The opposite day, I got here throughout this tongue-in-cheek publish whereas idly scrolling: “Spotify ought to ship a halftime report. Inform me in July what my Wrapped is wanting like and the way a lot work I’ve left to do to show this factor round.” Contemplating I’d simply jokingly voiced how embarrassing my Wrapped was going to look this 12 months after the a whole bunch of minutes I’ve spent clicking the replay button on Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” that publish was a complete learn.
Spotify’s Wrapped characteristic, which delivers a customized breakdown of customers’ listening tendencies from the 12 months, nonetheless holds the highest spot relating to most participating year-in-review content material — a lot in order that many people, jokingly or not, are already anticipating what our 2024 Wrapped goes to appear to be in the midst of the summer time. And the format is so profitable that even its many imitators have gained traction. Different music streaming platforms like YouTube Music and Tidal finally launched their very own variations, and even non-music manufacturers, just like the health app Peloton, adopted go well with.
It’s no surprise these year-end user-generated content material campaigns have garnered such constructive suggestions; they’re endlessly shareable, and customers love personalised experiences. However, after all, creating your personal extremely individualized wrap-up could possibly be an enormous enterprise, relying on each your business and the way a lot buyer information you have got entry to. Right here’s how one can implement the spirit of those extremely personalised year-in-review stories in your personal EOY campaigns.
Plan your year-in-review content material now
The sooner you begin planning your year-in-review marketing campaign, the extra intentional it’ll really feel in your viewers. That doesn’t imply it’s worthwhile to get it able to publish now — in spite of everything, there’s nonetheless loads of the 12 months left to go, and also you don’t need your overview to really feel incomplete. However beginning now provides you ample time to analysis what you need to embody in your overview and create a workable define to flesh out come late November or early December absolutely.
Beginning as quickly as potential is very vital when culling information from totally different sources. You’ll need to set parameters for all stakeholders to stick to, equivalent to sticking to information from a set time period (maybe January 1 to October 31 of this 12 months). Your proprietary information is a good place to begin. For example, advertising and engineering can provide you buyer and consumer insights, and finance can provide you detailed spending stories.
Shopify is a good instance of a B2B model breaking down high-level information right into a digestible 12 months in overview that’s related to the targets of its base. And with a mix of written content material, video, and information visualizations, Shopify’s Commerce Tendencies report provides customers a choose-your-own-adventure expertise — whereas nonetheless remaining aesthetically constant and with out being overwhelming.
Personalize your recap in your viewers
A year-in-review report is a good alternative to encourage extended engagement and model loyalty. It’s a spot to share the worth you’ve supplied in your viewers — not brag about your income numbers. (Although an internally shared wrap report with company-wide wins isn’t a nasty concept, both!)
And even if you happen to’re not placing collectively an individualized expertise, you’ll be able to nonetheless tailor your wrap-up to your target market. A brand-wide 12 months in overview can nonetheless really feel private for customers by specializing in their favourite, most-purchased, or top-reviewed merchandise, or business tendencies and insights that may have an effect on their buying selections within the 12 months forward.
You possibly can even create a year-end recap that hones in on geographical location, age group, school college students, or another demographic. Google’s Native Yr In Search permits customers to entry the 12 months’s search tendencies of their hometown, or wherever they really feel like looking. It is a strategic means to supply a customized buyer expertise with out creating an individual-specific breakdown.
Considered one of my private favourite examples of year-in-review content material (which I look out for each December) is the New York Instances’ “Finest Books of the Yr” hub. Not solely does it present a roundup of its high e book evaluations from the previous 12 months, but it surely additionally gives breakdowns by style. Customers can choose which sections to learn primarily based on their very own pursuits.
Spotlight your finest work — whereas boosting site visitors
Lastly, a year-in-review could be a strategic strategy to share your model’s finest work from the previous 12 months, whether or not that’s blogs, analysis, graphics, and so forth. — and increase site visitors to that content material when you’re at it. A retrospective may also help generate a way of “enjoying catchup” amongst your viewers. Beneath is a good instance from New York’s The Reduce: by highlighting their “most-read” tales, they will play off of their readers’ sense of FOMO (and ship them glorious content material on the identical time).
You can even select to repurpose present content material in a distinct format. For example, in case your information safety agency has revealed a number of analysis this 12 months, you could possibly spotlight the highest findings in a quick-hit video or infographic for social. Or, when you have been holding a weblog stuffed with shopper finance content material, you could possibly create a touchdown web page hub linking to those weblog posts, positioning them sources for anybody seeking to enhance their funds in 2025 and past.
When to keep away from a year-in-review marketing campaign
In fact, year-in-review content material may not all the time make sense. Each enterprise proprietor is aware of that there are good years and unhealthy years — and if there aren’t sufficient positives to share, it may not be value dwelling on the negatives.
Additionally, if you’re contemplating offering individualized year-end recaps to your viewers, watch out about what information to give attention to. Fb bumped into scorching water when its “On This Day” characteristic began reminding individuals of unhealthy reminiscences, like sharing an announcement in regards to the dying of a member of the family. You need your wrap-up to be one thing clients look ahead to, not dread.
Lastly, keep away from bait-and-switch techniques right here. One motive Shopify is such a trusted title within the ecommerce house is due to its credibility as an business professional. Its Commerce Tendencies report isn’t peppered with CTAs to get began with the platform — it merely sticks to the details and what’s truly vital to its target market.
Ask the Content material Strategist: FAQs on year-in-review campaigns
How can smaller companies with restricted information sources create year-in-review content material?
Smaller companies can give attention to key metrics and buyer suggestions they do have, even when it’s much less complete. Highlighting just a few important achievements or tendencies can nonetheless have interaction their viewers.
What instruments can be utilized to collect and analyze information for a year-in-review advertising marketing campaign?
There are numerous instruments out there, equivalent to Google Analytics for net site visitors, CRM software program for buyer insights, and monetary software program for income monitoring. These instruments assist streamline information assortment and evaluation.
How can a year-in-review report be promoted to maximise engagement?
Selling the report by electronic mail newsletters, social media, and on the corporate’s web site can improve visibility. Collaborations with influencers or business companions may also assist attain a wider viewers.
Really feel such as you’ve missed a 12 months’s value of content material advertising methods? Catch up by studying The Content material Strategist.
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