AB Testing Ideas for Summer Marketing Campaigns in 2025

It may already be mid-July, but it’s not too late to meet summer shoppers where they are—namely, looking for summer deals and stocking up on supplies. Summer campaigns can be lucrative, especially for retail travel and consumer goods sectors. 

Nearly 70% of Americans plan to take an “overnight” leisure trip this summer, according to Enterprise Mobility. Most of them will do this by hitting the road, driving within 50 miles of where they live. Events like summer barbecues and camping trips motivate people to ramp up spending on food, outdoor gear, and other necessities—and this is the case despite a decline in Americans’ sense of financial wellbeing, according to data from Deloitte.

With a determination to travel and invest in outdoor events countered by the looming reality of financial uncertainty, there’s a ton of pressure on marketers to effectively target and motivate consumers. 

It can be tempting to repeat past seasonal strategies without knowing what’s actually working, particularly as consumer behaviors and motivations shift. 

The solution is to test everything and refine your approach constantly. A/B testing allows you to fine-tune every part of the customer journey—quickly and precisely.

In this post, we’ll clarify why testing summer marketing strategies is important for creating the most successful campaigns. We also provide a list of targeted A/B testing ideas you can run now to improve results before summer ends.

The Importance of Testing in Seasonal Marketing

Shopping behavior shifts with the weather, and this includes how people shop, browse, and buy. In summer, attention spans get shorter as consumers spend more time outdoors and less time glued to screens. However, people are still relying on their phones to stay connected.

Mobile usage remains high during the summer months, as people bring their devices everywhere including near pools, lakes, and oceans (this, according to Asurian, who must replace these devices when people drop them into the sea).

A well-timed push notification or flash sale can make or break a campaign as people hit the road and venture outdoors. What worked in winter—like urgency-driven messaging or deep discounts—doesn’t always translate to summer, when shoppers are more motivated by experiences and convenience.

With summer campaigns on a tight timeline, there’s no room for guesswork. A/B testing helps you dive right in (summer pun intended) by pinpointing what drives interest, engagement, and conversion. Testing also helps you allocate ad spend where it’ll make the biggest splash (we did it again). 

A/B Testing Ideas for Summer 2025

The following list of A/B testing ideas are brought to you by cool ocean breezes and warm summer nights. A/B/n testing tools like Monetate use AI and machine learning to automate the process of testing, making it easy to test any of these elements.

📃1. Headlines and CTAs

A good headline can snag a customer’s attention, but only if it resonates with them. Headlines need to be relevant and interesting enough to stand out. You’re competing for attention, particularly on mobile devices where screen real estate is limited and distractions are plentiful.

Paired with the right call-to-action (CTA), a headline is a powerful motivator. Here are some examples of different approaches to test:

• Seasonal vs. Timed Offer: “Cool Down with Summer Savings” vs. “Limited Time: 20% Off All Swimwear”
• Action-oriented vs. Benefit-focused: “Shop the Look” vs. “Stand Out on the Beach”
• Question vs. Statement: “Ready for Your Beach Getaway?” vs. “Beach Essentials Now Available”
• FOMO vs. Value Proposition: “Don’t Miss Our Summer Collection” vs. “Get More for Less This Season”
• Specific vs. General: “30% Off Sunglasses Today” vs. “Summer Accessories Sale”

The goal here is to identify which messaging resonates best with summer shoppers (e.g., emotion vs. urgency, product focus vs. lifestyle, etc.) and refine your headlines based on actual performance. 

💻2. Homepage Banners and Hero Images

Summer presents the perfect opportunity to refresh your homepage strategy by adding seasonal elements aimed at vacation-minded shoppers. There’s a lot you can do to reel people in, even if you don’t sell fishing gear. 

• Lifestyle imagery vs. product-focused visuals: Test images that show products in the context of summer fun (e.g., beach picnics, dad at the grill, children playing with pool toys, etc.) vs. clean, product-centric images that highlight features and details. 
• Static vs. animated banners: Test simple images against more elaborate animated banners. Also consider that a simple static image loads faster and may convert better than an animated banner that showcases multiple products or features. 
• Single CTA vs. multiple options: Compare a focused banner with one strong call-to-action (“Shop Summer Essentials”) against a layout offering multiple pathways (“Get the Perfect Swimsuit and Equip Your Kids This Summer,” “Shop Our Summer Sale”). 
• Color combos: Compare warm, vibrant color schemes (oranges, yellows) against cool, refreshing tones (blues, greens) to see which palette drives more engagement.
• Summer scenes: Try different action-based imagery on your home page: A family setting up their spot on the beach, a couple embarking on a summer roadtrip, the roof piled high with gear, etc.

Systematically testing different visual elements teaches you what resonates with consumers (or not). The right images set the stage for strong emotional connection with your audience, motivating them to stick around and ultimately make a purchase.

😎3. Product Recommendation Logic

Personalized product recommendations help shoppers find relevant items based on user signals and behavior (e.g., previous purchases, cart adds, search queries, etc.) But determining which recommendation style drives more clicks and conversions during warm-weather campaigns requires testing. Some approaches to consider:

• “Best Sellers” vs. “Trending for You”
• Weather-based personalization (e.g., sunny = shorts; rainy = jackets)
• “Complete Your Summer Look” vs. “Others Also Bought”
• “Vacation Essentials” vs. “New Arrivals”
• Time-sensitive recommendations (e.g., “Last-minute items for July 4th”) vs. FOMO (e.g., “Low stock on these items”)

Monetate’s product recommendation engine, powered by Orchid AI, makes scaling these personalized experiences effortless. The platform infuses recommendation algorithms with historical data and real-time visitor behavior, allowing you to recommend the perfect summer products without manual intervention—even as shopping patterns shift throughout the season.

🏖️4. Promotional Messaging (Discount vs. Urgency)

Regardless of the season, testing different promotions is important since the way you frame your offers can significantly impact conversion rates. Different audiences respond to different incentives, so testing can also help you optimize your promotional strategy by audience. Here are a few variations to consider testing:

• Value vs. Scarcity: Compare offer styles like a direct discount (e.g., “30% Off Summer Styles”) versus a time-based incentive with a smaller discount (e.g., “Ends Tonight: Extra 10% Off Already Marked Down Items”).
• Shipping options for summer events: Test “Free Shipping” against “2-Day Delivery for Summer Events” to determine if convenience or speed matters more to summer shoppers planning vacations and outdoor activities.
• Weather-responsive messaging: Shoppers may respond differently based on local weather conditions, so it’s worthwhile to test weather-specific messaging (e.g., “Beat the Heat with 20% Off” versus more generic seasonal messaging (e.g., “Summer Essentials for Your Weekend Plans.”)

🔁5. Checkout Flow Optimization

By the time a shopper hits the checkout page, they’re close to making a purchase—or are they? The global shopping cart abandonment rate in 2025 is about 70%, so testing different variables and optimizing accordingly can have a significant impact on retail sales and revenue. Here are some different checkout variables to test:

• Single-step vs. multi-step checkout: Test whether a streamlined single-page process outperforms the traditional multi-step approach.
• Trust badges placement: Experiment with positioning security symbols and badges at different points in the checkout flow to build confidence.
• “Apply discount” visibility upfront vs. final screen: Determine if showing discount options earlier increases completion rates.
• Mobile payment options: Test which digital wallet options perform best.

Since summer shoppers tend to be on the go, simplify flows and make the checkout process as easy as possible. This actually works well for all seasons and scenarios, but summer shoppers will surely appreciate being able to make a purchase from their phone while waiting at an airline gate or sitting in traffic on the way to the beach. 

Personalization + A/B Testing Synergy

Combining real-time personalization with structured testing increases relevance for shoppers, and gives retailers deep insight into the buying journey.

*Why It Matters

Personalization improves engagement, and when paired with A/B testing, it helps you validate which experiences truly drive conversions. Here’s a summary of powerful examples to test in the summer months:

• Geo-targeted banners that showcase region-specific summer items (surfboards in California, sandals in Florida).
• Weather-triggered promotions that adapt to local conditions.
• Device-specific layouts optimized for beach goers on mobile vs. vacation planners on desktop.
• Time-of-day messaging that shifts from morning “plan your day” to evening “last-minute deals.”
• Returning visitor recognition with personalized summer product recommendations.

Monetate combines personalization and A/B testing under one virtual hood so that marketers can deliver personalized experiences while testing what works. The platform is built with nontechnical users in mind to avoid implementation headaches. We eliminate the traditional barriers between testing and personalization with:

• A visual editor that allows marketers to create variations without coding
• Drag-and-drop segmentation tools for targeting specific audiences
• Real-time analytics that show test performance across segments

We recommend focusing on high-impact areas like your homepage hero section first. You should also test primary CTAs and checkout flow—where even small improvements can significantly boost summer revenue. Monetate’s segmentation and targeting capabilities let you target tests to key audiences like mobile shoppers, high-intent visitors, or previous seasonal buyers.