Whoever wrote It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year obviously didn’t work in marketing.
The late nights, quick turns and pressure to perform amplify even more right around now. And to those who procrastinate, we say don’t worry!
Most people won’t finish their shopping until sometime in December.
Here’s how to maximize your remaining peak earning weeks.
Focus On One Thing
Let’s be realistic: You won’t conquer the world in six weeks or less. That reality should comfort you because you don’t need pages and pages of strategy – what you need is clarity. That means homing in on your single biggest goal.
- If it’s sales, focus on abandoned cart emails or products with the highest margins
- If it’s sign-ups, focus on gift guides or other lead magnets
- If it’s brand awareness, you want reach and engagement
Trying to accomplish everything and the kitchen sink usually ends up accomplishing nothing it all. Remove the distractions and pour everything you have into what you want to achieve the most.
Don't Reinvent The Wheel
While you might be tempted to reach for the stars, it’ll be much easier to grab some low-hanging fruit.
Look at the existing marketing assets you used this year and see which performed best. It could be:
- Emails with open rates >20%
- Click-thru rates above your account’s average
- CPAs or CPLs lower than average
Rearrange, refine and voilà: new campaign assets that took an hour or two instead of a day or two. And if all else fails, you can copy your best-performing ads from last holiday season.
Quick Wins
Speed is the name of the game at this point. Use that to your advantage and focus on more immediate media:
- Paid social – Lean into User Generated Content (UGC). It’s faster and more realistic, anyway.
- Email – Consider 1.5X more sends per week during the peak shopping weeks
- Retargeting banners – Shorten attribution windows to seven days or even one day
- Paid search – Promote “Can’t Miss Prices” with a clear discount code in the ad
- Local search – Update your Google My Business and other platform profiles with store hours and inventory photos
While you’re at it, channel your urgency into your messaging: short and to the point but human, limited-time offers and countdowns.
Be Ready To Pivot
- Pause an ad if its CTR underperforms by 25-30% after two or three days
- Reallocate budget from ads with CPAs 50% above target
- Double down on the channel that’s delivering 60% of conversions
Follow Through
Believe it or not, your audience still exists after the holidays. Even if they don’t become an official customer, you can pursue them with a more formal strategy once the season rush ends.
And for those that did convert? Send them an email 14 days later asking them if what they bought was a hit.
Last-Minute Holiday Campaign Checklist
- Single goal identified
- Three assets to repurpose
- Two creatives designed (primary and retargeting)
- Emails scheduled
- Daily KPIs defined
- Budgets by channel allocated
- Post-holiday nurture prepared
You Can Do It
It may not be fun. You might even feel a little stressed. But with these tips and checklist, you can build a successful holiday campaign that converts sooner than you think.
Need a little extra help? Schedule a no-cost digital strategy session now.
If you’re a marketing professional or business owner, you probably know the phrase: “Meet your consumers where they are!”
But where are they? Increasingly, they’re streaming.
Whether it’s catching up on hit shows, watching live sports or scrolling through YouTube, people are consuming video content on-demand, across multiple devices and for longer periods than ever before. For marketers, that presents a golden opportunity.
Streaming video advertising, which you may know as over-the-top (OTT) advertising, is an essential tool for reaching today’s audience with precision, relevance and measurable impact. Here’s everything you need to know about why streaming video should be part of your marketing strategy:
1. Precise Targeting: Reach the Right Audience at the Right Time
An impressive feature of streaming video advertising is its advanced targeting capabilities. Unlike traditional TV ads that are broadcast to a broad audience with limited control over who sees them (AKA “waste”), streaming ads allow you to zero in on your ideal customer using:
- Demographic and behavioral data – Target based on age, gender, interests and viewing habits.
- Geographic targeting/Geo-fencing – Deliver ads at the national, regional or hyper-local level.
- Device-based targeting – Reach audiences on smart TVs, mobile phones, tablets or desktops.
- Retargeting capabilities – Serve ads to users who have already engaged with your brand elsewhere online.
This level of precision ensures your ad dollars are spent efficiently, reaching people who are most likely to convert into customers.
2. Real-Time Optimization and Measurable Results
Streaming video advertising isn’t just targeted it’s also highly measurable and adaptable. Unlike traditional TV ads, where results can be difficult to track, streaming video platforms provide detailed analytics that help you assess performance and optimize your campaigns in real time.
With streaming video, you can keep track of:
- View-through rates – How many viewers watch your ad to completion.
- Click-through rates – How many people act after seeing your ad.
- Conversion rates – How many viewers complete a desired action, such as visiting your website or making a purchase.
- A/B testing results – Compare different versions of your ad to see which performs better.
With these insights, advertisers can make data-driven decisions, tweaking messaging, creative and targeting to maximize impact and ROI.
One major benefit of working with Stealth Creative on your streaming video strategy?
We’re not just a “vendor” that delivers a spreadsheet once a month, leaving you guessing. We provide regular, detailed reporting, reconciliation and direct collaboration with clients, so we can work together to optimize results.
3. Content Relevance: Delivering the Right Message to the Right Viewer
Some people call it “spooky”—but consumers have come to expect personalized and relevant experiences. Streaming video advertising delivers exactly that. Thanks to the data-driven nature of the medium, brands can tailor their messages to match audience interests, preferences and even the content they’re watching.
For example:
- A sports apparel brand can serve ads to viewers watching live sports events or sporting analysis content.
- A local restaurant can deliver ads to users in its area who are tuned into food documentaries or cooking shows.
- A car brand can showcase different models depending on the viewer’s income level and search history.
This ability to align ad content with viewer interests leads to higher engagement, better recall and stronger brand affinity.
4. Creative Flexibility: Making Your Message Stand Out
Streaming video advertising isn’t bound by the same constraints as traditional TV ads. You have more flexibility in terms of length, format and interactivity. Options include:
- Short-form ads (5-15 seconds) – Perfect for quick brand awareness and message reinforcement with a solid call-to-action.
- Mid-length ads (30 seconds) – Ideal for storytelling and deeper engagement, or dual-purposing spots produced for broadcast to get more reach for your budget.
- Interactive ads – Allow viewers to engage with the ad by clicking, swiping or selecting options.
- Shoppable ads – Enable consumers to make purchases directly from the ad.
This creative flexibility lets brands experiment with different messaging approaches to see what resonates most with their audience. (And unlike traditional broadcast, it’s directly measurable and easier to mix in multiple executions and calls-to-action to see what’s working best!)
The Future of Advertising is Streaming (Obviously…)
As more of us shift our viewing habits to digital platforms, streaming video advertising will only continue to grow in importance. And that’s a good thing, because streaming offers the best of both worlds: The storytelling power of traditional TV combined with the precision, measurability and flexibility of digital marketing.
If your brand hasn’t tapped into the power of streaming video yet, now’s the time to talk to Stealth Creative.
Because, between our digital strategists and full in-house video production team, we have our clients covered from start to finish.
With the ability to target specific audiences, optimize in real-time, deliver relevant content and craft engaging creative, streaming video advertising is a must-have tactic that Stealth wants to help you add to your marketing toolbox.