosting competitions and we understand why. It’s a great way to get out there. Whether it’s a free box of chocolates or an amazon giftcard, you’ll be amazed at how people will interact with your brand in order to be in with a chance of winning. Below you’ll see an example of The Chocolate Lounge‘s recent competition that we hosted. Check out those stats!

One way you can take this a step further is by asking your customers to get involved by sending in their own content (ie – ‘Send us your selfies with our product to enter’) and this can then be shared across multiple platforms that you may manage.

Remember: Don’t rush these. It’s important you take the time to build buzz around a competition to ensure it reaches it’s full potential.

 

3. Why Reinvent The Wheel? Use Existing Campaigns.

A lot of people get confused by this. However, you would have seen them all around Twitter. Think of things such as #MotivationMonday, #FeelgoodFriday, #FollowFriday, #WednesdayWisdom etc. These are essentially hashtags that are being used by hundreds of people based around the hashtags meaning. Don’t worry if you think your customers may not understand these, give them some time and we guarantee they will be using them!

One of our favourite uses of this point is by Innocent. The company noticed a huge popularity spike when the Apple iPhone turned 10 years old. So, what did they do to join in on the existing campaign fun? See below.

4. Finally – Be Fun. Yes, on Social Media!

Okay, it seems a little simple but you’ll be surprised at how many social media pages/accounts are dull and lack energy. Social media is the perfect tool to be engaging with your audience and potential customers, would you like to bore them in person?

Lets face it though, summer brings out our ‘inner child’ and you know what that means? Games! Seriously, games on social media has a positive impact because it’s more than just selling, it’s showing that you are fun and that you provide some additional value to your customers liking/following you. Here are some suggestions for your social media accounts (all are examples that we have been running for clients on their social media):

• Spot the x  – A little game where you hide a companies product somewhere in a photo and challenge your followers to find that product and tag their friends. It’s free promotion and super simple to create.
• Can you caption this? Simply upload a relevant photo you have, without any context. Challenge your followers to create the caption. Bonus points if you engage with your audience and compliment those worthy of a praise.
• Vote for your favourite! Do you offer multiple products that are very similar? Create a quick graphic with multiple products that you offer and attach an emoji (or like/share if using a different platform outside of Facebook) and let your followers vote for their favourite. If you can encourage them to say why, it’s also some really useful qualitative data for you.

This point can be applied to any social platform you’re working on. A little favourite from us is running this on Instagram.

 

Well… There we have it! We hope these tips can come in handy to help ensure your social media is as ‘summer ready’ as possible. A little tip to remember is that most of your followers will be consuming this content on a mobile device when they are out and about. Make sure your posts aren’t too long and are easy to engage with.  If you have any questions, please do get in contact with us – we’d love to have a chat about all things social.

Have a great summer! ☀️