Seasonal marketing is when a business plans its promotions, content or products around specific times of year, events or occasions that already have people’s attention, such as Christmas, Black Friday, Easter or summer holidays. It works because customer interest, behaviour and buying habits often shift during these periods, giving brands a chance to be more relevant and timely. When it is done well, seasonal marketing can increase visibility, engagement and sales. When it is done poorly, it can feel forced, mistimed or costly. In this guide, we’ll look at the pros, the cons and a few practical tips for making it work.
Why does seasonal marketing work?
For these specific times of year (let’s use Black Friday as an example) there is an increased excitement amongst the public. As the lead-up to these events happen, people are looking for a variety of gifts to purchase for friends, family and colleagues. Originating in the US, the benefits for businesses were clearly seen amongst the UK audience, and this has become a yearly event that’s widespread across the nation.
It may be a case of the chicken and the egg. There is increased excitement, therefore businesses increase their marketing to cater to the desires of consumers. Or businesses increase their marketing, targetting these specific periods, and therefore excitement increases. Halloween seasonal marketing is one of the clearest examples of how brands can tap into cultural moments to drive action.
Pros of seasonal marketing
With raised excitement and interest in this specific period, consumers are looking for products and services that cater to their needs. This could be anything from a sparkly Christmas hat, a big discount on a Black Friday product or a gory costume for their upcoming Halloween party. The wants/needs of the consumer are much more narrowed down, meaning that if your product fits within this seasonal need you have a great marketing opportunity.
You have the option to make alterations to the products and services you already have, or create completely new products, in order to fit the current trends. With this raised interest, you have the ability to increase brand awareness, gain customers and market your various other products and services to the new purchases. Maintaining loyalty by providing the goods that your customers are looking for means an increase in sales, as you have already built a relationship.
Cons of seasonal marketing
Having a successful seasonal marketing campaign often means a larger overhead cost. If you are outsourcing your items, it’s likely at a smaller scale than for your permanent products, again equalling a higher cost. Whilst typically this comes with reward, you do run the risk of having leftover products that weren’t able to sell. We all know the power of evergreen content, and this applies for services and products too; things that hold their value and aren’t so niche or time-restricted. That means you are far less restricted on your ability to market them.
Seasonal marketing, on top of the operations you are currently running, means that your resources are either limited, or you have to draw away from your current workload in order to dedicate time to this. Instead of your staff focusing on the general running of the business, this now has to be split amongst an even greater number of tasks.
One of the biggest difficulties is the amount of competition there is. The majority of businesses are getting involved with the trends in some way; increasing their advertising, giving greater deals and creating eye-catching visuals. Therefore, standing out amongst so many other businesses, who have the same goal as you, is difficult to achieve.
Seasonal marketing tips
Competitor research is incredibly useful to help you stand out; looking at their previous behaviours and campaigns to gain insight into what they may be coming out with for the next event. Utilise your current services. For example, if you are a cleaner, offering a “Christmas Clean Up” at a discounted price. This could be as simple as clever wording that puts a spin on your everyday work. For physical products, offering a discount, or changing packaging, instead of completely new products is a way to save money and minimise risks of unsold inventory.
Planning in advance means you can spread your resources more consciously. If you know in advance that you want to take part in five seasonal marketing campaigns a year, plan that into your yearly overview to ensure you aren’t spreading your team too thin. Something important is that seasonal marketing doesn’t mean completely disregarding the rest of your business and operations. This should keep running as normal to ensure any current or repeat customers aren’t ignored for the sake of new campaigns and interest.
Appeal to your customers: those who are subscribed to your email list, follow you on social media, visit your shop, etc. As you have already developed a relationship with these customers, this is far easier than trying to beat-out competition. User-generated content is also highly beneficial, as it means less creation is needed from the business side, as well as increasing trust, as 92% of consumers prefer reviews and recommendations from existing customers.
Our 6 top tips summed up
- Competitor research
- Utilise your current services
- Plan your campaigns in advance
- Don’t disregard your existing business operations
- Appeal to your subscribers and current customers
- Take advantage of user-generated content