The season of holiday advertising is here. The last quarter of the year delivers many opportunities to sell integrated campaigns to advertisers. While headlines lean on the impact of inflation, consumer confidence and spending continue to rise. That’s good news for you and your customers.
Regardless of their budget for this year, you can offer a pitch that delivers on their needs, from seasonal hiring to increasing sales. Let’s look at the landscape and predictions, followed by ideas for the most relevant proposal.
The Holiday Shopping 2022 Landscape
Before you launch your plan, you’ll want a good picture of your clients’ needs for the holidays and what the data says. Experts predict retail sales will increase by 4% to 6% in 2022. While modest, it’s still growth.
What else is influencing consumer behavior this holiday season? Promotions are starting earlier in response to 44% of shoppers wanting to buy now because they fear inflation will increase prices. Amazon and Target are leading the pack here. However, that doesn’t mean they won’t be shopping on Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The NRF (National Retail Federation) reported that 45% of consumers are likely to browse and buy in stores on Black Friday. E-commerce was certainly a winner during the pandemic. It looks like people will continue to buy in this channel but want the shopping experience back.
Consumers are also generous, with 62% saying spending on holiday gifts and celebrations is important, even if they have to cut back on their needs. Where they shop has a lot to do with value, but most want to shop locally. Two-thirds of consumers try to buy locally whenever possible.
These insights can help you best approach promotional campaigns with advertisers. Businesses may also have hiring needs.
Holiday Hiring Outlook
The 2022 Seasonal Hiring Outlook forecasted that retailers would add 68,000 holiday jobs. Retailers like Walmart and Michael’s already started their seasonal hiring push. Your local advertisers don’t need labor like these giants do, but there will still be a strain on their resources, which may already be low due to labor challenges.
It’s also not just retail that needs help. Hospitality and restaurants should see an increase in bookings, reservations and events. They may need temporary staff to pull these off in a short amount of time. Additionally, any business that plays a role in the delivery of goods, from shipping to delivery of last-minute groceries, will likely need a labor boost.
With both promotional and recruitment advertising needs, you’ll want to assess your clients’ objectives, the environment and which tactics can help them meet goals.
Holiday Advertising: Pitches That Get Noticed
Anyone can go to a local business and offer holiday advertising. You’ll want to stand out with results-focused, integrated campaigns that align with advertiser needs and consumer trends. Here are a few ideas to get started.
Craft Campaigns That Respond to Consumer Trends
The intelligence from the research presented can be part of the campaign. An understanding of shopper motivations may give it more traction. The campaign could include things like:
- How buying local can make dollars go further for those cutting back
- Including why shopping local is important to the community and economy
- Promoting early deals before the “official” holiday shopping commences
- Offering promotions that span across digital and in-store shopping, so customers can make transactions in the space they choose
Go Beyond the Standard Holidays
There are unique ways for your customers to engage with their audience. The traditional holidays deserve their own campaigns, but what about national days that are a bit more niche? They offer a way for businesses to be relevant and visible to audiences. Check out our November and December national day ad ideas to determine if these could be good options for your advertisers.
Propose Linear and Digital
You are in a good position to offer linear and digital advertising options. They can complement each other nicely. Digital has more ways to target accurately, while local TV and radio have great reach and are considered credible by viewers.
The key is a consistent message distributed in multiple channels. The message can be anything from a specific deal or discount to sharing the perks of working as a seasonal employee. Consistency improves recall, so when someone is ready to buy or apply, they’ll remember the company more often.
Additionally, omnichannel shoppers make purchases 70% more often and spend 34% more than those who do in-store shopping only.
Recommend New Channels
If your advertisers want to branch out and attract new customers, you should propose new channels for their ads. It will, of course, depend on their goals. For example, if they are eager to attract younger generations, they may be open to advertising on Snapchat, TikTok or YouTube. If their intent is to recruit seasonal workers, Facebook could be a good option.
For advertisers that create experiences (e.g., hosting parties, taking holiday vacations), SEM can help them meet consumers at every touchpoint in the buying process. With action-oriented paid search ads, they can also be visible when someone is ready to purchase (e.g., buy, hire, book, reserve).
Reach Out to New Advertisers in Restricted Categories
You can also pitch holiday advertising to new advertisers in restricted categories. For states where it’s legal to advertise for cannabis, online sports betting and physical casinos, you can offer integrated campaigns, which you may have been unable to do before. There has been some movement on linear for cannabis, and sports betting and casinos have been long-time advertisers on local TV and radio.
Digital advertising has been out of reach for many in these categories. It’s now available through our third-party digital solution, so you can offer these companies display ads (static and video) with geofencing and retargeting.
This represents a significant competitive advantage as you work with advertisers in these industries, which have been hungry for a greater digital presence!
Holiday Advertising: New Angles for Your Advertisers
You can offer so many ways for local businesses to attract customers beyond traditional holiday ads. By using unique ideas, understanding consumer behavior and trying new channels, your advertisers can see returns from their investment. You can also boost revenue by reaching out to new categories with capabilities for linear and digital.
You can find more insights on advertising proposals by using our new media seller tool, Create the Ideal Digital Ad Mix. Get customized ad mix recommendations for eight advertiser goals.
