In the most basic terms, success within marketing hinges on the ability to drive traffic. Some would add a caveat that in order for traffic to be good, it must possess certain qualities supporting conversion but getting up and off of the couch is largely seen as an important requirement…unless you’re shopping on your phone or tablet ; )
One of the most important factors impacting traffic and conversion is timing…and something I’d like to expand upon in this post.
There is an ideal time to send your marketing communication to your prospect. There are also times when it may be better to forgo that email, SMS message or direct mail piece.
Consider these scenarios:
- If you’re a retailer in the middle of a category reset and merchandise is still in the stockroom, it may not be the best time to drive traffic to the store.
- If you’re an online D2C company looking to relaunch your ecommerce platform, you should take into consideration when you drive traffic to the site.
- Tax season, for a B2B lender, may not be the right time to engage finance-oriented decision makers.
Promotional and environmental factors should also be considered when planning your marketing campaigns.
You should plan to provide advance notice of key promotions but be thoughtful on how early that message goes out. Too soon and top line sales as well margin dollars could be affected…too late and your customers could miss the sale altogether.
Within the insurance space, terms, otherwise known as the amount of time that coverage is in effect, may be an indicator of when the prospect is in market for replacement coverage or additional coverage. Understanding timing surrounding policy effective dates is important in building a productive acquisition or retention program.
Environmental factors include economic, political and cultural elements could also impact traffic. Understanding shopping behaviors surrounding holidays, election season, tax time or even a snowstorm could be instrumental in driving footsteps through your brand’s front door.
Factors such as the ones mentioned above are essential to all marketers looking to navigate their organizations acquisition, retention and customer engagement efforts through the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, more than ever, productive marketing spend, favorable customer acquisition costs and effective mitigation of customer attrition are essential to the survival of your business.
Miles Davis once said, “Time isn’t the main thing. It’s the only thing.”
Time is definitely something to consider when you’re planning your next marketing campaign.
