Summer is (literally) the hottest season for promotional events. It’s the perfect time to ramp up your business!
When done right, promotional events increase brand exposure, raise sales, and bring in more foot traffic – plus, it’s a great way to get to know your target audience face-to-face.
Need a little help to make a splash with your marketing strategy? Don’t sweat it! Check out these top 6 must-haves to plan a promotional event that sizzles with success.
Summer Themes
Your event theme should align with your branding, and of course, summer fun! Here are a few popular themes.
- Beach, please! Lay out some festive towels, and bring on the beachy word play.
- Good old fashioned barbecues are perfect for restaurants and other food-related businesses. You might even come up with some tasty new creations to spice things up.
- Summer sports and activities like volleyball, camping, and swimming open the door for so many fun slogans. Add prizes for game winners and you’re golden.
- Summer time is when community fairs and festivals come around – why not hop on the bandwagon? Carnival games, bright colors, and fried food are sure to draw a crowd.
FOMO on Promos
Everyone loves free stuff. Create a little fomo by advertising complimentary gifts, giveaways, prizes, and promotional items on sale. Prepare promotional summer products that suit the event theme! Don’t worry, we’ve got a few hot ideas to help you out.
- Help your guests beat the heat in style with things like sunglasses and brimmed hats.
- Everyone could use more beach towels.
- If your event is being hosted outdoors, items like sports balls and water bottles are just the thing.
- If you hold a raffle or contest, prizes are a must. Why not put together a couple of themed gift baskets? Throw in a coupon or gift card to win some brownie points with your customers.
- Make a limited time offer that your target audience won’t want to miss out on.
Fun In The Sun
Fun in the sun isn’t actually fun if everyone is suffering. If you host the promotional event outdoors, keep these quick tips in mind so that your customers are comfortable.
- Tell the bugs to bug off with some citronella candles.
- Don’t throw shade, provide it!
- Make sure there are covers for any food to prevent spoiling.
- Hand out mini complimentary sunscreen bottles.
- Water is a definite must.
Save the Date
Take advantage of fun national holidays and incorporate them into your event planning. You can use this as an opportunity to strengthen your branding, and increase brand awareness. These are a few of our favorite summer days that you can use for next year.
- National Splurge Day (June 18th)
- National Ice cream Day (July 17th)
- Hot Enough For Ya Day (July 23rd)
- International Day of Friendship (July 30th)
- National Women’s Day (August 9th)
- National S’mores Day (August 10th)
- National Senior Citizens Day (August 21st)
- National Beach Day (August 30th)
Support A Cause
Ethical marketing is more important to consumers than ever before. In fact, 71% of consumers have reported to Sprout Social that they think it’s important for brands to take a stand on sensitive issues. Use your promotional event as an opportunity to do some good and earn customer loyalty in the process. For example, either donate a percentage of the profits from promo sales, or even put out a donation jar to support a local non-profit that aligns with your company’s branding. If you’re not in the position to donate, have brochures or flyers about the non profit available for guests at the event.
Be Social, Butterfly
The most important thing is to have fun with it, and get creative. Consumers love authenticity, so show them that you are just as excited about the promotional event as you want them to be. How? Social media and content marketing of course.
- Make posts with branded graphics about the promo in the weeks leading up to the event. You can even start a countdown to build up excitement.
- Use clever summery hashtags on your social platforms for these posts, like #funinthesun.
- Take LOTS of pictures and videos during the event and post them to entice your target audience to come to your next one.
- Tag local organizations who are involved – share the love!
- Share the event to your community’s social groups and pages to spread the word.
- Make an announcement on your website, and use it as an opportunity to add SEO to the page.
Now that you have some ideas and know what you need for the ultimate summer promo… we’re invited, right?
Contact our digital marketing agency today to put your sizzling summer strategy into motion.
