9 Tips for Communicating Social Impact Initiatives Through the Slow Summer Months
The “summer slowdown” can be a challenging time for organisations, whilst staff are on vacation, customers shift buying habits and attention spans can be limited. It can also be a time to reassess strategies, reflect on the first half of the year and plan for the next half.
But you still want to communicate your stories and company initiatives to maintain visibility and engagement through the slower months. We have a list of tips to help reach audiences who seek interesting and relevant content.
Maintain a consistent online presence by giving your initiative a permanent home on your website and announcing it on your blog. Also, post it on your socials and other owned properties. This helps keep your messaging clear and consistent whilst reaching different audiences.
Summer-friendly content is ideal for social media, such as creating short, engaging posts with eye-catching visuals or videos under 30 seconds to capture attention. Attention spans tend to be shorter in the summer, and also, people tend to be on the move, so you can use polls or ask a question to encourage quick responses that require little time commitment. Use a dedicated hashtag to create ongoing engagement and encourage employees to share posts – “The click-through rate on a piece of content is 2x higher when shared by an employee versus when shared by the company itself.”
What are your audience’s summer priorities? Try and match these to your “call-to-action.” For example, water availability could be a topic that’s important to your audience this time of year, so invite readers to join a water-saving challenge. Or, with temperatures rising, ask audiences for their tips to keep cool.
*3BL Pro tip – for a perfect example of a call-to-action, scroll down to the bottom of this page*
Schedule posts ahead of time if you can, but also allow for spontaneity. This can maintain steady engagement whilst also allowing for tasks to be completed when teams are on vacation.
Utilize newsletters and partner networks. Amplify your message and invite subscribers and collaborators to share your initiatives within their communities. Storytelling with testimonials, infographics, user spotlights, and case studies can emotionally connect your audience to the impact you’re making.
Repurpose content. If you have longer articles, research, reports, video interviews, etc., break them down into smaller chunks to talk about a new or different angle. This also allows you to provide additional context or updates.
Host interactive experiences and user-generated content (UGC) campaigns. Things like photo contests, challenges, or quizzes related to your social impact cause encourage audience participation and creativity.
Host live Q&A sessions, virtual events, or webinars. You may have more time or flexibility in the summer months to connect with your audience in real time, answering questions and sparking dialogue around your social impact goals.
Run summer-themed challenges or giveaways. This can encourage immediate participation and boost engagement
Looking for more communication tips? Check out our Communications Toolkit — download it here.