{"id":299,"date":"2019-06-14T08:00:48","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T08:00:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/?p=299"},"modified":"2020-09-18T15:28:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T15:28:29","slug":"selling-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/selling-dad\/","title":{"rendered":"Selling Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Father\u2019s Day is a bit of a weird holiday. Often derided for its commercial roots, Father\u2019s Day actually began somewhere in the Middle Ages as a Catholic holiday celebrating the role of fatherhood in the family and in the church. Here in the U.S., the holiday didn\u2019t take hold until the early 1900\u2019s as a remembrance for around 360 men that died in a mining accident before fading into relative obscurity. It wasn\u2019t until the 1930\u2019s, in the middle of the Great Depression, that Father\u2019s Day took on a more financial nature, as struggling businesses turned to Father\u2019s Day as an attempt to drum up new business and new revenue.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Fast forward to today, and you\u2019d be hard pressed to wade through the first half of June without bumping up against a Father\u2019s Day sale, or some kind of ad talking about how great dads are. From a marketing perspective, incorporating holidays that focus on such specific demographics are a difficult question. If your business doesn\u2019t really deal in products or services that would directly benefit dads, for example, it\u2019s difficult to put out a Father\u2019s Day ad that doesn\u2019t feel too predatory. Now, it\u2019s not like consumers are going to criticize a company for putting out a \u201cHappy Father\u2019s Day\u201d tweet to all their followers. So as a marketing team, where do you spend your energy in the lead up to such specific holidays?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All In<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For bigger corporations and companies that offer stuff relevant to fathers, it makes sense to go all on with marketing efforts. Companies like Coke and Dove with a huge international presence are almost expected to chime in on the various passing occasions. Inevitably there are tons of dads that drink coke products, and they have the advertising capacity to put something together for just that day. Dove makes mens products and markets them directly to all kinds of men, so naturally they\u2019re going to put something together.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s when you get to smaller companies that you begin asking if it\u2019s worth it to dedicate any of your marketing budget to ads and specialized Father\u2019s Day marketing. Someone like Dollar Shave Club, whose whole market is people that want to shave, are likely to spend a bit of effort putting together a marketing plan that accounts for the day. For everyone else, anything more than a social media post<\/a> that nods to the holiday might be overkill. At the end of the day, marketing is only valuable if it offers returns, and if you spend a lot of time building out a plan for Father\u2019s Day and your market hardly consists of anyone that would shop for a father or be a father, then you\u2019re significantly less likely to get returns on your investment.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Good, The Bad, and The Lazy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not unlike advertisements, one of the perennially popular hallmarks of Father\u2019s Day is the \u201cFather\u2019s Day Sale\u201d. It seems like just about everything has a sale attached to it these days, and the issue is that it begins to devalue the idea of a sale, particularly one relying on a time sensitive thing like a holiday. Even if we ignore the fact that \u201csale\u201d is a bit misleading in most cases, the idea of a specific sale for a single day holiday is nothing more than a sales tactic. By creating a sense of urgency, either suggesting a kind of emotional or financial incentive to hurry and spend, companies hope to bring in more business than all the other Sundays in June.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The trouble with this is that, at this point, it\u2019s become an obvious tactic. There\u2019s some degree of moral question on whether or not tactics are effective, valuable, or whatever else for clients. But from a pure marketing standpoint, an obvious tactic is usually an ineffective one. Once people realize they\u2019re being singled out and sold too, they\u2019re far more likely to put up psychological barriers, which is of course going to influence their decision to buy or not buy. People will rarely argue with value, at the end of the day if they can get the same product for half the price, they\u2019ll go for the cheaper thing unless there\u2019s a good social, economic, psychological, or other reason to buy the more expensive thing.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s not to say sales and marketing are evil manipulations of the people. It\u2019s more to say that a \u201csale\u201d, particularly ones that piggyback on holidays and trends, are incredibly lazy forms of marketing because it\u2019s placing a lot of stock in tactics that have, in many cases, run their course. That fact also lends itself to perception, which is an easily overlooked metric because it\u2019s not necessarily tied to financial gain in a concrete way. What I mean here is that if you are seen as the kind of company that markets for holidays and tries to use that as a way to drive business, people might feel a certain kind of way about it. Good or bad, that feeling can influence your business, and you need to manage that perception just as carefully as you manage the actual physical components of your business.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Somewhere In Between<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Where does that leave us, then? Do we market for Father\u2019s Day or not? And the answer isn\u2019t really a simple yes or no. It\u2019s the painfully ambiguous \u201cit depends\u201d. What you should really consider is how capable you are of marketing efficiently and effectively, and then how much of that marketing you can carve out for specific things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thrifty Marketing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s break that down. Efficient marketing is what we talked about earlier. It\u2019s deciding whether or not you have the capital, time, and investment capabilities to make ads and campaign concessions for specific holidays. Father\u2019s Day, while fairly commercialized at this point, is not on the same level of commercial and consumerist value as something like Christmas. So do you really have the marketing budget to make a whole ad for Father\u2019s day? Or should you stick to a social media post the week before?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observing the holiday, celebrating Father\u2019s Day and fathers is great! Let people know you and your company care, because it\u2019s a good opportunity to connect and interact on a social, human level. A social media post and interaction is going to cost significantly less than ad space, and it may end up being just as effective. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Intelligent Marketing<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

For the other half, about marketing effectively, it\u2019s more accurate to say you should try to be smarter about your marketing. Consumers have a lot of access to information these days, they also have access to a lot of competitors. They\u2019re not dumb, and if they feel that a particular marketing campaign or ad is pandering to them, they may simply take their business elsewhere. Take, for example, the current controversy surrounding national Pride Month.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As corporate facades and big businesses started slathering everything in rainbow, in stark contrast to their silence on LGBTQ+ issues before Pride Month, that community reacted with noticeable backlash. People didn\u2019t like feeling like their traits and experiences were being commodified. Now, while the hallmark of advertisement and marketing is to identify and appeal to traits, experiences, and purchasing values of a huge variety of audiences, there are strategies that do and don\u2019t work.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tasteful, intelligent, and interesting marketing techniques are simply going to be more valuable in the end. It\u2019s not wrong to figure out what people want and then offer it, but considering how you offer it makes all the difference. For Pride Month, for Father\u2019s Day, for any specific holiday, event, or whatever that you want to market for, consider the birds-eye-view look of your campaign and marketing efforts. Account for the risks, account for the potential reactions, and make calculated decisions. Otherwise you\u2019ll spend a ton of money and people still won\u2019t buy your stuff because you neglected the fact that people aren\u2019t purchasing according to the one distilled element of experience that your marketing targeted.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everything In Moderation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

That said, risky marketing techniques can work. Innovation is a fantastic way to build and engage with audiences while dealing with the limitations of communication and market research. Coming back to Father\u2019s Day, there\u2019s a few easy ways to look at it. Do you have a product that dads want?
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s all kinds of dads, so chances are you\u2019ve got something, but how relevant is that relationship to your product? Is your company the type that sells to dads? Everyone wants to be the type of company that sells to all audiences, but not every company is really built that way. And before you go make a ton of Father\u2019s Day ads and sales and promos, consider if you have that capacity. If you\u2019re the type of company that sells to dads all year round, then it makes a lot more sense to put out an ad that targets fathers directly. If you\u2019re the type of company that doesn\u2019t really match that market, you have to be more tactful in how you approach your marketing. It\u2019s that simple.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if you\u2019re totally lost at this point, just remember what makes Father\u2019s Day significant to your actual audience. Strip away the numbers and sales, and you\u2019ve got people that want to celebrate fatherhood. Either their experiences as a dad, or their relationship with their own dad. A good direction to go is the human direction. Celebrate fatherhood alongside your audience without making it all about what you\u2019re selling, and you\u2019ll be able to successfully work with holiday marketing without being too salesy. Dove did a great job with their #RealStrength<\/a> ad campaign back in 2015 with this exact tactic.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So before you go off to post your \u201cFather\u2019s Day Special\u201d, give it some thought. How much time and money are you spending, and are you getting it back? Tell us what you think about targeted marketing and holidays, does it work for you, or do you hate feeling singled out? Let us know!
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Father\u2019s Day is a bit of a weird holiday. Often derided for its commercial roots, Father\u2019s Day actually began somewhere […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nSelling Dad - Regex SEO Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/selling-dad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Selling Dad - Regex SEO Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Father\u2019s Day is a bit of a weird holiday. Often derided for its commercial roots, Father\u2019s Day actually began somewhere […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/selling-dad\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Regex SEO Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/regexseo\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-06-14T08:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-09-18T15:28:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/DigitalSpaceman\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dmitrii Kustov\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\">\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\">\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Regex SEO Blog\",\"description\":\"Your SEO, SEM and SMM Information Source\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\",\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/selling-dad\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/selling-dad\/\",\"name\":\"Selling Dad - Regex SEO Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-06-14T08:00:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-09-18T15:28:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/59f2c07c3640a93875e0a868567cfeb0\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/selling-dad\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/59f2c07c3640a93875e0a868567cfeb0\",\"name\":\"Dmitrii Kustov\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/portrait-1-e1549675655281-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Dmitrii Kustov\"},\"description\":\"Dmitrii is an entrepreneur and founder of Regex SEO, he has produced websites and run marketing campaigns for companies like John Deere and Dignity Memorial. As the Internet Marketing Director, Dmitrii works with Regex SEO to help businesses big and small grow their online presence.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/regexseo\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/regexseo\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/digitalspaceman\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/DigitalSpaceman\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=299"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1167,"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/299\/revisions\/1167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regexseo.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}