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Summer is not just a time for vacations and outdoor activities; it can also be an opportune time for communications teams to focus on special efforts that can have a significant impact on their organization’s reputation and bottom line. With many businesses experiencing a slower pace during the summer months, communications teams can take advantage of this downtime to launch new campaigns, conduct research and make plans for the rest of the year.
Below, 13 Forbes Communications Council members share some of the special efforts that comms teams can undertake during the summer and explore the benefits of launching these initiatives during this season. Read on to learn how and why the summer months can be the perfect time for comms teams to spearhead special projects that will drive success for their organizations.
1. Plan Activities To Create Connections
Each summer, we celebrate warmer weather and longer days with our “Summer Bucket of Fun” (#SBoF). Every Monday throughout the summer, a lucky member of our team gets to draw a special activity for the week from a literal yellow sand pail. It’s great fun, plus it creates opportunities for us to connect with our clients, partners and alumni in a way that reflects our true selves and personalities. - Mike Neumeier, Arketi Group
2. Partner With Influencers
Partnering with influencers during summer months is critical, given the cost of paid media during key holiday periods such as Memorial Day and the Fourth of July. Influencer rates don’t typically fluctuate based on the time of year, other than at peak December holidays, meaning they become an even better ROI compared to paid efforts. - Keith Bendes, Linqia
3. Focus On Performance Marketing And Communications
It is a great time to try new things and focus on performance marketing and communications. The increase of fresh influencers and newly emerging channels provides unique opportunities to achieve desired results. However, it is essential to have a strategy for a few quarters ahead. Then, if the effectiveness of your leading revenue generators drops, you can pivot to other options. - Toma Sabaliauskiene, Nord Security
4. Communicate More With Customers
Summer is a great time to communicate with customers due to the unstructured time. With kids out of school and everyone in a better mood thanks to warmer weather, people are influenced differently, digesting information differently and more time is spent online shopping. - Layla Kasha, Grocery Outlet
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5. Invest In Foundational Strategy
Summer is a more laid-back time generally, and we’re using it as an opportunity to retool our business development strategies, in anticipation of a brand refresh. It might seem daunting to approach “heavy thought work” in the summer, but for our agency and for many of our clients, we’ve found it’s actually a great time to invest in foundational strategy. You can really make traction! - Michelle Stark, Red Sage Communications, Inc.
6. Share Keynote Speaker Ideas With Event Organizers
Our team will be launching one of our favorite themes, which we call “Summer Vibes.” We share keynote speaker ideas with our event organizers, which include adventurers, athletes, podcasters, world travelers and more. It’s not only a fun topic for us to promote, but it’s also a great tie-in to the less-busy summer months for events while our clients (and our team) enjoy the summer and prepare for fall. - Jennifer Best, AAE Speakers Bureau
7. Implement A ‘Workcation’ For Team Members
People tend to recharge over the summer, so it is also a great time to recharge your brand voice and messaging. Have the team take an extra day or two to do a “workcation” where they isolate themselves from the daily tasks at work, focus on a product or business and recharge the voice, messaging and unique value proposition. - Brad Sivert, Tavant
8. Film Year-End Wrap-Up Videos Outdoors
Summertime is the perfect prep for our holiday year-end wrap-up video. Our construction projects are usually in full swing, and the weather is better for filming outdoor videos. This footage is used to showcase to employees’ families and what they have been up to all year. Employees are allowed to plan fun skits for the video, allowing them to take ownership, let loose and have fun. - Sarah Lero, A.L. Huber
9. Do Campaigns With Outdoor Event Components
In the summer, our team will be helping out with marketing campaigns with event components that take place outdoors. The summer season is a time to celebrate the warm weather and bring your community together while spotlighting the special way your brand enriches their lives. - Melissa Kandel, little word studio
10. Launch A Campaign For World Entrepreneurs’ Day
This summer, our communications team will launch a special campaign aligned with World Entrepreneurs’ Day, which is happening in August. Since we target entrepreneurs at our consulting practice, it’s a great time and a great reason to reach out and celebrate the work that our target audience does, while attracting new potential leads. - Roshni Wijayasinha, Prosh Marketing
11. Launch A Summer-Related, Outdoor-Themed Social Media Campaign
This summer, our communications team will launch a social media campaign featuring outdoor-themed content and summer-related promotions. Summer is an ideal time for this effort, as it’s when people are more active, vacationing and engaging with friends and family. By capitalizing on the season’s energy and higher engagement rates, we aim to increase brand visibility, foster community and drive sales. - Jonathan Shroyer, Arise Gaming
12. Repurpose External Content Across Platforms
Summer is the perfect time for communications teams to shift their messaging to the beginning of the week for internal communications and to ensure external content is repurposed across platforms. Since people are on the go more during the summer, it’s important to get creative about where you are sharing your message so that when your audience is traveling, they won’t miss your message. - Victoria Zelefsky, The Menkiti Group
13. Conduct ICP Research
Conduct deep ideal customer profile research in the summertime. All good communication comes from understanding your customer inside and out. In the world of B2B, summer is a great time to do this level of deep analysis to build your “knowledge bibles” on customers. Those bibles can be your anchor as the communication needs ramp up in the busier times of the year, ensuring that all messaging is accurate and consistent. - Patrick Ward, Rootstrap
