Within the marketing world there are several times of the year that call for celebrations and a chance to show true innovation: holidays, seasonal changes, and special events. Knowing how to capitalize on the latter times can help your business generate additional positive publicity and more website traffic. In fact, in 2014 alone the top three retail sales events occurred around holidays and seasonal changes. The 2014 winter holidays generated $602.1 Billion in revenue, back to school and the fall season generated $72.5 Billion in revenue, and Mother’s Day brought in an astounding $19.9 Billion (sorry Dad’s you racked in only $12.6 Billion in sales).

Top Ways to Use Holidays, Seasonal Changes, and Special Events to Generate Website Traffic

To help you capitalize on the marketing potential for holidays, seasonal changes, and special events we have gathered together a few industry-expert tips.

The Holidays Are a Time for Publicity Marketing

The best part about a holiday is that you have instant access to hosting holiday-themed giveaways. Whether it is a large incentive or a smaller item, free items are always popular amongst consumers and always generate additional brand publicity. In this vein, you can create specialized themed pages for additional holiday Search Engine Optimization (SEO) value. The landing pages should be engaging and filled with user generated content, so that the 59 percent of consumers who are happy to share brand products for a simple reward, will continue to publicize your brand’s holiday-themed giveaway landing pages.

The holidays can also be successfully marketed through the following tactics:

• Create holiday themed content for your blog. This content should engage with users and encourage them to partake in the conversation. The more connected the user the higher the website traffic.
• Optimize your best pages and products. Know where buyers are going to be and optimize accordingly to boost publicity and site traffic.
• Enhance your website checkout. The majority of brands lose consumers on the checkout page; don’t be one of them.

The Seasons Are a Time for Change

Bob Dylan may have coined the phrase “the times they are a changin'” but the seasons are also constantly in flux. Seasonal changes are the perfect time to host a marketing campaign that drives brand publicity. For example, partake in a widely publicized charity event. You can use the event’s publicity, combined with your own marketing efforts to truly connect with individuals on a whole new level.

At the start of each new season you should take a fresh look at your consumer base. Are they comprised of baby boomers ore millennials? Knowing the difference can help you to create highly targeted ads that will drive more traffic to your site. To capitalize on this idea, here are a few unique ideas:

• Combine social trends with user generated content. A recent HubSpot report shows that user generated content is very likely to improve your sales to millennials (who are soon to be the biggest buying force on the Internet).
• Run a multi-social media campaign. Use popular networks like: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Vine to create a multi-dimensional campaign that starts and ends with your site.
• Ask customers to leave reviews on your website. It is great to have Yelp or Google+ reviews, but it is even better to have reviews directly on your website. In fact, starting in 2013 90 percent of consumers stated that their buying decisions were influenced by online reviews. Make the reviews count and improve your website traffic.

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