4 summer marketing ideas for your retail store.

Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day are over. You might be tempted to believe that no one will want to buy products from your store during the hazy summer months that follow. Fortunately, you have a great deal of control over your commercial fate in June, July, and August. Institute these marketing strategies to raise the temperature of your sales and get customers excited about buying your merchandise.

1. Make the calendar your friend by celebrating key dates.

Sure, it’s not the holidays, and Labor Day isn’t exactly a prime buying day no matter how you slice it. Nevertheless, you would be surprised to learn how many summer events you can turn into fun reasons to spark a flash sale or generate social media content that gets people motivated to click or come into your store.

Of course, it depends on what type of business you own. But think, for instance, about the numerous sales opportunities that back-to-school represents. Virtually anything you sell can be turned into something to be bought for a child, high schooler, or university student returning to the classroom. Patriotic times like Memorial Day and Independence Day also hold a great deal of potential as does hyping up summer themes, in general.

Once you determine what date or event you want to highlight, pull out all the stops. Make a dedicated landing page on your website, and modify your store decorations and layout to inspire customer interest. The key is to create a buzz that motivates people to look further, whether online or inside your physical store.

2. Use multiple channels to get the word out.

Running a fun sale or event is only part of the equation. If people don’t know it’s happening, all of your hard work will come to nothing. Therefore, your next important job is to pull out all the stops to create that important buzz.

Your point of sale system does a lot more than conducting retail credit card processing. In fact, this little hardware-software combination is jam-packed with features, all designed to help you run your business better and increase sales.

One of its most important tools is its customer database. Working in conjunction with the system’s inventory management component, the database stores contact and shopping history information for your customers. Not only does this facilitate forecasting future marketing campaigns, but also it makes it easy for you to create and launch a highly effective marketing campaign. With just a few clicks, you can send out an email blast containing the details of your summer sales event. You can even use buying histories to send targeted messages to your best customers letting them know about items related to what they have purchased in the past.

Social media is another terrific way to engage customers and stimulate interest. If you don’t already have active pages running on popular forums such as Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, don’t let another day go by without taking this vital step. After all, these pages give you an unparalleled chance to have ongoing dialogues with customers. What’s more, they are places where reviews, product demos, polls, contests and much more can be featured. Best of all, taking advantage of social media is one of the most affordable and effective advertising vehicles available to you.

3. Give away freebies.

Summer might be a season when people take time off from their normal activities, but they never get tired of free merchandise. Combine no-cost stuff with a good contest, and how can you possibly go wrong?

Luring customers into your store with freebies is a brilliant way to get their eyes on the products you are featuring. Chances are good that they will leave with more than the free small article of clothing or accessory that brought them to your shop. And if you can inspire them to take a picture that they post on social media to enter your contest, you will be winning once again.

4. Get out in your community.

Whether your store is in a large city or a small town, there are sure to be summer activities throughout the season. The more visible you and your brand are, the more people will remember you and want to see what you have to offer at your store.

To that end, consider sponsoring a local sports team, enabling your logo to appear on uniforms. Operate a booth at area craft fairs and farmer’s markets, or open a pop-up shop at a music festival. If you’re not sure what’s going on in your area, your town’s chamber of commerce should be a great source of ideas and information.

Before you know it, you will need to start mapping out your holiday marketing strategy. But before you do, remember that the season of sand, ice-cream and relaxation can also be lucrative. Take a little time to prepare, and your profits can be as hot and sizzling as the July sun.