Many businesses think their digital marketing activities can be paused over the summer or other holidays. After all, surely your customers are too busy with friends and family to be online? However, the stats show that this is simply not the case.

Studies have shown that consumers spend more money between 01 November and 31 December than any other time during the year. Moreover, in a 2021 survey, it was found that 36% of UK consumers between the age of 18 and 35-years old were likely to spend more on summer and Christmas holiday shopping than they do the rest of the year. Last year, spending over holiday periods was far higher compared to the previous two years.

Whether it’s the summer holidays, the Queen’s Jubilee, or Christmas, businesses can’t afford to stop their digital marketing during holiday periods.

Reasons your digital marketing shouldn’t take a vacation

You may think people log off and unplug over typical holiday periods, but the opposite is true. Here are some reasons why you should continue your digital marketing regardless of the time of year.

• New year’s resolutions: Often, people assume that shopping spending decreases after Christmas. However, after celebrating the new year, consumers are often on the hunt for products and services that will help them achieve their new year’s resolutions, whether that’s to be healthier, happier, or even more organised.
• A carefree attitude: The holidays switch consumers to a carefree mode where they’re less hesitant to part way with their money. Spending naturally increases when consumers are relaxed over holiday periods.
• The opportunity to disrupt: Holiday periods allow you to disrupt the usual marketing that people see online from your competitors. Creative campaigns can help you stand out from the rest over the holidays.
• Web traffic increases: Consumers often have more time than ever to spend online browsing for things to buy during holidays. This is when web traffic picks up (you’ll want to ensure yours is optimised for this), and sales follow suit.
• eCommerce is alive and buzzing: For the same reason that website traffic increases, online stores see up to 14% more sales over holiday periods than any other time of the year.
• Weather changes moods: Did you know that warmer weather makes people spend more money? So marketing over the summer period is crucial.

Holidays are the best time for online marketing success

Not only is it imperative that you continue your digital marketing activities throughout holiday periods, but it is also one of the best times for online marketing. Strong digital campaigns that help you stand out from your competition are powerful ways to market your product or service when your target audience is more likely to be in the mood to spend money.

Effective holiday marketing includes using special days to your advantage to promote your business through digital marketing. For example, giving consumers discounts over particular periods, showing how your product or service fits in perfectly with the holidays, and ensuring you’re publishing always-on content where your customers spend their time online will just about guarantee holiday marketing success.

Algorithms aren’t fans of pausing your marketing

If you’ve dabbled in digital marketing before, you’ve probably heard of how algorithms rule the online advertising world. With constant algorithm updates and new features, you might find it difficult to keep up.

The truth about algorithms is that they love consistency. So the more content you give the algorithm on any specific platform, the higher your chances are of having that content distributed to users’ feeds. 

Take Instagram, for instance. If you stop posting for any length of time over the holidays, the algorithm will pick up on this and stop distributing your content. This means that if you stop posting, your potential reach, impressions, and engagements are slashed. When you start posting to Instagram again, you’ll see that gaining the same momentum you had before the pause takes significant time and effort the second time around. This applies to most social platforms and is an excellent example of how a pause in digital marketing can harm your business.

If you’re looking for an affordable marketing team who can help you plan and execute robust digital marketing campaigns over popular holidays, contact us via our website. The time to start preparing is now!