When the holiday shopping kicks off, consumers are generally considered to be laying low. However, people are shopping, just with a slightly different mindset.
“Many advertisers miss out on this big opportunity to increase ROI and maximize sales in the time period known as Q5,” says Jimmie Larsson, product owner Meta at N365.
Contradictory to popular beliefs, purchase intention is high when people are in holiday mode. This was uncovered in a study conducted by Ware2Go*, where 92 percent of people surveyed said they planned to shop after the holidays in 2020, up from usual 72 percent. Additionally, 80 percent were expected to make holiday gift returns.
“The time period between Christmas and mid-January is known as Q5. It shows strong positive market dynamics and an opportunity for many advertisers to connect with consumers,” says Jimmie Larsson.
Time spent on social platforms can be significantly longer during the holiday period when people have a lot of time on their hands. A survey including internet users from 13 different markets said they’re spending more time on their smartphone since the COVID-19 outbreak**. At the same time, many big brands pull back their advertising spend during this time, after the big holiday push, which leads to less competition in the auctions on Facebook and Instagram.
“During the last few years, we have seen lower CPA-levels for several campaigns compared to the rest of the year, as well as lower CPM-prices. This combination makes Q5 a great opportunity to grow marketing shares,” says Jimmie Larsson.
What are your best tips for advertising during Q5?
”Make sure to break through the clutter by scaling up top-performing content and use messages that resonates well with shoppers. After Christmas people start thinking of themselves and what they would do differently in the new year. Tap into this positive feeling by adjusting your content to show how your product will help them follow through on resolutions,” says Jimmie Larsson.
“A last minute-tip to prepare for Q5 could be to use existing holiday creatives but change the CTA from “buy Christmas gifts” to “treat yourself”, or “holiday offers” to “last chance for our year-end offer.”
Contact Jimmie Larsson if you want to know more or need help with maximizing sales on social platforms during Q5: [email protected].
*Ware2Go, December 2020
**GlobalWebIndex (GWI), Coronavirus Research
