Seeing a Spike in Sales? Thank the New Year

Adweek published a pretty interesting blog post today about how New Year’s resolutions can bring about new business for companies. It cited SocialVibe and mentioned that “Resolution-related spending is expected to reach $5.6 billion in 2013—this, despite the fact that only 28 percent of us actually accomplish our resolutions while 46 percent of us never even get started.”

Adweek then took a look at the four most common New Year’s Resolutions, namely, getting into shape, losing weight, taking charge of finances, and meeting someone; they did a quick survey and asked a major brand in each category if they’re seeing new business come in this time of year. The answer? A unanimous yes. All four major brands nodded in agreement that the New Year certainly brings in new business. Christina DeGuardi of Crunch Fitness and a Jenny Craig spokesperson both said “definitely, while Ric Edelman of Edelman Financial Services said that his company “always” sees an increase every January. Amarnath Thombre of Match.com said that “the draw to Match.com is at an all-time high.”

Lessons for Advertisers

Even if your company doesn’t belong in any of the 4 categories mentioned above, try to find ways to use people’s “New Year High” to reel in new customers. Is there any aspect of your business that can be linked to New Year’s Resolutions? Perhaps you can unveil an ad campaign that centers on the topic of new beginnings, turning over a new leaf, or similar topics. People are obviously more engaged and energized at the beginning of the year, so be sure to take advantage of these high spirits.

What are the new year’s resolutions that your customers make the most? Is there any way that you can align your products or services with these resolutions? The key is to get creative with your online ads. See if you can relate any marketing tactics to the most common resolutions out there. Consider partnering up with relevant companies or websites so that you can get in front of your target audience.

Whatever your plan is, be sure to execute it fast. The New Year High will obviously not last forever, so you need you get in front of your target market before they lose interest.

Lessons for Publishers

January is a great time to write about New Year’s resolutions, for obvious reasons. If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to publish a post on the topic (or anything similar) before the month ends. For example, if you made any resolutions of your own, be sure to share them with your visitors. You’re bound to get more traffic since its a huge topic of interest for most people (at least for now), so don’t miss out on the opportunity!

Ask yourself what the most common resolutions are in your industry and publish something that will help readers stick to them.

In addition to posting your own resolutions, you should also try to be as helpful as possible. During the New Year, people will most likely be searching for how-to articles and tips to help them keep their resolutions, if you can, write up a helpful post on self-development.

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