If you sell something that has any remote possibility of showing up alongside those Valentines flowers and chocolates, you’re probably doing heart-slathered promotions already.
That kind of seasonal marketing is obvious. What might not be obvious is that there can be seasonal patterns in content searches that aren’t obvious till you see them in your data. And in order to see them, you have to look.
For example, Think with Google has an infographic that shows searches relating to makeup. You’re prepared for the spike around Halloween, no doubt, but did you know that people search for “Thanksgiving makeup”? Then December brings searches for red lipstick and glitter eye shadow, followed by Valentines Day makeup. Pastels follow, with a spike for purple eye shadow in April that overlaps with searches for orange lipstick.
This information comes from data found in Google and YouTube for the past few years, and you can find similar reports from Google. But you can also check Google Trends if you have some idea already of what people are searching.
Here we can see the high October peaks, but the more detailed suggestions only show us the current trends — Kim Kardashian’s makeup — and not the seasonal patterns:
If we have enough knowledge to look for specific items like glitter eye shadow, we’ll find the patterns.
So check your own data for seasonal patterns, and then check your hypotheses against the aggregate data in Google Trends to see if there’s a larger trend you can reach out to.
Even with your own data, you may need a starting point to be able to see it. Especially since we no longer see keywords in Google Analytics, you may need to look in Webmaster Tools or your GA queries report. With thousands of data points, you could narrow your results to a transitional period — if you’re selling eye shadow, February-April could be ideal — and compare year over year data. Dig a bit to identify some likely trends and then look at the specific queries , setting your time span to the range you think you see and comparing with the previous time range.
Pull up your sales data, too. Use data visualizing software or create charts to harmonize the three data sources.
This process will help you to find the point in the year when black and cream shadows begin to show up in searches. The next step is to add the topics to your editorial calendar. Post a couple of weeks ahead of when people begin to search so your post has time to be indexed and established. If you really do sell eyeshadow, now is the time to write about black and cream eye shadows with a red lip for Valentines Day.
Every field and industry will have a different pattern, but we can all use the same process.
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