Make Your Meta Ads Shine This Festive Season

For most ecomm businesses, a LOT hangs on peak season. That's why you need to make sure you get it right. So, how do you cut through the noise and win at Q4? 

Here are my Top Ten Tips for making your Meta Ads work harder than Rudolph works on Christmas Eve. 🎅

🏃♀️➡️ Make a Plan And GET GOING Now

We all know someone who has finished Christmas shopping by the end of October, right? And yes, they are annoying when you haven't started buying yet but, as an ecomm business, they are a great crowd to tap into right NOW. Pre-peak is cheaper for advertisers and a great time to be snapping up those early buyers but, more importantly than that, it is time to lay the groundwork for those super-busy weeks ahead. Reach campaigns and lead generation are a great tactic for right now. Build out that top of funnel and reach those early birds.

🕺 Be Dynamic

The number of touchpoints an average customer has before they take the plunge and make a purchase is growing every year. There are impulse purchasers in there too but most will need up to 20 interactions with paid and organic across multiple platforms before buying on the run-up to Christmas, especially for more expensive items. That is a lot of consideration time happening right now that will continue up until Black Friday and beyond. You need to keep reminding your potential customers about just how wonderful your products are. Dynamic ads, presenting them with the product they have been looking at and thinking about for the last week, are a must at this time of year. You can be sure your competitors are using them. If you're not, get on it. 

🎁 Diversify Your Messaging

This is gifting season so your customers might be from a significantly different demographic to your usual people. To appeal to these groups, think hard about your messaging. What is going to make them want to buy your products to give to their loved ones? Work that out and speak to their motivations. Make sure you are addressing all of those various wants and needs in your ads, particularly when it comes to emotions. We all want to give gifts that wow, delight and bring joy. If you can address that desire, you're on to a winner. 

🤖 Lean Into AI

The amount of money Meta is spending on developing AI in advertising is eye-watering. If you're still opting out of everything AI, it's time to reconsider. Whilst I don't recommend applying all the AI recommendations yet, there are some that are absolutely brilliant and well worth testing, particularly Advantage+ Audiences and Placements. Lots of enhancements on the individual ads can be helpful too. Meta's aim is to make creative the only targeting you need, as the AI will be so advanced that it will know exactly who to serve your ad to, purely by analysing the video or image. If you're leaning out still and wary of the robots, make this the season you reconsider. 

🤩 Nail That Creative

Given the move towards creative determining targeting, it has never been more important to get those images and videos right. The creative is the most important element of an ad and it HAS to stop the scroll. That is its primary purpose - get that thumb to pause long enough for the eye to move on to your persuasive headline and copy. If you're making videos, be hyperaware that they need to grab attention with a hook in the first 3 seconds. Fail in that and you've lost your potential buyer. Videos need to be slick, short and engaging. 

📖 Become a Storyteller

Storytelling in ads is particularly powerful during the festive season. We know this from the Christmas ad battles the big boys advertisers have every year. The best story is the winner every time. Embrace the spirit of Christmas in your messaging to evoke those warm, fuzzy feelings of joy, generosity, and togetherness. A well-crafted story not only captures attention but also affords you the opportunity to communicate your brand’s core values, something that can be a lot harder to achieve for the rest of the year. 

🧪 Always Be Testing

Ever put loads of effort into a creative you are sure is going to be the winner only to see it sink like a stone while some random creative you threw together in two minutes flies? It happens to even the most experienced ads managers. And when it does it is always a useful reminder that you can never assume. Test as much variety as you can. Hone it over time - another reason why starting now is the best plan. That way, you'll have some tried and tested ads ready for your peak season budget. 

💰 Spread Your Spend

It can be tempting to throw all that peak budget at Black Friday week. But data from Meta shows that a more even spread can lead to better results. Spending during 'consideration fortnight' in particular - the two weeks before Black Friday - helps you build out the funnel and drive conversions later in the month. And remember that people expect BIG discounts during Black Friday. If you can't offer more than 10% off, maybe don't try to compete. It might even make more sense for you to pull spending back during that week and focus your spending before and after to get results with a better return on ad spend. 

💪 Embrace Flexibility

Even the best-laid peak plans don't always work out as expected. Don't feel you need to stick too rigidly to the budget allocations and strategy you planned. If something isn't working, tweak it or shift spend. Maybe save a bit more for your January Sale instead. Be responsive and in that ad account on the daily, so you can follow the trends you see as they develop and avoid wasting money. That said, don't jump the gun and make changes for the sake of it. Be data-driven. It is a long game from now until after New Year. Play it long, not just for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

🤚 Harness The Power Of Q5

Q5 is the term adopted for the bit between Christmas and New Year. When everyone is full of turkey and cheese and maybe a bit bored. They might also have some Christmas money burning a hole in their pockets or be totally over buying for other people and in need of a treat for themselves. It is a relatively low-cost period to play with your ads and offers and it can be a fantastic opportunity for ecommerce businesses to tap into a demographic who aren't quite done buying yet. 

Want more Meta and Google Ads Tips? Contact me if you would like 121 support.