Seasonal Sales Promotions

A lot of brands run flash sales whenever revenue dips. But random discounting trains your customers to never pay full price. Before you know it, you've sabotaged your own pricing power. Instead, here's how to time your sales strategically throughout the year: 🦸 January: Tap into the "New Year, New You" mindset for health, productivity, and self-improvement products 🌿 March/April: Spring refresh - perfect for home goods, fashion, and fitness 🎽 May/June: Pre-summer sales for apparel, fitness gear, outdoor equipment 🚚 July: Use mid-year clearance to move big inventory 🖍️ September: Back-to-school and fall preparation 🔨 October: Start warming up for BFCM 💰 November: Your biggest sale event (BFCM) 🎅 December: Focus on last-minute Christmas shoppers and gift cards And to protect your pricing power EVEN more? Don't just rely on percentage discounts. Smart brands mix in: - Early access perks - Free gifts with purchase - Strategic product bundles This protects your margins while still driving sales volume. Do this right & EVERY sale you run will be strategic, anticipated events that HEIGHTEN (rather than discount) your brand.

After 15 years leading social strategies for CPG brands, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern every holiday season🎄: The brands that win the holidays aren’t always the biggest. They’re the ones that prepare the smartest. And good news, it’s not too late (unless you’ve already checked into holiday mode personally lol) There are small, tactical moves you can implement impact sales and visibility this holiday season. Here are the most practical actions you can still take: 1. Optimize Your Product Pages Like Your Q4 Depends on It Most brands obsess over top-of-funnel content, but conversions happen where consumers hit “add to cart.” This week: ✅ Tighten your bullet points ✅ Add lifestyle images or quick demo videos ✅ Make sure reviews are visible and recent ✅ Clarify your gifting angle (e.g., “Perfect stocking stuffer,” “Holiday hostess gift”) A 10–20 minute page update can lift conversions immediately. 2. Repost Your Best-Performing Content (Don’t Reinvent the Wheel) Consumers are scrolling faster than ever. If you had a top-performing post this year... ➡️ a product demo ➡️ a recipe ➡️ a customer testimonial ➡️ a founder story Post it again. Even edit it (if you want) to focus more on the holiday push)  Most brands under-post in Q4 because they’re overthinking the creative. If you have time to rebrand things as a campaign, DO IT. 3. Make Your Offer Unmissable For CPG, the difference between an okay promo and a great one is often clarity, not depth. “20% off all bundles” is good. “Buy 2, Save 20% — perfect for gifting or stocking up before guests arrive” is better. Add emotional context. Tell people why the deal matters right now. 4. Launch a 10-Day UGC Blitz Today: 👉 Ask your community to share videos using your product in a holiday setting 👉 Incentivize with a giveaway, discount, or repost 👉 Turn the best clips into ads or social content within 48 hours 👉 You’re not too late. Speed wins in Q4. 👉 We can help secure UGC for your brand or use a tool like minisocial (even email or post on social to followers that you are looking for people to work with). 5. Feature Your Human Side Holiday months are emotional. People buy from people. Have your founder or team: ✅ Share the brand’s holiday traditions ✅ Talk about what the season means to your company ✅ Tell the backstory behind a product ✅ Thank customers This can be on the brand account or on your personal socials. And don’t forget to cross post your short form video content on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. 6. Make Your Packaging “Giftable” With One Small Change 👉 A sticker. 👉 A card. 👉 A ribbon. 👉 A simple holiday message on the box. Even if you're not a typical “gift brand,” you can become one by making your product feel seasonally relevant. If you have the option on your website to have people select gift packaging - do it. If you want someone to look over your social plan for the holidays, shoot me a DM.

How can brands and retailers stand out this Holiday season amid judicious spending and unabated inflation? the race to launch even earlier #Holiday deals has created one long, continuous promotional cycle. It also trains customers to wait for sales and only buy at reduced prices, significantly impacting brand equity and profits. Here are some holiday promotion strategies to avoid this race to the bottom: 💶 Commit to price transparency as shoppers become increasingly weary of price gouging. Rather than helping overcome consumer scepticism about the discounts offered, they can lead to more of it. Look to 2023's viral TikTok hashtag #BlackFridayIsAScam. Similarly, Amazon customers found that merchants inflated their prices ahead of Black Friday 2023 to promote steeper discounts, driving down trust 💬 Have the confidence to hold sales until peak periods. While last year’s earlier start saw some retailers begin their promotional cycles as soon as August, a spike in sales didn’t actually occur until a few days before Black Friday and Christmas. Target saw its first visit peak of the 2023 season the day before Thanksgiving (up 22.1%) while department stores experienced a 183.6% spike in visits two days before Christmas. This year, two-thirds of shoppers say they’re holding out on making big purchases until #CyberWeek, according to Salesforce 📊 Double down on dynamic pricing. Use data and AI to develop an innovative promotion and discount strategy. Utilise time-sensitive models and a differentiated merchandising mix to more easily adjust to Holiday market conditions and shopper preferences in real-time 📌 Rather than appeal to all shoppers, target promotions to your most loyal customers. Salesforce predicts two out of five purchases over the 2024 Holiday season will be from a repeat buyer. Coupled with the fact that 77% of US consumers who have retail subscriptions buy more from brands they have relationships with, Holiday loyalty schemes will have a big impact 🎊 Create limited-time product bundles or gift sets that combine complementary items, offering convenience and savings without sacrificing perceived value 💰 Launch deals consumers actually want. To cut through the discounting noise, retailers must deliver more individualised discounts. 83% of US consumers are interested in receiving personalised offers Any other advice for brands and retailers ramping-up their #BlackFriday and #Christmas promotions?

Here's secret few marketers know: The real opportunity isn't black Friday It's Q5: Dec 1 to Jan 1 Few brands pay attention. Fewer know how to use it. That’s where you win. Here’s the insider play: → The quiet window After the BFCM blitz, many advertisers pull back, so CPC dips But people are still researching and planning. That's the best time for you to “buy the dip”. Invest when ad costs are more favorable, and competition is less. → B2B isn’t fully offline Your audience is in the office, but not slammed. They’re receptive to ideas and learning. That's the best time to stay on top of mind for Q1. Don’t push demos. Build relationships, credibility, and relevance. → Shift the goal Q5 isn’t about conversion. It’s about engagement, list-building, and mindshare. Invest time and budget in campaigns that plant seeds for Q1, not just flash sales. ↪ How to win in Q5 - Keep campaigns alive after Cyber Monday: Move from “deal frenzy” to “last-minute gifting” or “still time to shop.” - Retarget wisely: Use post-BFCM campaigns to capture warm traffic. People who visited but didn’t convert? Retarget them with seasonal messaging. - Brand-first campaigns: Focus on awareness, education, and value-driven content. Discounts are optional. - Plan for post-Christmas dip (Dec 26 → Jan 1): People aare reflective and planning for the New Year. Your messaging should meet them there. - Use smart budget pacing: Don’t burn everything on BFCM. Save some for quieter weeks to dominate attention when others sleep. Brands who treat peak season as a cycle, not a one-off event, capture more value. If you ignore Q5, you’re leaving low-hanging fruit on the table while others burn their budget in the peak chaos. This December window isn’t a lull. It’s a strategic gap and your moment to do deep brand work, and audience build. Leverage it, and you’ll start Q1 ahead of competitors who were too busy chasing the Black Friday chaos.

You’re not immune to seasonal dips. No brand is. But if your revenue completely disappears outside of Black Friday, your strategy is off. Here’s how to keep cash flowing year-round without discounting yourself into the ground: 1. Sell with the seasons. The calendar gives you 365 days of opportunity, not just Q4. Tap into summer essentials, winter upgrades, fall refreshes, and spring cleanouts. Prioritize seasonal relevance. 2. Ride the wave of real-time trends. Big brands plan months ahead. Smart brands move fast. Tie your marketing to sports events, cultural moments, and trending topics to stay relevant without discounting a thing. 3. Make old products feel new. Your audience doesn’t know your catalog like you do. Reintroduce past best-sellers, highlight what newer customers missed, and give old collections a fresh spin. What feels repetitive to you is brand new to most of your list. 4. Turn shopping into a game. People love a chase. Create mystery gifts, hidden discounts, or an “Easter egg” product that’s 60% off for those who find it. If you make buying fun, customers engage without expecting discounts. 5. Borrow another brand’s audience. Stop marketing in a vacuum. Partner with complementary brands for joint giveaways, co-branded drops, or content swaps. You both win without slashing prices. 6. Educate instead of discounting. Quiet months are the best time to teach customers how to use your products, why they matter, and what makes them better. A well-educated customer doesn’t need a discount to convert. 7. Sell more to the customers you already have. Cross-sell complementary products, bundle best-sellers, and use personalized recommendations. More revenue, no extra ad spend. Stop blaming the “slow season.” Most of your audience doesn’t see every email, and even fewer remember past campaigns. Reuse successful promos, past partnerships, and old drops with a new spin.  What feels redundant to you is brand new to most of your list.

Every year an owner says, “We’ll start pushing in November...” And every year it costs them double. Holiday success doesn't have anything to do with "luck" or "spend." Google’s peak window runs from October through January. So the ramp-up is part of the season. When you start early, you’re not being cautious, you’re giving the system time to learn while CPMs are still sane. The first part of the season should be about warming people up. Show them the story behind the product. Explain why it exists, describe the problem it solves. And do it way before they’re scrolling for discounts. So by the time November hits, you’ve already built familiarity, and every paid click works harder. When the offers roll out, keep them simple. Percentage off, dollar off, free shipping. The badge in Merchant Center will do more for you than any clever copy. People scan, they don’t decode. The rest is just staying adaptable: Inventory changes. Competitors drop prices. Google adjusts the auction. Keep your setup simple and your catalog accurate so you can adjust without undoing everything you’ve built. When it comes to Q4s, the work you do in October buys you cheaper conversions in November... And calmer nerves in December.

Most Brands Lose Margin During Seasonal Events.  A moment like Mother’s Day changes who is shopping, when they convert, and which products are most likely to win. That means your strategy should shift, too. Here is how: 1. Let relevance, not assumptions, guide the strategy Seasonal success is not about forcing your whole catalog into the moment. Use SQP and historical data to identify which products are truly relevant, which search terms actually convert, and where visibility matters most. 2. Budget timing matters If spend is burning too early in the day, you may be missing higher-intent traffic later, when gift purchases are actually happening. 3. Audience strategy matters Generic seasonal terms can get expensive fast. In many cases, brands are better off leaning into custom audiences and applying audience-level bid adjustments to prioritize higher-intent shoppers and known audiences. 4. Inventory should shape media decisions There is no upside in forcing demand into products that are likely to stock out. Seasonal advertising should follow inventory health, not just traffic trends. 5. Different buyer mix, different LTV dynamics Seasonal demand can bring in a different customer profile than usual. If that changes the likely value of the customer over time, your CPA target should change too. If you'd like to see how this looks for your brand, let's connect.

$470,000 in 30 days from a seasonal sports equipment brand. We manage advertising for a sports equipment brand that does the majority of its revenue in a 4-month window. When the season hits, you either catch the wave or you don't. This brand caught it. Last 30 days: $470,000+ (up 238% vs. the prior period) Last 14 days: $325,000 Last 7 days: $202,000 Yesterday alone: $31,000+ ACOS held at 13.8%. TACOS at 8.6%. That's not luck. That's preparation. Most brands wait until demand shows up to start spending. By the time their campaigns ramp, CPCs are inflated, inventory is tight, and they're fighting for visibility they should have already owned. Here's what we did differently: 1. Mapped the demand curve months in advance and built the campaign structure around it 2. Inventory was positioned and ready before the first spike 3. Scaled ad spend in sync with organic momentum so we rode the wave instead of chasing it 4. Kept ACOS targets tight throughout the ramp so growth never came at the expense of efficiency Seasonal doesn't mean unpredictable. It means you need a plan that starts long before the first order comes in. If you sell a product that peaks in a specific season, the groundwork you lay right now determines whether you capture demand or watch your competitors take it. Are you already prepping your seasonal strategy, or still waiting for demand to show up first?

What I learned turning Broadway's (NYC) slowest months into a thriving revenue channel. Here’s the story of building Broadway Week and how to mitigate downturns and seasonality in your business: If you’ve ever faced a seasonal dip in your business, I hope you’ll find this story to be helpful! Context: I spent 6 years working with the New York City Tourism + Conventions and marketing team under NYC’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg and some of the most brilliant minds in branding and partnerships. So, in the world of Broadway, the busy holiday season often leads to quieter January…with audiences opting to nestle at home rather than venture out to shows in the cold. The challenge was clear: how could we overcome the January lull and keep the lights shining on Broadway stages? To overcome this challenge, we created Broadway Week! Shopaholics have Black Friday, foodies have Restaurant Week and hardcore theatergoers have Broadway Week Broadway Week in NYC is a ticket deal offered by Broadway producers and New York City Tourism. For a limited time, it lets you buy two tickets to most Broadway shows for the price of one. The result? Everybody wins: The productions get full houses, and audiences get cheap Broadway tickets. Key Takeaways (that apply to any business with seasonality): 1/ Understand User Mindsets: Dive deep into your users' mindset and headspace. Understand what matters most to them at different times and anticipate areas of resistance or disengagement. 2/ Understand Seasonality: Recognize the seasonal patterns in your industry and how they influence customer behavior. 3/ Adapt Marketing Strategies: Tailor your marketing campaigns to match the mindset and needs of your audience during different seasons. 4/ Introduce Special Initiatives: Implement creative promotions and events to drive engagement and boost sales during slow periods. Not all slow periods have to be slow periods. They’re only slow if you let it be a slow period… --- Here is an image from one of my all time favorite shows, The Lion King. Have you seen it? Did you love it, too? Or, are you one of the many that preferred Rent, Hamilton, or one of the many others!?