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Seasonal Marketing Campaign Examples and How They Impact Your Customer’s Decision Making
Seasonal campaigns might just be my favourite marketing tool. They have pre-defined themes, narratives, and a wholesome tone to them that audiences really get on board with. You don’t have to look much further than your John Lewis or Coca-Cola Christmas ad to get an understanding of what I mean here. But we must recognise that Christmas isn’t the only time of year when a seasonal campaign can be delivered. Between now and the close of 2023, the UK alone will see, Summer, Halloween, Guy Fawkes Day, Christmas, Boxing Day, and New Year to name just a few. Each of these poses a great excuse for businesses to engage with a purpose. But how this is achieved is evolving with the digital age and creative freedom is playing one big role.
As these seasonal campaigns gain significance in marketing strategies, mobile messaging has emerged as a powerful tool to connect with customers in a personalised and timely manner. Now, more than ever before ‘mobile messaging’ is becoming an arm of the omnichannel marketing strategy that forms these fascinating seasonal campaigns I love. In this blog, I’ll describe just how impressive these mobile strategies can be that will help you enhance customer engagement, drive conversions, and optimise marketing efforts.
Enhancing Customer Engagement
Mobile messaging provides a direct and personalised channel for organizations to engage with their customers during seasonal campaigns. Through messages, businesses can send targeted messages that resonate with their audience. These might include exclusive offers, discounts, or sneak peeks of upcoming seasonal promotions. By tailoring content based on customer preferences and previous interactions, organisations can create a sense of exclusivity and loyalty, fostering a stronger connection between the brand and the customer.
Additionally, mobile messaging enables two-way communication, allowing customers to respond, provide feedback, or seek additional information. This interactive nature boosts engagement and encourages customers to actively participate in the campaign, increasing the chances of conversions and word-of-mouth recommendations.
Perhaps you take a BuzzFeed-type approach to your bonfire night campaign and send your customer’s a survey-styled message: ‘Choose your favourite firework and we’ll suggest what product suits you best’. Here you’re utilising the power of two-way messaging to engage with your audience, generate a topical buzz and start a conversation. If a customer then selects ‘Catherine wheel’ from the elected options, why not suggest your latest glittery eyeliner and offer an exclusive 10% off to sweeten the deal? So many engagement boxes are ticked with one simple message. You are combining what might be considered a social-media content piece, with the engagement of messaging. Not only this but the two-way CTA isn’t solely focused on selling and reduces the ‘spam’ type of email messages your audience might be used to seeing.
Questions to ask yourself here are:
1. What themes and trends are our audience interested in? (TIP: you can segment and send different messages based on age, gender etc).
2. What information would they find useful?
3. How can we generate excitement using the creativity of messaging solutions?
4. How will our messaging campaign enhance our other campaigns running at this time? (TIP: keeping the commentary the same on all your channels boosts the number of co-ordinated touchpoints customers see)
Driving Conversions
Seasonal campaigns heavily revolve around driving sales and conversions to ensure ROIs match the high fluctuation expected at these times of the year. If mobile messaging is an unfamiliar channel to your brand, you might have some skepticism about investing in it at such a crucial point in your calendar. But the statistics speak for themselves! Open rates of mobile messages can sit anywhere close to 80%+, engagement rates that match, and conversion rates in the range of 20-30%+ depending on the campaign. Now are these numbers you see from your email and social campaigns?
Mobile messaging serves as a powerful tool to prompt customers to take action. Its short-form nature is highly popular in our fast-moving digital worlds. By including clear calls-to-action (CTAs) in messages such as with buttons and links, you can guide customers toward desired outcomes, such as making a purchase, subscribing to a service, or attending an event.
You might wish to send a digital catalogue of your Halloween fancy dress specials. Here customers can browse within the messaging app without being taken elsewhere. You might even wish to elect an automated personal shopping chatbot conversation. This might include asking questions to help a dad find his 7-year-old son a superhero-themed costume without having to troll through your website. By providing in-app shopping experiences, your CTAs are placed nicely below as buttons to ‘purchase now’ or ‘explore more’. Each of thee makes the shopping experience for customers THAT much easier.
Questions to ask yourself here are:
1. Do we need to see higher levels of engagement than what we are currently getting through traditional channels?
2. What do we need our CTA to be? Eg. Make a purchase, register for regular messaging updates, or perhaps explore a new collection and make a purchase.
3. What is going to make the shopping experience that much easier for them? And how can messaging and chatbots aid this journey?
Optimising Marketing Efforts
Mobile messaging offers organisations an efficient and cost-effective means of reaching a large audience. Compared to traditional marketing channels, such as print or television ads, mobile messaging allows for greater precision in targeting specific customer segments, resulting in higher conversion rates.
Organisations can also leverage automation and scheduling tools to streamline their seasonal campaigns. Preparing messages in advance ensures timely delivery and prevents the risk of missing important dates or events. Mobile messaging also provides analytics and reporting features, enabling organisations to track campaign performance and make data-driven decisions to optimise future campaigns.
Just like you would see in an email campaign, with messaging you can watch your open rates skyrocket and track the engagement of your CTAs specifically. Why not run A/B testing to discover what works best for your audiences?
Questions to ask yourself here are:
1. What ROI factor are we most in need of? Eg. Higher open rates, greater engagement or conversion rates.
2. How can we best utilise the data from these campaigns and inject it into future efforts?
Best Practices for Mobile Messaging in Seasonal Campaigns
So you’ve seen just how clever and powerful messaging can be when combined with seasonal campaigns, so I wanted to leave you with some best practices to aid your thinking beyond just this article:
Personalisation: Tailor messages to individual customer preferences and purchase history, ensuring relevance and resonance. Use data held in your CRMs to cater to your differing customer interest to ensure you capture their specific appeals.
Timing: Send messages at appropriate times to maximize customer engagement and conversions, considering time zones and local preferences. When will your audience be on their phones?
Clear CTAs: Include clear and compelling calls-to-action in messages to guide customers towards desired actions.
Compliance: Adhere to local regulations and obtain appropriate consent to ensure legal and ethical use of customer data.
A/B Testing: Experiment with different messaging formats, offers, or CTAs to optimise campaign effectiveness and identify what resonates best with the audience.
Conclusion
Mobile messaging has become an indispensable tool for organisations aiming to succeed in their seasonal campaigns. By leveraging the power of personalised communication, driving conversions, and optimising marketing efforts, organisations can establish stronger connections with customers and achieve their campaign objectives. As technology continues to advance, the role of mobile messaging in seasonal campaigns will undoubtedly grow, providing endless possibilities for businesses like yours to engage and delight their audiences.
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