2023 Q4 Holiday Trends

As gas prices and grocery bills are trending higher again this year, Q4 could be another tough battle for advertisers. Holiday shoppers will be looking to save money anywhere they can this season as the cost of living continues to increase for many of them. So, what are retailers and independent businesses to do for digital advertising?

While it’s a given that your ad dollars will be working harder during the holiday season to push your message through all the other advertising clutter, we have some tips below that might help you lower your cost per action and help optimize your ad spend.

Target Broadly

Meta and other industry leaders have been pushing broad targeting all year. As anyone who has been on the phone with a rep from these guys knows, they highly recommend it. While we don’t condone doing everything your rep pushes on you, this is one thing we’ve seen the algorithm confirm specifically with our consumer packaged goods clients. 

In the past, we have pushed our clients to narrow down their target audience and only market to those you know will buy your product when using conversion ads to drive purchases. But with the crackdown on targeting and cookies and the emphasis advertising platforms are placing on AI, we are seeing more success with broad targeting, leaving some of the hard work for the algorithm to figure out who is purchasing online this year.

Prepare your messaging

Now is the time to decide what your product and messaging for the holidays should look like. In addition to telling your potential customers why the product is right for their friends or family members, show them why your product is relevant and how it will make the gift receiver smile. 

While some people do shop for themselves during the holidays, the majority of Q4 shoppers are looking for “gift for 4-year-old-boy” or “gifts for book lovers” so you may want to check your keywords to be sure you are showing up when you can get the bid.

Give buyers a break

Because the cost of everything continues to increase, offer your new or loyal customers a unique incentive online. Free shipping is a great way to get past the abandoned cart hump. People are willing to pay the price you give but sometimes get tripped up if you have added costs at check out. Roll your shipping into the price they see on the product page to be sure there are no surprises at checkout.

Know when to stop
It takes time to get a product in the hands of purchasers and you know your deadline is Christmas Eve at the absolute latest. Spoiler alert! Christmas Eve is December 24 so here is what you do. Count back how many days it takes your product to ship and let that be the last day you are pushing hard for purchases with your advertising. 

Your countdown is not to Christmas day if you’re shipping anything out, your countdown is to the last day you are sure your products will be in the happy hands of your customer in time to give their gift on Christmas Day. Anything after the date of shipping by Christmas is back to your ad spend as usual because your race is done for the holidays at that point.

These tips and trends are our broad suggestions for brands and advertisers going into the Q4 holiday season. If you’re looking for more specific suggestions for your brand to get the most bang for your advertising buck this year, we’d love to help!