Your Local Advertisers Will “Fall” in Love with These Fall Holiday Ad Campaigns

Oktoberfest (September 20 – October 5)

Oktoberfest, the German celebration of the wonders of beer, has become a holiday that Americans love. It’s not all about beer but German culture as well. In determining which clients would be a good fit, focus on restaurants, bars and breweries known for their beer selection. 

Local businesses and your community may also be hosting Oktoberfest events, and they’ll want to create some buzz. Video ads would work nicely for this holiday, showing high-quality images of beer and fun. These would be great for OTT/CTV, social media and video ads. Complementing them with radio spots would expand the message’s reach.

Rosh Hashanah (September 22 – 24)

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, commemorating the creation of the world. Those in the faith hold celebrations with family and friends.

In terms of advertising, synagogues may be holding special events as well as other community organizations. Restaurants may as well. There are opportunities for local businesses to engage with visitors to their city, as many travel for the holiday.

Consider ad tactics like display, social media and geofencing.

Fall Harvest and Pre-Halloween

While Halloween is only one day, the theme of fall harvest and festivals starts at the beginning of October. There are pumpkin patches, apple picking, hayrides, haunted houses and more fun for just about every demographic.

Since most of these events kick off before October, you’ll want to approach advertisers about them in late August or early September. Develop a campaign lasting several weeks to ensure foot traffic flows or ticket sales grow. An integrated campaign that includes linear and digital will give you the greatest reach. Choose inventory that makes sense for the audiences you want to attract and how you’ll get those consumers to be excited to learn more.

Video is very impactful when promoting activities and events because people want to know what to expect. Work with your advertisers on how to create videos that are high quality but affordable and easy to source.

Road trips to watch the seasons change are also popular in parts of the country. Long weekends in the mountains are a favorite getaway. Talk to advertisers in hospitality about considering packaging their services together, like hotels, dining, spas and other activities (e.g., festival tickets, wine tasting). This could appeal to consumers and be an excellent boost for your customers. These ads would play well on radio, digital display and social media. Launching a concentrated SEM (search engine marketing) campaign is another recommended tactic.

Halloween (October 31)

Halloween is a favorite holiday for kids and adults, and it’s a big moneymaker. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), 2024 spending was $11.6 billion. Categories included costumes, candy, decorations and greeting cards. Many dollars are also spent on parties, haunted houses, concerts and other events. 

You can target two types of audiences for your advertisers: consumers looking for family-friendly activities and those looking for adult fun. 

For family-friendly, look at activity centers, community groups and other companies planning events. The best way to promote such occasions is to focus on the fun aspect, kid-friendliness and commitment to a safe environment. 

Promote these events with the powerful targeting of display, social media and OTT/CTV, and ensure the greatest reach via radio.

The other route is adult fun, which means calling on bars, restaurants and other retailers. Your advertisers will want to start promoting early. Suggest focusing on channels where they know their audience is looking for activities, such as social media, and using display ads on websites they may frequent. 

Geofencing in an event’s general area could also work for those looking for last-minute plans. While short-term event geofencing can sometimes underdeliver, you can extend these, running Halloween promotions when relevant, then switching out the creative.

Diwali (October 20)

Diwali is a five-day festival of lights and symbolizes the “victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance.” Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists celebrate it with festivals and gatherings. Those who observe it host feasts and exchange gifts.

Specialty restaurants and grocers, as well as actual events, would be excellent prospects for Diwali advertising. Recommend awareness tactics like display and social media. Video geofencing would also be a good option, fencing areas where celebrants are most likely to spend time.

Day of the Dead (November 1 – 2)

Day of the Dead follows Halloween and is a day of celebrating life, death and family. Those who honor the day come together for festivals, public events and special cuisines. With its hallmark and stunning imagery, advertising for the Day of the Dead should be very visual.

Local groups can promote their events, and specialty grocers can highlight the most popular items. Suggest OTT/CTV, video and social media ads.

Thanksgiving (November 27)

Thanksgiving is about family, friends and tradition. This day is also about food, whether people are cooking or ordering it. There are many opportunities here. 

First, not every family wants to cook all day to have a feast. More consumers are moving away from the stress and having their meals catered. For advertisers that offer this, you’ll want to engage them to start talking about it in October. Let people plan out what they want. They could run these spots on radio and then target them based on demographics on OTT/CTV and display ads. 

For those who want to cook, grocery stores need to up their game in helping America prepare that Thanksgiving meal. Curbside pickup and delivery are still a growth segment for grocery stores, so that’s one message to consider. Grocers can also create Thanksgiving bundles with turkey and all the fixings to make it convenient for consumers. Promote this via radio, display and social media.

The other alternative is people who want to dine out on Thanksgiving. That’s been growing in popularity, so if your restaurant advertisers are hosting, they’ll want to get traction on reservations early. Use email marketing campaigns to reach potential diners. Then, add social media to target the demographics most likely to want to dine out on the holiday. An SEM campaign to attract reservations is another tactic to add.

This year, Thanksgiving is notably much later in the month. The positive is that there are more weeks for ads related to the holiday. On the downside, many people will be in full holiday shopping mode by November 27.

Black Friday/Small Business Saturday/Cyber Monday (November 28, November 29 and December 1)

After eating all that turkey, people are ready to shop. In 2024, overall retail spending from November 1 to December 31 was $994.1 billion, a 4% increase over 2023. Of that, $241.4 billion was online.

Last year was also a shorter window for Black Friday to Cyber Monday because Thanksgiving fell in the fourth week of November. That’s true of this year as well, and you can expect people to shop as early as September for holiday gifts.

This timing, along with consumer confidence worries, means that you want to get holiday campaign buys locked up early, so that promotions begin several weeks in advance of the busiest shopping weekend of the year.

Local businesses should be concentrating on advertising for foot traffic and e-commerce. Most consumers do both. The thrill of in-store shopping on Black Friday will remain for some, while others are happy to click away. 

To attract shoppers to local stores, suggest some Small Business Saturday promotions on social media and radio. Use a special promo for either in-store or online shopping. 

Additionally, you may want to talk to your retail customers about highlighting curbside pickup for orders, so people can order online and pick up their goods. 

General promos for discounts on the shopping weekend are a good fit for geofencing and OTT/CTV.

Consider the messaging your advertisers need to present to consumers. If they want in-store shoppers, they’ll need a compelling offer, such as exclusives for shoppers who come into the store. If they’d prefer more online orders, they should tailor the message to highlight free and fast shipping.