By Elisabeth Rommel, Global GM at eBay Ads
The moment many of us have been eagerly awaiting is almost upon us — tomorrow, the nation will come together to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee with a bumper four-day bank holiday weekend. The opportunity here for marketers is laid bare in our latest research, which found that almost half (45%) of Brits are planning on celebrating this Jubilee bank holiday weekend and one in five (21%) plan to make the most of the weather and spend the Jubilee outdoors.
This, coupled with the fact that Covid restrictions are well behind us and the weather is warming up, spells the start of an extremely lucrative summer season for brands, especially in the home and garden category. This is particularly true considering 79% of Brits intend to invest in their outdoor spaces in the coming month, while almost a quarter (23%) do more gardening now compared to pre-pandemic.
Not only will this provide untapped audiences and new opportunities for marketers, it also means that consumer behaviour is unlikely to follow the well trodden path of previous years.
So with this in mind, how can marketers make the most of Brits’ renewed, or newfound love for their gardens in the weeks and months ahead?
The growing necessity for fresh data
The pandemic reinforced the need for marketers to wave goodbye to a reliance on historic consumer data and trends to inform marketing decisions. With consumer behaviour continuing to change unpredictably in the blink of an eye, targeting people based on their pre-pandemic habits will no longer yield fruitful results — instead, it’s crucial that brands tap into fresh, real-time insights.
For example, people’s habits shifted during the pandemic, with over two in five (43%) reporting using their garden or outdoor space more than pre-pandemic. In fact, whilst life may be back to “normal”, our data shows that Brits’ penchant for getting green-fingered in their gardens has endured, as over a third (35%) have kept up their gardening hobbies and habits acquired during the course of lockdown. This means that a person who traditionally spent their weekends searching for sports equipment may have swapped footballs for flower beds over the last two years.
By analysing the latest insights and paying close attention to metrics like search results as well as conversions, brands can make a more-than-educated guess on where consumers sit down the sales funnel, and translate this into informed campaign strategies. The result? They will reach the right people at the right time and with the messaging that most resonates with them.
Prioritise relevancy to reap rewards
According to the latest IPA Bellwether, marketing budgets have grown for the fourth successive quarter and are now at an almost eight-year peak. In this post-pandemic era of advertising, brands are understandably looking to ramp up marketing activity to compete for consumer attention and make up for the moments lost during the last couple of years.
At the same time, with the cost-of-living crisis mounting, it’s important marketers remember lessons learnt from the past two years around uncertainty, and stay cognisant of the fact that things can change at any moment.
For home and garden brands in particular, the upcoming Bank Holiday and summer months beyond are crucial to hitting yearly targets – it’s therefore key that consumers aren’t bombarded with irrelevant promotions that provoke ad fatigue. In a time of potential oversaturation, marketers need to think smart and put relevancy and helpful content at the top of their priority list – so they can effectively pinpoint in-market consumers and serve them with meaningful experiences. This ensures brands are listened to by consumers, and not just heard.
As we look ahead, marketers now have an incredible opportunity to engage with a new generation of green-fingered brits born out of lockdown. Regardless of whether people are inspired to spruce up their gardens in time for the once-in-a-reign Jubilee bank holiday, or are looking further ahead to the rest of the summer months to come, one thing is certain; there are bountiful opportunities for marketers in the booming home and garden sector that are prepared to tap into new data insights, and engage their audiences with relevant content.
