7 Hot Summer Marketing Ideas

Summer can be one of the best times of the year for retailers to really push their merchandise. But with intense competition, it could take more than the usual marketing gimmicks to lure the crowds into your store. Here are some ideas that you could try out this year.

Spice up your visual merchandising for summer to reflect the turn of the season

(image by Ingfbruno – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

1. Signal the turn of the season

Be sure to put all hands on deck as you jumpstart your summer promotions and advertisements. Start out by sending out e-mail blasts highlighting the most sizzling items on your shelves, and put the hottest seasonal picks front and center when it comes to updating the look and feel of your boutique for the season.

2. Offer summer swag

Even a little something can go a long way in making customers come back to your boutique. Woo them with seasonal items, such as water bottles, sunscreen, small towels, caps, and fans, among other things. Whether you give out these items for free, or offer them as gift with a purchase, do make sure that they are useful to your clients. Also, consider branding the gifts.

Jump in on the Instagram bandwagon and hold a promo for photos featuring your merchandise

3. Host or partake in a local event

Don’t waste the opportunity to reach out to your current and potential customers by organizing an event. It doesn’t have to be big—consider a small cocktail party, a meeting with the stylist, or a fashion workshop. If that’s too much for you to handle, you can always join in on an ongoing happening, like a local fair or a cool festival. Just make sure that the theme and style of the event reflect your brand’s identity.

4. Partner up

To generate more buzz around your brand, consider collaborating with influential bloggers. Designer Anine Bing partnered up with a prominent LA fashionista Aimee Song, and succeeded in getting her relaxed Cali girl-inspired label noticed. You could, too!

Consider working in tandem with a fashion blogger to create a fab summer ensemble featuring your clothes and/or accessories

(image by Robert Bejil, [CC BY 2.0], via Flickr)

5. Leverage the social media

What better way to spread the word about your brand or boutique than by utilizing your social media presence? Try offering your fans and followers a discount for each Instagram repost or Facebook share, or better yet—a photo of them wearing your pieces (and tagging your boutique, of course).

6. Be creative

There’s no better time than summer to really go all out with your marketing tricks. Get your creative juices running and dare to attract attention even in unorthodox ways. For example, one vintage store in Nashville gives $10 off a $100 purchase whenever the temperature outside hits 100 degrees or more.

7. Host themed days/weeks

“Beach Babe Week,” “Sizzling Saturdays,” or “Festival Weekends”—these are just some of the themes that you can use this summer season to tie together all the blowout sales, contests, designer appearances, trunk shows, and other types of marketing stunts that you have planned.