Seasonal Ad Strategies: 6 Timely Ideas + Advice from the Pros

Seasonal ad strategies tailor your advertising efforts to align with seasonal trends and consumer behaviors. Learn how to optimize your campaigns for specific seasons, boost your marketing performance, and leverage expert tips for year-round success.

Last year, holiday sales hit a staggering $964 billion. That’s a nearly 4% increase from the previous year, according to the National Retail Federation.

This impressive growth highlights the immense potential of having seasonal ad strategies. But to create impactful seasonal ad campaigns, you must go beyond the basics.

In this guide, we delve into the intricacies of seasonal ad strategies, providing expert tips and advanced techniques to ensure your campaigns stand out year-round.

Plus, we share real-life examples and insights to help you navigate the ever-changing landscape of seasonal marketing.

Abercrombie Kids’ back-to-school campaign that launched in August. (Image: Screenshot)

What is a seasonal ad strategy?

A seasonal ad strategy is the practice of tailoring your advertising efforts to align with seasonal trends and consumer behaviors.

This can involve adjusting your ad creatives, targeting, and budget to capitalize on periods of heightened consumer interest and spending, such as holidays and special events.

By adapting your campaigns to align with seasonal peaks and trends, you can increase engagement, boost conversion rates, and maximize return on investment (ROI).

Seasonal ad strategies require careful planning and analysis of historical data to identify key periods and optimize your advertising efforts accordingly.

Whether it’s back-to-school season or the holiday shopping rush, a well-executed seasonal ad strategy can drive a rush of sales and improve your return on ad spend (ROAS).

Season-based marketing in an email advertising campaign from nail polish brand Olive & June. (Image: Screenshot)

Does your business require a seasonal ad strategy? HawkSEM Search Engine Marketing Manager Peter Miller tells us,”There are a plethora of businesses among varying industries that can capitalize on seasonal ad strategies.”

“From DTC ecomm clothing brands that want to drive holiday sales or even sales during changing seasons, (i.e. discounted summer clothes during the start of fall) to local service businesses (i.e. lawn care, snow plowing),” he says.

Miller explains that most businesses experience some sort of seasonality, and could benefit from these strategies.

Examples of seasonal opportunities

When you think of seasonal ads, your mind jumps straight to the winter holiday season, right?

Yes, that’s one of the biggest seasonal events of the year, but there’s also a lot of other ones that might well align with your business.

Here are some prime examples of holidays and events to focus your seasonal promotions around:

New Year

Focus on products or services related to health, wellness, organization, and self-improvement as people set new goals and resolutions.

A 2024 survey from Forbes found that nearly half of respondents made a fitness-related New Year’s resolution, making it the most popular type of resolution for the year.

New Year can be a great time to capitalize on people’s “New Year, new me” mentality if your business is in the health and fitness realm.

Valentine’s Day

Promote gift ideas, experiences, and special offers for couples and individuals looking to express affection.

For example, in 2024, $6.4 billion was spent on jewelry in the U.S. for Valentine’s Day, so this is a prime time to advertise if you have a jewelry store.

Spring

Capitalize on the rejuvenating spirit of spring by offering seasonal products, outdoor activities, home improvement services, and gardening supplies.

Mother’s Day/Father’s Day

Highlight gifts, experiences, and activities that celebrate love and appreciation for mothers and fathers.

Graduation season

Offer gift ideas, party supplies, travel packages, and career services to graduates and their families.

Back to school

Offer a wide range of products and services, including school supplies, clothing, electronics, tutoring services, and educational resources as students prepare to return to school.

Halloween

Promote costumes, decorations, party supplies, and themed events to capitalize on this festive occasion for dressing up and indulging in spooky fun.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Attract customers with exclusive deals, discounts, and in-store and online promotions during the biggest shopping weekend of the year.

Religious holidays

There are a variety of opportunities surrounding Easter, Christmas, Hanukkah, Ramadan, and other holidays. These can be anything from candy promotions to discounted flights to visit family.

Since some of the winter holidays happen in close succession, you can come up with creative marketing ideas to keep people engaged and buying throughout the end of the year.

How can seasonal ad strategies benefit your business?

Seasonal ad strategies offer several advantages that can increase ad performance throughout the year. Here are some key benefits:

• Increased engagement: Seasonal ads resonate with consumers because they align with their current interests and needs. By tapping into the excitement and relevance of holidays and seasonal events, you can capture your audience’s attention more effectively.
• Higher conversion rates: Timely and relevant ads are more likely to convert viewers into buyers. When your promotions match the season’s mood and consumer behavior, you’re more likely to see an uptick in sales and inquiries.
• Brand awareness: Consistent seasonal advertising keeps your brand top-of-mind. Regularly engaging with your audience during key times of the year helps build brand recognition and loyalty.
• Competitive advantage: Businesses that effectively leverage seasonal marketing can outshine competitors who fail to adapt. Staying ahead of seasonal trends can position your brand as proactive and customer-focused.
• Revenue boost: Seasonal peaks in consumer spending provide an excellent opportunity to maximize your revenue. Well-timed and targeted seasonal campaigns can lead to significant sales increases during high-demand periods.
• Leveraging loyal customers: Use the seasonal trends to reengage your loyal customers with promotions geared towards what matters most to them.

“As an example, if a business tends to have repeat customers, it’s possible to create an entire segment dedicated to previous shoppers, to then apply as an explicit audience target within an RLSA campaign,” Miller says.

How can I plan my ad spend around my seasonal service?

Planning your ad spend around seasonal services involves strategic budgeting and timing, as well as a lot of clever audience research. Here are some tips to help you plan your ad spend:

• Identify seasonal peaks: Analyze your historical data to determine when your business experiences the highest demand. Look at past sales trends, customer inquiries, and web traffic to pinpoint peak seasons.
• Allocate budget accordingly: Once you identify peak periods, allocate a larger portion of your ad budget to these times. Investing more during high-demand seasons can yield better returns and capitalize on increased consumer interest.
• Be flexible: Stay flexible with your budget to adjust based on performance. If certain campaigns perform exceptionally well, be prepared to allocate more funds to capitalize on the momentum.
• Use data-driven insights: Leverage analytics tools to monitor ad performance in real time. Use these insights to make informed decisions about reallocating your budget for maximum impact.
• Plan for off-peak periods: Don’t neglect the slower seasons. Use these times to build brand awareness and engage with your audience through less aggressive, cost-effective campaigns. This keeps your brand visible year-round and primes your audience for peak seasons.

Atlanta-based pizzeria Pielands leverages football season to try to increase orders and foot traffic. (Image: Screenshot)

Expert tips for managing seasonal marketing campaigns

Optimize with automation

Automation is a game-changer in managing seasonal ad strategies and can increase the efficiency of your digital marketing efforts.

By using automated tools, you can efficiently handle bid adjustments, budget pacing, and ad scheduling.

• Bid adjustments: Set up automated rules to increase bids during peak times when your audience is most active. For example, if you know that evenings and weekends see higher engagement, automate your bids to rise during these periods. Google and Microsoft both offer tools to help with this. “An example of when to use seasonality adjustments may include if a business is expecting to experience a jump in conversion rate, due to a short-term holiday sale event,” says Miller.
• Budget pacing: Use budget pacing tools to ensure your budget lasts throughout the entire season. This prevents overspending early on and ensures consistent ad presence.
• Ad scheduling: Schedule ads to run at times when they are most likely to be seen by your target audience. Automation tools can help you adjust schedules based on real-time performance data.
• Use promotion assets: Outside of seasonal adjustments, businesses can also use promotion assets (formerly known as extensions). “[They] place an emphasis on sales/promotions,” Miller elaborates. “When setting these up, it’s possible to set them to only be active for a specified period of time.”

Leverage historical data

Your historical data is a goldmine for planning effective seasonal ad campaigns. By analyzing past performance, you can make informed decisions about future strategies.

• Identify trends: Look at sales, web traffic, and engagement data from previous seasons to identify patterns. This can help predict when demand will spike and allow you to prepare accordingly.
• Budget allocation: Allocate more budget to high-performing times and adjust your spending based on what has historically worked best. For instance, if last year’s Black Friday campaigns were able to boost sales, increase your budget for this period.
• Performance benchmarks: Use historical performance benchmarks to set realistic goals and KPIs for your current campaigns. Knowing your past click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and cost per acquisition (CPA) can guide your expectations and strategies.

Pro tip: Historical data can be useful in many ways, both year over year and over the course of several years. Observe year-over-year business performance both in and out of ad platforms to identify any consistent recurring patterns during certain times of the year, such as revenue and/or lead fluctuations, product/solution performance, audience and location performance, and the cost averages associated with capturing traffic, leads, and sales. 

Test and learn

A/B testing is crucial for refining your seasonal ad campaigns. You can discover what works best and optimize your efforts by continually testing different elements..

• Creative testing: Test different ad creatives to see which resonates most with your audience. This can include variations in images, headlines, and calls-to-action (CTAs). For example, test a festive-themed creative against a more generic one to see which drives higher engagement.
• Targeting experiments: Experiment with different audience segments to find the most responsive groups. Use demographic, geographic, and behavioral data to refine your targeting.
• Bid strategies: Test various bidding strategies, such as manual bidding versus smart bidding, to determine which delivers the best results. For instance, you might find that smart bidding increases efficiency during peak times, while manual adjustments work better during off-peak periods.

A Valentine’s Day-themed email ad from M Dash Creative. (Image: Screenshot)

Top tips for greater ROI in your seasonal marketing strategies

1. Start early

When it comes to seasonal ad strategies, timing is everything. Kick off your planning at least three months in advance. This gives you enough time to research market trends, design your creatives, and set up precise targeting strategies to ensure you reach the right potential customer.

For example, if you’re gearing up for a holiday marketing campaign, begin brainstorming and developing concepts well ahead of time. This way, you have plenty of opportunities to test and tweak your approach based on initial results.

2. Leverage historical data

Your past data is your golden ticket to seasonal ad success. Review the most important metrics and details of your previous campaigns to understand what worked and what didn’t.

For example, if your Black Friday email blast had high open rates but low conversions, maybe your CTA needs some work to help it drive sales. Tools like Google Analytics and your CRM system can help you dissect this data.

Look for patterns in customer behavior, peak shopping times, and product preferences. Understanding these trends lets you fine-tune your strategy to hit the bullseye.

3. Optimize your landing pages

Your landing pages can make or break your seasonal ad strategy. They are often overlooked or come last in the order of importance as more effort is put into the ad creative, but both need to be at their best.

Make sure your landing pages are decked out for the occasion. Create dedicated landing pages that reflect the seasonal theme with engaging visuals, limited-time offers, and clear CTAs.

A festive-themed page for holiday promotions can help you boost conversions and keep consistency between your ads and your landing page.

Consider adding countdown timers to create a sense of urgency and ensure the pages are mobile-friendly since many users will visit via smartphones. Use A/B testing to find the best-performing designs and messages.

4. Use advanced targeting

Not all customers are the same, and during seasonal peaks, precise targeting will really help you attract customers who are ready to convert.

Use demographic, behavioral, and geographic data to create detailed customer profiles. For example, target regions with colder climates if you’re selling winter gear.

Use remarketing lists to re-engage users who have shown interest but didn’t convert, tailoring the ads to reflect the current season.

Platforms like Facebook and Google Ads allow you to create lookalike audiences based on your best customers, expanding your reach. Advanced targeting ensures that your ads are hitting the right people at the right time, maximizing your ROI.

5. Cross-channel integration

Consistency is key when running seasonal campaigns. Integrate your efforts across multiple channels like Google, Facebook, Instagram, and email marketing for a cohesive approach.

For example, if you’re running a summer sale, promote it on social media, search ads, and email newsletters simultaneously with similar visuals and messaging. This multi-channel strategy amplifies your reach and reinforces your campaign message.

Tools like Hootsuite or HubSpot can help you manage and schedule your campaigns across different channels for better coordination and effectiveness.

6. Leverage influencer partnerships

Influencers can give your seasonal campaigns an extra boost. Partner with influencers to tap into new audiences and add authenticity to your promotions.

For example, collaborate with a fitness influencer to promote your New Year’s health and wellness products.

Ensure the influencer’s audience aligns with your target market and their style fits your brand. Give influencers creative freedom to maintain authenticity while guiding them with key messages and seasonal themes.

Track the performance of influencer partnerships using metrics like engagement rates, referral traffic, and conversions to measure ROI. It’s like getting a trusted friend to recommend your product, making it more relatable and trustworthy.

The takeaway

Incorporating a well-thought-out seasonal ad strategy into your marketing plan is crucial for boosting campaign performance during specific seasons.

By starting early, leveraging historical data, and optimizing your approach with advanced techniques, you can maximize engagement and conversions.

Remember, each season brings unique opportunities — capitalize on them to keep your brand relevant and top-of-mind. Ready to elevate your seasonal ad game? Contact HawkSEM for a free consultation today.