The holiday season is already here, and so are the long-awaited holiday advertisement campaigns. In 2020, the holiday shopping season isn’t what it used to be, and companies are watching their ad spending. Many companies have had to pivot their holiday ad campaigns to reflect the tone of these unprecedented circumstances that we have found ourselves in. Consumer behavior is only going to continue to shift as shoppers adapt their holiday shopping habits. According to a report by McKinsey, nearly one-third of consumers are choosing to do their holiday shopping early this year, and about 40% of consumers have tried a new brand this year. 

With consumers developing new brand loyalties and shopping early, companies should tailor their holiday advertisement campaigns to reach consumers who are brand loyalists and shoppers looking to get their holiday to-do list checked off early. Location-based advertising audiences are an excellent solution for brands looking to optimize their holiday advertising strategy. At Gravy, we go above and beyond typical location-based advertising audiences. Our audiences have additional place and event context, which provides companies with valuable insights into the real-world behaviors and interests of consumers.

Let’s say that a retail brand specializing in outdoor apparel is getting ready to launch its annual holiday ad campaign.

At first, the brand decides to focus their holiday advertising strategy on early holiday shoppers. They might work with a location intelligence company to create a custom audience to reach holiday shoppers who are frequently near their stores before the holiday crowds start up. By reaching these holiday shoppers, the brand can drive a broad awareness for its holiday sales and increase brand recognition.

The brand might find that their holiday ad campaigns aren’t as effective by focusing solely on holiday shoppers. They’ll need to adjust their holiday advertising strategy. The retailer decides that they want to reach a more specific audience this time. By using a ‘Winter Sports Enthusiasts’ advertising audience, the retail chain can reach consumers who are more than likely would be interested in purchasing winter weather gear. They can also choose to reach frequent in-store visitors with ads for the winter line launch and advertise its brand loyalty program. 

It’ll be important for the brand to get the attention of brand loyalists during the holiday season. They might choose to focus part of their holiday advertising campaign on L.L. Bean and R.E.I. brand loyalists. To accomplish this, the retailer creates a conquesting campaign to advertise to visitors of L.L. Bean and R.E.I.

By adjusting their holiday ads to reach the right audience, the retailer can increase sales of their winter line and acquire new customers from top brands like L.L. Bean and R.E.I.

It might seem daunting to choose between holiday advertising audiences, but your location intelligence provider is prepared to help you discover which ones are the best fit for your campaign. With this in mind, you’ll want to make sure that you choose a location intelligence provider with high-quality location data. If you use low-quality location data to drive your advertising campaigns, you’ll increase ad waste and decrease ad engagement. Thus, it might be harder to make a case for your desired ad budget in the future. With Gravy’s high-quality location intelligence, you’ll watch your holiday advertisement campaign thrive through the use of our location-based advertising audiences.