Many companies develop a holiday advertising strategy for Q4, but for some advertisers, it’s a time to figure out how to best spend their remaining budgets. Before the hustle and bustle of the holiday season gets into full swing, we’d like to share some quick programmatic media strategies for those looking to maximize their Q4 budgets this year:
Last-Minute Spending
At large organizations, the marketing department often receives a fixed budget for the year. If the entire budget isn’t spent in the calendar year, the department may not get as robust of a budget next year. So many marketing managers will look to blow through their remaining budget in the last month or even last two weeks of the year to ensure they receive similar funds in the next year. These types of advertisers can still spend their money strategically, even though they are trying to spend as quickly as they can. We recommend these clients start with video ads for two reasons: First, it’s a visual medium that is perfect for branding, awareness and reaching consumers at the top of the funnel. Secondly, programmatic video inventory is typically more expensive than display or mobile takeovers, so if you need to spend marketing dollars quickly, video will help you achieve that. Depending on how much budget a client has to spend, we often recommend combining programmatic video with mobile and display tactics to catch those users later in the funnel and reach them again with remarketing.
Heavy Up Budgets
Sometimes, we hear from clients in Q4 who tell us they have extra money in their advertising budget that they aren’t sure how to spend. In these cases, when a client is looking to heavy up on their existing media, we recommend adding mobile tactics to their campaigns because there is so much opportunity in this growing space. Our forecasting shows that impression levels across mobile web, in-app and mobile video are outpacing display impressions. Adding mobile to a display plan will increase brand awareness and conversions. Advertisers will also see a clearer picture for attribution since most consumers use several devices for research when considering a purchase. Additionally, if the advertiser is in any retail category, they can layer in advanced strategies, such as mobile couponing, beacon technology, and hyper-local geofencing for an additional boost in conversions. Advanced TV is another great tactic to consider for a heavy up campaign because you can use it to extend a digital video or TV campaign. If you’re already running digital video, you’ll add premium non-skippable inventory to your buy that uses the same reporting and metrics as your current buy. If you’re extending a TV campaign, you can expand your reach by targeting both your traditional TV audience who also watches streaming content and cord-cutters who might not have seen your ad in the first place.
Always-On Campaigns
Finally, at this time of year we also hear from clients who are always-on advertisers, such as a CPG brand. They may consider pausing their campaigns to avoid competing with holiday spenders but sometimes decide instead to stay top of mind with awareness campaigns throughout the holiday season. For these types of clients, we recommend refining targeting so the campaign is focused on the best-performing audiences. There are a couple ways to do this: The first method is to look through reporting and focus the budget solely on the geos, dayparts or third-party audience segments that are the best converters. Another strategy is to center advertising on Private Marketplace (PMP) deals. These deals allow advertisers to home in on the specific sites that are performing best or that are most relevant to their customers. You get all of the benefits of buying programmatically but advertise only to a highly targeted audience. No matter what type of client you are or what type of budget you have to spend, Goodway Group can help you maximize your Q4 budget. *This post was originally published on 11/1/16 but has been revised and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.