I know as entrepreneurs it can sometimes be so easy to fall off the bandwagon during the summer. That’s why today I have three pretty low effort, high impact things I want you to focus on this summer. And don’t worry, I am practicing what I preach here, because I will be implementing these things in my own business as well!
Let’s all focus on creating a summer marketing plan that sets you up for success in the fall. We all get that new fall energy, right? We’re going to talk about three marketing activities you should do this summer to make your life easier when that fall energy hits. Your future self will thank you. So, let’s get into it!
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Table of Contents
Write AT LEAST One Blog Post a Week
I am sure many of you are probably thinking about “starting to blog in the fall” with that new fall energy. Start now. This will drive new eyes to your product or service by Q4. Blogging can take three to nine months to start ranking. If you write at least one blog post per week starting now you’ll be grateful in September. You’ll have a bank of content hopefully starting to rank on Google and content you can repurpose in the fall. It’s a win-win.
Regarding summer marketing, another benefit of blogging is that it can be batched. You never have to post live or worry about posting times. It’s a solid marketing strategy, especially in the summer when we don’t want to live by our phones. Start now. Don’t procrastinate.
If you start now, you could have a minimum of 10 blog posts by early September if you push yourself! If you want to cut down your screen time and reduce Instagram marketing this summer, I’d say do THIS. If you want to push yourself, do two blogs a week. It’s worth the effort.
Audit Your Website and Make It 10% Better
I know this sounds like “another project” that can wait, but your marketing efforts will be so much stronger. I talked about this previously when your website does some of the trust building, conversion copying for you. A lot of us will put off improving our website. We think, “I need to redo my website at some point”, and then we spend months shopping for a template and it ends up getting put off further. Just do yourself a favor and go through your current website. You don’t necessarily need to burn it all down.
If you want my honest customized opinion, you can DM me your website and I’ll let you know if you should burn it all down or not. For most of us, while a new website might be a fall project, there is no reason why you can’t go through your website over the next couple of weeks and make it 10% better.
You can use a tool like Hotjar, which screen records people’s experiences on your website. When I make improvements to my website, I watch these screen recordings every Friday and make tweaks based on what I see. You don’t necessarily need to do that, but you can if you find it interesting. Run your site through a broken link checker, fix the broken links, improve your contact form, and update anything that needs it. This can take just a few hours and will have a bigger impact than most other things you could do this summer.
Keep Your Instagram Content Focused on Stories in Your Summer Marketing
I promise you, most of us won’t notice if you miss posting in the feed. I’ve been posting on Instagram more often, and one thing I’ve constantly been reminded of is that designing carousels takes a long time. This might not be how you want to spend your summer. Do low-effort B-roll reels if you must. Repurpose some content by taking an old post from a year or two ago and updating it or just reposting it. Find ways to make Instagram feed content as easy as possible, or just skip it.
Trust me. Keep updated with stories. If I were to give you a third thing to do this summer, keep your stories updated. I am guilty of not doing this, but you’re going to see that change. I’m holding myself accountable here by writing it here.
Soft Sell Summer Marketing
I’ve mentioned a “soft sell summer.” We don’t want pushy sales content. Show off the transformation you’re selling. If I’m telling you my business is thriving because I have Pinterest and blogging working for me on autopilot, I need to show evidence of that. And it’s true; I don’t worry about marketing much.
When I had laryngitis, I worried about my podcast a bit, but generally I don’t stress about marketing or finding new clients because I rank on Google for a bunch of keywords (which is amazing) and I get referrals. I don’t get many clients through Instagram, so maybe that’s why I suggest taking it easy on posting to the feed. But, I do talk to many business owners, and this experience is not just my own.
So, keep it to stories. One of my clients shared her vacation in Rhode Island, and I thought, “This is the content I want to see in my feed all summer.” People living their best life. Soft selling works. Show the result of what you’re selling instead of repeatedly telling people how good it is. Do that in stories. I know it might be easier for some businesses to show the transformation of their product or service than others, but lean into this as much as you can.
Final Thoughts on Summer Marketing
So, that’s it for today! You might think, “Kara is telling me to take it easy, but she’s posting every day.” I’m trying new things in my summer marketing, BUT just know I’m getting a lot of support. And, if you want to go hard this summer, I will be the first to cheer you on. It’s easy to compare what others are doing, but remember, you don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes.
LINKS MENTIONED
- Check out Hotjar
- Hire us to be your Pinterest Marketing Managers
- Join Blogging for Bingeable Brands (Use Code PODCAST20 for 20% Off!)
- Learn more about working with our marketing agency here
- Follow me on Instagram
