Decoding the Digital Holiday Shopper: A Guide for Brands |   10 Oct, 2024

It is almost that time of year again—the time when the streets are decked with lights and joy is all around. The holiday season is around the corner, and with it comes the bittersweet joy and stress of gift buying. Indeed, research suggests that holiday shoppers these days start planning, curating, and buying gifts as early as October.

Consumer spending during the upcoming holiday season is forecasted to increase by 40% compared to the previous year, fueled by an impressive 2 billion shoppers. This presents a huge opportunity for brands to substantially increase their brand awareness and engagement while meeting their year-end goals.

However, the festive season shopping landscape can be fiercely competitive, with many brands vying for consumer attention. So, in such a saturated market ecosystem, how can a brand make sure it makes it to the top of the holiday shopping gift list?

The Digital Advantage

To answer this question, it is critical to understand the pivotal role digital advertising plays in the modern shopper’s purchase journey. According to research, more than half of the shoppers are influenced by digital ads, with a huge chunk motivated to buy a product or service after seeing relevant discounts or promotions. Not only that, 70% have purchased a gift on a website after viewing a digital ad.

Digital advertising can help you achieve your targeted success metrics multiple times over, delivering a strong return on investment and boosting your bottom line. Here are four digital advertising favorites you must not miss out on this holiday season:

1. Video Advertisement

In the arena of insatiable audiences constantly glued to digital screens, it has become increasingly tougher to capture the attention of the viewers, especially during the holiday season. While the global advertising market has faced a significant slowdown in growth in the last 5 years, the digital video advertising market is projected to grow at a monumental rate of 5.83% year-on-year rate.

With 80% of internet traffic being contributed by video streaming and 4 billion videos being watched every day, the power of video advertising cannot be overstated. It comes as a little surprise that video ads have emerged as an effective method to capture the elusive attention of the target audience.

In fact, recent research suggests that over ⅓ shoppers were included to purchase a product or service after watching a video ad. As shoppers turn their attention to digital platforms like YouTube, videos can be utilized to provide a captivating and memorable experience. Research by Personify suggests that 88% of marketers agree that video marketing has amplified their Return of Interest (ROI), leading to increased brand awareness, recall, and engagement.

2. Hyper-personalized Ads

In an age where consumers are constantly bombarded by advertisements, hyper-personalized ads are the way to go if your brand wants to stand out. By tailoring your advertising content according to the subjective preferences of the consumer and utilizing contextual cues, brands can deliver ads that foster deeper and more meaningful connections with the target holiday shoppers.

According to research, 91% of holiday shoppers are more likely to shop with brands that provide relevant offers and discounts. While contextual advertising can be an effective method of delivering personalized digital ads, it is often limited to broad topics or keywords, making granular targeting complicated. This is where advertising leveraging the power of contextual AI comes in.

AI-driven contextual hyper-personalization analyzes user content to identify contextual cues like themes, sentiment patterns, and topics that resonate with holiday shoppers. It then aligns advertisements to relevant context, brand messaging, and goals. Therefore, by leveraging the power of hyper-personalized ads, you can add a personal touch to the brand campaign, creating a more meaningful and effective holiday marketing campaign.

3. Interactive Ads

Another advertising favorite that is primed to trend this holiday season amongst brands is interactive video advertising. As per a study conducted by the State of Video Marketing Report, 17% of marketers intend to incorporate an interactive video marketing strategy this festive season.

But what do we mean by interactive ads? Interactive video ads are the ones that turn the viewers from passive spectators into active participants by smoothly integrating touchpoints like quizzes, clickable features, etc. By removing the gap between the advertisement and the spectator, this innovative ad format effectively captures the attention of an easily distracted online audience. Let’s briefly look at a few statistics that showcase the advantages of using interactive video ad formats.

• Interactive Adverts lead to a 47% increase in time spent with the ad
• Click-through rates on interaction videos are 10X higher than on passive video
• 32% of consumers are more likely to remember an interactive even if they don’t engage with it, unlike a traditional ad.

4. QR-enabled CTV

A new form of advertising that has shaken the digital advertising world to the core is QR-enabled connected TV (CTV). While traditional CTV was being used by brands for quite a while for advertising, the platform lacked user interaction and creativity. Two obstacles QR-enabled CTV ads are here to resolve.

Bridging the gap between the audience and the ad, this ad format allows users to interact and take immediate action and is increasingly becoming the new Call-to-Action (CTA). As per Flowcode 2023, 48% of consumers are likely to scan a QR code to learn more about the product or service advertised. By combining the massive reach of the TV with the interactivity of digital ads, QR-enabled connected ads are primed to curate the most engaging ads, helping brands craft deeper connections.

Final Thoughts

As the holiday season draws nearer, it gives the ideal opportunity for brands to connect with their target audience in a deeper and more connected manner. While the technology in the digital landscape continues to evolve at Silverpush we endeavor to be at its forefront, guiding brands to new heights of success. By leveraging our holiday season digital ad favorites, you could have the key to a successful holiday advertising campaign in your hands.