Memorial Day is in the rear-view mirror, which means summer weather is about to hit and vacation “season” soon will be in full swing, including for yours truly and the Monkeyz staff. It’s an annual rite that’s good for the body, mind, and spirit—and good for recharging the batteries so you’re in tip-top fighting shape when the days inevitably start to get shorter again.

That said, just because it’s summer doesn’t mean your marketing efforts have to take a vacation too. Here are nine proven, marketing hacks you can do this summer to keep your business growth efforts afloat.

1. Dress up your website, blog, and social media pages with summer themes. Give your tired old web pages and social media platforms much needed facelifts for the summer months. It’s fun for you, for your customers, and it’ll help you stand out from the crowd.
2. Hold an event. People just want to be outdoors in the sunlight. Unless you’re in the North Pole, it’s sunny, it’s warm, and the days are pleasant and long. Plan a promotional event such as a family day, tent sale, barbeque, exposition/demonstration, sporting event/tournament, or some form of appreciation day for your customers, customers-to-be, or both. If your location is conducive to hosting such an event, hold it there. If not, got to the beach, a local park, or some other customer and family-friendly venue.
3. Push your business on Social Media with summer-time themed coupons, discounts, and promotions. Even while your staff is on vacation, social media promotions can keep working for you. Thank customers by offering them discounts and giveaways for posting and sharing stories and photos of their experiences with your business on their social media platforms.
4. Create summer gift cards for goods and services. Often, summer can mean a bit of a lull for your business, especially if you’re selling non-summer related products or services. Surely, cleaning a furnace, tuning up a car, or buying a pair of mittens or a warm coat aren’t at the top of anyone’s summer to-do-list. You can begin to turn that around by offering summer gift cards and discounts for good and services that are purchased or delivered during the summer months. Make it an offer they can’t refuse, and you’re sure to see a boost in business.
5. Create some buzz around seasonal promotions tied to holidays, summer activities, and sports. Memorial Day may have come and gone, but you still have the Fourth of July and Labor Day to focus marketing activities around. And while August might not have a ready-made holiday to tie-in with your summertime promotions, there are still plenty of summer time sports, such as marathons, half marathons, 5Ks, baseball, softball, volleyball, swimming, etc. Put together a company team. Hold a weekend run or walk. There’s an abundance of summer themed activities you can sink your marketing and social media teeth into.
6. Remember tourists/visitors when planning summer promotions. Many communities see a huge uptick from out-of-town, out-of-state, and even international visitors. Don’t forget to keep them in mind when planning summer time promotions and events.
7. Tailor promotions to new graduates. May and June see a wealth of new talent and new spending power unleashed in the form of high school and college graduates. So while they’re taking off their caps and gowns, it’s time for you to put your thinking cap on. What can you do to make your product or service more attractive to the needs of new graduates?
8. Go where your customers go: beaches, parks, festivals. Summer is ideal for road trips, so why not take your business on the road? Go where your customers go, such as the beach, the mountains, sporting venues, festivals, parks, outdoor malls, etc. You name it, if your customers are there, chances are your business will benefit from being there too.
9. Break out the summertime swag. You can never have too much swag. Summer it the perfect time to break out tee-shirts, sunglasses, beach towels, lightweight carry bags, etc., all adorned with your company name and logo—especially if it’s good, quality stuff people won’t be leery of showing off in public. There’s no better way to turn vacationing customers and employees into goodwill ambassadors for your brand.

Your business doesn’t have to take a hiatus just because summer is here. Sure, everyone rightfully deserves a vacation, but that doesn’t mean your marketing efforts have to stall. What ideas do you have for keeping marketing temperatures up this summer?

Share your thoughts here with the rest of the Monkeyz crowd!

Paul June is King Monkey of BARREL O’MONKEYZ, a San Diego-based strategic marketing agency specializing in Sports and Active Lifestyle markets. We serve as a seasoned, outsourced marketing team for companies looking to ramp up sales and launch new products. Our barrel is full of talent and creative arms ready to prove we don’t just monkey around!