For Consumers, Tax Season Is The Real Spooky Season. Your Ads Can Make It Less Scary

It’s common for people to think of the post-summer, pre-winter holiday time as “spooky season,” and with good reason. The days are growing shorter. Leaves are dying and falling to the ground. Flowers disappear for the next several months. After a sunny summer spent largely outside, and before the cheerful season of gatherings and year-end celebrations: that’s when the ghosts and ghouls come to play.

That said, “spooky season” has become cause for celebration, not fright. Whether consumers are passing out candy to kids or decorating their lawns with an increasing selection of giant monsters from big-box stores, the so-called “spooky season” in fact is full of joy.

In fact, it’s April that truly terrifies people. One word: Taxes. And, conveniently, the classic “spooky season” of October happens to be when financial services companies are doing their tax season ad planning.

Even those who expect high-value refunds, or who don’t have any financial skeletons in the closet, can find a reason to be anxious around tax day. And there’s good reason for this. Taxes can be complex to complete, difficult to personalize for one’s individual financial needs, and expensive, which likely feels like it’s in direct opposition to the promise of an infusion of cash once it’s all said and done.

Today, we’re going to walk through tips on how to make tax season less a little less scary for financial consumers.

Difficulties – perceived or actual – will always stand in the way of successfully completing a task. So for consumers, knowing that they have a large pile of difficult work ahead of them will increase the likelihood of delaying tax preparation.

The goal for your brand is to create a welcoming environment. Taxes are scary – but they don’t have to be, thanks to your brand. Taxes are impossible to navigate – unless they use your brand. And so on.

The key here is to offer a range of solutions designed to create comfort for a wide variety of consumers. Some users might enjoy a more self-service approach. Others may prefer the assistance of a tax professional to review their work. No matter their preference, the key thing is that they’re finding solutions because of your brand.

Consider ad experiences like carousels to walk users through your onboarding process. By seeing the early step-by-step process, you’ll be creating clear expectations – and comforts – for your user base.

Difficulties with Personalization

No two taxpayers have the exact same financial situation. Some might have 9-5 jobs at a corporation and therefore have a comparatively easy tax situation. Others might need a lot more care and personalized attention, whether they’re freelancers, contractors, or small businesses owners with employees.

Your strategy here is to prove your expertise across a variety of topics. Users should come away from your ad experience with the confidence that your brand can hit literally any tax-related pitch.

Consider an ad experience that allows users to explore your suite of offerings, such as a free exploration. This unpressured kind of experience will allow users to become comfortable with your brand on their terms, thereby increasing trust – as well as the likelihood of conversion.

Tax Prep Can Be Expensive

Traditionally, tax day has been seen among advertisers as a time when consumers would be flush with extra cash, and therefore be more willing to splurge on luxury items, vacations, and the like.

But recent tax seasons have painted a very different picture. In 2024, 58% of respondents to a survey said that they would use their tax refunds for pragmatic reasons, such as putting it into savings (28%), paying down debt (19%), and day-to-day expenses (11%). Only 4% of people intended to splurge on nice-to-have items.

What this suggests is a turn towards responsible handling of finances. This can be very good news for financial brands, as they could potentially take the time to offer other financial products in and around tax season. But it also paints a more important picture: these days taxpayers are likely focused on cost.

As a result, we suggest sharing upfront and transparent pricing. Because cost will be a huge motivator, consumers will likely look for ways to spend the least on their tax preparation while receiving the highest possible return.

We suggest leaning into this by not hiding your prices. A simple rich media banner ad that shares pricing options through easy and intuitive interactivity can help you with a strategy like this.

By positioning your brand as easy and welcoming, experienced and intelligent, and cost-conscious, you’ll be putting yourselves in a prime position to attract more customers this tax season. As you’re doing your tax season ad planning, consider how these interactive and rich media advertising strategies can help you ensure that consumers don’t find it more terrifying than a horror movie marathon – and in turn, make it more profitable for your brand.

At Infillion, that’s our specialty – reach out and let’s chat.