Marketing with the Seasons
As I’m writing this, we are right on the cusp of Fall. There are so many things that I do to prepare myself for the Fall Season. I am a Southern California girl through and through, and I love a long sunny day. When I was younger, the change into Fall - the shorter days and the early nights - always felt like a punishment for having too much summertime fun. It was a miserable time for me.
Now, as an adult, I have a better appreciation for the changing of the seasons. To prepare, I’ve made it my mission to decorate my home with Fall decor, make delicious Fall-themed meals (I love a butternut squash soup), and plan Fall-themed activities and movie nights (Oktoberfest, pumpkin patches, and Twilight).
The same can also be said for building a creative and diverse marketing strategy.
The seasons give marketers something incredibly valuable: a built-in calendar of themes, traditions, emotions, and experiences that can be used to connect with audiences.
Of course, not every campaign needs to be covered in maple leaves, beach umbrellas, tulips, or snowmen. Instead, consider how the changing of the seasons can inspire special promotions, content, experiences, and community engagement.
Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Fall: Tell a Story
Fall might be the easiest season to market. Back-to-school, Halloween, football, changing weather, cozy nights, and the approach of the holidays all come with built-in stories.
Fall Into a Promotion: Create a seasonal offer, package, discount, or short-term campaign. And don't underestimate the power of a good name or theme.
Lean Into Nostalgia: Tell stories about your organization's history, traditions, milestones, and the people who have helped shape it. Invite your audience to share their own memories.
Build a Seasonal Experience: A fall festival, Halloween event, community gathering, special installation, or creative partnership can turn a campaign into something people experience rather than simply see.
Say Thank You: This is the perfect time to acknowledge all that your customers and donors have done for you. Lean into Thanksgiving with words of gratitude or even a special offer or event focused on showing your audience just how much they mean to you.
Winter: Give, Gather, and Reflect
Winter offers plenty of opportunities for sales and promotions, but it's also a natural time to focus on generosity, community, gratitude, and reflection.
Looking Towards the New Year: Celebrate accomplishments, share memorable moments, and then give them a glimpse of what's coming next.
Giving Back: Most non-profits are running their end-of-year fundraisers during this time, but any company can have a toy, food, or clothing drive or create a cause-related promotion that offers a portion of sales to a worthy charity
Bring People Together: Create opportunities for your audience to gather and celebrate together. This is the perfect time to create holiday gift guides and special promotions or create memories with a holiday party, community ice skating, baking contests, or a special pop-up shopping experience.
Spring: New Beginnings
Spring is about renewal, growth, and trying something new. It's a natural time to re-engage your audience and introduce what's ahead.
Talk About Growth: Use your social channels to highlight what's new, share stories of transformation, revisit your organization's evolution, or invite your audience to share what they're looking forward to. These campaigns can be especially effective when re-engaging lapsed customers.
Spring Into Something New: Create a new customer offer, package, or campaign that encourages people to try something different.
Connect with Nature: Consider an outdoor brand activation, pop-up, community event, or partnership with another local organization or business, such as a local florist, botanical garden, farmers’ market, or your city’s parks and rec department.
Summer: Fun in the Sun
Summer brings energy, longer days, travel, festivals, and a general desire to get out and do something.
Have Some Fun: Summer is perfect for playlists, polls, staff favorites, audience photos, behind-the-scenes content, and other lighter social content.
Keep things Cool: Create content or offers all about keeping cool on a hot day. Encourage patrons to visit your air-conditioned theater, set up a branded lemonade stand, or add hats, sunglasses, and tees to your merch offerings.
Take Your Audience on an Adventure: Summer is when most people take vacations. Create a media campaign that gets you into city guides, added to trip itineraries, and onto event listings. You can also create branded itineraries or scavenger hunts for the city in which you’re based, or encourage audiences to bring your product along on their summer travels.
Don't Force It
Seasonal marketing works best when it feels connected to your brand. Not every organization needs a pumpkin-themed campaign in October or a summer pop-up. And not every holiday needs to become a marketing opportunity.
Questions to consider:
What is happening in my audience's lives right now?
What seasonal traditions or behaviors naturally connect to my brand?
Is there an opportunity to create an experience rather than just a promotion?
How can I use the season to strengthen my relationship with my audience?
The seasons give us a framework, but they don't have to dictate our strategy. Stellar marketing involves paying attention to people, and one of the ways that people experience the world is through the seasons. Add some seasonality to your marketing plans and enjoy the opportunity to be creative in how you reach your audience.
photo courtesy of Unsplash by Anita Austvika