When to jump on and off the seasonal advertising and promotional bandwagon

Brands and businesses everywhere fly on the coattails of big days in the calendar year. Black Friday, Cyber Monday, New Year, Easter, Valentines and of course National Cheese Tuesday…

For consumers and brand and marketing teams alike it might feel like an ever-lasting cycle, with periods around set days elongating further and further to take up the entire calendar year with one big promotion.

However, for many, these days mark essential trading time, businesses making their money for the year in contracted periods of time. But, some businesses have the air cover and business model to always advertise and discount during these periods whereas others do not. 

When it comes to any seasonal period it’s worth pausing and asking yourself a few key questions… 

Is this the right strategy for your brand?

Don’t throw your marketing plan out of the window. Commitment and consistency are likely to build long-term brand value and impact. Of course, short-term performance-based marketing supports long-term brand building, having a compounding effect, but both need to be baked into your plan from the get-go with a guiding idea behind them to make the most of these periods. 

Does it align with what you stand for or how your business operates?

Remember: Themes of sustainability and luxury may not align with flashy sales. Likewise, depending on where your business is at and what it sells, aligning to seasonal promotional trends might not be fitting, or it might mean you fit better with some opportunities rather than others. Thinking like this opens up the conversation about what does align with your business and your model and how best to realise this in your communications mix across the year, including seasonal periods. 

Is it something your customers genuinely want?

All year-round promotional seasonal campaigns are making their way into people’s inboxes and their social feeds. The question is, do you have something to offer that they’ll want? What insight do you have based on the rest of the year that you can hone to a focal point that you can combine more naturally with the time of year? This combination of insight and seasonality can cut through the noise, banishing the feeling of more of the same when it comes to customer consideration. Particularly when combined with killer creative or witty ways of grabbing attention that help you stand out from the crowd. 

Does it make financial sense?

If it completely disrupts your existing communications mix and business forecasts it might not be worth engaging with all seasonal events for some businesses. For example, without discounting or advertising, purchases you receive during this promotional period may actually happen later at a higher value. Moreover, they’ll be happening without the additional ad spend due to inflation in the cost of ad inventory at certain times of year. 

All wrapped up

Big days in the year have become always-on affairs and, for a large part, that’s the reality. Given this, what’s needed is a way to think about how you approach those days, weeks and months strategically and creatively based on your business. Think about your value, your customers and your model to make these periods work for you, rather than against you.