HOW TO LEVERAGE THE SUMMER SEASON ON INSTAGRAM

• 6/05/2018
• Social Media
• Jessie Beach

After a long winter, everyone is excited to soak up the sun and let loose. The summer season is full of excitement, activity and all-around fun, making it the perfect time of year to connect with followers and leverage the positive energy that summer brings.

With more than 800 million active users in 2018, Instagram is the ideal platform to engage with your target audience while capturing the summer aesthetic. Here are a few techniques you can use to highlight your brand on Instagram this summer:

1. PLAY WITH COLOR
   
   Harness the bright pops of color and boldness of summer to revamp your brand’s social presence. Instagram as a platform is designed for eye-catching, stylistic content, offering brands an opportunity to channel the carefree, vibrant atmosphere of the season into a relatable brand persona.
   
   Beyond generating brand awareness, a more style-focused approach to Instagram can foster exciting engagement with followers. Host a product giveaway or social contest to hype up your followers for summer! Remember when Sunny Co Clothing broke the internet in 2017 by offering a free bathing suit to anyone who reposted?
   
   
   
   UnitedHealthcare incorporated pops of color for an artistic, editorial look on healthy snack ideas for summer.
    
2. LET YOUR PERSONALITY SHINE
   
   Join in the summer fun! Show people how your brand can enhance their summer by finding unique ways to relate the brand to a summertime experience and solve #summerprobs. Remember, Instagram is much more than just pictures. Sharing video content and stories is an easy way to add an approachable element to your content that makes followers feel more connected to a brand. Have you ever heard of putting a face to a name?
   
   
   Sock subscription service Exec Socks called on kids to help dads who have hit #SockBottom to up their sock game, making for a relatable and humorous campaign message.
    
3. HAVE YOUR INFLUENCERS TAKE THE WHEEL
   
   What better way to connect a brand story to followers than to have followers actually control your Instagram story? Instagram takeovers offer a fun way to relate back to an audience while continuing to amplify your brand voice and attract new followers. This tactic is especially relevant during the summer when people are naturally outside, on vacation and being active. Have your audience follow along as an influencer takes a trip to the beach, or see what happens when an influencer takes your brand to Coachella. At the end of the day, consumers want to see themselves reflected in a brand and utilizing influencers will help accomplish that. 
   
   
   Parent bloggers from The Little Style File in Chicago took over MyEyeDr.'s Instagram Stories to pick out the perfect pair of sunglasses for their summer road trip. Pro-tip: create a hashtag for your influencer takeover so fans can easily follow along!

Instagram has proved it is a force to be reckoned with and a platform that all brands should be leveraging. However, it is important to be smart in your approach. Quality over quantity will always rule, so be mindful about which areas of Instagram you populate and remain cognizant of where your target audience is most present. Need assistance? You can always give us a shout.