Using Data-Driven Insights To Create Effective Holiday Advertisements

Each holiday season, your marketing team is met with the same fears: a saturated market and ad fatigue. But this year, you’re ready to do something about it — so how can your business stand out with effective and compelling advertising? 

QuickFrame’s Jeremy Bunya, Product Marketing Manager, joined eMarketer to discuss critical components of successful holiday video advertisements. In Analyzing the Season: What AI Technology Says About Effective Holiday CTV Ads, Jeremy focused on using data to drive effective holiday video ads for connected TV (CTV). 

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What Are the Most Important Elements for Holiday Advertisements?

Holiday Messaging

While this might seem obvious, it’s essential. We used QuickFrame Video Vitals to analyze video marketing content and found social video ads with holiday messaging were tied to a 58% higher engagement rate during the holiday season than those without a holiday-specific message. 

However, as Jeremy mentioned in the webinar, certain terms may limit your return on ad spend (ROAS). In order to avoid this, you’ll want to use general holiday terms with the ability to reach a wider audience. 

Personalization and Specification

As Jeremy explained in the webinar, consumers are craving personalization this year. One study even found that 80% of consumers want personalization, so refine your messaging as much as possible. 

To make this happen, you’ll want to focus on specific people within your audience with an equally specific message. Instead of talking about the general market your business is in, create a more refined message to discuss your individual offerings and the benefits they provide your customers. 

For example, instead of a general fashion message, you’ll want to target certain consumers with narrowed-down categories, like dresses for special occasions or refined work-from-home attire.  

By refining your message, you can reach a more targeted audience and help them feel like your business has taken the time to personalize their experience by learning more about their lives, needs, and habits.

A Positive Emotional Appeal

Whether from finances or other issues, many consumers are already weary near the end of the year, so steer away from fear- or anger-based messaging during this time. 

QuickFrame Video Vitals data found advertisements that created a joyful connection with viewers were more likely to positively impact ROAS, while fearful or sad emotional connections were likely to have a negative effect. 

When talking about difficult situations, reframe them in a positive light. For example, rather than discussing economic turmoil, financial and fintech companies should focus on the ability to create financial freedom. 

Best Practices for Your Upcoming Holiday Campaigns

Make Your Holiday Ad Creative Earlier

Shoppers are looking for the best deals earlier than ever before. According to Insider Intelligence, half of shoppers expect to begin searching for the perfect holiday gifts by the end of October. 

With this in mind, you’ll want to have your holiday creative on hand as early as possible to help capture these early shoppers. Plus, planning and producing your content earlier in the year might help you save on your budget by avoiding increased fees during holiday crunch time. 

Always Continue Testing 

Everything is always changing. From audiences to trends to the market in general, the world of marketing and advertising is always moving forward. The truth is, last year’s star advertisement might be this year’s greatest flop — and without data, you won’t even be able to create any predictions. 

As Jeremy stated in the webinar, data isn’t evergreen. These reference points shouldn’t be the end of your data collection; instead, they should be used to fuel your testing and inspire your next campaigns. 

Optimize, Optimize, Optimize

Once you have this data, put it to work! The key to making these strategies work for your business is to use a data-driven approach to your traditional campaigns. By combining your branding with the advertising components your audience loves, you’ll be able to get and keep their attention. 

Plus, continuous data collection allows you to create a feedback loop. As you produce more holiday ads, you’ll generate more holiday data to help optimize your campaigns year after year.

Use Data To Drive Better Results

With these strategies and best practices in your pocket, you’ll be able to create increasingly effective holiday campaigns for your business through data and continuous optimization. 

Ready to learn more? Watch the webinar replay above to hear Jeremy’s detailed recommendations for your upcoming holiday campaigns.