For the last week I’ve been talking about the different types of content that go into a dynamic content marketing strategy, starting with the four awesome types of content that every blog needs. Since then I’ve been digging a bit deeper into the type on that list that is most undervalued and under-used: Seasonal Blog Posts. Today I’m basking in sunshine looking at the perfect seasonal content for summer.

It’s a good time to be looking at this, with spring well under way and summer mercifully not too far away (I get terrible Seasonal Affective Disorder during winter so I’m always highly relieved to see the sun!). Creating a super-successful content marketing schedule takes a lot of planning, as far in advance as possible. Which means it’s a great time to plan your seasonal content for this summer, and give yourself plenty of time to make sure it checks the two big boxes:

  1. Fully supporting your business objectives and goals
  2. Providing complete consistency

The latter is a lot easier to achieve when you can prep and schedule everything in advance!

So whether you’re looking to plan some summer posts for the coming sunshine, or you’ve stumbled across this post in the middle of July and need to get some great seasonal content out fast, here’s how to get awesome mileage out of summer content…

Sunshine And Sizzle – Great Seasonal Content For Summer

 

Holidays

Hopefully you’re getting a break to go on holiday over the summer, and you should make the most of that. Tribe-based businesses can suffer slightly when their figure-heads are absent so taking a couple of weeks off is tough. At the same time you need the break, and you need it to be a genuine break without thinking about work.

When you’re not answering email for weeks, not showing up on Facebook Live, not an active participant in your groups or on your social platforms beyond scheduled content, it’s tough to maintain the personal momentum of a great content schedule. If you never do these things, it’s not an issue, but if you’re usually very present, it can form a bit of a disconnect.

Scheduling all your content ahead of time ensures you remain consistent while you’re away, and acknowledging that you’re in *insert holiday destination of choice* in the posts that will go out while you’re gone, helps your audience stay connected to you even though you’re incommunicado.

If you’re going away make a point of acknowledging is so people know why you’re not around as much. If you have a VA or social media manager handling things in your absence, make sure people know who they are. And every few days take a quick snap of wherever you are – especially if it happens to be beautiful, inspiring or unusual.

It takes two minutes to post a quick selfie and it will help your tribe feel included and ensure you remain present, without allowing them to intrude on your time off (just make sure you’re disciplined enough to post the photo and run – don’t get lost down the social media rabbit hole!).

Key Hashtags For Holidays: #SummerHolidays #OnYourJollies #SchoolsOut #SeaView #JetSetterFamily

School Holiday Survival Posts

If there’s on thing you can guarantee will happen over the summer it’s that parents across the land will be tearing their hair out trying to keep the kids occupied. If you have a product or service that lends itself to achieving this, put together a special summer holiday survival promotion. And even if you don’t, there are loads of great ways of working it into your content.

Try to think outside the box a bit – what you offer may not directly relate to children or fun kids activities, but can it free up more time so busy parents can spend time with the family? Can it make life simpler for them, streamline their To Do lists, or make the time they do have to spend working more efficient?

For example, my pitch for busy parents over the summer is simple: Why spend your time writing content when you could be getting more quality time with the kids?

This works for pretty much any product or service that takes the burden of responsibility away from already stressed out parents, and tells them, ‘Don’t worry about this, I’ve got it covered, you’ve got more important things to do right now!’

For working parents in particular there’s often a huge amount of guilt surrounding the time they spend working, because it’s time they’re not spending with their kids. When the kids are in school, it’s not so bad, because they wouldn’t get to see them anyway, but when school’s out and the sun is blazing, it’s really tough to push on with your work while the kids have fun without you, or driving you mad pestering you to do something fun instead.

I’m not currently a mother, but I have two god daughters whom I adore and see regularly, and even I suffer from summer holiday guilt! I can’t image what it must be like when they’re your own kids.

So find a way to take that pain away – or at least diminish it – and you’re going to be your ideal clients’ new favourite person!

Key Hashtags For School Holidays: #SchoolHolidays #FamilyTime #SchoolHolidayActivities #QualityTime

Hot, Hot, Hot

What do we love about summer? The heat, the sunshine, the long days, the feeling that the world is that much more positive. It’s a great time to motivate people to get stuff done while they’ve got plenty of daylight and are in a good mood. It’s also a time when people are struggling to concentrate on work due to the heat and distraction of there being so many great things they’d rather be doing.

This is an odd contradiction, so take advantage of it.

How can you help people get everything done while still allowing them to take advantage of the gorgeous weather?

As a freelancer I work outside a lot during the summer, soaking up as much vitamin D as I can get while it’s available. Everyone wants the heat and the sun, but nobody wants to overheat or fry.

That’s a delicate balance to strike. Products that protect people from the heat and sunshine while still allowing them to enjoy it go down a treat at this time of year, as does anything that lets people be flexible in their work. If you can work on the go using a laptop, tablet, or even your phone, all the better.

Ask yourself this: how can your stuff help people get out from behind the desk and safely soak up a few rays while enjoying a nice cold beer?

Key Hashtags For Hot Content: #SunnyDay #BeautifulDay #GoodVibes #HotWeather #sunshine #escapades

If you missed it check out my Spring post for more seasonal content ideas. And if you’re looking for even more help planning a killer content marketing schedule download the first chapter of my book, Divine Blogging, now – it’s totally free!