As the dog days of summer continue chugging along, crossing off the days of August and approaching September, we’re starting to think about cooler evenings, changing leaves, and hayrides to pumpkin patches. This also means that customers are looking at updated products, offerings, and opportunities, and it’s a great time to revamp your advertising strategies, target audience, or simply evaluate the seasonal changes in your audience and what they’ll be looking for as we transition from summer to fall.
Here are our top seven pointers for keeping your marketing fresh and attention focused on your brand, organization, or product.
1) Look through your sales and advertising ROI history from this time last year… and the year before.
Actually, you know what? Go back more years! We recommend at least scanning through each year around this time and look at your marketing results, ad word hits, and sales. What was doing well at this time last year? What was lagging? What were customers looking for, and if you could go back, what would you have done differently in marketing and ad campaigns? This is best done in advance of the changing seasons if you’re looking to do a seasonal campaign, as it’ll give you plenty of time to evaluate prior years’ results and put together a seasonal campaign based on the findings and your goals for this upcoming season.
2) Begin campaigns ahead of the season
You want to allow customers time to plan out their spending and get excited about what you have to offer. Aim to have your campaign plan and research complete at least a few weeks before the official start of the upcoming season, and certainly a few weeks before the weather and ~*~vibes~*~ change. Many customers begin thinking about seasonal changes and updates on their own, so if you get out ahead of them with a seasonal campaign, you’re more likely to be at the top of their list for products or services.
3) Change up your keywords!
If you use an SEO or ad word service, change your keywords up. “Summer sale” won’t do much good when you’re looking to increase fall customers, and we recommend keeping “Christmas” on pause.. At least for the first half of fall! If you’re working with SEO on your own for keywords, update your website to reflect the changing of the season, and give the updated pages a week or two to start registering. Change up the heds and subheds, and be sure to switch your homepage visuals to reflect the direction and deals you have for the season.
4) Post these updates throughout your social media channels
Starting a campaign means it’s even more important to be active across your social channels. Let consumers know what you have going on, whether it’s limited-time offers, new-client deals, or seasonal offerings. Use your social media targeting strategies with sponsored posts, and activitate the most direct targeting you can to take advantage of the limited time as a new season approaches.
5) Keep it conversational and informative
Consumers are pretty jaded at this point, so keep it conversational and less sales-oriented. They can see right through that, and it might feel off-putting to some people. We all know that fall is around the corner—you aren’t telling them anything they don’t know. Instead, focus on what you have to offer in conjunction with the progression of the year. Fall themes, discounts, and the acknowledgement of the season changing without being cringey is your best bet.
6) Share fall-themed content
People get excited about the start of something new! Help them get into the spirit by enhancing this feeling, with vibrant colors reminiscent of fall hues. We love deep oranges, yellows, and reds, and try to use your imagery to evoke the best parts of fall, like cool days, brilliantly colored trees, winding roads under low clouds. There’s so much to love about fall, and associating this feeling of change and the best parts of the season can help associate your brand with this vibe.
7) Promote end-of-season deals and closeouts
You don’t just have to start a new campaign, you can capitalize on the end of the season as well. It’s not a bad idea to get rid of old inventory, remind consumers of the deals that are going away, and set out an ad campaign to “clean house” as summer winds down. This can look like a big banner advertising end-of-summer closeouts, last chances for the deals you offered this summer, or a special rate if a client signs on before a chosen date. Just remember to get these started early so you can also launch your fall campaign before the season starts!
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