Photo / Courtesy of Words from the Woods
Kelly Scharf
Updated: July 7, 2025
How To
How to make your marketing stand out this summer
By Kelly Scharf, Words from the Woods
The air is different in Maine. There’s a sense of anticipation, a collective deep breath before the summer plunge.
For businesses across the state, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for. The summer tourism season represents a massive opportunity, a compressed period where a significant amount of annualized revenue can be made.
But it is also fiercely competitive. From Kittery to the County, every tour group, shop, gallery and restaurant is vying for the attention of visitors who have endless choices.
Success in the next 12 weeks isn’t necessarily about launching a massive, expensive advertising campaign. It’s often about mastering the small but critical details that turn a visitor’s online search into a real-life visit. With the season already upon us, here is a practical, last-minute checklist to ensure your business is positioned to capture its share of the boom.
Spruce up your digital curb appeal
Before visitors ever see your physical storefront, they see your digital one. This is the first, and easiest, place to lose a customer. Take 15 minutes today to pretend you’re a tourist.
Search for your business on Google Maps and your favorite social media app. Are your summer hours of operation listed correctly? Is the map pin in the right place? Are your most recent photos appealing and representative of what a customer will experience?
This simple check-up is the digital equivalent of unlocking the front door and flipping the "Open" sign. Make sure it’s accurate and inviting.
Master your location
Tourists are constantly on their phones searching for things "near me." To make sure your business pops up, make sure you have a Google Business profile and that it’s listing the correct address.
Tourists often use social media to find places to visit near them as well, searching hashtags like #portlandmaine or #barharbor and clicking through location tags.
To show up, always tag posts with location and use hyper-local tags, making you discoverable to the people who are geographically closest and most likely to buy.
Turn happy visitors into your best marketers
Word-of-mouth is still the most powerful form of marketing, and today it takes the form of online reviews and social media posts.
Make it easy for customers to sing your praises creating photo-worthy spaces and printing your social handles on things like menus or signs at the register so customers know whom to tag when they share.
Sharing these posts to your own social media is not only free, authentic content, but it also shows potential new customers that real people love what you do.
Aim for high impact
The Maine summer is short and precious. You don't need to reinvent your marketing strategy overnight to have a successful season.
By focusing on these small, high-impact details, you can ensure your business is not just open, but truly ready for the opportunities ahead.
Mainebiz web partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
Related Content
Anonymous
July 8, 2025
Clear, concise and actionable. Thank you!
1 Comments