Seasonal Marketing & Tackling Consumer Behavioural Changes

With Christmas fast approaching, it is now more important than ever for marketers to take the seasonal shift into account and adjust their marketing strategy accordingly, Luke Griffiths – head of marketing solutions at EMEA – notes in an article for the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) UK.

Behavioural marketing has become even more important for professionals in the industry to consider as British Summer Time comes to an end. With the advent of darker nights and the approach of Christmas, the following points need to be taken into account, Griffiths claims:

– People will be shopping less for themselves, but more for others.

There is no escaping the swift approach of Christmas and marketers need to take this into account. People will be indulging in less ‘selfish shopping’, as Griffiths calls it, and more ‘selfless shopping’ as they seek gifts for their loved ones this holiday season. This doesn’t mean they will stop buying for themselves entirely, however; customer profiles need to be created and adverts targeted accordingly to either the selfless or selfish shopper.

– There will be more dual-screen activity as people seek more product information.

Using advanced attribution techniques will allow professionals to track any changes to consumer behaviour regarding which devices are used. Email click-through and open rates must be tracked, as well as an increase in the number of consumers accessing content from tablets or smartphones. Ensuring all content is accessible from such devices during these months, when consumers tend to stay indoors more, is essential.

Segmenting consumers based on their user behaviours and broadly knowing what to expect from the change in the seasons is essential for marketers looking to take advantage of the winter and Christmas consumer rush.