Christmas, sales, summer, Black Friday: the dates that sell the most have been on the calendar since January. Seasonal marketing is about getting to them with everything ready, instead of throwing the campaign together at the last minute when the peak has already started.
Every business has times when it sells a lot and slower times. An ice-cream shop doesn't bill the same in August as in February, and a toy shop stakes its whole year on December. Seasonal marketing is how you squeeze those spikes and ride out the dips well, deciding ahead of time what you'll say, to whom and through which channel. And the best part is that these dates are no surprise: they're marked on the calendar, so there's no excuse for being caught late.
Seasonal marketing means adapting your campaigns to the moments of the year when your audience buys the most. Instead of always doing the same thing, you tune the offer, the message and the budget to each season: a back-to-school promo in September, a gift campaign in December or an offer built for summer. Behind it sits the idea of seasonality: demand for almost any product rises and falls fairly predictably across the year. Knowing that curve and getting ready for it is what separates the business that sells at the peak from the one that watches it go by.
Here's the funny thing about seasons: they're about as predictable as it gets, and yet almost everyone shows up late. You know the sales start in January and July, that Black Friday lands on the last Friday of November and that everything takes off in December. And even so, plenty of businesses build the campaign the week before, with the creative half-finished and the budget still undecided. Meanwhile, whoever prepared it two months ahead has been taking orders for days. In peak season you don't just compete for the customer: you compete to get there first, and that's won with a head start.
Not every date works for everyone, but a handful move money in almost any sector:
On top of the general calendar, you have your own curve. An accountancy firm goes wild during tax season, a bridal shop works towards spring and a beach bar on the Costa Brava packs its whole year into four months. The first step in seasonal marketing is to look at your numbers from previous years and draw your real curve: when demand rises, how long the peak lasts and when it's worth easing off. That picture is worth more than any generic calendar pulled off the internet.
A seasonal campaign that works is cooked weeks, sometimes months, ahead. The order we follow is this:
The most common mistake in seasonal marketing is starting late. For Christmas, serious prep begins in October; for summer, in spring. There's a practical reason on top of the creative one: in peak season advertising on Google and social fills up with advertisers and the cost per click goes up. If you book space early, you pay less and get there before the customer has already bought somewhere else.
A seasonal campaign doesn't live in one place, but across several channels telling the same story at once:
Seasonal marketing isn't only about pushing at the peak; it's also about riding out the valley well. Slow spells are the best time to prepare what's coming: record content, look after your list, improve the website and take care of the customers you already have. You can also soften the drop with bundles or offers that stir up demand, or open up a new audience your product actually fits in those dates. A business that only works in peak season lives on edge; the one that fills the valley sleeps much better.
At Magnes Factory we don't improvise seasons: we prepare them with you, ahead of time.
That way you reach each date with your homework done and sell while everyone is buying, instead of chasing the peak once it's already fading.
Seasonal marketing means adapting your campaigns to the times of year when your audience buys the most, such as Christmas, the sales or summer. Instead of always doing the same thing, you adjust the offer, the message and the budget to each season to sell more at the peaks and hold your ground in the slow spells.
Earlier than most people think. For Christmas you start in October and for summer, in spring. The sooner you reserve advertising budget and prepare the pieces, the less you pay for ads and the sooner you reach the customer, because in peak season prices go up and all your competitors show up at once.
No. Any business has strong and slow spells: an accountancy firm with tax season, a hotel with summer, an academy with back to school. Seasonal marketing is about finding those dates in your own business, by looking at your numbers from other years, and preparing each one ahead of time.
The ones that reach people fast and all at once. Paid advertising puts you in front of those already searching, email reaches your list before anyone else and social warms up those still hesitating. The ideal is to combine them telling the same message, and to have the website ready so that traffic ends up buying.
Use it to prepare the next one. It's the time to record content, look after your mailing list, improve the website and build loyalty with the customers you already have. You can also launch offers or bundles that stir up sales in the valley, or open a new audience your product fits right in those dates.
The Spanish government grant for digitising your business is opening again. When it opens it runs out: it is granted in order of arrival, and whoever turns up with the paperwork ready gets in.
What is usually required: being a freelancer, micro-business or SME with a tax address in Spain, being up to date with the tax office and social security, and having completed the self-assessment test. The timetable is published by the government at acelerapyme.gob.es.