Managing your digital marketing ads over the festive period

The festive season can be a busy time and businesses have to weigh up the pros and cons of running digital marketing ads. If you’re selling directly to the consumer, it might seem like a no-brainer to go big with your ad spend. But is it always worth it for others?

The most important thing you can do at this time of year is critically assess your digital marketing strategy. From there, how can you best manage your ads over the festive period?

Is it worth the investment?

Christmas is a notoriously competitive time for digital advertising. Costs per click (CPC) are increased in the battle for consumer attention.

If your digital marketing strategy isn’t aimed directly at consumers, or you sell services rather than products, you may find that your return on ad spend doesn’t justify the high costs.

Additionally, the festive period sees fewer people investing in services or non-essential items.

If you’re selling products that are not considered gift-worthy or you’re in a niche industry, you should weigh up whether the higher ad costs are worth it.

The optimal ads for the festive season

If you are a business that sells products that could be gifted, or are festive adjacent, this can be a very lucrative time of year. Shoppers are actively searching for gift ideas and solutions, so while the cost of advertising is higher and the competition is fiercer, it can lead to higher conversion rates.

Seasonal promotions, discounts and urgency-driven messaging resonate well with audiences primed to spend. However, even in these cases, effective ad management is key. Oversaturating your audience or failing to refine your targeting can result in wasted budgets.

 

Pausing your ads

If unlike the above your offering doesn’t fit the typical Christmas shopping list, you should consider hitting pause on your campaigns. There are plenty of positive reasons to do so that can save you money, time and resources.

During this time of year, ad costs are at their peak and your ROI could be lower on your products or services. By deciding to pause your ads in December, you are conserving your marketing budget for a more impactful campaign in the new year—or whenever demand better aligns with your products or services.

In addition, this can be a strategic time for your business and digital marketing strategy. With new campaigns, ideas and content marketing being planned for the following year, this is a great time to analyse ad performance and strategise on your ads too. The new year brings a fresh audience eager for self-improvement tools and solutions that your product or service can solve.

This downtime is also handy for the creative aspect of your digital marketing. With saved budget and time, you can create compelling assets, improve target, look at remarketing campaigns and optimise your website or landing page. This thoughtful and considerate approach can yield stronger results once the competition cools off.

Finally, considering your audience is one of the best indicators you will have as to whether or not to pause your ads over the festive period. Your audience might be overwhelmed by the sheer volume of advertising they are being served at this time. By pausing, you avoid contributing to ‘ad fatigue’ and can re-emerge with a fresh offering in the new year.

Start bigger and better in January

The new year marks a period of new beginnings for consumers. People will be setting goals, rethinking their priorities and exploring solutions to their challenges. The January mindset makes for a great time to reintroduce your digital marketing campaigns. With the time saved in December to plan and formulate these ads and with the clutter of holiday advertising behind them—your audience will be more likely to notice and engage with your ads.

In addition, while there are still January sales adverts to compete with, generally this month offers more cost-effective advertising. With a lower CPC and less competition, your marketing budget can stretch further and deliver better results for a great start to the year.

Managing your digital marketing ads at Christmas

Managing your digital marketing ads over the festive period requires a clear-eyed understanding of your business, your audience and the market during this time. For product-based businesses with festive appeal, now is the time to go all out with your advertising. For others, pausing your ads and reinvesting in January might be the smarter move for your business.

Weigh up the cost against the potential reward and don’t be afraid to embrace a strategic pause! Sometimes, less really is more—especially when it sets you up for a stronger start to the new year.

At DCA, we provide a fully managed digital marketing solution for your business. We are Google Partners and also create and run campaigns on social media. If you are looking for digital advertising, SEO and keyword research, email marketing, integrated campaigns and more, let’s chat today to power up your digital marketing for the new year.