• by Aaron Baar , December 29, 2014

After all the hubbub of the holiday season, one might want to take a break from consumer messaging. But the time before New Year’s may be a great opportunity to reach the resolution minded. 

According to Web content and customer experience management provider Kentico Software, 31% of Web users intend to make New Year’s resolutions this year. Of them, a third intend to look online for products or services to help them keep their resolutions. 

“This is a once-in-a-year opportunity that some people might not [think] is worth it,” Robert Pinkas, vice president of marketing for Kentico, tells Marketing Daily. “But I don’t think many have thought about the opportunity this might bring.”

Among the resolution-makers, 38% will look for sites or apps to help them achieve their goals, while 26% will look for blogs or other online sites for information. In addition to products and services, 20% of resolution-minded Web users will look for moral support online in places like Facebook (41%), Web sites (25%) and blogs (13%). Only 3% of resolution makers will look to Twitter for support.

Women are twice as likely to look for products and services online. Meanwhile, 45% of younger (18-49) consumers will look for tracking sites and apps, and 39% will look to blogs and other sites. 

Not surprisingly, the top resolutions involve fitness (65% of resolution makers ranked fitness among the three), diet (57%) and relationships (28%), although professional (19%), volunteering (15%), and quitting smoking or other addictions (12%) also ranked high. 

For those looking to capitalize on these resolutions, Pinkas advises looking for ways to connect with the motivations behind the resolution and a real connection between the product and the resolution. “It’s very easy to plan for, and see the people behind those wishes,” he says. 

Or, he suggests, make the product an enabler of keeping resolutions. According to the research, 34% of those who give up on their resolutions do so after a month (with a similar amount either succeeding in reaching them or never giving up on them) and 16% give up after six months. 

“It would be nice to create a small app to keep the resolution going and keep people engaged,” Pinkas says. “The appification of resolutions could be quite interesting.”