Now, you might be wondering: What on earth do winter, spring, summer and autumn have to do with the marketing industry? Well, each season embodies certain elements and acts of nature and it is in these that markers can find empowering truths to learn from.
Ready to see the big blooming list of lessons? Let’s go:
Marketing lesson #1: Winter — Find beauty in the cold and dreary
Winter requires you to dig a bit deeper in order to find the beauty in anything. Because this is the season where everything is cold and dreary, you have to try a bit harder to find any colour, and it’s the same with marketing strategies.
Brands therefore need to treat their impending ideas for strategies like winter by seeing them in a new light. Doing this will force you to be creative, and ordinary things that most other brands see as ‘dull’ will be shown to you from a new angle, with the help of your imagination. This way of thinking lets your marketing efforts stand out from the rest, as you’ll be able to take something seemingly boring and make it into something new and exciting for your consumers to experience — a breath of fresh, cold air, if you like.
Think about it: Even with South Africa’s loadshedding, people
still make the best of it by lighting candles, maybe staring at the stars in the dark and staying warm underneath those ‘fluffy’ blankets. So why not get creative with your strategies?
Mindset is everything!
*Side note: Be as punctual as the loadshedding guy: If he can cut the power right on time, then you can deliver exceptional content on a daily basis to your customers too!
Marketing lesson #2: Spring — Make your content come to life
This season teaches marketers that now is the perfect time to develop new content strategies and bring their marketing efforts back to life. If the past year has taught brands anything, it’s this: No matter how dark things can get, there will come a time where you'll will be able to spring to life again and fresh ideas will come into bloom.
With flowers popping up and animals coming out of hibernation, there is a lot of inspiration that can be taken from this season. Only the strongest trees and plants will shake off the ice and start growing new leaves.
The same thing should happen with your marketing strategies: Those tactics that are able to withstand harsh climates will continue to flourish and bloom, as well as see better days.
Those are the strategies that you should continue paying attention to and building upon. And remember, because it’s spring, it’s also the time for something new. So if there’s a new campaign you've been wanting to try, don’t wait for things to get better: Go on and try it! And if things don’t work out, just like the seasons changing, your time to succeed will come again.
Marketing lesson #3: Summer — Make your consumer feel good
When consumers see your marketing messages, it needs to make them feel
happy and
relaxed — much like a summer holiday. The ads that you create should tell a compelling story that makes them feel as if they're taking a break from the regular stresses of life.
Not only that, but it needs to help them believe that your product or service really is going to be the equivalent of a summer holiday, as it will put their mind at ease about the problem they are having.
Be sure to take your consumers on a great adventure with your messaging, and have them associate positive feelings with your brand. This will prompt them to come back for more — because who
doesn’t like a brand that makes them feel good?
Be the refreshing air conditioner that your audience needs on a hot summer day.
Marketing lesson #4: Autumn — Let go of the past
Autumn teaches marketers to let go of the things that weigh them down; you need to allow the mistakes of yesterday to ‘fall’ away the same way leaves do once they turn brown.
For example, let’s say that your new ad didn’t gain a huge amount of traction and that you had really bargained on it. Well, it’s time to leave it in the past and look forward.
Focus on what this experience taught you, what influence it has had on your new strategy and the value it has added to your current task.
Just like leaves change colour and fall away to make space for the new leaves, you need to make way for a
new strategy and start again. Autumn is a great season because it reminds you of what beauty will follow once you let go of the past.
What else do you think marketers can learn from each of the four seasons? Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
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*Image courtesy of Freepik