You might think retailers are the only companies that can benefit from seasonal marketing campaigns, but seasonal events and celebrations can offer a multitude of opportunities for different business sectors. If you’re not sure how your brand can take advantage of seasonal conversations and boost connections with your audience, check out these 6 easy steps for planning a seasonal marketing campaign that will reap benefits long after the season passes:
STEP #1: CHOOSE A SEASONAL OPPORTUNITY
Don’t assume your brand can leverage all seasons and holiday celebrations. If you’ve already conducted research into your audience, then you’ll have a decent grasp of their attitudes around big seasonal events and you can pair that with an event that suits your product or service.
STEP #2: RESEARCH SIMILAR CAMPAIGNS
Once you’ve selected your next seasonal opportunity, research and evaluate successful content campaigns for the occasion, specifically how each campaign approached content format, distribution, messaging, and emotion. This will allow you to uncover common denominators that can inspire your own campaign ideas and contribute to your strategy.
STEP #3: NAIL DOWN YOUR MESSAGING
What is the customer journey story you want to tell (new customers, lead conversions)? What emotions do you want to evoke in your audience (love, joy, patriotism)? What call-to-action do you want to encourage (requesting more information, sales)? These questions are a good start to nailing down your messaging, and once you have the answers, it will be simple to align it with your selected seasonal opportunity.
STEP #4: ESTABLISH A SCHEDULE
Timing is of the essence with seasonal campaigns, so you’ll need to schedule time to plan far in advance of the event, plus time to plan the execution of each stage of the campaign at the right time. Generally, this means your content should be prepared, built, and ready to send out at least two months before the event.
STEP #5: ORGANIZE YOUR ASSETS
Campaign planning should include consideration of all marketing platforms: email, social media, PR, blogging, SEO, etc. Incorporating different platforms into your campaign will allow for effective content flow, increased reach, and increased engagement.
STEP #6: REVIEW AND ADJUST
Remaining agile is imperative when managing and planning any marketing campaign, but especially those that are seasonal in nature. This means reporting and reviewing the campaign’s performance as you go—where traffic is coming from, which pages have the best bounce rate, which pages are converting the best—and adjusting your strategy accordingly.
READY TO LEVERAGE SEASONAL TRENDS IN YOUR MARKETING CAMPAIGN?
If you want to go beyond general marketing campaigns and tap into seasonally-specific opportunities, AGW Groupcan help. We specialize in creating communities around your brand for unmatched long term brand equity, loyalty and sustainable growth. Contact AGW today to learn how we can be of service to your business.