From Easter to Diwali, we’re now in the midst of an exciting celebration on the annual calendar, the Christmas festivities. Perhaps you might share the odd festive post on your company’s social media, but do you know how to customise and tailor your communications all year round to fit around a particular celebration? It can often seem like a complicated task, ironic given the short, snappy nature of the social posts, however in this piece we delve into how you can create captivating and inclusive messages all year round. 

Let’s start off with the basics – what actually is seasonal marketing? The term simply refers to adjusting the marketing of products or services based on the specific time of year. Though this is typically associated with big celebrations like Christmas, there are many more considerations to keep in mind, such as industry events or seasonal topics.  

The next question you might ask, ‘is it worth the investment’? Promoting your brand with the time of year in mind can help boost sales. For instance, over the last few years Black Friday promotions have expanded from the US to across the globe with B2C brands marketing heavily during this period. As reported by the Financial Times, retail sales in the UK grew at an exponential annual rate of 5 per cent in November, up from 1.3 per cent the previous month. Not only can this marketing tactic benefit sales, it is also fantastic way to inject some variety into your content and keep your audience captivated.  

At Hey Me, we make sure that we keep up to date with all the relevant dates and topics in the calendar to ensure that the content we produce and marketing strategies we craft, engage our target audiences. Central to this is choosing the most suitable events and topics relevant for our clients. This can depend on a diverse range of factors including, industry, audience, goals, size of your company and location.  

A great example are the dangers winter weather conditions can pose for the rail industry, a key sector we work in. For other industries, weather may not be a key marketing topic, but for our clients and the software they’ve developed, it is intrinsic. This is further enhanced by the news cycle surrounding topics like ‘leaves on the line’, which has evolved into an annual theme that we touch on in our communications for our clients, from thought leadership pieces to trade press articles.  

Central to tailoring your communications all year round, is choosing suitable events and forecasting trends. Considering what may arise in your industry or in the wider world in the near future that could impact your marketing or business, is central. Perhaps look retrospectively at trend cycles your business has experienced and see if you can capitalise this in the future.  

It’s also important to keep in mind the seasonality of digital engagement and search engine use. Depending on your sector, your products and services as well as the type of audience you have, engagement online will differ. For example, when a big industry event occurs more relevant users may be online and attentive to accounts like yours. There are patterns of online engagement clear even on a weekly or daily basis, for example B2B businesses often see increased engagement during the day on weekdays, many peaking at 12pm. At the other end of the scale, B2C businesses see more engagement post-5pm at the end of the typical 9-5 working day.   

Take the time to take stock and consider if your business is selling products or services that relate to weather changes or seasonal activities. This is a great time to produce search engine optimised blog content to up your chances of appearing, when users search related key words. 

Keep your brand tone of voice in mind when producing website, social media or email content. April Fool’s Day is the perfect chance to lighten up your content using new formats, images or emojis. Christmas could also be a great chance to inject some personality into what you share – perhaps even a Christmas Jumper Day themed post!  

Your logo and the imagery you use across platforms is another aspect of seasonal marketing to keep in mind. Perhaps you can switch up your logo from time to time – we have seen some great examples of brands changing logos to support good causes, such as Pride Month, or popping a Santa hat on their logo to get into the Christmas spirit. Changing up the colour palettes or motifs of the graphics you share is another great way to add some variety to your marketing efforts.  

At the end of the day, seasonal marketing should always be considered when creating a communications strategy and planning content. Here at Hey Me, we would be more than happy to offer our expert advice when it comes to crafting successful, engaging campaigns. Just contact one of the Hey Me team today .