Weather + Marketing

11 November 2020

Weather affects how we feel, what we do, where we go and most importantly what we purchase.

We all know the marketing concept that you will sell more umbrellas on a rainy day. But imagine if you knew where and when ahead of time to get in front of your customer. 

There is a bigger opportunity for many businesses to use weather-based marketing within their strategy and we want to show you how.

What has weather got to do with marketing?

If you find yourself waking up and checking the weather app on your phone instead of looking out the window, you aren’t the only one!

Weather as a marketing factor is a massive opportunity as it can increase the usefulness of a product. It has a direct influence on sales for around 30% of all products and services. This is especially key to note if your industry is reliant on weather e.g. tourism, outdoor activities.

Industries that are directly affected by the weather:

How do I create a weather triggered marketing campaign?

Start by keeping things general, focus on seasons at a high level and then plan out your content to align with the predicted weather for the upcoming months. This is still an effective way to be relevant to your audience without investing too much time and effort.  

Case Study:

Stella Artois found that by looking at actual weather forecasts instead of just seasons had a dramatic effect on sales. For their ‘Cidre’ (cider) product, they found that a 2-degree temperature rise triggered an increase in sales. Through this, they used weather-activated outdoor ads that only were shown when the weather reached a certain temperature. 

With this strategy in place, they reported a 65.6% increase in yearly sales.

Below are some useful ideas to help you leverage weather and drive sales:

• Understand your audience’s behaviour, how are they directly affected by the weather?
• Study past, present, and future predicted weather patterns for your audience’s location. 
• Find ways your business can outsmart all weather conditions. How can you drive business on off-peak days?
• Have a backlog of ad creatives ready to go based on different weather conditions.
• Use real-time information and stay agile and responsive so you can quickly rotate your ads to show the product most relevant to the weather that day. 

(SOURCE: Zoe Johns, https://www.psdigital.co.nz/blog/weather-marketing/)