6 Tips to Prepare Your Media Campaigns for a Huge Holiday Spending Season

With US retail spending predicted to surpass $1 trillion for the first time this holiday season, it’s imperative that marketers strategically prepare for how to reach and connect with customers during this critical time. Here are six tips to help you plan your campaigns in Google Display & Video 360:

Bid Higher Than Historicals
CPMs typically rise 25% over the quarter, peaking at 30%+ from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Don’t miss out due to unadjusted CPMs.

Leverage Programmatic Guaranteed Deals When Possible
Lock in programmatic guaranteed deals so you know the inventory will be purchased even during this hectic time. Be sure to negotiate them as soon as possible; publishers’ guaranteed inventories can fill up quickly.

Don’t Discount Mobile
Smartphones are more likely to lead to unplanned, impulse purchases, and there are many, many mobile-first holidays in Q4, such as Black Friday, Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Think CPA, Not ROAS
This year’s retail growth is driven by more transactions, not basket size, so shift your campaign KPIs to match customer trends.

Consider Holiday Inventory
Assess the following content categories, and private, guaranteed and auction package deals as you prepare for the holiday buying season:

Content Categories:

• Holidays & Seasonal Events
• Shopping > Gifts & Special Event Items 
• Travel

Deals: Private, Guaranteed, and Auction Packages:

• G_AP_Display_Web_HolidayRelated_HighViewability
• G_AP_Display_Web_HolidayShoppingRetail_HighViewability
• Tinder Dating App for Millennials and Singles
• LiveIntent for 2000+ high end publisher’s email newsletters
• Ranker for searches regarding the best gifts, brands, alcohols, and more
• Buzzfeed for holiday gift lists and travel guides
• Ziff Media Group for tech, culture, and shopping audiences
• Live NFL games for tunde-in weekend audiences
• Target, Best Buy, and BuyBuyBaby deals available as well

Keep in mind that since Deals Checkbox for Autobidding has launched, you can feel more confident enabling auto-bidding for your deals this Q4 season.

Keep It Going
CPMs drop and inventory increases at the start of the new year. Take the opportunity to continue conversations with your audiences for a more affordable price. If you’re in retail, take advantage of people making returns on gifts and having available cash to spend

You’re Not Alone

Need Help? Our expert Programmatic Media team is ready to solve your toughest media challenges. We can create your media plan, handle all your campaign trafficking and tagging, build audience lists, and optimize and report on your campaigns. We do the heavy lifting and you get results you can brag about. We also offer consulting options. Contact us to get started.