Beginning on the last shipping date before Christmas and running through January, this often-untapped period (Q5) follows the peak of the shopping season.
What is Q5? Beginning on the last shipping date before Christmas and running through January, this often-untapped period follows the peak of the shopping season. As supply chain disruptions continue and consumers are increasingly looking for better deals during a time of economic uncertainty, earlier shopping is leading to earlier shipping.
Given that Q5 continues to expand, this year may prove to be a greater opportunity than ever. Previous years have seen a significant decline in CPMs compared to the holiday season’s peak. Now, however, extending campaigns through January isn’t just a way to save on your marketing budget — it’s also a strategy for advertisers to reach ready and waiting audiences in Q5.
A Unique Business Opportunity
Coupled with inflation, supply chain disruptions have had a major impact on consumer habits. With more shoppers searching for better deals, early and last-minute purchases are expanding the gifting season on either side of the traditional Q4 shopping period.
For brands, this disruption equals opportunity. Based on past and present insight, an earlier shopping season frees up advertising inventory while releasing the auction sooner, so advertisers can capitalize on reduced competition at a more efficient CPM.
Targeting Q5 doesn’t just mean brands save on their advertising budget — it also means they can reach much larger audiences. For example, Christmas Day sees a significant rise in mobile-device activation among Snapchatters and consumers tend to enjoy more downtime during the holidays. This often means spending more time on their mobile devices playing games or even taking advantage of post-Christmas sales to do online shopping. Typically, there would be high consumer intent around self-improvement, such as health, wellness, fitness, finance, career and education, and hobbies.
With that said, how can brands then leverage Q5 fully? Here are some rules and best practices we recommend.
The Golden Rules of Q5
- Diversify your ad formats: We know that multi-product campaigns drive better results, increase efficiency and improve performance.
- Take advantage of app installs reaching an all-time high during Q5.
- Expand your targeting to reach new user demographics who might be looking for new apps for their “New year, new me — why not?” mindset.
- Let us do the heavy lifting for you.
- Use dynamic Auto-Bidding to help manage your campaigns throughout Q5.
- Measure what matters, iterate, and optimize.
- Find out what’s working with our measurement tools, test, learn, and optimize your ad campaigns to reach your goals./li>
Creative Best Practices for Q5
- Test (and learn!) ahead of time.
- Use A/B testing and other tools.
- Tailor your creatives.
- Seasonally relevant content drives engagement.
- Early UVP- establish a value proposition as early as the 1st second of the ad.
- Enhance your message takeaway with immediate value props like featuring your brand logo or landing key messaging with minimal text.
- Adjust your messaging.
- Consumers may be more receptive to motivational and inspirational language, especially around achieving or reaching new goals in their “New year, new me — why not?” mindset.
- Align your CTAs with seasonal moments.
- Inspire action for enhanced engagement.
Let’s Go!
Q5 isn’t just about lowering advertising costs or more favorable ad auctions — it’s also a tentpole moment for the post-shopping-season and a huge opportunity for brands to target eager consumers.
