Creating seasonal campaigns with vehicle graphics

Making the most of your vehicles for marketing.

Incorporating seasonal elements into your campaigns at Christmas (or Easter) is a proven way of increasing sales and creating a huge visual impact. If you’re considering a seasonal campaign, then vehicle graphics should definitely be in the mix – here’s why.

Practicality and proven reach

The point about a seasonal campaign is its time limited appeal, which means you need a smart way to reach as many people as possible in a short space of time. That’s where creating mobile billboards through car graphics comes in. A vinyl wrap is a cost-effective way to reach many people quickly and easily, and the versatility of the medium means you can rapidly adapt your existing campaigns by adding additional decals or customising an existing wrap.

Given the cost of advertising, being able to create effective and affordable campaigns with such a huge reach is something every marketer should be looking at when a seasonal holiday rolls around.

Unconventional and effective

A vehicle wrap turns every traffic jam into a new marketing opportunity and every car park into a billboard. Though often perceived as an unconventional marketing method, 85% of customers in all markets and demographics are reached by car wrap advertising, making it extremely effective, with a minimal cost per impression of around 0.10p.

In addition, using a less conventional way of advertising has a subliminal impact, too. It says you’re a business that’s prepared to put themselves out there and take risks to maximise your marketing potential, and that can be very attractive, particularly to younger purchasers.

Influencing customer decisions

Seasonal holidays, particularly Christmas, are intrinsic to our popular culture and are now celebrated by millions of people around the world. It’s what makes the holidays the ideal time of year to run time-limited promotional campaigns, where urgency equals effectiveness.

There’s usually a huge uptick in spending around Christmas and the New Year, and people looking for products and services tend to feel pressured to get things done before the festive season. It’s a great time, therefore, to capture and convert potential customers, by influencing their purchasing decisions with a clever seasonal marketing campaign.

Planning your killer marketing campaign

First, pick your holiday. You may want to use vehicle graphics to promote a summer campaign or a spooktacular event at Hallowe’en, but let’s focus on Christmas, because it’s probably the focus of your current marketing strategy.

Evaluate your existing campaigns for clarity of message. Are you connecting with your customers? Are they engaging with your campaigns? If so, how?

Now you can start to nail down your messaging for your vinyl wrap design. Think about the emotions you want to evoke in your customer and an appropriate call to action. Keep it clear and simple – and seasonal. Start planning your campaign at least 2 months in advance and check with your sign company what their lead time is for seasonal vinyl wrap designs.

One of the keys to a successful seasonal campaign is watertight organisation of your assets across a wide range of media. That’s where your vinyl wrap can play a critical role in pushing out social media and contact details to as wide an audience as possible, so your call to action becomes crucial to the success of your mixed media marketing campaign.

Getting the design right

Always be aware of the shape of the vehicle that you’re wrapping – your sign company should be able to produce some 2D modelling that will give you an impression of the final effect. Try not to use too many competing graphics and photos, keeping colours consistent with your brand. Remember, your car wrap designs should be consistent with the rest of your advertising and marketing.

Choose simple sans-serif fonts and say no to script fonts unless it’s part of your overall branding. Keep the message clear, and if the campaign is a seasonal one, inject some seasonal humour – nothing works at Christmas better than a silly cracker joke or a pun that’s relevant to your business.

You need to think about visibility and maximising the impact of your vinyl wrap, so work with a good team of designers who understand the importance of great design in car wrapping.

Installation art

The final piece of the vinyl wrap jigsaw is the installation. It’s what makes car wrapping such a flexible and responsive way of advertising, but don’t be fooled by companies offering cheap wrapping services – getting it right is an art.

Ideally, you’ll be working with a company that understands the importance of great installation and that offers integrated design, manufacture and wrapping services. Not only will your vehicle be out there looking its very best, but a properly installed wrap – however temporary – will also protect your van or car from wear and tear.

So is a seasonal campaign worth it?

Your seasonal advertising campaign will have four major benefits for your business: customers are more likely to act when a campaign is seasonal and time limited, their spending behaviours are more generous, they’re more likely to sign up for your offers and you don’t actually need to do much market research!

If you want to harness the power of seasonal campaigns with a unique form of advertising that has a huge reach and proven visual impact, then you need to start Christmas wrapping – your vehicles, that is! Get in touch with us today to discuss how you can harness the power of vehicle graphics in Seaford. Call The Sussex Sign Company today on 01273 424900