Summer contest: how to keep in touch with your customers

For a majority of French people, summer is synonymous with holidays. It is an opportunity to discover new places, recharge, and disconnect. These are all factors that can complicate communication and break the contact with their audience.

The good news is that, on average, 83% of French people stay connected during their holidays via their smartphone. This is a great opportunity to target vacationers with campaigns designed for this time of year.

The summer contest is an ideal format for maintaining contact during the vacation season. This both playful and interactive format offers the possibility to engage the community and stay top of mind until the start of the new season.

In this article, we explain how to organize a summer contest. What are the objectives you can aim for, the steps involved in creating an engaging campaign, etc.? Continue reading to benefit from practical advice and launch effective animations.

Why organize a summer contests?

Summer is a complex period. It is difficult to capture the attention of an audience who is less present online or in stores. Consumers are looking for experiences or content that are aligned with the holiday period and summer activities (relaxation, discovery, entertainment, etc.).

For brands, taking a vacation is out of the question. While social media content or marketing campaigns will certainly be spaced out further, marketing specialists must maintain contact with their audience. Commercial opportunities remain numerous during the summer, particularly shopping before and during the holidays, as well as summer activities.

But companies can continue to engage their audience to stay top of mind. It will be easy for them to reactivate their customers when the new season starts, as they become available again and resume their usual buying behaviors.

In an era where marketing is becoming more relational, it is the companies that succeed in creating an affinity-based relationship with their audience that stand out from the crowd. These are what we call love brands, i.e. brands that have developed an emotional bond with consumers, boosting their commitment and loyalty. But this relationship doesn’t take a vacation in summer. It must continue to be nurtured through formats designed for this specific period of the marketing calendar.

What are the objectives of a summer contest?

The contest is a format for keeping in touch with customers during the summer thanks to its playful nature. Consumers are more sensitive to fun, interactive content, more in line with the relaxed state of mind they adopt on vacation.

For brands, organize a summer contest is also a way to achieve various strategic objectives. In addition to maintaining the bond with vacationers and not interrupting the relationship that has been established, marketing games allow you to:

Highlight a special summer offer …

The brand can take advantage of the contest to showcase its summer offerings, whether for shopping and activities before departure or once on site. Generally speaking, consumers tend to reduce their shopping budget in summer to afford better accommodation or increase the number of activities.

A little boost, in the form of a discount voucher shared through an instant win game like the Lucky One, can allow brands to boost their sales during the holidays.

Collect customer data

Gamified formats such as quizzes or personality tests are a way to relax during the holidays or entertainment on the move. These summer contests therefore benefit from a high participation rate and engage users. For companies, this is an opportunity to collect zero-party data and better understand their buying behaviors and preferences. This data can be used to refine the marketing message and the targeting of back to school campaigns.

Generate qualified leads

The fun, interactive format of the competition is also an ideal way to gain visibility during the vacations. The game will naturally release dopamine and the possibility of winning attractive prizes (such as free tickets to an activity or products that you typically slip into your suitcase) will more effectively attract the attention of new prospects.

The company can therefore take advantage of this format to convert new customers. In this way, it will expand its audience during the vacations, will enrich its CRM base and be able to reactivate these qualified leads in the autumn.

Animate your community and generate UGC

Vacation means souvenir photos and selfies. We have the instinct to immortalize our travels: an opportunity brands can take advantage of to create engaging photo contests. It’s an opportunity to encourage your audience to share UGC, i.e. visual content in which they show themselves using the brand’s products or services.

In addition to offering prizes, the company can reuse this authentic content to convert new customers. It is a good way to engage its community and boost its visibility on social media (by associating a branded hashtag).

4 tips for organizing a summer contest

Let’s move on to the practical side. To organize a summer contest, we invite you to follow these steps:

1. Choose an attractive endowment for vacationers. The key to an impactful contest is choosing a prize that will make people want to participate. Companies can rely on discount vouchers to boost their sales (online and in store). They can also offer prizes related to the holidays (train tickets, summer items, etc.).
2. Choose simple contest mechanics. Summer contests should be fun, no-holds-barred events. It is important to define participation rules and choose interactive mechanics that everyone can participate in. The instant win is very interesting for this period since participants will know immediately whether they have won or not.
3. Define the duration of the contest. The latter should be neither too short (to increase the number of participants) nor too long (to keep the community engaged).
4. Optimize your distribution strategy. To begin with, it’s advisable to focus on an attractive visual that will capture your audience’s attention and smell like summer. Distribution on social media remains the best option to boost its reach, as it is on these channels that consumers remain active during their holidays. Adding the right hashtags will also help you reach a wider audience.

The summer vacations are a strategic time for your brand. Organizing a competition will help you keep in touch with your customers and prepare for the new school year. Discover our catalog of interactive animations. You can adapt them to your summer theme and strategic objectives. Discover also 10 ideas for summer contests to animate your audience during the vacations.