Lean into the Season: How to Beat Marketing Fatigue

Marketing fatigue happens when consumers become overwhelmed by repetitive brand messaging and start tuning it out. One of the most effective ways to overcome said fatigue is through seasonal marketing that meets consumers where they are in the moment. By aligning campaigns and creative with changing more near-real-time consumer behaviors, cultural moments, and real-world context helps to make comms to them feel more relevant and engaging.

Ask any marketer what their biggest challenges are, and it won’t be long before the problem of marketing fatigue crops up. And hey, it’s understandable. It’s estimated that consumers are hit by as many as 10,000 brand messages every single day. It should come as no surprise, then, that 48% report feeling “overwhelmed” by digital marketing and 93% skip or block ads altogether.

Of course, brands aren’t simply going to cut back on their marketing and comms campaigns based on that alone. After all, talking more quietly isn’t what’s going to get you noticed in a noisy room. The secret of success is to communicate smarter; to shake things up and make consumers take note of what you’re saying. 

Tack to the Season

Here, keeping a pulse on the seasonal moments and trends can yield impressive results. There are plenty of opportunities throughout the year to do a consumer brand reset, and marketing pros should be staying nimble, thinking about how they can adapt their programs based on the fast-shifting needs of today’s consumers. 

And there really couldn’t be a better time to start. We’re halfway through the year and at the moment when spring has given way to summer. For many brands now, this is the traditional time for mid-year check-ins, when they review how consumer needs, economic conditions, and cultural trends have shifted since the beginning of the year. 

The world is a very different place from how it was in January when many firms’ marketing plans were first laid down. The mid-year check-in provides an opportunity to take stock of campaigns and review what’s working and what’s not. A quick pivot, shift in messaging, or a tweak to the campaign calendar can make all the difference. 

Summer Marketing Opportunities for Consumer Brands

Summer also brings with it a wealth of seasonal events that are ripe for jumping on. Major sporting events like the US Open, the Tour De France, and the PGA Tour (and of course not forgetting the FIFA World Cup) are a case in point, offering perfect opportunities to reach consumers where their attention is already captive. 

The most effective approaches are agile, contextual, and experiential activations that enhance the viewer’s experience rather than just jumping on the hashtag. Also, consider ways to surprise and delight. Perhaps, for example, you could run a sports-alternate campaign that offers consumers a refreshing break from all the soccer madness.

Summer also brings with it a useful shift in the way consumers think. Many Americans take time off over the summer to destress and unwind. In the workplace, many companies offer “Summer Fridays,” where workers can log off early for the weekend (an increasing number of companies, including SourceCode, now offer this perk year-round). 

With consumers in a more relaxed and leisure-focused frame of mind, many will be looking to disconnect and slow down. Marketers should take this as a cue to shift gears on their comms strategy and adopt lighter, more experiential, and simplified content that aligns with people’s desire for relaxation. 

Preparing for Back-to-School Consumer Marketing

Marketers should use this period of calm to plan ahead for the next big seasonal shift. With the end of summer comes the back-to-school shopping peak. This is the second-largest annual spending event for American families, driving an expected $30.9 billion in spending last year alone.

This can be a busy and stressful time for parents and students alike, and with so many brands targeting the season, getting your messages heard is never harder. Thinking differently is again key. Everyone will be communicating around cost savings and “back-to-school essentials,” so perhaps you could cut through by promising to make life easy for parents by solving decision fatigue, or by engaging with students through fun and contextual social activations.

Saturated by generic brand marketing campaigns, many consumers are switching off. But they can be won back. Research shows that contextually relevant content resulted in 2.2 times better ad recall and 10% more engagement than the overall content. Tapping into seasonal shifts is a great way to tap into the power of context and reach consumers with timely and relevant content. That’s how to beat the fatigue and get your brand messages noticed.