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Winter is coming, and now is the time to prepare for the biggest consumer spending season of the year. There are many factors that go into creating a successful holiday campaign, and Genius Monkey is here to discuss three high-level strategies that will prepare your business to thrive throughout the next year! Let’s dive in:
Prepare Your Fuel Early
As the temperature goes down, competition for ad space and attention heats up. The winter holiday season is consistently the time of the most consumer spending, and it’s not even close: 2024 clocked a record $994.1 billion in retail sales. Everyone wants a piece of that action, so it’s best to stake your claim early.
The reasons go beyond availability; the best programmatic campaigns take time to warm up as adjustments are made to audience and targeting approaches. You want your marketing fire built to a roar at the busiest time of the season, and that means preparing your fuel earlier than you might think.
The yearly spending peak is December, where retail sales exceed November despite spikes around Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. At the very latest, November should be used as a testing ground for messaging and creative variants before scaling in December.
A Steady Fire Survives the Winter
The advertising market is an inherently volatile space, and that’s especially true during the holidays: ad performance can swing wildly as costs rise and audiences fluctuate. It’s very tempting to quickly throw in more fuel during spikes and pull back when conversions dip, but campaigns are overall more efficient when the budget is stable.
Here’s how it works:
- The Genius Monkey platform not only tracks where a customer is going online across devices, but also how ready they are to make a purchase.
- When the customer is in the discovery phase at the top of the funnel, the platform will produce light, consistent touchpoints to keep the brand top-of-mind as they research.
- Once a customer demonstrates that they’re progressing through the funnel, the spend goes up to make placements more common and information/offer-heavy for that user.
A steady ad budget allows the platform to shift ad spend toward the bottom (or top) of the funnel in real-time to account for where your ideal audience is on their journey. If the budget suddenly decreases, there won’t be enough to maintain top-funnel branding while also winning the bids that matter most.
Any part of the funnel left underserved will lead to decreased conversions. If you want to stay warm through the whole winter, the best course of action is a steady fire that burns consistently.
Don’t Let Your Holiday Advertising Budget Hibernate!
Perhaps the most important piece of the holiday advertising puzzle: what to do once the holidays are over. Many advertisers pull back or pause marketing efforts, thinking there isn’t as much money to be made as the peak of the shopping season. That is a bad idea!!
If a marketing campaign goes down to hibernate for the winter, advertisers will miss the benefits of post-holiday shopping. Customer spending doesn’t stop; it just shifts!
- A vast majority of retailers hold post-holiday sales to clear inventory, sometimes offering up to 75% off to entice buyers.
- About 64% of people get gift cards during the winter holidays, and one survey suggests that consumers spend an average of $31.75 more than the balance of their gift card.
- Nearly one-third of adults in the US will refund or exchange a holiday gift, and they’ll often use that money to get something else!
Advertising after the craze of the winter holidays holds some unique benefits:
- CPMs often drop as publishers want to incentivize advertisers.
- Consumers are often feeling refreshed and optimistic heading into the new year. They get back online and start making plans and purchases.
- All the purchases over the holidays gives advertisers fresh data and insights to inform even better campaign decisions.
Keep the Fire Burning!
Lasting marketing success isn’t built on quick bursts of activity; it’s built on steady, strategic warmth. The advertisers who plan ahead, maintain consistent energy through the season, and keep their fire burning after the holidays are the ones who carry momentum into the new year.
So don’t let your ad budget hibernate! Keep fueling awareness, keep the fire steady, and let your brand’s light shine bright long after the holiday decorations come down. If you’re ready to see how an omnichannel approach can elevate your marketing strategy, get in touch with Genius Monkey today!
