summer-saleSummer can be a difficult time for online retailers. People can be preoccupied with holiday planning, and would rather spend time outside if the weather is fine. This leaves fewer and fewer opportunities to shop online. It is for this reason that many retailers choose to run sales during the summer months. A well-timed promotion can help to engage with disinterested customers, even when the lure of the sunshine is there. Here are some tips to help you use email marketing to make the most of your summer sales:

Start With The Subject Line

The subject line is the first opportunity you’ll have to engage with your customers. Grab them at this stage, and they’ll be much more likely to open and click through your email.

By mentioning ‘summer’ in your subject line, your customers will know that the contents of the email is relevant to them at this time. It may contain something that they are currently looking to buy. Your subject line should also mention that you are running a sale; the prospect of a bargain is always a good way to engage with your customers!

With this simple subject line, T.M. Lewin tell their customers everything they need to: they are having a summer sale on suits. This quickly grabs the attention of the customers, without them having to take in too much information:

Give Your Customers Updates

When you’re running a summer sale, one email promoting it will never be enough. Nowadays, people can receive hundreds of emails every day, so it’s very easy for some of them to be ignored. It’s your job to regularly keep your customers informed about what’s happening with your sale; they will then be more likely to take notice. Let them know whenever new lines are added to your sale, or if you’re running any further discounts so that they’re always fully informed.

In this email from People Tree, starting with the subject line, the customer can’t fail to notice that they’ve added new lines to their summer sale. Within the email, they’ve also shown their customers some of the items they can buy in the sale:

Offer a Preview

If you are a business that operates both online and in store, you can use email to give your online shoppers an ‘exclusive’; something that people who shop entirely in store won’t get to experience. This will help to drive more traffic to your website during the slow summer months. Many companies offer their online customers a short preview of their sales, before they become available to in store shoppers. The benefits of this are twofold: it drives traffic to your site by creating a sense of urgency, and gives your subscribers the chance to snap up your sale bargains before anyone else.

Aphrodite Clothing offered their subscribers a preview to their summer sale:

Your online sales needn’t come to a complete standstill when the summer months come around. By using these tips, you can help boost engagement and drive more customers to your site during the summer sales drought.