Oh Quaren-tree, Oh Quaran-tree… what will this holiday season be?

Pivot left. Pivot right.  How many more times can we pivot this year?  For some of us, we have already been pioneers in curbside pickup and same day delivery.  While we do not know exactly what holiday shopping is going to look like this year, we can be sure that changes in consumer behavior is going to happen.  Keeping tabs on those changes can help you optimize your strategy and better connect with your key audiences.

First, let’s take a look at what to expect from shoppers.  Over the past 9 months, customers’ behaviors have changed.  Some people are working and may still be in a strong financial position.  Others may not be so lucky.  Now, more than ever, an overarching shopping approach to the holidays may be the pursuit of promotions.  This kind of scenario may cause retailers to promote early, and often.

As you can see from the chart below, a good percentage of the population is planning to do their buying digitally.  So, if they are using digital, so should you, even if some of those shoppers want to go directly to your store.

According to a Google survey more than a third of U.S. shoppers who normally shop in store for Black Friday say they won’t this year.  That being said, breaking down the holiday shoppers into 3 different categories may give you some insight into what digital products will help deliver the best message to your target audience.

 

The Holiday Planner

With this shopper, you want to focus on in-store shoppers, physical and digital “window shoppers” and sale previews and specials.  With this shopper being the one that is out and about, Mobile Conquesting™ is a great opportunity to reach this audience.  Mobile Conquesting™ is being able to target potential customers on their mobile devices (smart phones and tablets) using location based, demographic and behavioral targeting.

Starting with behavioral targeting, you can target people who have shown specific behaviors online or are in a certain demographic.  You can also target people by where they have been tracked with their phone recently, such as a location or specific business.  For retailers, you may want to target all kinds of moms that may be shopping for their kids.  Health club owners may want to target people interested in exercise and fitness or health clubs and gyms.  You also have those restaurants that are open that can target foodies and people interested in restaurants.

In regards to targeting people by location, using geo-fencing businesses have the ability to build a virtual fence around other store locations, events, and competitors.  When visitors to those locations go inside, with their mobile device, we then have the opportunity to start serving ads to those mobile devices.  Then, we’ll continue to serve your ads to those people after they leave those specified businesses with geo-retargeting.  With a 94.4 accuracy rate you can be sure that we’re targeting your audience.

Mobile Conquesting™ does one thing really well…target people on their mobile devices.  And now, we have the ability to continue to serve them ads across devices with Cross Platform Targeting.  We are able to follow people that have been served an Mobile Conquesting™ ad (whether they have clicked on it or not) when they go on to other digital ad platforms and served other types of ads such as:
Display Ads
Native Display Ads
Facebook/Instagram Ads
Video Pre-Roll Ads

 

When the user is served the Mobile Conquesting™ ad, a “Universal Pixel” is deployed with it. It organizes the digital device ID associated with an individual across all their devices. It is built when a user does something online to connect their IDs to other IDs associated with them across multiple digital devices. Basically, the Universal Pixel is finding that user on other advertising platforms by identifying that person (anonymously) and other devices they use.

With the Holiday Shopper, you want to gear your message towards specific products.  These shoppers are going to want to buy since they have been gearing up for the season.

The Convenience-Driven Shopper

With this shopper, you want to focus on reaching people in real time, curbside pick-up (if you offer it), and also delivery options.  These are people that want to cross items off their lists while they are out and about.  The best product for this is Social Media Advertising on Facebook and Instagram.

A carousel ad on Facebook allows your targeted audience to see multiple products at once, giving them almost a catalog of what you offer.  Great for people that have multiple people to buy for or may have a larger budget to buy multiple items.  This allows them to take care of multiple gifts at one time, in one location.

If you have a customer database, Facebook is a great place to use that as well.  Facebook’s Custom Audience is a great why to find your customers, or past customers, on social media, and show them your holiday ads.

Again, messaging will be important here.  Make sure that you have a great headline to capture their attention, and use bold, exciting words to describe each product.

The Last Minute Gifter

Up until recently, this was me.  Always waiting until the last minute because I think I have more time than what is actually allotted.  These buyers are looking for product availability, curbside pick-up, and or fast delivery.  Can you deliver faster than Amazon can?   If so, that’s the approach that I would use for these buyers.  They are using Amazon to price check.  So, why not target them when they search for a specific item on Amazon?  That’s how Amazon Targeting works.

Currently, Amazon makes up 49% of all online retail spend in the United States.  With that many people using the online retail giant, why not get your share of those buyers?  Using Amazon’s data, we can do just that and target people (possibly) while ton Amazon.com, but more importantly after they leave.  Since most people start their product search on Amazon (50% compared to 35% on Google), they are going price shopping.  Being able to target them after they leave Amazon is a great place for you to win.

With Amazon’s product targeting, we build an audience of consumers who have searched, browsed, or purchased specific products on Amazon, and show they your ads within the Amazon network.  For example, if you are a pet store owner and want to target pet owners, you could specifically target people that have browsed, searched or bought dog leashes and collars, chew toys and even pet food all in your geographic area.  If you are a baby/infant type store, you could target people that have recently browsed, searched, or purchased diapers, infant car seats, or baby books.

Messaging for these types of buyers should come down to availability that you have.  Remember, they are last-minute, so they don’t’ have much time.  If you can add an easy pick-up opportunity as well, these buyers will have a great opportunity to come to your location.

Additional Opportunities

During the holidays, the advertising world sees an uptick in Co-Op dollars available for retailers.  Co-Op Advertising is when a business or brand who wishes to advertise, whether it be via radio, print, television, or digital marketing, partners with a manufacturer of a product that they sell and runs ads with that product in it. The manufacturer will then pay for some, or all, of the advertising which includes their product. These partnerships can vary in scale from small name mentions to full ads with their product taking center stage.

It is basically free money.  Well, we know there isn’t such thing as free money, but this is close.  Many manufacturers want to increase their brand awareness.  In this case, they will pay you, as the retailer, to promote your business if you mention their brand.  Pretty close to free, huh?

Now, 45% of local businesses do not use their co-op available to them.  The reasons are simple.  One, they are not aware that they have co-op funds.  Or two, because they don’t understand the process. That’s where a local media rep can help!

Here’s a little help with #1. Here are some companies that are offering Co-Op between now and the end of the year and percentages of reimbursement they are offering you to advertise their brand for:

  • Winchester Repeating Arms – up to 100% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Simplicity – between 50-75% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Ace Hardware/Traeger Grills – between 75-100% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Polaris Slingshot – up to 50% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Whirlpool – between 50-100% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Hunter Douglas – between 25-75% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Stearns & Foster – between 50-100% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Sealy – up to 100% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Michelin Tires – between 25-125% reimbursement for qualifying ads
  • Baby Lock – up to 100% reimbursement for qualifying ads

How can you find out if any of the brands you carry are eligible for Co-Op?  Because manufacturers must approve each ad campaign that they will be paying for, they don’t want just anyone to start using their likeness. This means that the list of co-op manufacturers can only be accessed by agencies or companies who have been approved to look up that information and Vici has that access. As a customer of Vici, you can submit a Co-Op Info Request.  Include the manufacturers you are interested in and receive all of the requirements for those manufacturers (if available) within two business days.

If you have been advertising with us, but were unaware of this program, you may be able to increase your total ad spending (and thus your campaign reach) without actually increasing your own contribution. There are many manufacturers who offer co-op advertising, especially digital co-op. If you are interested in taking advantage of this “free money,” let us know or submit a Digital Co-Op form within your support portal.

As we enter the Holiday Season, unfortunately we don’t have a crystal ball to tell you exactly how it’s going to go.  But, as you can see, digital opportunities are going to give you a great chance at succeeding.