Pumpkin spice has hit the market—and love it or not, we can all agree that it is creating a marketing buzz. A Nielsen study found that one in three people picked up a pumpkin-flavored product between the fall season and Christmas—that includes everything from lattes to ice crea, pet treats to household items… and even deodorant.
Overall, this pumpkin product obsession accounts for $361 million in US sales. So, what exactly can we learn from the success of pumpkin-spiced products and how it can relate to your seasonal strategies?
Marketers are often told to create evergreen content that is relevant all year round. However, there’s something to be said about timing and, in this case, that “to everything there is a season.”
Every season has something different to offer, so it’s down to marketers to research and decide which ones align best with the business. The two main themes are the four seasons themselves and ones based on events such as Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, and national holidays.
It may not be obvious how to determine your brand’s seasonality themes without digging into your audience behaviors. The best way to reveal seasonal content themes is to understand the trends through a mix of science and clever marketing. Use your data to analyze spikes in views, clicks, and conversions and whether they correspond with seasons. Listen to your customers across all media channels. There you can find important data to better understand user behavior to create actionable content.
Once you have a solid grasp on what matters most to your audience, and the obstacles they may have to deal with before making a purchase, you can craft your seasonal content accordingly.
And with the help of data you can analyze how your seasonal content is working for you. Learn how site performance varies for your company throughout the year to inform your publishing cadence and seasonal topic selection. Use these insights to segment your messaging and personalize your content to connect with your audience on a deeper level.
Using seasonal content is nothing new for B2C. Since the 1920s, The Coca-Cola Company has been featuring its cold beverage during the winter and has reaped the rewards. Many can remember the lovable polar bears that come to life in the Always Coca-Cola campaign, which has helped to effectively position it as a year-round refreshment. But what about B2B buyers?
B2B marketers can also develop a compelling seasonal content strategy that is effective throughout the year. Similar to B2C, when marketing to other companies, you’re not just marketing to the business—you’re marketing to the people who work for that business too. Therefore, it’s critical to build trust and rapport with your B2B prospects on an emotional level that transcends the corporate mindset.
To design emotion into online experiences requires insights, methodologies, and data sources to interpret and analyze through customers’ eyes. Social listening gives brands real-time access to what your audience is talking about, sharing, and consuming. It’s a smart and strategic seasonal content campaign that will steal the show.
Additionally, B2B companies have an advantage when it comes to seasonal content marketing, with data and insights that can be utilized for thought leadership assets. Research by Edelman and LinkedIn found that about 50% of B2B marketers believe their thought-leadership builds trust in their organization. But among actual buyers, that number is more like 83%.
Identify opportunities for how seasonality plays a role in the buying cycles and within your industry through national and professional holidays (e.g., Nurse’s Week or Teacher’s Day). For example, HubSpot offered a free download of 250 holiday stock photos for companies to manage their own holiday campaigns. And best of all, it has generated leads in the process.
Other ideas to consider are account-based marketing campaigns for National Doughnut Day to deliver donuts to your loyal clients or for National Checklist Day or Podcast Day to create useful resources for your clients.
Whether you provide valuable assets like checklists, end-of-year summaries, or new year trends reports, season-related content can help to engage your audience through festive social media posts, infographics, and ads.
Another advantage to seasonal content is that it is often more readily shareable than regular content. Social channels and search have evolved to prioritize content that drives these conversations and engagement. Continue to look for innovative methods to personalize these experiences and activate your branding.
Topical content shows that you stay relevant in your niche and put your customer first. Start your ideation process early with a thoughtful approach to deliver content that taps into an insight—not just driving reach and frequencies of messages. It doesn’t matter what you’re selling. What matters is how you’re tapping into the emotions of your market.
Marketers that anticipate, identify, and prepare for these opportune times can capitalize on rising trends that capture your audience’s attention, promote sharing, and spice up your sales.
