How To Market With The Seasons
I don’t know if it’s because I’m a stationery nerd, but Septembers always feel more like new starts than Januarys.
It probably is the stationery thing, you know. On my first date with my husband, we spent about half an hour bonding over the Staples catalogue. (Yes. I am aware of how sad that makes us sound, but we’re very happy so we don’t care!)
Having moved my task management system online over the summer, this is the first year since I was, ooh 11, that I haven’t swanned around WHSmith or Paperchase picking out my school year planner. It’s only the 2nd of September, and I’m already debating buying one anyway, just for the new paper smell.
This is when my new year starts, when I gear up for change and re-imagine what my life looks like. It’s in September when I’m feeling energized, optimistic, and fresh. January, when I’ve spent all my money on Christmas and it’s all dark and gloomy outside, is not my time.
But wait, this is a blog about copywriting and marketing, let’s not get too hung up on me, shall we? I promise, there is a point to this post and it will help your business.
“What is it?” I hear you cry in exasperation as you scroll through new productivity planners on Amazon.
Well, just like me, your customers think seasonally. And so should you.
Why should you think seasonally?
There are two reasons why thinking seasonally in your business is a helpful tool:
Youthworker insight alert!
As human beings, we like rituals and rhythms, new starts and seasons. As a species whose lives revolved around when you could farm, when you could fish, when you needed to store food, and when you needed to scrape the ice off of the top of your basket and get gathering again, we are biologically tuned into the idea that things change on a cycle. We like to set moments in our year where we can reflect, plan, remember, or celebrate. And our thoughts and emotions (read: buying habits) are massively affected by this.
In times gone by, most cultures had set moments in their calendar where the changing of the seasons was noted. A harvest celebration, a feast to mark the end of Winter, the first flowers budding. And almost all cultures had rituals involving the passing of time in people’s lives. Initiation ceremonies, first communions, marriages, funerals, all of these mark the passing of the seasons (of life and the year).
In many western cultures, we have fewer and fewer of these universally accepted rituals as time goes on. A lot of the religious rituals have been swapped for secular ones (Easter being a prime example, there are definitely more Instagram posts about egg baskets than there are about crucifixes) and this is fairly normal for a more multi-cultural society. But, because of the way we are wired, we still need some kind of marker.
Now, back to business
From a more traditional marketing perspective, as a business owner, your sales and successes will fluctuate throughout the year. Depending on your specific area – the things you sell and the space you occupy – you may do better in the summer, or in the run-up to Christmas. For example, if you sell garden machinery, you’ll probably be a bit quieter in January when most of us are hiding indoors and not thinking about our lawns. But July is going to be manic!
Tapping into these two reasons for seasonal behaviour can give you insight into the way your customers think and how best to market to them at different points in the year.
How can you make the seasons work for you?
Sure, you can stick to the traditional supermarket cycle of Valentine’s Day, Easter, Summer holidays, Back to school, Halloween, Christmas. But, let’s face it, you’re not going to stand out in a crowded marketplace when everyone else is doing the same thing. And, frankly, it’s boring.
Let’s be a bit more creative, shall we?
Research
The best way to develop a seasons approach to your marketing is to do our favourite thing: research! Consider these questions as a start:
- What seasons do your customers most engage with?
- What stages, in their life and in their year, are they talking about on social media and message boards?
- What seasons (in life or the calendar year) do your products most fit with?
- What seasons do you get most excited about?
Brainstorm
There are so many different seasons that you can tie into your messaging.
Sit down, grab a pen and paper, and think through the year. What events and periods spring to mind?
- Spring cleaning,
- Tax deadlines,
- Summer holidays,
- Back to school (even if your customers haven’t been at school for a while now)
- Christmas.
Then think about life seasons; things that might be concerning your customers right now and affecting the way they think and purchase.
- A new baby
- Coming out of the pandemic
- Finally having an empty nest now the kids have gone to Uni
- Ending a relationship
- Getting married
- Buying their first house.
Tying it all together
So, you’ve got a better idea about the seasons that chime with your audience, now you need to make the connections between your products or services and the seasons you’ve decided to focus on.
Now, a word of warning: shoehorning a “back to school” call to action into every one of your emails, web pages, and social media posts through August and September won’t work (unless you actually are WHSmith, in which case “Hi, thanks for dropping by!”.
Nope, you want to tap into people’s emotions around the different seasons, but you don’t want to hammer it too much.
Think about it this way: If you sell soft home furnishings – cosy throws, inviting cushions, chic bedspreads – then you probably want to connect with the warm cosy feelings that your customers will have around Christmas holidays. Encourage them to fill their homes with tactile fabrics to snuggle up under whilst drinking their mulled wine. Paint a picture of how visiting family won’t be shivering up in the guest room if they have a couple of your bedspreads ready in the airing cupboard.
Alternatively, in September, you might talk about how a little piece of home can help student halls feel less lonely. Thus encouraging every mum of an 18-year-old to buy one of your blankets to pack on top of the IKEA crockery set.
The possibilities are endless.
And, you know, if you’re struggling you could always spend some time talking with an expert…
I promise I don’t bite…especially when I’m feeling all optimistic this time of year!
