Weather plays a crucial role in shaping consumers' spending habits. However, we often underestimate its profound impact on sales of goods and services.

Weather segmentation leverages this fact to drive sales and enhance consumer experiences. Understanding the effects of weather on shopper behaviour allows companies to tailor marketing strategies to capture maximum demand during favourable weather conditions.

What is weather orientation?
Weather targeting uses real-time weather data to deliver relevant, timely, location-based marketing. Using a rich set of historical and predictive weather data, advertisers can publish dynamic creative based on predicted conditions in a user's area.

This increases the relevance of ads by ensuring that users are exposed to messages relevant to their current local needs. It also helps them understand how the weather influences shoppers' behaviour and buying habits, allowing them to optimise their e-commerce campaigns accordingly.

A skin care brand could target users in sunny areas with sunscreen-related ads, or a clothing retailer could offer winter coat and boot-themed creatives to people in colder climates.

Why climate matters for sales and marketing
Weather influences consumer spending habits in almost every sector, from hospitality to retail. In fact, weather is the second largest influence on consumer behaviour after the economy. It also plays a substantial role in the US private sector, contributing to approximately $3 trillion in business activity.

Even a slight change in temperature can significantly affect sales of various products. This chart from Weather Unlocked shows how a one-degree change increases sales of specific products.

Why the weather is important for sales
Weather-based campaign targeting allows marketers to inform their marketing strategies and better target customers with relevant offers. This level of personalisation leads to higher customer satisfaction and loyalty and therefore a better return on investment.

How the weather affects mood
The weather has a significant impact on our mood and state of mind. Sunshine can make us happy and positive, while rain brings sadness and depression. Temperature also affects our emotions, with extreme temperatures making us irritable, agitated or unmotivated.

Weather-based campaign targeting allows us to leverage this data to connect more deeply with consumers. Marketers can tap into the consumer psyche, allowing them to create messages that resonate with the customer's current mindset while increasing purchase intent.

For example, exposure to sunlight has been shown to increase our willingness to purchase certain products/services by up to 56%.

How to use weather-based marketing effectively
Weather data is a valuable asset for brands and agencies, allowing them to improve communication and give context to advertisements based on product seasonality and other relevant factors.

Different types of weather data offer different insights that can be valuable for e-commerce optimisation. How to use them effectively is explained below:

Historical weather data
Historical weather data provides a comprehensive view of past weather patterns. It allows advertisers to compare current conditions with those of previous years and determine the likelihood of increased or decreased demand for specific goods or services. This type of data can also be used to create predictive models that anticipate future trends and maximise ad performance.

Sears Automotive uses historical data to determine that car batteries older than five years fail after three consecutive days of freezing temperatures. They respond by activating weather warnings on the fourth day of freezing temperatures.

Live weather data
Live weather data provides real-time updates on current conditions. This type of data can be used to adjust advertising campaigns on the fly and take advantage of short-term opportunities with minimal effort.

Live weather data is especially useful for urgent paid advertising on social media, such as promotions during extreme weather events or discounts when temperatures exceed a certain threshold.

Bravissimo significantly increased its sales revenue by 600 % through PPC campaigns, using weather-sensitive ads that adapt to current weather conditions.

Weather data forecast
Forecasted weather data allows advertisers to plan and ensure that their campaigns are prepared for any upcoming weather changes. This type of data can also be used to anticipate customer needs and create effective strategies that drive high levels of engagement.

Timberland, for example, sends weather-triggered emails to its subscribers.