Marketing To Summertime Visitors

Summer can be one of the most profitable seasons for businesses, but it presents some unique marketing challenges. Competition is at an all-time high, and seasonal visitors behave differently than local customers, you have a much smaller window to make an impression, and you can’t necessarily count on repeat business.

Seasonal visitors are in town for a few days, sometimes only a few hours. Unfortunately, time is not on your side, if they don’t discover you while they’re planning their day, or searching on their phone, you’ve likely lost the opportunity forever. As a Business owner trying to reach seasonal visitors, you need to master Google’s “micro-moments”; 4 key micro-moments when a user goes online to search. The advertising landscape has changed a bit in the 10+ years since Google introduced this concept, but the basic principle still applies - create frictionless content based on search intent.

1. “I Want to Know” When someone is exploring or researching, not necessarily in purchase mode. “Things to do in downtown Victoria”, “Best camp chairs for music festival”

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2. “I Want to Go” When someone is looking for a local business or considering a purchase at a nearby store. “Western wear stores”, “restaurant kids menu”

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3. “I Want to Do” When someone wants help completing a task or trying something new. “What to pack for a 3 day summer festival”, “how to re-waterproof a raincoat”, “how to tie a western scarf”

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4. “I Want to Buy” When someone is ready to make a purchase and may need help deciding what to buy. “Size 8 Birkenstocks”, “Tommy Bahama chairs”

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Imagine you’re in a new city, standing on the sidewalk in the summer sun, with tired little ones in tow, and everyone’s hungry. Your next move is based on an immediate need, you’re likely not comparing dozens of options. Google shows a place open now nearby, with 4.5 stars, that offers a kids menu, and you start making your way there. This is a perfect example of the “I want to go” micromoment. High intent, and very high likelihood of conversion if the restaurant prominently features a kids menu. 

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The restaurant owner has probably seen a million families like yours. Weary, looking for a quick “safe” meal for the kids. They know that the faster you can get their meals out to them, the happier everyone will be, so in addition to a kid-friendly menu, they’ve implemented a 30-minute guarantee on certain lunch specials to get people in and out, and they highlight these menus items on their GBP. Being the fastest, least complicated restaurant choice matches the customers needs in their micromoment.

The key to maximizing seasonal visitor dollars is intent. Seasonal marketing is less about branding, and more about how your service will help my need right now. If you can nail down the fundamentals, you have a good shot at showing up in those micromoments. 

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Be there. Anticipate the micro-moments for your target audience and commit to being there to help when those moments occur. Update your GBP, fill it with fresh summer content: seasonal menus, hot items that tourists might need festival/camping gear, a cowboy hat for Stampede, new raingear, etc.

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Be Useful. Provide a digital experience that relevant to consumers needs in the moment, and quickly connect people to the answers they’re looking for. Affordable kids menu, 30-minute lunch guarantee, seasonal promos, a video showing how to tie an authentic western scarf, etc.

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Be accountable. Create a seamless customer experience across all screens and measure the collective impact across them too. Ask satisfied customers to leave a review, or give them a reason to share on social media. 

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Summer is short, make the most of it!