Fresh Occasions to Avoid the Summer Gifting Gap
Does your marketing calendar have a big gap in Q3?
Between Father’s Day and the start of festive gifting preparations, there’s really not much happening—just a bunch of made-up celebrations that probably aren’t that relevant to your brand (World Lizard Day anyone?)
So here are some tips to help you identify and implement some less well known gifting opportunities that your customers actually care about, and will definitely want to shop.
The Sender
Think about who is in your existing customer base, who they want to celebrate, and why. By offering relevant ideas for gifts they may not previously have considered will not only make them more likely to convert but will help you avoid investing resources into occasions that don’t return.
Does your customer base really care that it’s a Brat summer?
Do your customers actually want to celebrate the Bank Holiday by gifting a friend?
The Recipient
So, you’ve thought about how to serve your Sender, but it doesn’t stop there. The key to using gifting to unlock scale is to make sure that the Recipient is blown away too. After all, if they think and talk favourably about you, they become brand advocates or even new customers themselves.
That’s why it’s key to think carefully about Product/Recipient/Occasion fit:
For New Baby Gifting, consider low-hassle plants instead of high-faff flowers.
Avoid cliches about Recipients based on their demographic. Retirement Gifting doesn’t have to be all about pipes and slippers, and not all Dads are into golf, booze and BBQs.
Finding the "Just Because" Moments in Big Occasions
The beauty of gifting is that your customers will have many reasons to give gifts all year round, not just during the key calendar occasions. Stand out from the competition by thinking about innovative products for classic gifting moments, or thinking outside of the traditional gifting opps for something a bit more thoughtful (either way, your offering will be irresistible to your customers.
Pet Accessories Brand → Gift set for a Dog's Adoption Anniversary
Wine or Hamper Brand → A case for a Wedding Gift labelled with bottles for the First Christmas, Holiday, and Argument (!) together
Stationery Brand → A Pen, Pencil, and shiny new Pencil case for the start of a new academic year (for teachers or students!)
Ways to Support These Occasions
Once you’ve identified the best occasions that fit with your brand, audience and product. Here are some ways to promote it without giving all your money to Google
Feature these occasions in your newsletters and organic social posts
Add new headings into your onsite navigation
Curate gift sets positioned as the perfect present for the occasion
Seed into Press as a refreshed angle on your existing range
Sprinkle into your blog content to help rank for SEO
