Weather and Your Digital Strategy
Weather targeting is an advertising strategy that enables marketers to align their campaigns with fluctuations in the weather. According to an article by Rich Relevance, knowing what weather to expect has resulted in a shift of consumer buying habits — such as seasonal items and even consumer packaged goods (CPG).
Benefits of Weather Targeting
Weather targeting isn’t only about tying a particular product to the weather. You can also leverage weather data to understand your consumer’s psyche at any given moment in time. Understanding your customer’s mind frame will enable you to tailor marketing messages accordingly, resulting in a much more potent campaign strategy. This is a great article if you want to learn more about the weather and consumer behavior.
Weather targeting can help you deliver more relevant messaging, which will improve campaign effectiveness and ROAS. This is because a message that delivers timely and relevant information, in a tone that resonates with the consumer’s mood, will lead to improved purchase intent.
For many verticals, weather-driven demand is a big opportunity to boost brand awareness and sales. Industries like apparel, food and drink, home and garden, sports, auto, and travel can use weather insights to create marketing strategies that align with consumer behavior and intent.
Example of Weather Targeting
Last winter, one of our clients — a women’s apparel brand — was about to launch their Resort Collection. The collection featured bold colors, vibrant prints and sleeveless pieces. This new collection wasn’t something we felt we could market to the masses, as most of the country was covered by a blanket of snow. So, we decided to put Weather Targeting to the test on Facebook! After taking a peek at the weather around the country, there were several cities that were our perfect targets (i.e. cities with an average daily high above 65°).
This was one of our top-performing audiences during the chilliest time of year — we saw a 127% increase in ROAS after launching this specific Weather Targeting audience!
Tips for Building a Weather Strategy
Leverage seasonal forecasts. Looking at historical weather data can help you identify when weather will impact your campaigns and when you can shift messaging to align with the weather. Once you have a grasp on what weather to expect during your campaign flight, you can ensure the product placement, messaging and targeting strategy matches accordingly.
Region by region. The weather patterns in New Orleans differ a lot from those in Chicago, and so should your messaging. It’s important to hone in on as focused a region as possible since the weather can vary (sometimes even within a state).
Regional perceptions of weather. People living in different climates will have different perceptions of weather. For example, when it drops to the 50s in San Diego, locals may feel chilly enough to buy a jacket. Whereas in more northern states, that weather could be considered balmy enough for a spring barbecue!
Wrapping Up
I’m sure we’ve all noticed that the weather is the classic go-to conversation starter if you’re in need of small-talk — it’s ubiquitous (there’s weather everywhere), it affects everyone, and it’s a fairly objective, neutral topic. Because weather will dictate what and when we do things, it has an influence on consumer mood as well as purchasing decisions. Adding weather targeting to your digital strategy will enable you to create more relevant campaigns that reach your target audience in optimal moments.
Interested in adding Weather Targeting to your digital strategy — let’s chat.