Summer is when generic SMS goes to die. Know your segments, adjust your timing, and give people a reason for subscribing before you ask them to buy.
Summer is actually one of the most interesting seasons for SMS, not because of the obvious promotional calendar (though that helps), but because of how differently people are living in it. They’re more impulsive, more social, more present in their bodies and less glued to their desks. They’re out in the world with their phones in their pockets, and the text that lands at the right moment with the right thing to say hits differently than it does in February.
Summer changes how people are paying attention
Your subscribers’ routines shift in summer, which means your assumptions about when and how often to reach them probably need to shift too.
The Friday morning send time that works great during the regular workweek? In July, a meaningful chunk of your list has already started their long weekend. The evening window that usually performs well might be the exact moment someone is at a cookout, thoroughly offline in the way that only summer BBQs make possible.
However, this isn’t a reason to send fewer messages. It’s a reason to look at your own engagement data and follow it. If your list is more responsive on Thursday evenings than Sunday mornings, trust that. Summer is when the brands that pay attention to their specific audience pull ahead.
The same message to everyone is a missed opportunity
Every person on your list made an active decision to give you their phone number. It inherently implies a higher expectation that what comes through is going to be relevant to them.
The customer who bought a tent and hiking boots from you last August is a completely different conversation than someone who picked up a candle as a gift in December. Sending them the same text is a signal to both of them that you’re not paying attention.
Segmentation doesn’t have to be a whole production. Start with what you already have: what people have bought, where they live, how recently they’ve engaged. A beach gear promotion landing in a landlocked inbox is a bizarre send and will ultimately be a waste. A re-engagement text to someone who’s been quiet since winter is a different message than your third promotional text of the month to someone who opens everything you send.
Listen to your list. Use what you know.
Give people a reason to be glad they’re on your list
The Patagonia example from our creative campaigns series keeps coming back to us for good reason. They sent subscribers a live feed of baby bald eagles. No offer or call to action. Just: here’s something we thought you’d love. And people watched it for twenty minutes and told their friends.
That’s the long game, and summer is a good time to play it.
Not every text needs to convert a sale this week. A useful tip, a piece of content your customers would actually want, a moment that acknowledges the season without trying to sell into it—these texts build the kind of goodwill that makes your promotional campaigns perform better when you do send them. People buy from brands they feel warmth toward.
When you do go with a promotional message, make it earn its place. A real time-limited offer with a window you honor creates urgency that this channel is uniquely good at delivering. A flash sale that “ends tonight” and then reappears Thursday trains your list to wait, not act.
A few other things that tend to work well in summer:
- Curated collections and seasonal bundles. Instead of discounting individual items, group things around a summer use case: a road trip kit, a backyard entertaining bundle, a back-to-school prep set. It gives subscribers something to discover, which is a more enjoyable experience than just something to save money on. And everyone loves a cute curated kit.
- MMS when the visual is actually doing something. Summer is a high-sensory season. A mouth-watering product photo, a behind-the-scenes peek, something that captures the feeling of the season.
- Two-way moments. Summer events, local happenings, and cultural moments create natural opportunities to ask your subscribers something and actually listen to the answer. A poll, a question, a “reply with your weekend plans and we’ll send you a discount”
TL;DR
Summer SMS works when it feels like something your subscribers would want to receive. That means knowing who’s on your list, watching how their behavior shifts when the weather gets warm, mixing in messages that build goodwill alongside the ones that drive sales, and making sure your program is set up correctly underneath all of it.
It mostly just requires slowing down before you hit send and asking: would I want to get this text?
If the honest answer is yes, you’re golden! Go forth and slay that summer marketing!
Want to run summer campaigns you feel good about sending? Mobiniti gives you the tools to segment, automate, and connect with your subscribers in a way that works for both of you.
