No matter what product or service with which you are working, the time of year will have an impact on your sales. There are a few seasonal adjustments to make for the coming months for many different industries. Keep these things in mind as you begin planning your spring and summer marketing campaigns.
Spring and Summer Marketing
Spring and summer bring new marketing trends. One study even found spring holidays are beginning to rival Black Friday for profitability. The combination of St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, and Mother’s Day adds up to a large sum. Consumer habits shift significantly and you can have a more profitable season if you adjust your marketing according to their tendencies.
Online traffic for people looking for dresses, for example, is 16 percent higher in the spring than in the summer, especially in late April when students are preparing for school dances and graduation celebrations. Web traffic for lawn and garden services rises by 61 percent during spring break. You can take advantage of consumer needs and become more profitable in each season by utilizing these trends.
Focus on the Holidays and Events
One of the best ways to take advantage of the season in your marketing plan is by using some of the spring and summer holidays. Playing at a specific celebration or event can increase business. People are more likely to purchase a product or service if it directly applies to something coming up in the immediate future.
It is important to time your changes correctly when adapting your marketing for the holidays. Do not wait until two or three days before the event to cater your marketing. Think about when consumers will begin looking for items. For example, if they are planning a party for the holiday, they will most likely be shopping for themed items a week or two before the day. You want them to see your products first, so do not wait until they have already perused five or six other websites.
Fourth of July is one of summer’s major holidays. Make sure your website reflects the American pride so many feel during the holiday. Send out emails to your subscribers or create advertisements about your themed offers.
Mother’s Day
Mother’s Day has such an extreme sales impact that it warrants a separate acknowledgment. Consumers spent $23.1 billion on Mother’s Day in 2018. Shift your marketing to focus on appreciating moms all around the country. Adjust your advertisements so they center around showing your mother how much you love her. People are often willing to spend larger amounts of money on Mother’s Day, so it is an ideal time to push your nicer products and service. Traffic for websites with pages of jewelry products increased 36 percent before Mother’s Day. Whether you offer pearl necklaces or spa packages, the market for spouses and children who want to appreciate their wives and mothers.
Pay Attention to the Weather
You can use the weather to advertise a product. Social media is a perfect platform to post about a product or service that is ideal for the spring and summer temperatures. For example, King of Pops posted a picture on its Facebook and Instagram pages of one of its popsicles with the caption “My favorite on a [sun emoji] day like today. What’s yours? #kingofpops #popweather.”
Stork’s Skin Care marketed skin products with an Instagram post of a sidewalk sign advertising its products. A simple post on your website or profile about a way to utilize your product or service in the heat will encourage and motivate people to purchase it.
However, your market, and keep social media at the forefront of your campaign – as both of these organizations did. The promotions relied on their use of Insta and hashtags.
Highlight Products and Services That Heat Up
Certain products and services become more popular in the spring and summer. As mentioned above, dress demand skyrockets in the spring. Many teenagers are shopping for prom dresses and people of all ages are looking for nice dresses to wear to graduation ceremonies and celebrations. Dress online traffic is 52 percent higher in the spring than in the fall.
Many people are also looking to improve and renovate their lawns when the warm weather comes. If you have services that apply to lawn and garden care, market them heavily in the spring because online traffic is 20 percent higher than in summer and 67 percent than the fall.
Similar to lawn and garden care, all house cleaning heats up in the spring. Families all over the country are taking on spring cleaning. If you sell cleaning products, many people will be more eager to purchase them in the springtime when they are preparing for the warm weather.
Even pharmaceutical companies can benefit if they adjust to the spring season. Allergies spark up in the spring and over-the-counter medicine purchases increase by 61 percent.
Marketers should also take note of Tax Day. Many people end up looking for tax software at the last minute. If you have tax services or products of any kind, market them heavily in the spring. Online traffic for tax software increases by 50 percent over the week of Tax Day, which accounts for 18 percent of all the traffic tax software companies experience in the spring. Highlight your tax services on your website, social media accounts, and any other platforms.
Offer Summer Gift Cards and Deals
Offering loyal customers bargains, deals, and gift cards are great ways to increase your profitability in the summer. You can email coupons and deals designed for summer.
Take Advantage of April Fool’s Day
Many consumers appreciate a company with a sense of humor. April Fool’s Day is perhaps the only day all year when companies can play jokes on consumers without it being odd. Take advantage of the holiday and send out a gag email or advertise silly products and services.
ThinkGeek is a great example of April Fool’s Day marketing. Each April Fool’s Day for the past 17 years, they have sent out a newsletter advertising absurd and humorous products and services. It is an effective way to be a little less serious and show your customers a goofy side they will appreciate.
Think About What Is Relevant
The bottom line for any seasonal marketing: thinking about what products and services are relevant for that period. If you offer certain things people are looking for in the spring and summer, highlight them around the time that people will begin shopping for them. If you do not have seasonal or holiday-specific items, change your advertising strategy so you address the reasons why your products or services are great for that time of year.
Keep in mind who you are targeting, too. For example, at the end of the summer, many parents and students are shopping for back-to-school items. If you have a website that sells office supplies, focus your online marketing around supplies students can use in school and direct the ads toward students and parents. If you are a store like Target or Walmart, populate your website with advertisements about products ideal for school.
By taking advantage of the spring and summer seasons, you can significantly increase your profitability and make consumers more excited about what your company has to offer.
Stephen Moyers