Seasonal Marketing: How To Anticipate Your Seasons & Stay Consistent Anyway

Seasonal marketing doesn’t have to be last-minute. Forecast your year to stay consistent all year long.

Planning your entire year of marketing can feel overwhelming. But the key to success isn’t micromanaging every single detail—it’s about creating a flexible, high-level strategy that provides structure while allowing room for adjustments. 

Instead of locking yourself into an overly rigid plan, you’re building the framework for the year, leaving space to adapt to seasonal shifts, industry trends, and unforeseen changes.

By forecasting your marketing year, you’ll create consistency in your messaging while preparing for seasonal fluctuations in consumer behavior. 

Here’s how to do it.

Lifestyle Marketing Photography Produced for Vickie Speed of Blue Cancer Connect

Seasonal Marketing Psychology: How Emotions Drive Purchases Throughout the Year

Research shows that brands who adapt their marketing approach to seasonal psychological shifts increase engagement, conversion rates and customer satisfaction. Instead of just following seasonal trends, businesses that truly understand the emotions that drive each season can craft meaningful and persuasive marketing messages that land. 

Consumer behavior is not just influenced by logical decision-making but also by emotional and psychological factors that fluctuate with the seasons. Put simply, people make purchase decisions that align with their mood, and our moods are influenced by the seasons. We’ve all had one of those days when the sun is out, we’re feeling good, and then we accidentally splurge on a new summer outfit (or at least a pair of sandals). Then months later, when the first rainy day of the year hits, we’re getting soup delivered to the house and online shopping for a wearable blanket. Whether it’s the season, the next holiday, or the weather, these predictable shifts have a big effect on how people buy.  

Creating Seasonal Content

Understanding how seasonal moods impact spending patterns allows businesses to craft marketing strategies that align with the emotional states of their audience. In fact, studies show that lower daylight exposure reduces serotonin levels, which makes consumers more likely to engage in comfort purchases like home goods and indulgent self-care products. By contrast, warmer seasons boost dopamine production, which is linked to higher energy levels and an increased willingness to explore and try new things. When the sun’s out, consumers are more likely to invest in experiences and appearance-enhancing products. In fact, each season brings its own specific mood shifts and motivations that affect purchasing behavior: 

• Spring is focused on renewal and optimism, bringing extra motivation for self-improvement and a desire for fresh starts. Positioning your services as part of a fresh start will capitalize on the sense of renewal that characterizes spring. 
• Summer makes people feel social, as people get excited about experiential spending. Expect higher energy levels, more social events and a willingness to spend on fun and memorable experiences. FOMO (fear of missing out) tactics and lifestyle-oriented branding work best here. 
• Fall inspires consumers to prioritize preparation and engage in comfort buying. As people transition from excitement to preparation mode, they focus on organization, planning and back-to-school routines. 
• Winter is prime time for emotion-driven spending. Holiday excitement often creates a feeling of generosity, yet it can also add to the stress of financial strain. Leverage emotion-driven marketing by emphasizing warmth, togetherness and giving. 

Key Takeaway: To align your marketing with seasonal emotions, promote aspirational messaging in spring, experiential marketing in summer, preparation-focused content in fall, and emotional storytelling in winter. 

Executing With Consistency 

Lifestyle Marketing Photography Produced for Tracy Tofte, Realtor

While it’s incredibly useful to anticipate seasonal shifts and understand the psychology that drives them, there’s one secret that we’ve found works through all seasons: seasonal content, consistent execution. 

It’s easy to get caught up in the frenzy of a season. Summer hits, and we naturally want to slow down and check out—because everyone else is, right? The holidays creep up, and we start running around with our heads on fire because, well, everyone else seems to be, too. This even applies when big national events hit, such as an election, cultural event, or even a tragic disaster. Naturally, our instinct is to get wrapped up in whatever the rest of the world—our friends, social media, the news—is focusing on too. But we’ve found this is actually the most important time to … do nothing. (And by nothing, we mean stay consistent.) 

At first, we thought maybe this approach was just a fluke of success. But then we did our research. A 2024 study from the Ignatian International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research examined businesses that remained consistent in their marketing efforts despite seasonal fluctuations. Businesses that maintained a year-round presence—rather than pulling back marketing during slow seasons—experienced 32% higher customer retention rates compared to those that reduced advertising during perceived off-seasons.

If you can forecast your year ahead of time, accounting for seasonal shifts and campaigns, then the daily execution of that plan becomes your anchor in all the chaos. Yes, be flexible if you need to adjust your content for sensitivity or tone—of course. But staying consistent when everyone else isn’t is the one thing that will set you apart. 

Key Takeaway: When planning seasonal marketing, responsive content combined with a consistent strategy creates lasting results. More importantly, it’s an approach to seasonal marketing that actually helps you meet your business goals.

How To Forecast Your Marketing Year

Once you’ve considered your approach to seasonal marketing, it’s time to begin forecasting the year ahead. 

1. Review Last Year’s Data

Start by pulling last year’s monthly revenue numbers. Identify trends—when were your busiest and slowest months? Which promotions worked best? Where could you use extra marketing or a special campaign to boost revenue? Capture insights from your data and hold onto them. 

2. Map Out Consumer Seasons 

Grab a digital or physical calendar and start mapping out key dates for seasonal marketing. For now, focus on consumers. What matters to them? How will they be feeling? How will seasons, holidays and events affect their emotions and spending? Jot down notes about the tone and feeling that might characterize each month. Plot the following: 

• Major holidays
• Vacation seasons 
• Seasonal transitions
• Overarching moods

3. Map Out Your Brand’s Seasons  

Once you’ve considered the consumer’s seasonal shifts, it’s time to look at your brand’s. You may want to look back at last year’s numbers again to make use of your slow seasons and over-prepare for your busy seasons. Make note of when marketing campaigns should (generally) start and end, so you’re never caught off-guard by another holiday. Plot the following: 

• Your brand’s peak times and lulls
• Your industry’s peak times and lulls
• Your brand’s important milestones (anniversaries, special events, promotions, product launches, etc.) 
• Your personal vacations
• Industry and business association events 
• Important events in your community 
• Anything else that will affect your schedule in a big way

4. Plan Seasonal & Evergreen Content

Not every business sees consistent sales year-round. Some months will be naturally slower. Use these to your advantage. During slow seasons, work on brand-building efforts, refresh your marketing materials, and invest in long-term projects like website updates or content creation. During busy seasons, execute efficiently by having your content ready ahead of time so you can focus on serving customers.

• Plan evergreen content for busy months, ensuring your content is always consistent 
• Maximize slow periods by creating content ahead of time
• Align marketing campaigns with holidays and seasonal moments
• Balance timely promotions with consistent, evergreen content to stay on track with long-term goals

5. Schedule Content Creation in Advance

For each campaign or season, determine what marketing materials you’ll need. Set aside dedicated days to create content ahead of time. You can even reach out to your content creation professionals to help you map out your vision and book your sessions for the year. This ensures that you’re never scrambling for materials, even during busy seasons. 

• Videos, photos, graphics
• Blog posts, social media content, emails
• Ads, digital and print 

By taking a proactive approach to seasonal marketing, you’ll be better prepared for the ebbs and flows of your business while maintaining a consistent and engaging presence. A well-structured but flexible plan keeps you focused on long-term growth while allowing for adjustments as the year unfolds.

The best part? It’s never too late to start your seasonal marketing! Begin forecasting now, and there’s still time to make this year your most strategic yet!

Lifestyle Marketing Photography Produced for Vance Wealth

Visual Marketing Education 

At SchlickArt, we know your marketing visuals are only effective if you actually use them. That’s why we help you create powerful photography and video – and then we teach you how to share it. With each session, we’ll give you our best tips based on your specific marketing goals. We provide the education and resources you need to brand your content, integrate it into your marketing strategy, post it with intention, and maximize engagement along the way. 

If you want more tips and resources about seasonal marketing strategies and more, we have an educational blog, newsletter and video channel to help you dive deeper, as well as professional presentations, workshops, and coaching sessions if you’re ready to take action and level-up your marketing now. 

About SchlickArt 

SchlickArt, a luxury visual marketing company based in Santa Clarita, started in March 2012 with the simple idea that empowerment creates a kind of authenticity that shines through every camera lens. Built on a philosophy–rather than a product, service or person–SchlickArt has rapidly evolved, meeting fractional CMO, business and strategy planning, professional portraiture, business photo and business video needs as diverse as the community we capture. It’s the desire to take care of you, the client, that drives us at SchlickArt.

Kirsten Quinn

A lover of strong coffee and yellowed pages, Kirsten Quinn-Smith is a professional content writer and owner of WordSmith Content Marketing here in Santa Clarita. She believes great content can forge a loyal, authentic and beneficial relationship between you and your audience – and grow your business. With each piece of writing, Kirsten's goal is to position you in the content spotlight through audience-centered, strategy-based writing that actually sounds like you. Why? Everyone has a story, and every story deserves to be heard.

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