2022 Marketing Calendar

January

  • Jan 1 New Year’s Day
  • Jan 17 MLK Day

Monthly Campaign Ideas

February

  • Feb 1 Chinese New Year
  • Feb 13 Super Bowl LVI
  • Feb 14 Valentine’s Day
  • Feb 21 President’s Day

Monthly Campaign Ideas

Black History Month

March

  • Mar 1 Mardi Gras
  • Mar 8 International Women’s Day
  • Mar 17 St.Patricks Day
  • Mar 18 Holi
  • Mar 27 Mother’s Day (UK)
  • [Varies] Spring Break

Monthly Campaign Ideas

April

  • Apr 1 April Fool’s Day / Ramadan Starts (ends Apr 30)
  • Apr 17 Easter
  • Apr 15 Passover starts (ends April 23 )
  • Apr 22 Earth Day

Monthly Campaign Ideas

May

  • May 5 Cinco De Mayo
  • May 8 Mother’s Day
  • May 23 Victoria Day (Canada)
  • May 30 Memorial Day

Monthly Campaign Ideas

June

  • June 14 Flag Day
  • June 19 Juneteenth / Father’s Day

Monthly Campaign Ideas

Pride Month

July

  • July 1 Canada Day
  • July 4 Independence Day
  • [Varies] Prime Days

Monthly Campaign Ideas

August

  • [Varies] Back to School
  • [Varies] No Tax Days (US)

Monthly Campaign Ideas

September

  • Sept 5 Labor Day

Monthly Campaign Ideas

October

  • Oct 10 Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples’ Day / Canadian Thanksgiving
  • Oct 24 Diwali
  • Oct 31 Halloween

Monthly Campaign Ideas

November

  • Nov 11 Singles Day (China) / Veterans Day (US)
  • Nov 24 Thanksgiving
  • Nov 25 Black Friday
  • Nov 26 Small Business Saturday
  • Nov 28 Cyber Monday
  • Nov 29 Giving Tuesday

Monthly Campaign Ideas

December

  • Dec 12 Green Monday
  • Dec 18 Hanukkah (ends Dec 26)
  • Dec 24 Christmas Eve
  • Dec 25 Christmas
  • Dec 26 Boxing Day / Kwanzaa starts (ends Jan 1)
  • Dec 31 New Year’s Eve

Monthly Campaign Ideas

Sales Season

Beginning of The Year

The first couple of months in the year are typically slow following the holiday shopping frenzy. But that doesn’t mean you have to let Q1 be a slow quarter–there’s plenty of opportunities to keep sales moving early in the year.

Sales Season New Year
Holiday Leads

Seasonal Strategies – Beginning of the Year

Holiday Leads

As a retailer coming fresh off the holidays it’s time to start building relationships with newly acquired customers from last year. Not every holiday shopper will turn into a long-term customer, but using a personalized approach for outreach to build a rapport and encourage a second purchase through relevant, consistent email or SMS campaigns will go a long way. Target them with related items to what they bought, encourage reviews with double loyalty points, or offer a great deal on their next order by opting in to additional channels like SMS or push notifications.

Gift Cards

For those who offered gift cards as a solution to shipping delays and supply chain woes during the holidays, targeting those who received your digital gift cards with a nurture series is key. If they haven’t yet spent their gift card, this is a great opportunity to show off your products and provide recommendations. If they have, keep your site top of mind and primed for a second purchase. This is a segment of potential long-term customers for your store if you can build a connection with them early on!

New Year, New You

The holiday season isn’t every industry’s busy time – some are actually at their peak during the beginning of the year. Most of us make New Years’ resolutions and are looking for products to help us stay committed to them: from workout equipment, athletic apparel, home organization, to productivity support and more are huge during this time. Help customers stick to their goals with useful tips and the products they need to succeed.

Clearance Sales

It’s almost guaranteed that most brands end up with a little extra inventory at the end of a season so use a clearance sale to empty out the shelves, and make room for new items. Plus, it’s a good excuse to reach out to your database with a great deal on last-chance products.

New Year New You
Sales Season - Weddings & Events

Sales Season

Weddings & Events

The first couple of months in the year are typically slow following the holiday shopping frenzy. But that doesn’t mean you have to let Q1 2022 is shaping up to be the year of the wedding, with over 2.5 million scheduled in the US alone. Peak wedding season is traditionally May through July, but event sales are not restricted to that time of year. With so many events, consumers are actively looking for gifts, clothing, accessories, and more months in advance. Not to mention they’re ready to spend to make up for delayed milestone events.

Seasonal Strategies – Weddings & Events

Gift Registries

For weddings, this is what most people will be looking to buy gifts from. If your store does registries make sure they’re easy to shop and are optimized to encourage higher-order values with upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Extra add-ons like special delivery, customization/monograms, and gift-wrapping can help set your site apart from the competition, not to mention boosting profit margins.

Helpful Content

Weddings and special events are often complex and demanding, so consumers are looking for inspiration and help every step of the way. Gift guides and product suggestions will have a big impact on these shoppers. Think of creating helpful product collections like “Summer wedding guest attire” or “best bridesmaids gifts” as a way to curate a personalized shopping experience. This type of organization will not only help get products in front of consumers but help them feel more confident in their choices, win-win!

Non-Typical Industries

Just because you don’t sell wedding decorations or accessories doesn’t mean you can’t get into this season. There are typically many events leading up to a wedding (group outings, bachelor/bachelorette parties, etc.)…everything from neon-colored clothes and fun wings to golf accessories and luggage is fair game making it investigating potential sales opportunities.

Sales Season

Avoiding The Summer Slump

July is historically the slowest month for e-commerce with sales dipping as low as 30% compared to other months. But don’t worry, there are ample opportunities to bolster your sales in Q3 and help you prepare for the coming holiday shopping season.

Sales Season - Avoiding The Summer Slump

Seasonal Strategies – Avoiding The Summer Slump

Summer Came Early

As a retailer, you are well aware of the ongoing supply chain and shipping issues that have been plaguing almost every industry. This makes it even more important to start early before your seasonal items “prime time”, so to speak. This is so that customers can be guaranteed to get items before they need them. If you sell summer products you should be marketing them in February or March (while consumers are starting to look forward to warmer weather) to create demand and anticipation. Consumers are well-aware of the current shortages and not afraid to start shopping early to make sure they get what they want. Tease product launches with countdown timers or exclusive VIP-access signup lists for even more excitement. Spring Break is in March and while it may not be beach season everywhere–many are planning to travel to tropical destinations.

Focus on Your Databases

building up your email and SMS databases with ideal subscribers. Starting to collect these leads now will not only reduce acquisition costs but also give you time to build a relationship and collect behavioral data on them before the heavy-hitting holiday months. Their inboxes will be filled to the brim with deals in just a few months, so take the time to stand out from the crowd now and watch the rewards roll in this winter.

Pro Tip

Build email and SMS lists at the same time using a two-step lead capture or focus on collecting phone numbers from your email subscribers using fast options like tap-to-text opt-ins.

Upsell visual

Volume Discounts

May and June are filled with school graduations meaning that some shoppers will be buying gifts from a large number of friends and family. Close high-value shoppers by offering a volume discount on certain products perfect for the graduating senior or college students in their life. Want to drive up order values even more? Product customization is a great option to offer as an add-on for these gifts just like in wedding season.

Sales Season

Back to School

Did you know that some consumers start back to school shopping as early as April? While the bulk of your B2S sales will be in August–make sure you’ve done your homework and finished your B2S strategy before the school year’s out.

Saels Season Back to School
Industry E-commerce

Seasonal Strategies – Back to School

One-Stop-Shop

Make it as easy as possible for shoppers to get everything they need from you (if possible) so they don’t get distracted and abandon their cart to go to a competitor. Use special collections for your core customer segments, intelligent product recommendations, and strategic page links to keep them moving through your site and adding to their cart.

Know Your Shoppers

Not everyone going back to school has the same shopping list. From teachers and college students to kindergarteners and student-athletes–the audience here is huge. Target specifically those in charge of shopping, i.e. parents of school-aged kids, teachers, college students. These consumers are looking for everything from art supplies, sporting gear, and backpacks to laptops, bedding, and appliances. Narrow in on your target audience and show them how you can help.

Checklist

Back to school can be stressful for many consumers, so help them stay organized and confident with a shopping checklist of what they need; “Starting Kindergarten” to “Freshman dorm checklist” and everything in between–this makes you more likely to close the sale and even boost order value in the process by helping them stay on track.

B2S is home to both procrastinators and planners, make sure you’re prepared to cater to both with promotions, specially timed offers, and shipping timelines to keep everyone on track.

Between B2S and the start of the winter holidays is the prime time to focus on prepping for Q4 and Cyber Five. Focus on your lead captures now to grow your subscriber base for the winter holidays for strong email and SMS lists plus, ad costs are lower now which can be a game-changer for your holiday profitability.

Sales Season

Winter Holidays

Last year the winter holidays seemed to start earlier than ever and last longer through the season, having crept into October and going strong into the New Year. It’s natural to focus on Black Friday/Cyber Monday but we saw last year they weren’t the blockbuster spending days of the past. Shoppers shopped slow and steady through Q4 instead as a result of increased in-store opportunities, supply chain woes, and other external factors. Brand outside the BFCM box and meet customers when and where they’re wanting to shop!

Sales Season Winter Holidays
Black Friday promo

Seasonal Strategies – Winter Holidays

Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store

This has continued to be a mainstay of the natural evolution of brick-and-mortar stores as their e-commerce presence grew and in-person shopping became difficult due to the pandemic. Plus, more shoppers are putting an emphasis on shopping local, making this a great way to connect with customers in your community. This is also an ideal way to appeal to last-minute shoppers who ran out of time for shipping. Not to mention reducing the last-mile fulfillment strain on your store, improving profit margins, and reducing stress. 

Beyond The Discount

We all think of BFCM traditionally as the weekend of deep discounts and flash sales but that doesn’t work for every brand. Bundles, exclusive products/gifts, early access and more can help take your offer outside the box. Collect emails/phone numbers in exchange for VIP access to deals beforehand, offer limited-time products for certain cart values, or donate a percentage of sales to a shopper’s charity of choice. Find your differentiator and center your messaging around what appeals to your target audience.

Non-Traditional Holidays

Black Friday and Cyber Monday typically dominate the conversation around Q4 sales opportunities but Thanksgiving, Small Business Saturday, Giving Tuesday, Boxing Day, etc. are all examples of how you can use outside the box messaging during this season and showcase more personality than just deep discounts or crazy doorbusters.

Pro Tip

More than 10% of U.S consumers surveyed by Justuno said they didn’t plan to start their holiday shopping until December last year.

Gift Guides

We all know how hard it can be to shop for some people on our gifting list, so make it easier for customers to find the perfect present. Whether it’s first-time visitors unsure of what they’re looking for or loyal customers shopping for someone new, gift guides work for all segments.

Shipping Countdowns

The holidays involve shopping for gifts that are usually needed by a specific date. Use countdown banners to keep visitors informed about deadlines and encourage procrastinators to convert. Being transparent from the start builds trust and keeps expectations in check. Use geo-targeting to make sure that shoppers who can still get their orders in time are aware vs. those outside the shipping radius who you can push towards gift cards or other electronically gifted pr

Justuno Plus

Pro Tip

Gift cards are a great way to help out those last-minute shoppers plus give you a double segment to market to in the new year both the gifter and the giftee!

Need Help?

Let’s make 20222 your best year yet! Get started on your optimization journey with a free 14-day trial or reach out to our sales team at sales@justuno.com for information about our platform and how to improve your conversion rates. 

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