As the seasons change, so do the opportunities for businesses to connect with their customers in unique and timely ways. Seasonal marketing campaigns provide an opportunity to tap into the differing needs and interests of customers across the year. From New Years onwards, a well-crafted seasonal marketing strategy can have a significant effect on that year’s business. Here are four key tips to ensure your seasonal marketing campaign is a success.
Tip One: Map the Market – Know Which Seasonal Events Bring in New Customers
Each season brings with it a series of events and holidays that can be leveraged for marketing purposes. For instance, Easter, Mother’s Day, and Labour Day holidays all fall within the autumn season. With this in mind, knowing which holiday resonates with your target is crucial. This requires in-depth market research to identify the specific events that drive the most customer engagement for your industry.
Two ways businesses can map the market is using historical research and tracking how the seasons interact. Conducting historical research requires gathering insights into how their products or services have performed during similar seasonal periods in the past. This entails the analysis of the usual metrics: website traffic, sales figures, and marketing campaign performance from previous periods. By analysing this historical information, businesses are able to predict what customers will be looking for and how they might respond in certain times of the year.
Finally, it’s important to know how different events interact. For instance, both Labour day and Easter fall in March, so if you were a wholesaler and looking to maximise sales during this month, excessive marketing surrounding Labour day might hinder potential sales from Easter baskets wholesale. Such a business would be better off skipping the Labour day marketing campaign.
Tip Two: Offer Discounts and Special Offers
Seasonal campaigns are an excellent time to offer special promotions and discounts. These not only incentivise purchases but also create a sense of urgency. Limited-time offers, exclusive discounts for subscribers, or early bird specials can all drive traffic and boost sales.
If timed well, these special offers can be used to undercut the market, positioning your business ahead of competitors.
If your business has small margins, or the price gets competed down during these periods, these special offers do not need to be financial in nature. Things like gift wrapping, or custom notes and cards go a long way to retain customers beyond the seasonal period.
Tip Three: Optimise Your Landing Page
After you have caught a customer’s eye with a killer advert, it is important to keep the momentum going with an optimal landing page. This page must be not only visually attractive and relevant to the seasonal theme, but also conversion-friendly.
Visual appeal has at least two components. Firstly, ensure that the landing page, and all pages on the site, are compatible with all devices. Clicking on an awesome social media ad on your phone, only to be taken to a desktop site is a great way to lose a customer. Secondly, and keeping to the theme, it is also worth updating the landing page to match the aesthetic of the next major seasonal event.
Conversion-friendly design refers to a site page that is optimised to drive a business goal, e.g., sales, viewership, sharing, etc. Don’t allow your customers to get lost on the landing page. If you want to drive sales, ensure the ‘add to cart’ button is clear. If you want to drive viewership on a video, make sure they can find the video. Small formatting decisions can go a long way.
Tip Four: Calendars are a Lifesaver
Business owners are often busy. It’s the nature of the job. Time flies, February suddenly turns into April and the entire Easter holiday is in the past. For many business owners, a calendar, potentially coupled with digital alerts, is a necessary component of keeping on top of these events.
Calendars are also great for smaller events. Email campaigns can be coupled with smaller seasonal events to attract customers interested in a niche. A potential customer, who is also an avid Star Wars fan, will be forever loyal if they wake up on May 4th to a message that is seemingly just for them.
A well planned seasonal marketing campaign can be a game-changer for businesses looking to set themselves apart from the competition. Collating each event on a calendar, mapping the market, understanding the special offers only you can provide, and optimising your landing page will allow you to maximise the impact of your campaign. Remember, relevance is key, be creative, and always keep in mind the customer’s needs. A successful season is waiting.
