New Year’s Day, Easter, Heritage Day, Women’s Day and Christmas are some occasions celebrated in South Africa but how can they be used in marketing to increase sales for small businesses? Let’s look at what is seasonal marketing and what campaign ideas can be used to cash in on seasonal buying.
What is a seasonal marketing strategy?
Seasonal marketing is leveraging seasonal or special days of the year to market your brand. Companies will capitalize on the emotions of the season to encourage consumers to buy products or services from them. Furthermore, these occasions can be used to increase brand awareness and traffic to your company’s website or brick-and-mortar store. Lastly, it can help SMEs meet customer’s needs as they change with each season.
When we consider seasonal marketing, we don’t only need to look at summer, winter, spring and autumn but we should also consider holidays in the year that are special to your customers. Another consideration will be if your business is particularly busy at certain times, you should consider how to market for these times.
What factors to consider for your seasonal marketing campaigns?
Factor 1: Your customer
As with most decisions made in business, if you don’t have a willing buyer then you will struggle to get your business off the ground. You need to consider which seasons are your busiest and which holidays are important to your customer and brand.
Factor 2: Timing
Developing a strategy a few days before the start of the season or holiday may not yield the success you had in mind. It is important to develop a strategy a few months in advance which incorporates creating excitement for the actual day. Ensure you start planning at least three to four months before the time. This is also important, so you are prepared and won’t have much to do when you are busy running your business during this busy time.
Factor 3: The WOW factor
We need to remember that seasonal marketing is not a silver bullet. Everyone has an element of seasonal marketing in their marketing arsenal, but does it have the WOW factor? You need to ensure that whatever seasonal marketing you do is not a rerun of your competitor’s strategy. Remember your brand’s voice and speak with it. This will already set you apart from your competitors.
Now, what seasonal marketing strategies could you use?
1. Re-imagine current content
Do you have a blog post on how to choose the best make-up for a party? Then you can redesign the advert for the post to include some holiday language that applies to your customer and see your customer flock to the page. This will bring awareness of your brand.
2. Design fresh content
You could create content which you use for every season. For example, if you are a garden shop you can design infographics on how to look after your garden every season. By creating useful and relevant content, you will remain top of your customers’ minds when they want to make a purchase.
3. Create a game
Most people like to play a game. You could design an Easter egg hunt for your website where customers get discounts if they find an Easter egg. In addition, you could create an advent calendar of surprises which brings customers back to your website each day.
4. Collect focused data
You could add a pop-up to offer a sneak preview or discount for a holiday you are promoting. This will ensure you collect email addresses of those who are interested in the holiday, and you can target your holiday promotions to those who are more likely to convert into buyers.
5. Generate a product guide
If you sell products, you can create a guide of products which would be ideal for a certain day or holiday. This will help your customers from hunting through your products for the perfect gift and ensure they are more easily converted.
6. Add a timer
Many people have FOMO (fear of missing out). By adding a timer counting down to a special day or season, you can create excitement and anticipation for the season.
By using one or more of these strategies, you will be able to bring more people to your business and hopefully create more sales.
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