June 2, 2017
A changing of the seasons is upon us. Summer brings warmer temps, rooftop bars, and—sometimes—unpredictable storms. (Trust me, I’m from Florida, I would know.)
But what does the new weather mean for your business? Should your digital marketing strategies change just because it’s 80 degrees and stormy?
Maybe. It should come as no surprise that weather can affect your business, especially if you have a brick and mortar establishment—but you don’t need to have a physical location to adjust your marketing strategy.
Here are 4 ways your SEO and PPC strategies can make the most of the weather.
1) Check out the forecast and update your ad copy to reflect upcoming weather trends
If you ever happen to do a Google search for “taco bell menu” in the morning, (do it, we won’t judge you) you’ll notice that they have a specific ad showing in the morning hours for their breakfast menu.
You can apply this mindset to the weather as well. Consider writing ad copy that takes advantage of upcoming weather trends as they relate to your business.
Does your restaurant have a patio? Is it forecasted to be 75 degrees and sunny? Let your customers know that your patio is open and taking reservations!
Eric Yarnik, Director of Search and Social Advertising, had some thoughts for how advertisers can benefit from paying attention to the forecast.
“In our increasingly mobile-focused world, there is a lot of advertising potential in weather-specific geo-focused ads. Advertisers can target users on-the-go with a location radius around their storefront or restaurant to drive more site engagement or store visits.”
2) Use social media to your advantage and offer weather specific coupons
Bad weather is great for social media. After all, interaction rates increase by 39% on rainy days in every season.
If the weather is stormy, take advantage of your increased audience. Push ads on social media related to the weather. Why not try offering a weather-specific promotion to capitalize on those users who are curled up in bed listening to the rain fall (and probably watching Netflix)?
3) Implement a plugin to adjust your ad strategy as the weather changes
You might be worried that updating your strategy every time the forecast gets updated is time-consuming. Never fear! There are tools that can automate this process for you.
WeatherTrigger integrates into your marketing platform to show ads based on a series of rules related to the weather. You can customize it to the rules that are most relevant to your business so that the right ads are showing at the right time.
Additionally, Google AdWords has a weather-based campaign management script that works in a similar way. Create rules that adjust your ad strategy according to weather conditions. You can even be as specific as certain wind speeds–think of the potential!
4) Experiment with schema and emoji
You can add schema to your snippet to stand out in the SERP. Capitalize on which weather trends benefit your business. Does your rooftop bar also have fire pits for when it’s chilly out? Make sure to include this in your snippet so when people search for rooftop bars in the middle of summer, you’ll attract them right away. I mean, who can pass up a rooftop bar with a fire pit?
Plus, emoji are back in the SERP. Maybe it’s time to add weather emoji to your ads? Jury’s still out on how it’ll affect performance, but you can see what our junior analyst Kimmy had to say about it.
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If you’re like me and you always wanted to be a meteorologist as a kid, now’s your chance to make those dreams a reality (sort of). Try incorporating the weather into your digital marketing strategy!