Your Guide to Seasonal Marketing

What does seasonal marketing mean to you? For some business owners, it means adding some extra “oomph” to your advertising to bring in more customers during the holiday season. For other business owners, the word “seasonal” refers to the time of year your business is the most profitable. Regardless of which definition best suits your business, these tips will help you make the most of your marketing this season.

Marketing by Season

If you operate your business year-round, running the same ad campaign month after month gets tedious. Many companies choose to create unique ad campaigns for each changing season, and marketing specialist Mark Crumpacker thinks they’re on to something. Every time the seasons change, it brings new opportunities for creativity.

Take spring, for example. If you run a business rooted in skincare or health, you can focus on the notion that spring is a time of rebirth and rejuvenation. Is your product something that caters to families? There is Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Easter. Spring cleaning and remodeling are great themes for contractors, or even just creating a bright color scheme for a new ad campaign evokes spring-like themes.

The other three seasons offer just as much variety. Summer offers opportunities to advertise with themes of the 4th of July, vacations, the kids being out of school, and hot weather. When fall rolls around, there are back-to-school advertising campaigns, pumpkin spice everything, and football. Of course, you can’t forget the big two: Halloween and Thanksgiving (not to mention Black Friday and Cyber Monday).

Finally, there are all the winter holidays, trying to stay warm, snow themes, the new year with new beginnings, and so on. Chances are that with a bit of forethought, you can come up with a new campaign for every season to keep your customers interested.

Marketing if You Run a Seasonal Business

Sometimes, when businesses think of seasons, they imagine which ones bring in the most profit. A snow removal company isn’t likely to make much money during the summer, and pool cleaners don’t schedule as many appointments when the weather gets cold. Even so, seasonal businesses should be thinking about their marketing strategy all year. Break your marketing strategy up into three sections.

Before your new season begins, start a blog. Maintain it throughout your season, after it, and every other time. Posting once or twice a week keeps your website at the top of search engine results pages and keeps your company relevant even when your product or service isn’t in season. As people take notice of your blog and become interested in your business, they are more likely to use your services or products when they come into season again.

During your busy season, focus on social media. People search social media platforms for their immediate needs often. Use Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and other platforms you have a presence on to create hashtags, post photos and videos, host contests, and interact with your followers. Using sponsored posts is a good way to bring in new followers as well.

After the season is over, stay in touch with your current customers and evolve your brand as needed. You can stay in touch with clients via email newsletters or social media, but you should try to add relevant content. For example, a snow removal company could include an article about preparing a driveway, vehicle, or entire home for the winter months. This is also an excellent time to send out surveys. Use the feedback you receive to improve your products or services for the next season.

Making the Most of the Season

No matter which season is the “on” season, it is important to make the most of your marketing efforts:

• Organized Content – Organize your advertising from the start. This makes it easier to recycle the ideas that worked best and re-use them next season.
• Look to the Competition – See what your competitors have done that has worked for them, and then see how you can incorporate it into your own campaign. Just remember to differentiate it for the best results.
• Use the Time to Connect – If your business operates during a major holiday, use the time to reconnect with customers and clients. Send notes or updates to put your business at the forefront of clients’ minds.

Of course, perhaps the biggest seasonal marketing tip is to avoid trying to do it all yourself. If the holidays are your company’s busy season, you shouldn’t be trying to run the floor, get sales out, talk to customers, and advertise all at once. Hiring someone to help you with your marketing campaigns may seem like an added expense, but working with a professional is likely to pay off in the long run. It’s never too late to consider your next seasonal marketing campaign, so why not start brainstorming now?