2020 has been an unprecedented year for marketers. With ongoing uncertainty linked to the global pandemic, it’s now more important than ever to be strategic about your media buys in Q4.
Since the start of the global pandemic, we’ve seen a major shift in consumer behaviors – from the way they communicate with friends, family, and colleagues and the amount of media they consume, to the way they shop for essentials. Store closures, reduced hours, and the potential risks associated with in-store shopping have greatly influenced consumer shopping habits – forcing them to make more of their regular purchases online to avoid the larger crowds.
eCommerce sales have seen an 18% growth since last year, as shown in the eMarketer chart below, and it’s only expected to increase further as we get closer to the holiday shopping season.
Because of the potential risks that might be associated with visiting crowded stores in person, consumers are not only opting to make their holiday purchases online, they are also starting early, knowing that packages may take longer to arrive.
As online shopping continues to grow, there are going to be a lot of shoppers that may not be necessarily familiar with your brand. To help, you need to engage them across the entire sales funnel, all the way from awareness to the point of sale.
Download the Holiday Campaign Planning Guide
So how can you get in front of these potential new customers, and do so at scale? Our team of highly trained campaign strategists have compiled some helpful tips into a holiday campaign guide you’ll want to use as a resource to help you move forward.
Here is a preview of some of the strategies inside:
- Use a full funnel approach: As online shopping continues to grow, there are going to be a lot of shoppers that may not be necessarily familiar with your brand. To help, you need to engage them across the entire sales funnel, all the way from awareness to the point of sale.
- Launch early: With Amazon Prime Day moving from July to October this year, holiday spending may also shift forward. So be prepared to launch campaigns earlier than expected if you hope to retain market share. The sooner you can test messages, creative and email strategies, the sooner you can make the adjustments necessary to significantly improve your results.
- Drop those pixels now: Preparation for your campaigns doesn’t just mean defining goals. It’s a good idea to increase spending on brand awareness tactics in the early fall in order to have larger retargeting and lookalike pools during November and December. You can request pixels now to start building out those pools so you’re ready to go when you want to target those most likely to convert!