How to create seasonal content that drives awareness and authority

If you have worked with content marketing for even a short while, you have probably discovered that some content performs better for the reader and viewer than others.

It typically does so because precisely the strongest pieces of content strike a trinity between being entertaining, informative and relevant. 

This blog post will focus on the last part of that trinity: How do you make your content relevant to the recipient?

The most effective way to make your content more relevant is by making it seasonal or topical. Current content typically focuses on an event, a season or a message that gives the brand a greater share of voice when interest in the topic hits its peak.

It’s smart, timely, and resonates with the audience’s current mood and needs. It aligns with holidays, events, or seasons, capturing the spirit of the moment to engage, inform, and drive timely actions. 

When thinking about creating topical or seasonal content, start by asking yourself these three questions:

• What is everyone focused on right now?
• What are they looking for online?
• What is the most pressing question that your brand can help answer?

Examples of seasonal or topical content could be:

• Holiday-Themed Campaigns: An eBook titled ‘Year-End Tax Tips for B2B Businesses’ targets the fiscal year-end rush. 
• Event-Driven Content: Blog posts like ‘Top Marketing Strategies for B2B during CES 2024’ leverage big industry events. 
• Seasonal Trends: Infographics showing ‘Summer Marketing Trends in Tech Industries’ capitalize on seasonal shifts.

Can you plan seasonal content?

But whoa, you might be thinking, I don't have time to constantly keep an eye on what's hot. I’d rather create some evergreen content that can be used at all times of the year and that can be planned.

Yes, yes, but hold up a minute.

Seasonal or topical content can also be planned, but unlike evergreen content, it is most effective at a specific time. 

Unfortunately, topical content is often missing from content marketing strategies – most likely because it requires more planning and research before and during the event. But there are two relatively simple ways to get current content into your content marketing strategy:

Identify upcoming holidays, seasons and events.

Create a flexible calendar enabling you to respond to news and pop culture events.

Why is seasonal content important?

The point is that seasonal or topical content should be part of your content marketing strategy. But why? 

Think of it as healthy eating. You can fill your meals with exciting and nutritious fruit, vegetables, meat, etc. and create new recipes every day. You can also make the same dish all the time. 

A diet consisting of exciting new dishes every day requires endless planning, preparation and cooking. But on the other hand: Who wants to eat the same meal every day? Both solutions become tiring in the long run for the cook and the person who has to eat it. 

The same applies to a content marketing strategy. Your audience needs informative, evergreen content that fits in at all times, but it's not something they want to read or watch every day. This is where topical content comes in.

Seasonal content adds relevance, topicality and entertainment to your content strategy. Your strategy will appear irrelevant and uninteresting to your audience without topical content.

Seasonal content helps drive awareness and authority for your brand because you talk about a topic that interests your target audience. When you are part of the conversation, you create awareness of your brand. If you also have an opinion on the event or the topic you’re covering, you also increase your brand's authority with the target audience.

Five types of topical or seasonal content

1 Newsjacking

Newsjacking is not new but has gained a special place in digital marketing. When big news or a big event is relevant to your brand, you can tap into that interest by creating content around it. This approach can boost SEO, increase engagement on social media and expand your awareness with new audiences. 

One of the more famous examples of newsjacking dates back to 2013, when a sudden power failure left the American football final Super Bowl in darkness, forcing the competing teams to stop the game. As fans globally sat in front of their televisions waiting for the match to resume, Oreo made sure to capitalize on the event with a perfectly timed tweet.

Of course, the tweet went viral and became one of the most talked about Super Bowl ads that year, which is pretty impressive when you consider how much other brands are investing in Super Bowl ads.

2 Seasonal content

When the seasons change and allergy kicks in or winter comes in full force, readers are focused on how to cope with the season's challenges. 

Also when it comes to holidays such as Christmas and Easter or major sporting events such as the World Cup in football or the Olympics, brands can create content on a topic that is on everyone's lips. 

Din Sundhedsfaglige A-kasse made an interactive Christmas calendar using the Playable platform. The Christmas calendar received over 6,500 visitors on average every day in December. This resulted, among other things, in 16,000 new marketing permissions.

3 End of the year

As the calendar draws to a close, most people begin to reflect on the year that has passed and wonder what the new year will bring. 

It is an obvious opportunity for brands to participate in or create a conversation about the year that passed and the year to come with content such as lists, reports or predictions.

An example of such a piece of content is a report we produced for Santander Consumer Bank at the beginning of 2019. The report "Danskernes biløkonomi 2019" took the temperature of the Danes' desire and ability to buy cars, and how they did it.

In addition to downloads on Santander's website, the report received attention in several national media such as Ekstra Bladet and thus increased Santander Consumer Bank's authority.

4 Campaign content

A campaign is the perfect time to create topical content that creates interest. This content could support a specific marketing campaign, a new research publication, or a product launch. 

Depending on your goal, the content can increase campaign effectiveness, increase thought leadership or create more awareness.

Campaign content can also start conversations about a specific topic, such as L'Oreal did with the #LetsFaceIt campaign. The goal was to destigmatize the use of masks during the Covid-19 pandemic. On TikTok, videos with mask-wearing users generated more than 17 billion views. 

5 Event content

Just as you would do with a campaign, a brand can also create topical content supporting an event.

It can be content that supports a conference or a webinar. It helps maximize the event’s return on investment and increase its reach.

Before the premiere of House of the Dragon on HBO Max, the streaming service created native content pieces in collaboration with Ekstra Bladet. The goal of the content was to create awareness, increase hype and attract more subscribers.

Remember! Don't do like Burger King

Finally, a note of great importance. Only create topical content on topics your company or brand can credibly speak to.

If you are a car tyre manufacturer, it may not be relevant to make content about the World Cup in football, but perhaps Le Mans instead? 

The reader or viewer can quickly see if you are simply trying to latch on to a current trend or news without actually being able to credibly contribute to the conversation.

A good example of a bad example is Burger King's mental health campaign for Mental Health Awareness Month in the US.

In 2019, the fast food chain launched five "unhappy meals" with the tagline: No one is happy all the time. And that's OK. 

The campaign quickly attracted negative attention on social media, with people criticizing what they perceived as a very light approach to a heavy subject. 

Several also asked the relevant question: What authority does Burger King have to speak about mental health?

In other words, it is important that you create content about topics you can credibly have an opinion on - or that you want to put effort behind your words and do something. Otherwise, it may explode in your hands.