Digital 101: Make Your Seasonal Content Work Smarter

Over recent years we have seen content become the connecting element for all marketing activity; driving customer engagement, retention and growth. The value of relevant content provides businesses with an array of benefits, including increased customer understanding and overall brand awareness.

With such a high importance being placed on the supply of high-quality and consistent content, planning and preparation has never been more significant. However, the thought of creating a powerful editorial plan can be a pretty daunting prospect for some…determining what to discuss, where to distribute and which call to action (CTA) to include are all vital decisions in ensuring your content is well received.

So where could you go for inspiration and insight? Your trusty calendar! Such a simple solution, but our annual diary is a major tool in creating an influential content strategy that comprises of on-trend, reusable content that you can guarantee people are already on the lookout for!

Known as seasonal content, there are two approaches; time-based and event-based. As the names suggest, time-based refers to content that reflects periods of the year, such as spring, summer, autumn and winter. Whereas event-based content focuses on specific occasions such as Christmas, New Years, and Valentine’s Day. Both tactics work exceptionally well when executed with your target audience and business objectives in mind. Remember it’s important to ask yourself, not can, but how does your business fit the season; does your product offering help people experience the season? Do their attitudes change during this period? The best seasonal content will be tailored to your customers and won’t be generated purely because ‘tis the season to be jolly’!

So let’s get down to the real benefits of creating relevant and ‘of value’ seasonal content:

1.  Increased publicity through online interaction
Great content means comments, likes and shares, increasing your brand’s exposure.

2.  Content consistency
Your audience knows what to expect and actively look for what you’ll offer next – customer retention at its best!

3.  Evergreen content
Seasonal content never gets old! A few tweaks and you’ll be able to re-use previous campaigns, saving both time and money (…as we’ve done with this very blog post).

4.  A sense of urgency
Your audience has limited time to interact with your content, encouraging them to do so, before they miss out on something.

5.  Captures buyer attention
Well designed seasonal content is in tune with the time-based interests and needs of your audience – therefore it’s guaranteed to catch their eye.

6.  Great SEO
Your audience will already be on the lookout for this type of content, so heightened traffic is likely if you target on-trend keywords.

7.  A responsive strategy
Seasonal content positions you as a quick-to-react brand.

8.  You can get the best out of your other content
There’s nothing stopping you linking seasonal content to other areas of your business. Use this as an opportunity to further educate your audience about your brand.

To get the most out of your seasonal content, it’s vital to plan in advance. The recommendation is to launch your campaign just before the peak of any season, giving your audience time to engage and act upon your calls to action before the moment has gone.

Have something to add? We’d love to hear from you via @gmdesignltd