Whether it's flocking to the beaches of South Florida, skiing the slopes of Colorado, or going camping in the Rocky Mountains, spring break is a refreshing time for most people. Spring break is the perfect time for outdoor brands to transition marketing away from the cozy winter months and get people excited about the warm summer ahead. In this article, we'll cover how outdoor brands can get the most out of their marketing ideas for spring break!

Why Should Outdoor Brands Market Toward Spring Break?

You might wonder whether it's "worth it" to market toward spring break. The answer is yes! There are plenty of reasons to explore a spring break marketing strategy, including:

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‍Connect with new audiences: During winter, people may be more loyal to their favorite brands and unwilling to try new products. Spending is directed toward gifts, and holiday shopping took a major hit this year with inflation. So, now is the time to re-engage these prospective audiences and launch a fresh campaign.

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‍Encourage people to get outside: As daylight gets longer and people have more leisure time, it's a perfect opportunity to promote exploring the great outdoors with your products, services, and gear. In addition, temperatures in many places have become more moderate, which you can use to your advantage.

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‍Maximize the season: As a shoulder season, spring offers the opportunity to travel and explore both cold and hot destinations. You can draw from summer and winter campaigns and segment by demographic and destination.

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Who Should Your Spring Break Campaign Target?

Another essential step in creating your spring break campaign is to hone in on who you're attracting. We recommend focusing on either of these two audiences:

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Students:  Over 18 million college students in the U.S. are going on week-long breaks, peaking from Mid-March to early April. The staggered schedule that universities follow means your spring break campaign can last 5-6 weeks!

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Families: Families are another demographic aside from students to target in your spring break campaign. Many families will travel during the week-long breaks provided for K-12 students. 

How Can Outdoor Brands Create a Spring Break Campaign?

There's no one-size-fits-all approach, but here are a few of our suggestions for creating a top-notch spring break campaign as an outdoor brand.

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Target specific geographic regions: As we mentioned earlier, spring is a time when hot and cold locations see visitors. Aside from the usual ski resorts and beaches that people love (we see you, Miami), places like Jackson Hole, WY, have seen surges of activity by up to 60%! 

You can segment audiences by geolocation and launch campaigns targeting hotspots like South Florida, Texas, California, and Hawaii. For some brands, though, it may make sense to target broad audiences if you expect the majority of your target audience to be traveling cross-country or there isn’t a specific geographic hotspot.

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Partner with students: There are plenty of ways to engage students who may be interested in your brand before and during spring break. Influencers, many of whose viewers are college students, could be a great way to get your product in front of the right audiences.

Similarly, you could think about launching a campus ambassador program, referral code, or student discount to get people talking. Lastly, consider reaching out to local universities to sponsor or host on-campus events to interact with the community and build brand awareness.

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Create themed spring break ads: If you're working with a limited budget or have an adaptable, creative strategy, a good option to consider is how you can modify assets. For example, depending on the areas and demographics you're targeting, you could adjust color schemes to include pastels or bright color schemes. 

Additionally, you could include graphic elements or copy that ties back to our earlier point about encouraging people to explore the great outdoors. And as always, be sure that you have the tools in place to test which spring break ads perform best and replicate those elements!

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Final Thoughts

No matter your product or target audience, by following these tips, you'll be able to launch a fun spring break campaign as an outdoor brand. Spring break is also a great opportunity to get your customers excited about the warm months to come. Around this time many people start to plan for summer, so if you choose not to do a spring break campaign, you could focus your marketing efforts towards summer vacation instead! 

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