Maximizing Q4 2024 Holiday Ad Results with Facebook Engagement Campaigns

The 2024 holiday season is all about reconnecting with audiences through fun, engaging content. After the intensity of U.S. election ads, Thanksgiving and Christmas campaigns focused on post engagement are a refreshing way to re-engage viewers from their Facebook feed. Shoppers are primed to engage, with Meta’s data showing that 55% of holiday buyers reported Meta technologies helped influence their purchases, and 77% of Cyber Five shoppers credit Meta ads for inspiring their purchases this season.

This peak holiday advertising season is the perfect time to move audiences down the funnel and boost conversions. Facebook engagement campaigns are a key strategy for transforming your brand’s reach and visibility into deeper interactions and conversions, making this holiday season your most effective yet.

Post Engagement Ad Formats for Your Q4 and Q5 Holiday Campaigns

Strike Social’s data reveals that Q4 post engagement campaigns achieve engagement rates between 8% and 12%, which is at the upper end of our previous benchmarks of 2.90% to 14.40%. Q4 holiday ad trends indicate an extended shopping period, creating the perfect opportunity to captivate audiences with memorable, interactive campaigns that not only drive purchases but also keep your brand top-of-mind for the holiday season.

Here are the top ad formats we recommend to maximize your Facebook post engagement campaigns this season:

Facebook Reels

Facebook Reels is Meta’s answer to YouTube Shorts and TikTok, aiming to compete directly with these popular short-form video platforms. This innovative format has already demonstrated a 35% higher click-through rate (CTR) compared to other video formats on Facebook.

U.S. users spend an average of 31 minutes daily on Facebook, with 60% of that time devoted to watching videos. As a result, Facebook Reels ads provide an effective means to engage highly attentive audiences.

✓ Facebook Reels ads currently represent 3.3% of total ad impressions on the platform. (Source: Hootsuite)

✓ A French retailer experienced a 51% increase in return on ad spend (ROAS) by focusing on Reels ads. (Source: wecantrack)

✓ The estimated audience size for Reels-focused ads in the U.S. is 139 million (excluding Advantage audience). (Source: Meta Ads Manager)

Facebook Carousel Ads

The Facebook carousel ad format allows users to swipe through up to 10 cards, each featuring images, videos, or a combination of both. By incorporating unique headlines and links for each card, your audience can easily browse your offerings and identify products or services that pique their interest.

Carousel ads are particularly effective for post-engagement campaigns, as they encourage viewers to interact with your ad before making a purchase decision.

✓ Carousel ads yield 34% more clicks than single-image ads. (Source: Lebesgue)

✓ A UK-based subscription box brand using carousel ads achieved a 3.24x ROAS. (Source: The Social Shepherd)

✓ 30% reduction in cost per conversion and cost per click compared to single-image ads. (Source: Hootsuite)

Reels + Carousel Holiday Ads

What better way to increase your audiences’ engagement than to be both on the consideration and conversion funnel at the same time? Using both formats together can create a powerful mix of brand storytelling and user interaction.

Nest Commerce’s Q4 2023 report indicates that brands advertising on Meta experienced a 35% increase in return on ad spend between October and November. Throughout Q4, conversion rates rose by 28%, peaking at 52% during Black Friday. This success is attributed to engaging audiences through awareness campaigns and subsequently guiding them to lower-funnel, conversion-based campaigns during the Q4 holiday peak periods.

By utilizing these post engagement-driven ad formats, you can fully maximize your brand’s performance, as 57% of holiday shoppers clamor online for their holiday shopping.

Overlay Ads on Reels

Another effective strategy to engage with the growing Facebook Reels feed for your Q4 2024 holiday campaigns is to incorporate image or carousel ad formats as overlay ads on Reels. 

These ads appear alongside related Reels content. For example, a department store brand promoting its holiday fashion finds can appear on a fashion content creator’s fit check video featuring a recent shopping haul. This integration allows your ads to blend with the Reels viewing experience, making them less intrusive than other ad formats.

As of July 2024, your overlay ads can also be displayed on Instagram Reels, further expanding your reach within the Meta advertising network.

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Further Reading

How a Meta Ad Agency Can Help Optimize Your 2024 Holiday Ad Spend

Collaborating with a Meta ad agency for your Q4 2024 holiday campaigns offers more than just ad activation and management—it brings strategic advantages that drive cost-efficiency and peak performance. Here’s why partnering with a Meta ad agency is essential to optimizing your holiday ad costs this season.

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Cost and Performance Insights for Your Q4 2024 Facebook Engagement Ads

Data is the best backup to demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of utilizing a post-engagement objective as we approach the peak 2024 holiday campaigns. To help you establish benchmarks for this year’s holiday advertising, we have compiled key cost and performance metrics for Q4.

Cost-per-Engagement (CPE) and Engagement Rates (ER%)

In our Q4 2023 analysis, we observed a notable spike in CPE beginning in October, coinciding with the start of holiday advertising. Last year, key retail events such as Target, Prime, and Walmart launched promotions throughout early to mid-October, contributing to this trend.

As we transitioned from November into December, Facebook post engagement campaigns gained traction. We noted a downward trend in CPE alongside an upward trend in engagement rates. For Q4 2024, you can expect to align your holiday ad campaigns against Strike Social’s Facebook ad cost benchmarks, which range from $0.013 to $0.057 in November and decrease to as low as $0.012 to $0.038 by December.

Cost-per-View (CPV) and View Rate (VR%)

Video ad formats, particularly Facebook Reels ads, tend to have a higher view rate with lower costs compared to other formats, making them ideal for engagement during Q4. While view rates saw a slight decrease of 40% in December, they still remain elevated compared to October, reflecting sustained interest from engaged audiences throughout the Christmas season.

This year, Meta is testing a new ad feature that allows brands to showcase promotions and discounts directly within Reels ads. This innovation capitalizes on high shopping intent as viewers consume video content during the Q4 holidays. By highlighting promotions, brands can streamline the journey from consideration to conversion, making it easier for audiences to act on their interest.

Cost-per-Click (CPC) & Click-Through Rate (CTR%)

Click-based campaigns, like Carousel ad formats, provide solid performance metrics throughout the year. Q4 holiday trends indicate that these formats can drive high click engagement while maintaining lower costs. Although CPCs generally trend downward, we anticipate a slight increase of about 5% in December compared to November 2023 as more brands compete for ad space to get traffic and conversions.

To capitalize on this trend, your best strategy is to start your campaigns early. Target shoppers who begin their holiday shopping 1 to 2 months in advance to build momentum. By leveraging click engagement campaigns starting in October and November, you can position your brand effectively, ensuring you capture the attention of eager holiday shoppers before the competition heats up.

Download our Facebook CPLC Case Study

This case study details a luxury watch brand’s Facebook campaign that achieved a CPLC 34.69% below the guaranteed rate, highlighting the benefits of strategic budget allocation and ad format selection for maximizing engagement and controlling costs.

Download full case study here

Cost per Link Click (CPLC) & Link Click-Through Rate (LCTR%)

Optimizing for lower-funnel conversions during Q4 becomes easier with well-targeted and engaging post engagement ads focusing on link clicks. Ad auctions can get a bit challenging towards November as there is competition around Black Friday and Cyber Five in particular; thus, we can see quite a spike in CPLC at this time.

Maintain an always-on approach, as costs tend to decrease in December, aligning with predictions from the NRF that 58% of consumers complete their shopping during this month. By focusing your post-engagement campaigns on link clicks that drive conversions, you position yourself well for success during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday advertising periods this Q4.

Driving Strong Results with Post Engagement Campaigns for Q4 and Q5 Holidays in 2024

As Q4 intensifies, the key to holiday success is not just reaching audiences but engaging them. Post engagement campaigns on platforms like Instagram and Facebook empower brands to foster meaningful interactions that can lead to conversions. With increased competition and shifting consumer behaviors during the holiday season, prioritizing post engagement allows brands to scale efficiently, harness Meta’s extensive audience, and enhance performance through cost-effective, high-engagement ad formats.

Are you looking to quickly scale your campaigns this holiday season? Reach out to our team for a personalized walkthrough of our AdTech solutions and discover how you can achieve greater results while saving on your Facebook engagement campaigns.

The post How Facebook Engagement Campaigns Deliver the Best Results for Q4 2024 Holidays appeared first on Strike Social.

Planning Your Q4 2024 Facebook & Instagram Holiday Ads

As you prepare for the busiest shopping season of the year, Meta is gearing up to meet the surge in holiday ad campaigns across Facebook and Instagram. The Q4 holidays — Thanksgiving, Cyber Five, Christmas, and New Year’s — represent the most critical window for capturing audience attention and driving performance.

With ad spending peaking during this period, competition in the auction is becoming fierce, and the stakes are high. To maximize your campaign outcomes while managing costs, advertisers must stay ahead of the trends shaping consumer behavior, creative strategies, and targeting tactics. Here’s how to strategically plan your Facebook and Instagram holiday ad campaigns towards the end of the year.

Q4 2024 Holiday Ad Trends Advertisers Should Watch Out For

Before the celebration continues, let’s take a sneak peek at what to expect this year and how it’s different from previous years to fully prepare you for your holiday campaigns.

Key Peak Advertising Periods in Q4 2024

By anticipating shifts in ad spend and key peak periods, you can optimize your strategy and control costs while driving results for your Q4 2024 holiday ad campaigns:

As more advertisers vie for auction space during the Q4 holidays, we can certainly see spikes in ad spending during this time. Historically, Q4 sees the highest ad spending, particularly on Facebook and Instagram (Meta), with Google following a similar trend. TikTok, on the other hand, tends to have a more unpredictable and sporadic pattern. This heightened competition across industries inevitably drives up Facebook and Instagram ad costs. We’ll explore this further as we go along.

Online Shopping and Spending Trends

Adobe forecasts that U.S. online sales will reach $240.8 billion from November 1 to December 31, up from $221.8 billion last year. In addition, Mastercard’s Spending Pulse data indicates a projected 7.1% growth in retail sales during this holiday shopping season compared to 2023. The rise in consumer spending will likely kick off early, with shopping ramping up as early as Halloween and peaking through Christmas, driven by big-ticket purchases during the gift-giving season.

Further, Numerator’s research shows that many Christmas shoppers are starting as early as three months before the holidays. For advertisers, this means awareness campaigns need to launch well before November to capture early interest and effectively guide potential buyers down the funnel in time for peak holiday ad campaigns.

Meta’s Holiday Ad Trends for Q4 to Q5

Data from Meta’s campaigns affirm this, as 41% of consumers continue making purchases from holiday ads well beyond the peak shopping season. Last year, CPM-focused Facebook and Instagram ads peaked around Thanksgiving, while CPA-focused campaigns were more cost-efficient during the same period.

In Q4 2023, conversion campaigns saw a 20% year-over-year increase in performance and a 3.3x return on ad spend (ROAS) when using Meta Advantage+. Meta is heavily promoting Advantage+ to help advertisers streamline the process of diversifying ads and placements, ultimately improving campaign returns. 

This approach pays off during the holiday season, as consumers actively search for gifts through Christmas campaigns on Meta, creating a sizable audience that helps drive more efficient ad costs.

Download our Facebook ROAS Case Study

Discover how Strike Social achieved 66% more impressions than guaranteed and a 28x Facebook ROAS through precise execution and real-time campaign management for a financial services client.

Download full case study here

Insights for Effective Holiday Advertising Strategy on Facebook & Instagram

Now that you have a clear view of the holiday ad trends and consumer behavior for Q4 and Q5 2024, it’s time to review the actionable strategies that will drive results and deliver outstanding performance for your Facebook and Instagram holiday advertising campaigns.

Start Your Holiday Ad Campaigns Earlier

With fewer shopping days between Black Friday and Christmas in 2024, early campaign launches will allow for better positioning. October marks the start of the buildup, especially with the final weeks leading up to the U.S. presidential elections, where 79% of 2024 political ad spending is pouring on key battleground states. With political ads wanting to reach as many audiences as possible, this creates fierce competition for audience attention, making it harder for awareness campaigns to break through compared to previous holiday seasons.

Concurring with Meta’s holiday ad trends, our Facebook benchmark report confirms that CPMs will rise during peak Q4 periods, especially around Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas promotions, as advertisers optimize to reach more markets. Average CPM for Q4 2024 is expected to increase, but campaigns focusing on engagement may benefit from higher engagement rates, particularly with the growth of new ad formats like Reels, which saw a 61% increase in 2023 compared to 2022. Thus, if you want to get a headstart on the lower CPM levels, an early start to your full holiday advertising campaign is necessary.

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Further Reading

How Facebook Engagement Ad Formats Win Holiday Advertising

Engagement ads on Facebook and Instagram allow brands to build genuine connections that can later convert into sales. As competition rises and holiday shopping behaviors shift, focusing on engagement helps brands reach Meta’s vast audience while maximizing campaign efficiency for scalable results.

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More Aggressive Holiday Advertising for Both B2B and B2C

The competition for ad space for Q4 2024 holiday ad campaigns is not limited to retail brands. Both B2B and B2C advertisers are aggressively vying for inventory, particularly on Meta platforms and Connected TV, as the holiday season ramps up with key events like Cyber Five and New Year’s advertising.

According to NRF’s 2023 Thanksgiving holiday weekend data, a record 200.4 million shoppers were active during the Cyber Five period, with 44% shopping online. Black Friday and Cyber Monday led online purchases, solidifying these events as significant revenue drivers for B2C brands while increasing competition with B2B brands vying for the same ad inventory.

For B2B companies, Q4 presents an ideal opportunity to reach decision-makers actively searching for advanced solutions for their businesses. It’s the perfect time to adopt a bold, action-oriented strategy, focusing on campaigns that drive clicks and conversions. With 76% of B2B buyers preferring to speak with someone before acquiring new services, Q4 is when many finalize their decisions on renewing or switching to new products or services.

Meta’s holiday playbook data supports this holiday advertising strategy, showing that CPA levels remain relatively stable throughout Q4 and Q5, compared to fluctuating CPM and CVR rates. Additionally, our data indicates that Facebook traffic campaigns targeting link clicks could see a 23% increase toward Q4, based on 2023 trends. Encouragingly, link-click engagement rates have been on the rise in 2023 compared to 2022, signaling a positive trend for engagement-driven campaigns.

Lead Customers from Top-to-Bottom Funnel Holiday Campaigns

By Q4, your awareness holiday ad campaigns from earlier in the year—starting as early as Halloween—should have built enough momentum to drive audiences into your lower-funnel holiday campaigns. While awareness ads are crucial, by this point in the holiday season, your focus should shift toward consideration and conversion campaigns to capitalize on the peak of the 2024 holiday shopping season.

Not only are lower funnel campaigns more cost-effective, but we’re also seeing high engagement rates, especially in Facebook advertising campaigns focusing on post engagement, clicks, and link clicks, aligned with Q4 holiday trends. Reels are particularly powerful, with short-form video content on Instagram reaching up to 30% of users, reflecting its growing dominance across Meta’s advertising network. 

According to Adobe Analytics, mobile devices are expected to drive 53% of online sales during the 2024 holiday season. Therefore, it is crucial to focus on mobile-first conversion strategies to achieve your campaign goals.

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Further Reading

Improving Facebook ROAS with Real-time Optimizations

Various factors can contribute to Facebook ROAS underperformance, from basic problems like inaccurate Meta Pixel tracking to more intricate issues tied to campaign management. Partnering with an advertising agency can provide the specialized knowledge and strategies to boost your Facebook ad ROAS. See the critical areas where an expert agency can make a difference in optimizing your campaigns and driving better results.

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Diverse Creative Formats to Keep Holiday Ads Fresh

As competition heats up during the holiday season, brands often find their ads competing for the same audience’s attention. When users encounter the same ad multiple times, their engagement tends to wane, leading to missed opportunities.

When running top-to-bottom funnel holiday ad campaigns, Facebook and Instagram users can quickly become fatigued by seeing the same creative, sometimes after just two impressions. This leads to users scrolling past or swiping away from your holiday ads.

Incorporate a variety of creative formats in your strategy to avoid ad fatigue and ensure your Black Friday and Christmas advertising campaigns remain effective. Facebook and Instagram offer dynamic options such as Reels, carousels, and videos that can significantly boost engagement and keep your brand fresh in consumers’ minds. 

• Pro tip: Adhere to the Facebook and Instagram ad specs so your ads fit seamlessly within users’ screens.

Explore how to optimize your placements using manual selection in Meta Ads Manager to find the formats that best align with your brand messaging:

Shine Bright on Shoppers’ Lists with Twinkling Facebook and Instagram Holiday Campaigns

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year” – as it should be for both consumers and Meta advertisers alike. Indeed, the Q4 to Q5 periods can be a balancing act, where the need to scale budgets must align with the goal of achieving an impressive return on ad spend.

With Strike Social’s SWAS (software with a service) AdTech expertise, our aim is to deliver better results for you at lower costs for savings. Our proprietary tool, Campaign Lab, is designed to keep a close eye on your ads, ensuring that the full process from setup to campaign management is streamlined and optimized before your holiday campaigns even launch.

Learning the holiday ad trends and suggested strategies is just the beginning. Let us become an extension of your in-house team, helping you finish the year on a high note. Contact us today to request a personalized walkthrough of our AdTech service and see how we can enhance your holiday advertising performance.

The post Q4 2024 Holiday Ad Trends for Thanksgiving & Christmas appeared first on Strike Social.

5 Strategies to Fire Up Your 4th of July Advertising

This Fourth of July, regardless of your industry, plenty of strategies exist to make your ad campaigns sizzle. Here are 5 marketing ideas for the 4th of July to get you started:

1. Video Ads Are The Way To Go

You’re on the right track if you’re focusing on short-form videos in your 4th of July ad creatives. Short-form videos are highly successful because they mimic the length of TV commercials. Typically, these videos are about 60 seconds or less, allowing them to grab attention effectively and ensure your audience stays engaged throughout the ad.

What Advertisers Can Do:

According to HubSpot’s social media trends report, 32% of marketers use educational or informative content, with 57% finding it highly effective.

When using educational content for your Fourth of July ad campaigns, it’s important to consider the safe zones that won’t be blocked by platform buttons: like, share, and ad copies. This ensures your ad’s key messages are visible to your audience.

As you prepare your marketing campaigns for the upcoming 4th of July celebrations and the summer season, here are some TikTok benchmarks to guide you through:

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Further Reading

Which Short-Form Video Ad Platform Delivers the Best Results?

TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts dominate short-form video advertising, each powered by unique algorithms that tailor content to users’ preferences. As short-form content continues to thrive, the big question for 2025 is: which platform will become the ultimate go-to for social media advertisers?

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2. Create Tentpole Marketing Campaigns

Having control over your Fourth of July marketing campaigns gives you the flexibility to manage your budget and ad delivery strategically. You can allocate a portion of your budget to the pre-peak period to build anticipation and gradually increase your ad performance as the event approaches.

This allows you to maintain a solid ad delivery throughout the event and the post-event period while maximizing your impact during the peak sales period on July 4th. 

What Advertisers Can Do:

During peak Fourth of July advertising times, offer limited-time promotions (e.g., 48-hour sales). If you observe continued strong traffic or conversions during this period, consider extending the offer for 48 hours. This renewed sense of urgency reminds individuals who may have missed the initial offer to swiftly secure the deal before it ends again, further boosting results for your Fourth of July ad campaigns.

3. Strategically Funnel Your Fourth of July Ads

20% of Fourth of July consumers plan their expenditures in advance – as early as two months before the actual month.

This provides an opportunity to create a funnel that guides your audience from brand awareness to engagement and ultimately to purchasing your product or service.

What Advertisers Can Do:

Break down your Fourth of July ad campaigns into three stages: awareness, traffic, and conversion.

Awareness objective: Start with the awareness objective, targeting audiences who haven’t encountered your ads yet. Configure your YouTube ads to target individuals searching for “4th of July celebration” and related keywords.

Traffic objective: Engage audiences who have seen your ad but have not interacted with it. Implement a Video Reach Campaign with a Target Frequency to ensure multiple exposures for your Fourth of July ad without inducing fatigue.

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Further Reading

How to Set Up a Video Reach Campaign on YouTube

With the latest updates to YouTube VRC, advertisers have more tools to connect with audiences, utilizing YouTube’s diverse placements and devices to boost visibility. As part of Google’s video ad solutions, VRCs are designed to maximize the reach and effectiveness of your content across YouTube and Google’s video partner networks.

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Sales or conversion objective: Conclude your Fourth of July advertising with sales or conversion campaigns, utilizing audience segments from Google Analytics to retarget audiences who’ve visited your website but haven’t purchased.

4. Tap into Influencer Marketing and UGC

Did you know that 69% of shoppers trust product recommendations made by social media influencers? Capitalize on this by tapping into their established customer base and boosting your brand’s reach. You don’t need big-name celebrities to make a splash for your Fourth of July ad campaigns; micro-influencers with 10K-100K followers can be just as effective.

47.3% of all influencers are micro-influencers. If they have a targeted audience that aligns with your target market, they are an ideal choice for creating impactful Fourth of July ads to increase your reach.

What Advertisers Can Do:

With YouTube BrandConnect, brands can easily identify influencers who have tagged or mentioned their products in their videos. This feature simplifies influencer marketing by providing convenient access to potential partners for sponsored ads.

Watch the Google Marketing Live 2024 update and skip to 52:27 to learn more about how you can use YouTube BrandConnect for your Fourth of July ad campaigns:

5. Keep Your Fourth of July Ad Campaigns Fresh with Summer Themes

With the Fourth of July festivities in the heart of summer, incorporating seasonal themes into your ads can make your brand resonate with the season’s spirit. Here are some audience targeting options available on Meta and YouTube that you can utilize for your Fourth of July advertising campaign:

Gain insights into the performance of YouTube ads during the summer marketing season. Explore these benchmarks to optimize your Fourth of July and summer campaigns effectively:

Download the 2024 HVAC YouTube Case Study

By combining YouTube Instream Non-Skippable ads with Video View Campaigns, the brand successfully achieved a balanced strategy, driving impactful reach and high engagement with its target audience.

Download the report

Why 4th of July Advertisers Win Big with Summer Campaigns

The digital ad space offers ample opportunities to launch your Fourth of July ads during the summer. Completing your summer ad campaign involves deploying highly localized ads that remind people of the 4th of July events worth celebrating.

That’s why we’ve prepared this comprehensive guide to help you make a lasting impact before, during, and after the Fourth of July celebration. Here are the key takeaways on why the 4th of July advertising season is one you won’t want to miss:

Build a robust customer base for the rest of the year and the upcoming holiday seasons

• An awareness campaign is a solid foundation for collecting engagement and traffic, which can be utilized for Lookalike audience targeting in future ad campaigns.
• As we mentioned, even within this season, you can start building a funnel to transition your audiences from awareness to readiness to purchase.

Become the go-to brand for 4th of July celebrations and shopping

• The Fourth of July is an annual event, and your goal is to acquire new customers and nurture your existing customer base.
• Establishing customer loyalty can significantly increase your ROI, as repeat customers spend 67% more than first-time buyers. Thus, it’s essential to retain loyal customers by ensuring your Fourth of July advertising efforts continue to reach them and keep your brand in mind.
• Providing high-quality products or services is crucial simultaneously, as around 55% of consumers remain loyal to brands they have a positive experience with.

Maximize your ad delivery and budget throughout the entire summer campaign period

• By strategically placing your campaign and balancing your ad budget and delivery, you can maintain a visible presence during high-traffic periods like the 4th of July.
  
  This approach allows you to capitalize on the increased demand while extending your reach before and after the peak period, ensuring continuous visibility throughout the relevant timeframe.

At Strike Social, we optimize brand performance while keeping costs within budget throughout the campaign. Contact us to explore our services and tailored solutions. Learn how our data-driven strategies can deliver measurable results for your campaigns.

The post Ignite the Excitement with Your Fourth of July Ad Campaigns appeared first on Strike Social.

Businesses are equally affected by inflation, disrupting their supply chain. In the March McKinsey survey, 74% of retailers identified increasing supply chain fragility (raw materials, transportation, and warehousing) as the key trend shaping the industry over the 12-18 months. As a result, retailers are increasing their effort to deliver promotional messages across all channels.

Of all the challenges marketers face, two scenarios will continue to create an impact from today until the calendar rolls over to 2023: higher inflation and a possible recession. As consumers slowly paddle back to their old habits, marketers still tread the social advertising waters.

Related article: YouTube Holiday Advertising: A Gift to Marketers

How Overstocking, Inflation, and Other Factors may Affect the Auction

According to GroupM, by 2025, US e-commerce sales are expected to grow by 27%, outpacing global retail sales. Similarly, charts from InsiderIntelligence show that the retail industry will lead the list in digital ad spend growth this year, followed by the revived travel industry.

With inflation at the forefront of the mind of consumers, retailers and advertisers are forced to adapt quickly by kicking off their holiday promotions earlier than usual. emarketer.com survey found that 77% of the respondents admit that their spending is affected by rising inflation. In addition, 41% of small business owners identify inflation as their primary concern.

Based on Strike Social’s consolidated data of the past Q4 YouTube TrueView Instream Skippable CPV data, media buyers may expect a significant increase in ad spending this November.

Over the last few years, advertisers’ holiday rush began a month before December. Data shows a MoM median percentage increase of 13% occurs when most consumers are at their peak of the holiday shopping season. 

In November 2020, with the boom of eCommerce, the pandemic holidays pushed ad costs up,  jumping by more than 20%, and continued to rally closing the year. 

Media buyers may encounter another busy auction this Q4. Inflation impacts consumers’ buying behaviors while companies push all promotional buttons to try and normalize the supply chain entering 2023. 

Advertisers’ Tools for the Holiday

Brands can reach new sets of eyeballs and boost sales by leveraging holiday campaigns through the latest ad units to create a more native shopping experience. Social media giants offer new advertising solutions that allow a few swipes or clicks, allowing couch shoppers to purchase without leaving the app. 

Combining social commerce with relevant content creates a new form of shopping behavior that allows brands to create a seamless purchase journey. The recent advertising updates open opportunities for advertisers to promote their products or services.

Despite consumers flocking to stores’ doorsteps, social commerce has proven its value to shoppers as they continue to consider purchasing most on their shopping lists online. 

But among the top paid social channels, which of these helps media buyers get more value out of the budget? Understand the latest advertising updates and holiday trends.

TikTok Shopping Ads

Although it is new in the social commerce industry, TikTok is catching up by reinventing the traditional marketing funnel with an “Infinite Loop” of social discovery and creativity. TikTok has made its shopping platform more robust by adding shopping ad units like live shopping, catalog ads, and video shopping ads.

There are three new types of Shopping Ads:

1. Video Shopping Ads: Using shoppable videos, brands can provide dynamic experiences to drive shoppers to purchase.
2. Catalog Listing Ads: It enables brands to increase product exposure with shoppable listings without video assets. They can showcase their product catalogs across the app, including “Recommended” or “Related Products.”
3. LIVE Shopping Ads: Dynamic links to products or services are created and shared directly with a brand’s community in real time through live streaming

Through the three latest formats, it can help brands market and sell their products by promoting them on the profile page’s product showcase tabs. Aside from these three, other TikTok shopping ad units that are widely used, such as

1. Spark Ads – Creating native content is designed to scale engagement and draw in quality users. Spark Ads lets brands reuse other content creators’ most successful videos to ensure more users see them.
2. In-Feed Ads – 60 secs ads with CTAs of choice placed in potential buyers on For You page

Related article: TikTok Shopping Ads: Advertisers’ Solution to Creating Meaningful Digital Shopping Experience |A Guide on How to Set Up TikTok Product Catalog

YouTube Video Action Campaign

Video action campaigns offer a simple way to drive more conversions on and off YouTube. It uses different formats such as

1. Skippable in-stream- The video plays before, during, or after other videos. After 5 seconds, the viewer has an option to skip the ad.
2. In-feed video formats– It engagingly presents the video, inviting viewers to click, watch, and share through a thumbnail. In-feed video ads are delivered on YouTube search results, YouTube’s mobile homepage, and alongside related YouTube videos.
3. Non-skippable in-stream ads- Unlike skippable, the ad is 15 secs (or longer) and plays before, during, or after other videos, and viewers can’t skip it.
4. Bumper ads- Like Non-skippable, viewers can’t skip the ad that is 5 seconds (or shorter) and play before, during, or after another video.

YouTube is scaling its Video Action Campaigns and App campaigns to YouTube Shorts.Moreover, advertisers can utilize Google Shopping Ads that include Shopping Ads, Performance Max, and Shopping cards for YouTube. 

Related article: YouTube Makes Ads on Connected TV More Shoppable |YouTube Product Feed On Video Action Campaign: A Step-by-step Guide

Meta Shopping Ads

Facebook Shops is a collection of online shopping features that the social platform has released over the years, including:

1. Meta Advantage+ catalog- (previously known as Dynamic Ads) Automatically promote the entire product catalog to visitors without creating multiple individual ad sets.
2. Collection Ads– The ad includes cover images or videos with multiple products shown underneath that can be browsed instantly once the ad is clicked.
3. Collaborative Ads– It drives traffic or sales of the products on a partner’s website or app. Collaborative Ads connect brands that sell directly to consumers with retailers and merchants. The brand’s partner shares a portion of their catalog called a catalog segment.

Related article: Marketers’ guide to Meta ad specs | Sell More with Facebook Shops: Guide to Get Started

Table of Comparison: YouTube, Facebook, and TikTok Shopping Ads

While the holiday keeps everyone busy, it is an excellent opportunity for brands to keep consumers informed and engaged. Top social advertising networks, Meta, YouTube, and TikTok, have released a new set of advertising tools before the holiday shopping season to help advertisers better connect with consumers.

​​With inflation at the forefront of many people’s minds, retailers and advertisers should consider pushing their holiday sales with early promotions. An always-on campaign running throughout the holiday shopping season and a shopping ad solution can yield significant results. This allows brands to remain in front of many consumers, including early, traditional, and late buyers.

Top social networks have released new tools and updates ahead of the holiday season, just in time for media buyers to familiarize themselves and understand how they can help them create a more meaningful advertising experience for their customers. 

If you’re interested in the latest social advertising news and insights, sign-up for our weekly newsletter. 

Expand your expertise. Browse Strike Social’s latest blogs here:

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  TikTok News and Updates Q1 2025: What Advertisers Need to Know
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  YouTube Shorts Views Are Changing: How You Can Adapt Your Paid Ads Strategy
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  Meta Advantage Suite: How to Use AI-Driven Optimization for Smarter Ads

The post New Social Shopping Ads for an Ever Earlier Holiday Shopping Season appeared first on Strike Social.