Consumer behavior and intent can be attributed, in part, to the weather. The weather impacts not just the seasonality of certain products, but people’s moods, which affect how they shop. By understanding the correlations between weather and purchasing patterns, marketers can reach consumers in the right moments, with relevant campaigns.
Weather targeting enables marketers to align their campaigns with the fluctuations in weather and tailor their creatives based on the weather conditions in specified locations. Campaigns can also be optimized based on local temperatures, making it possible to engage consumers during major weather changes with ads that drive action.
But before we dig into how weather targeting is a key marketing strategy, and how to best utilize it, let's unpack exactly how weather affects shopping behaviors.
Weather impacts product seasonality
The weather has obvious impacts on the seasonality of specific products. This is especially true in regions where the weather changes throughout the year. For example, brands are more likely to sell barbecues during the summer months than they are in the winter. And they’re more likely to sell skis, sleds and snowshoes in the winter than they are in the summer. Since the changing of seasons is very predictable, it’s easy to align a marketing plan with the seasonality of products.
Weather changes shopping habits
With weather forecasts so widely available, it’s common for people to plan their weekly activities around fluctuations in outdoor conditions. This advance planning naturally shapes shopping habits too. For example, knowing that sunny and hot weather is coming up will influence consumers to buy items like beachwear, sporting goods and even specific CPG grocery products like hamburgers. In fact, grocery stores and large box stores now use weather to predict what they should heavily stock for the week.
Consumer mood is shaped by the weather
Weather has subconscious effects on consumers too. A study by Persinger and Levesque found that 40% of a consumer's mood evaluation was accounted for by a combination of weather events. Consumers are more likely to purchase or consider purchasing items when they are exposed to the sun for a prolonged time. And they are more likely to shop in stores when the weather is nice and more motivated to go outside. The study also found that when the weather is gloomy or rainy, home goods, furniture and clothing retailers experience up to a 12% increase in online traffic.
How to reach the right consumers with weather targeting
Understanding how weather affects seasonality of products, shopping habits and shoppers' moods can help brands and agencies leverage weather trends strategically in their marketing plans. When done right, weather targeting delivers several benefits that enable advertisers to create relevant campaigns that reach consumers in the right moments through weather-driven demand, tailored messaging and improved campaign effectiveness.
For many verticals, weather-driven demand is an opportunity to boost brand awareness and sales. Products and services like home and garden, clothing and vacation packages to sunny destinations revolve around weather. Using weather insights to understand the seasonality of products and services can help marketers create a digital strategy that aligns with consumer intent. From there, marketers can create hyper-relevant messaging.
Weather data makes it possible to understand the psyche of a consumer at any given moment. Understanding their mindframe will enable you to tailor marketing messages accordingly, resulting in a much more potent campaign strategy. For example, if it’s winter in a northern geographical area like Minnesota, messaging that highlights escaping the cold with a vacation package to Florida will resonate. So would marketing that highlights preparing for the severe weather, including ads for parkas, shovels and even family board and video games. Leveraging weather-driven demand and tailoring messaging to match the mood of consumers based on weather patterns will ultimately result in higher campaign effectiveness.
Weather targeting in practice
Weather conditions greatly influence consumer mindset. As I mentioned earlier, when temperatures start to drop, consumers begin thinking about where they will vacation for a break from the cold. In the midst of a cold snap or snowstorm, they’ll be even more motivated to buy a vacation package.
To leverage weather targeting in this moment, destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and travel agencies can map historical weather data against sales metrics to see what trends emerge, like, for example, if there’s a correlation between snowstorms and sales. Then, they can leverage that historical data to predict when the demand for vacation packages will surge.
In a weather targeting campaign, they can set parameters that run a vacation package campaign during or following the worst winter weather. This helps to capture the interest of a consumer when an escape from the cold is top of mind.
For a short-term campaign, a restaurant could run ads that cycle throughout a week depending on expected weather. On clear and sunny days, ads could entice customers to visit the patio, and on rainy or snowy days, ads could promote home meal delivery. Since potential customers are more likely to be outdoors on sunny days, targeting foot traffic on their mobile devices with short-term offers is another strategy for getting customers in the door.
Leveraging weather in a digital marketing strategy
Perceptions of weather are different across countries, states and provinces. For example, people living in hot areas like Southern California might perceive the cold differently than those who live in cooler climates like Chicago or New York. Noting these nuances will help marketers shape their campaigns to be hyper-relevant.
Weather is an integral factor in the daily lives of consumers because it often dictates when, where and how they spend their time. Leveraging weather targeting in a digital strategy enables marketers to use this aspect of daily life to create more relevant campaigns that reach target audiences in optimal moments. And as we head into summer, now is the time to start thinking about how to get swimsuits, coolers and beachside getaways into the hands of customers.
