Feel the Love With Our 2025 Valentine’s Day Advertising Guidebook

As the first major holiday following the Q4 rush, Valentine’s Day offers the perfect opportunity to kick off your 2025 advertising efforts with fresh ideas and dynamic campaigns. Known as a season of love and thoughtful gifting, it’s a time for brands to connect with audiences on an emotional level and celebrate relationships.

This year, we’re bringing you the latest trends and actionable strategies to lock in your Valentine’s Day ad campaigns capture hearts—and deliver results.

Top Valentine’s Day Trends for 2025

Before we discuss specific advertising insights, let’s first explore what consumers are thinking about this Valentine’s Day. Understanding what shoppers are searching for, where they’re shopping, and how they plan to celebrate provides guidance for shaping your paid social strategies.

Ideas for Valentine’s Day Gifts

When it comes to Valentine’s Day gift ideas, sweet treats like chocolates and candy continue to reign supreme, with 52% of consumers listing them as their go-to choice. Flowers and gift cards take second and third spots, hinting at celebrations that range from intimate dinners at home to outings at restaurants or bars.

Shopping Destinations

Online retailers remain the top choice for Valentine’s Day shoppers, with 36.55% favoring Amazon for gift purchases. However, physical stores are not far behind, as 36.37% of consumers still prefer shopping in-store.

Interestingly, even with a projected rise in overall spending, about 3 in 10 U.S. consumers prioritize affordability, opting for lower-cost gifts. This trend makes discount stores, alongside department stores and local businesses, a key destination for Valentine’s Day shoppers.

Choice of Celebrations

Will your audience be staying in or heading out this Valentine’s Day? According to Statista, more than 20% of U.S. consumers plan to celebrate with a home-cooked meal. Interestingly, many celebrations are expected to occur before or after February 14, as consumers aim to avoid crowded restaurants and high costs associated with peak Valentine’s Day activities.

Valentine’s Day isn’t just for couples. In 2024, 29% of Valentine’s Day spending was dedicated to celebrating with friends, coworkers, and classmates. This growing trend of “Galentine’s Day” or group celebrations highlights that love comes in many forms—romantic, platonic, or professional.

Love is indeed everywhere, and this just proves that advertising during Valentine’s Day is not just for flowers and chocolate brands, right?

Valentine’s Day Advertising Insights on Paid Social Media

Even if your brand doesn’t offer traditional Valentine’s Day gifts or experiences, there’s still ample opportunity in social media advertising. Whether you’re a sports brand or an industrial service company, your Valentine’s Day ad campaigns can be tailored to resonate with a wide audience.

As mentioned earlier, Valentine’s Day is not only about romantic love. People celebrate various forms of love, making Valentine’s Day ad campaigns highly versatile. Check out these insights and trends to guide your advertising strategy this year:

YouTube Ad Trends for Valentine’s Campaigns

As with other major holidays like Halloween and Thanksgiving, Valentine’s Day sees a significant spike in activity, particularly during the week of the event. But how much of a spike can you expect? Let’s take a look at our YouTube data for Awareness campaigns:

If you’re mainly advertising on YouTube for your Valentine’s Day 2025 ads, expect higher CPM (cost per thousand impressions) during the event week. CPM starts to rise during the last two weeks of January, stabilizes for a short period, and then spikes back up on Valentine’s Day week.

For YouTube bumper ads, the optimal period for awareness campaigns is two weeks before Valentine’s Day, continuing through the first week of March.

Views-focused campaigns follow a similar pattern during the week of Valentine’s Day. The cost-per-view (CPV) trend favors Video View Campaigns more, showing steady movement during Q1. 

Early spikes are also seen by the last week of January. As February progresses and into March, YouTube VVC shows more stable results.

Facebook Advertising Insights for Valentine’s Week

With online shopping dominating this Valentine’s Day, Facebook, the largest social media platform in the U.S., should definitely be part of your advertising strategy. If you’re considering launching your Valentine’s Day ad campaigns on Facebook, our data indicates you’re in good hands.

During Valentine’s Day Week, Facebook campaigns tend to show relatively stable performance in both top and mid-funnel efforts. Let’s take a closer look at the data:

Last year’s Valentine’s Day campaigns proved successful, with both awareness and click-focused campaigns performing well during the event week. Our Facebook advertising cost benchmarks for CPM ranged from $2.78 to $9.60, and our Q1 data shows an average of $3.51 to $5.91. For the Valentine’s Day week specifically, our Campaign Lab insights show CPM levels between $3.95 and $5.82.

Click-focused campaigns also showed positive trends, with Q1 CPC ranging from $0.14 to $0.72 (vs. $0.14 to $0.72 benchmarks). We expect Valentine’s Day 2025 trends to exhibit an identical pattern, especially with the 8.5% increase in ad spending as 2024 closed.

As we previously indicated from our Valentine’s Day 2024 trends, being specific in the target audience interest may raise costs. However, Valentine’s Day ad campaigns on Facebook show that February sees a lower cost level right after the mid-January peak. Costs stabilize as we approach March Madness and the end of Q1, creating an optimistic outlook for Valentine’s Day campaigns on Facebook.

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Case Study:

Our Valentine’s Day advertising insights show a typical uptick in ad costs a week or two before the holiday. However, our recent campaign for a CPG brand promoting specifically for Valentine’s Day revealed a different trend.

The goal of this Valentine’s Day campaign was to acquire 88 million impressions over a one-month period on Facebook. While we did observe the usual CPM spike in late January, the weeks leading up to and including Valentine’s Day showed more controlled and optimized CPM levels.

With the help of Strike Social’s team in continuous campaign optimization, we achieved a 31% improvement in CPM efficiency. Additionally, by optimizing campaign pacing during the key weeks of Valentine’s Day, we reduced costs by up to 36%. This approach helped the brand meet its target number of impressions within the campaign’s timeframe while keeping ad costs under control.

While it’s common to see high peaks in ad activity during the event itself—just like any other holiday—this shouldn’t deter you from focusing on your campaign goals and driving more traffic or sales during Valentine’s Day.

Stay ahead of every holiday event by knowing the best times to ramp up or scale back your campaigns. Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest advertising news, trends, and updates on paid social media.

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Leap Into Success with Your Valentine’s Day 2025 Advertising

It’s a given that paid social media advertising is not for the faint of heart. Thus, your Valentine’s Day ad campaigns should also be resilient and adaptable to make sure you get the best results at the best costs.

Strike Social offers a data-driven approach to maximize the effectiveness of your paid social campaigns. With over 10 years of machine learning combined with our proprietary tool, Campaign Lab, and the expertise of our media buyers, we’re here to help you surpass your Valentine’s Day 2025 campaign goals. 

Schedule a demo with our team to discuss your campaign targets and how we can help you succeed.

The post Inspiring Insights for Your 2025 Valentine’s Day Ad Campaigns appeared first on Strike Social.

Your Ultimate 2025 Super Bowl Ads Strategy From Kickoff to Touchdown

The 2025 Super Bowl is just around the corner, with the Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs emerging as fan favorites for this season’s championship showdown. But while the NFL playoffs heat up, the real competition for advertisers happens off the field—fighting for coveted Super Bowl commercials and top social media ad placements.

With over two-thirds of Americans tuning in as NFL fans, the Super Bowl’s cultural impact is undeniable. From Taylor Swift’s appearances at Chiefs games to Jason Kelce’s post-retirement ESPN broadcasts, and Kendrick Lamar’s highly anticipated halftime performance at Super Bowl LIX in the Caesars Superdome, the event is as much a pop culture phenomenon as it is a sports event.

For brands, this presents an extraordinary opportunity to connect with sports audiences and more. However, with intense competition in TV and social media ad spaces, creating a winning campaign requires a strong 2025 Super Bowl ads strategy.

How Are Social Media and the Super Bowl Connected?

Short-form video content has transformed the way sports fans engage with events like the NFL playoffs and the Super Bowl. Platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram have become go-to destinations for fans to consume bite-sized highlights, real-time updates, and behind-the-scenes moments. 

While NFL games are traditionally TV-driven spectacles, social media amplifies the experience, keeping fans engaged between games and hyping up major events like the Super Bowl. The buzz intensifies online as the big game approaches, connecting brands with highly engaged audiences eager to interact with Super Bowl-related content.

Early Super Bowl Buzz Since Q4

The Super Bowl conversation starts long before game day. Brand24 data reveals that by December 2024, mentions of the Super Bowl had already reached a social media reach of 94 million. Additionally, spending on 2025 Super Bowl ads reached an estimated $31.55 million, highlighting how brands have embraced the hype to secure their place in the conversation.

Super Bowl Social Media Reach by Platform

Each social media platform has its moment to shine during the Super Bowl. Here’s a breakdown of the engagement stats from the 2024 Super Bowl, showcasing how each network plays a unique role in connecting with audiences:

How Will Brands Use Social Media in Super Bowl Advertising This Year?

Social media advertising’s versatility is vast now—from the usual video ads to AR filters, interactive add-ons and stickers, and more. Brands can take advantage of many features in social media advertising platforms when preparing for their 2025 Super Bowl ads strategy. 

Here are just a few of the ways that brands can engage NFL fans in Super Bowl advertising campaigns:

Break into Cross-Device Experiences

Mobile devices dominate YouTube viewership, with an estimated 47.9% share for 2024. However, Connected TV (CTV) is proving to be a formidable contender. According to Strike Social’s Q3 2024 report, CTV campaigns boasted a 76% view rate, edging out mobile’s 73%.

The takeaway? A successful Super Bowl ads strategy for 2025 should target both mobile devices and CTV screens to maximize reach across large and small-screen audiences.

Further, Brian Wieser of Madison and Wall projects a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% for sports programming spending through 2026, encompassing major events like the NBA, Olympics, NASCAR, and the NFL. This surge in spending signals the rising demand for sports content across all platforms.

Advertisers should also consider YouTube TV’s growing share of game-day viewership. During the 2024 Super Bowl, YouTube TV accounted for 14% of viewership, translating to over 17.3 million viewers out of the total 123.7 million audience. These figures highlight the value of targeting mobile users and CTV viewers to capture diverse audiences on game day.

Tapping Into the eSports and Gaming Community

Super Bowl ad audiences extend far beyond stadium-goers and social media followers—they also include eSports enthusiasts and the gaming community. These groups share a natural connection to competitive sports and team dynamics, making them an untapped audience for Super Bowl ads.

The U.S. eSports market is thriving, valued at approximately $1.07 billion in 2024. Moreover, the video game industry in the U.S. includes around 190.6 million players, 76% of whom are aged 18 and above—making them prime targets for Super Bowl advertising.

Another layer to consider is the sports betting community, which adds even more opportunities for brands to connect. NFL fans placing bets on Super Bowl odds represent a highly engaged audience subset. Localized campaigns can be particularly impactful in states where sports betting is legal, aligning your ads with state-specific opportunities outlined by the American Gaming Association.

The “Taylor Swift Effect” Still Going Strong

Taylor Swift has proven to be an ultimate force capable of boosting brands to unprecedented recognition—a phenomenon famously dubbed the “Taylor Swift effect.” Her influence spans diverse industries, from small businesses to established brands. Her recent appearances for boyfriend, Travis Kelce’s, NFL games have expanded football’s reach to the dedicated “Swiftie” demographic, bridging the gap between sports and pop culture.

Swift’s endorsements are often subtle yet highly effective, showcasing products regularly found across platforms like Amazon and TikTok Shop. Here are a few examples of her influential picks over the past year:

Even during the 2024 Super Bowl, brands have seen success by tapping into narratives that resonate with Swift’s audience. For instance, Cetaphil’s 30-second TV ad spot featured a father and daughter reconnecting, which received acclaim partly due to its emotional relevance to NFL fans and Swifties alike.

Similarly, by capitalizing on influencer collaborations, you can use the same playbook for your 2025 Super Bowl ads strategy. Partnering with influencers can help expand your reach and engage audiences more effectively. Start by identifying accounts with strong followings and high engagement in sports and lifestyle spaces.

Here’s a short list of top influencers to consider for your campaigns during Super Bowl 59:

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Further Reading

Connect with Sports Audiences using Instagram Partnership Ads

Previously known as Branded Content Ads, Partnership Ads allow seamless integration of sponsored content when collaborating with Instagram influencers. Learn how to generate ad codes and connect them with your 2025 Super Bowl advertising campaigns.

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Short-Form for the Long Run

While the 30-second NFL commercials during the Super Bowl undoubtedly capture millions of viewers, social media platforms allow brands to extend their reach with even shorter ads. Just 5 to 6 seconds can spark interest and engage your audience from the kickoff.

Short-form video not only builds initial awareness but also serves as a gateway to deeper engagement. By following up with longer ads, you can drive your viewers toward conversion and ultimately turn them into loyal consumers.

To illustrate the effectiveness of short-form content, here’s a snapshot from our Q1 2024 YouTube report. Shorter YouTube ads (15 seconds or less) had a strong 60% view rate, while slightly longer ads (16-30 seconds) held a 55% view rate. This data confirms that while shorter videos capture attention quickly, longer ads also provide a valuable opportunity to tell your brand’s story and drive conversions.

Super Bowl Marketing Strategies for Paid Social Ads

Now that you know how paid social can help you reach NFL fans, here are 2025 Super Bowl ads strategies to help you connect with engaged audiences this season:

Promoted Super Bowl Ads on X (Twitter)

Align Promoted Ads with the Game Moments

• Stay ahead of the game by sharing relevant Promoted Tweets that engage your audience in real-time. There’s no need to wait for the Super Bowl champion—capitalize on the excitement as the NFL playoffs kick off on January 12. With predictions circulating about which teams will make it to the big game, this is the perfect moment to join the conversation.
• With X Promoted Ads, you can position your brand at the top of search results when users look up “Super Bowl” or related content. Your ads can also appear within sports-centered feeds, reaching users whose interactions are focused on NFL-related tweets.

Super Bowl Advertising on Instagram

Partner Up with Nano Influencers

• Instagram is the top platform for influencer collaborations, with 72% of marketers choosing it for their campaigns. To add, influencer partnerships on Instagram yield the highest ROI at 30%, surpassing Facebook’s 20%.
• Focus on influencers whose content revolves around the NFL playoffs, Super Bowl ad predictions, or sports content in general. This allows you to tap into their engaged audience through Partnership Ads, extending your reach.
• On average, influencer partnership campaigns on Instagram see a 2.2% engagement rate. Partnering with nano influencers can increase this to 5%. With 65% of influencer accounts being nano influencers, there’s a large pool of potential collaborators for your Super Bowl ads.

Hook Audiences with Views-Focused Campaigns

• Just as Super Bowl commercials capture attention through 30-second TV ads, focusing on viewership in Instagram campaigns can lead to strong results. Strike Social’s Campaign Lab data reveals that optimizing for pre- and post-game hype during Q1 is key to driving higher view rates with your 2025 Super Bowl advertising campaigns.
• Instagram view rate trends reveal a surge starting two weeks before the Super Bowl. During game week, view rates may dip as audiences focus on game highlights and related content. However, ad viewership bounces back the following week and remains strong through March.
• Capitalize on this momentum by extending your campaigns to target sports audiences beyond the Super Bowl, sustaining the view rates as March Madness approaches.

Using Super Bowl in TikTok Advertising

Drive UGC with Branded Hashtag Challenges

• For their 2023 NFL Super Bowl marketing, Doritos launched the #DoritosTriangleTryout challenge. To join, users must create a “triangle-inspired dance” for a chance to be featured during the big game. TikTok influencers like Josh Killacky and Lizzie Lu quickly joined the trend, resulting in the branded hashtag amassing over 12 billion views.
• Get creative with your own branded hashtag to promote your 2025 Super Bowl ads. For example, Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) are popular on game day, with 1 in 7 Americans ordering takeout during the game.
• Encourage customers to share their favorite game-day snacks with a hashtag like #[YourRestaurantName]SnackChallenge. UGC will help spark buzz and expand your reach, as your patrons’ communities share their videos, spreading your brand’s presence.

Super Bowl Ads on YouTube and its Networks

Big Screens for the Big Game

• YouTube is now a major player in Connected TV, alongside platforms like Roku, Amazon, Hulu, and Netflix. By 2026, YouTube’s revenue from CTV is projected to quadruple. When compared to other U.S. streaming services, YouTube holds the top share in both ad time (4.6%) and time spent (9.9%).
• Advertising on YouTube allows brands to tap into ad inventory across various networks, including YouTube TV and Google TV. With YouTube TV’s 8 million users and Google TV’s 20 million, brands can make a significant impact without the high cost of advertising during the Super Bowl.

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Further Reading

Utilize Google TV’s Growing Network for Your YouTube Ads

Increase brand awareness by telling a compelling story that captures viewers’ attention. Begin with the big screens and discover how to tap into Google TV’s growing network for your YouTube ad campaigns.

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YouTube Shorts for Fast, Shareable Content

• Let’s not forget that YouTube is a mobile app first, and thus, mobile users should never be ignored. Our data from Q1 encompassing the 2024 Super Bowl, showing the share of impressions and views, highlights how mobile and CTV placements level the playing field:

• Along with CTV placements, focusing on short-form content on YouTube Shorts can help you reach more sports-engaged audiences, boosting your Super Bowl ads’ performance even further. If you’re focusing on a Views-centric approach, a good 2025 Super Bowl ads strategy would include a YouTube Video Views Campaign, where you can take advantage of YouTube Shorts, skippable in-stream, and in-feed placements.
• Based on our 2024 Campaign Lab data, here’s a snapshot of view rates for different industries during January to March:

• As we can see, industries like gambling (which ties into sports betting), adult beverages, and food are big draws for NFL fans watching the Super Bowl. However, even if you’re a non-sports brand like automotive or finance, our YouTube data shows you can still effectively reach Super Bowl fans and sports audiences.
• By utilizing precise audience targeting and segmentation, paired with continuous optimization, you can ensure your 2025 Super Bowl ads strategy succeeds.

Is Your Paid Social Ads Strategy Now Super Bowl-Ready?

The 2025 Super Bowl will be a highly competitive arena, with both sports and non-sports brands vying for ad space. Let’s be honest—while the $7 million price tag for a Super Bowl ad is out of reach for many, paid social media advertising offers a more cost-effective way to reach the same audience, at a fraction of the price.

Working with an experienced ad agency can significantly enhance the performance of your Super Bowl campaign. Share your 2025 goals with us, and let’s discuss how our SwaS (software with a service) solutions can help optimize your Super Bowl campaigns.

The post Play to Win With Our 2025 Super Bowl Ads Strategy Guide appeared first on Strike Social.

How to Plan Your Christmas Advertising Strategy on YouTube

The Q4 holiday season is here! For YouTube advertisers, this quarter is one of the busiest times for YouTube app and TV advertising, with Christmas presenting a high-stakes opportunity to boost performance while maintaining cost efficiency. With strategic planning, your Christmas ad campaigns can set the stage for a strong finish to 2024 and an even stronger start to 2025.

Read on to discover how to optimize your YouTube ads strategy for the season’s unique demands and ensure your ads make a memorable impact this Christmas and beyond.

When To Start Your YouTube Christmas Advertising

The final quarter of the year is a peak period for holiday advertising, covering Halloween, Thanksgiving, Cyber Five, Christmas, and New Year. For Christmas in particular, the buying season begins early, with many consumers planning purchases over three months in advance, yet a significant wave of last-minute shopping continues right up to Christmas Eve.

Timing is a key piece of your Christmas advertising strategy to effectively capture this demand. According to Numerator’s Q4 Holiday Survey, 70% of holiday ad viewers will use online channels for their Christmas purchases, and 44% plan a blend of online and in-store shopping, making it essential to reach them wherever they are.

Moreover, holiday spending expectations are high: 79% of shoppers plan to spend over $200 on Christmas alone, while the NRF projects an average holiday expenditure exceeding $900 per consumer. This makes the holiday season an even opportunity for YouTube advertisers to drive brand visibility and impact through well-timed and optimized video ads.

Mapping Out Your YouTube Advertising Timeline for the Christmas Rush

With Christmas just around the corner, how should you map out your strategy for the season? Here’s an ideal timeline to guide your Christmas advertising as you finalize your Q4 and look ahead to Q5. And if you’re not starting now, it’s never too early to prepare for 2025!

September: Build Brand Awareness with YouTube Campaigns

We mentioned that customers start looking into holiday purchases three months or more before Christmas. That’s precisely why September is the ideal time for your awareness campaigns for your YouTube Christmas advertising to be riding high.

A prominent YouTube advertising format for reach campaigns is bumper ads, which show consistent, year-round performance based on Campaign Lab data.

Further, we analyzed the performance of bumper ads by month, and the data shows that September offers the most cost-effective opportunity to build awareness before transitioning to your YouTube Shopping campaigns. As awareness campaigns typically increase in cost during October and November, it’s essential to establish a strong presence in September.

October: Engage Audiences with Views Campaigns

October is the perfect time to focus on driving engagement and views through Video View Campaigns. YouTube highlights that 91% of viewers connect with video content on both a technical and emotional level. Thus, aside from effective audience targeting on YouTube, driving views also involves heartwarming ad creative to keep audiences engaged. 

According to Strike Social’s Campaign Lab data, YouTube video view campaigns’ cost per view (CPV) has improved by 10% year over year (2023 vs. 2024). As Halloween advertising wraps up, be ready to transition smoothly into your Thanksgiving and Christmas campaigns.

October stands out as the most cost-efficient month for VVC, with November also showing favorable CPV. This lets you stretch your Video View Campaigns and maintain a consistent, always-on holiday advertising strategy.

Download the YouTube VVC Case Study

By effectively using YouTube Shorts and the AI functions of Video View Campaigns, Strike Social achieved 5M+ total video views and 59% cost efficiency. For an HVAC brand advertising during Thanksgiving week, a peak moment in Q4, this campaign was a total success.

Download the report

November: Target Shoppers with Video Action Campaigns

As November approaches, following the conclusion of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, it’s time to shift focus to sales-driven holiday ads. Target shoppers during the Thanksgiving period and Cyber Five, with 67% of consumers expected to make purchases during Cyber Week. Salesforce projects that online stores will capture 7% of in-store sales on Black Friday, underscoring the need for a more aggressive approach as the month winds down, ahead of the Christmas advertising rush.

YouTube Video Action Campaigns are designed to prompt viewers to take action, such as making a purchase or visiting your website. By linking your ads to your Product Feed and leveraging YouTube’s short-form content with Shorts Ads, you create a powerful combination for driving sales.

CPC trends for YouTube VAC ads show that you can kick off early Christmas campaigns in September at a cost-efficient rate. Although CPCs may peak in October, by November, you’ll be well-positioned to capture conversions again.

December: Boost Conversions and Reignite Reach Campaigns

Alas, the holiday advertising season’s culmination all boils down to how you will end your year. We recommend keeping your conversion campaigns going, and, even better, hitting the budgets harder, especially during the final weekend before Christmas. With only five days between Black Friday and Christmas Eve this year, expect a noticeable increase in YouTube ad views as shoppers ramp up their buying activity.

As highlighted earlier, December’s CPC for YouTube Video Action Campaigns saw a slight 2% increase, which is typical for the busiest time of holiday advertising campaigns. Meanwhile, in preparation for Q5, Reach campaigns focusing on bumper ads see an 8% decrease compared to November and a 6% reduction compared to the overall CPM from 2023.

Best YouTube Placements for Christmas Advertising Videos

As you plan your Q4 holiday advertising strategy, you should focus not only on when to launch your Christmas ads but also on where to place them. Selecting the right YouTube ad placements can make all the difference in driving the views and clicks you need to succeed.

In-stream Skippable and Non-Skippable

With a reach of over 3 billion users, placing your ads within prime YouTube video content is a surefire way to get audiences to stick around and create strong brand recall. Non-skippable ads, in particular, are proving highly effective, especially across YouTube’s mobile and Connected TV (CTV) formats. The combination of mobile and TV screens during Q4 boosts visibility and ad retention, making it an ideal placement for holiday campaigns.

In-Feed

In-feed ads are perfect for capturing the attention of users actively searching for holiday-related content. These ads appear when users are looking for gift ideas or researching Christmas shopping options. By utilizing the right holiday keywords and contextual targeting, you can ensure your Christmas ads appear in front of the right audience, driving traffic directly to your product pages and increasing the chances of conversions.

YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts, with 50 billion views daily, is one of the most versatile ad placements for your Christmas advertising strategy. Whether you’re running a Video Reach Campaign (VRC) or a Video View Campaign (VVC), YouTube Shorts video ads offers an excellent opportunity to increase visibility and engagement. Its short-form, vertical video format is perfect for delivering festive, attention-grabbing ads that resonate with today’s on-the-go consumers.

YouTube TV

YouTube’s Connected TV (CTV) platform has grown significantly since Q4 2023, and, according to our YouTube benchmark report, it’s become a top placement for high ad retention and view rates. 

According to LG Ad Solutions, 43% of CTV audiences report that ads help them decide on their holiday purchases. Moreover, 72% of viewers will likely scan a QR code featured on CTV ads, further engaging with the brand. With more consumers watching TV through YouTube, this is an essential placement for holiday advertisers seeking to drive both awareness and conversions.

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Further Reading

Introducing Performance Max Ads

As Google TV grows, you may wonder if it’s worth adding to your brand or client’s advertising strategy. Before making a decision, it’s important to weigh the benefits of incorporating Google TV into your advertising mix.

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What is The Best YouTube Advertising Strategy for The Christmas Season

A well-rounded Christmas marketing strategy involves a combination of creative approaches, targeted ad formats, and real-time optimizations to deliver the best possible return. Here’s how to refine your YouTube advertising strategy for your holiday ads this 2024:

Real-Time Optimization with Expert Support

• You must make quick adjustments based on real-time data to stay competitive with your Christmas advertising strategy. Partnering with a specialized YouTube ads agency like Strike Social, allows you to free up your time as our team optimizes campaigns 24/7, ensuring your ads perform at their best throughout the holiday season.
• YouTube CTV ads tend to have higher engagement rates and cost efficiency, as evidenced by our data showing a 6% increase in view rates compared to 2023 benchmarks. By working with a YouTube CTV agency, you can reduce your CPV by up to 18%, improving the overall cost-effectiveness of your Christmas campaigns.

Spreading Holiday Joy with YouTube Ads

A successful YouTube campaign when advertising for Christmas involves optimal timing, placements, and creative strategies. All those combined with the help of an expert YouTube ads agency can bring out the biggest smiles to your brand’s viewers and stakeholders just as Q4 ends and Q5 draws near. 

For expert planning and support in executing a winning YouTube Christmas advertising strategy, get in touch with our team today. We’ll help you with a personalized walkthrough of our AdTech solutions to help you through your 2024 holiday ads to a prosperous beginning for 2025.

The post Planning a Winning YouTube Christmas Advertising Strategy appeared first on Strike Social.

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Partnering with a Meta Ad Agency for Optimized 2024 Holiday Advertising Costs

The peak 2024 holiday season is fast approaching, and with Meta restricting political ads a week before the election date, the ad space is again available for brands to compete.

Some brands may have paused their ads in October in anticipation of the influx of 50% of the political ad budget. We previously recommended against pausing your ads during this period; instead, it’s better to maintain an always-on approach while guiding your Facebook and Instagram audiences through awareness, engagement, and conversion campaigns.

To help you achieve peak performance during this busy season, here’s why a Meta advertising agency is key to optimizing your Q4 2024 holiday advertising costs.

How A Meta Ad Agency Can Improve Your 2024 Holiday Advertising Costs

In addition to assisting you in activating and managing your holiday ad campaigns during Q4 2024, partnering with a Meta ad agency to enhance your holiday marketing offers numerous advantages. Even with limited time for the learning phase, the expertise of a Meta advertising agency can serve as the foundation for steering your holiday ads toward success.

Expert Knowledge of Meta Holiday Ad Costs

A key priority for a social media advertising agency is making sure your ads deliver results and keeping your holiday advertising costs within your campaign budget—or even lower.

Strike Social’s service promise is our commitment to achieving your desired outcomes—whether that means hitting specific CPM or CPV targets or reaching a particular number of impressions or views within a set timeframe. With our expertise as a Meta ad agency, we establish benchmarks based on current rates, allowing us to devise effective strategies that meet your financial goals.

Strike Social’s Campaign Lab data for Q4 2024 indicates a trend of rising CPMs as the year progresses, underscoring the importance of proactive planning.

Consequently, we recommend building awareness in the months leading up to Q4, specifically in September and October. Then, ensure that you guide these audiences toward your lower-funnel campaigns, such as post engagement campaigns and traffic and conversion efforts. By October, shoppers are already searching for brands to consider for their holiday purchases.

However, awareness campaigns should follow an always-on strategy, as CPM levels tend to stabilize at a lower rate when Q5 begins at the start of the year. Meanwhile, lower-funnel campaigns show positive trends from Q4 through Q5, making this an ideal period for your holiday advertising efforts to shine, including capturing last-minute shoppers.

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Further Reading

Boost Your Q4 Holiday Ad Conversions with Facebook Engagement Campaigns

As the holiday season heats up, it’s an ideal moment to drive audiences further down the funnel and maximize conversions. Facebook engagement campaigns excel in turning brand reach and visibility into meaningful interactions, positioning your brand for impactful results throughout the holiday period.

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Hypergranular Targeting for Audience Segments That Drive Engagement

Just as you can utilize Facebook Audience Insights to identify target demographics such as age, gender, and location for your paid ads, a Meta ad agency leverages extensive insights gained from hundreds to thousands of previous successful campaigns.

An experienced agency specializing in Meta advertising possesses extensive knowledge from managing numerous Facebook and Instagram campaigns. Historical data from past campaigns is a valuable reference for understanding which audience segments perform best for specific industries and determining the optimal breadth or narrowness of targeting to achieve your desired views and clicks.

With over a decade of campaign experience on Meta and other social media advertising platforms, we have access to billions of data points that inform our decisions about ideal audience sizes and costs for precise targeting.

One of our recent successes involved a local fitness club aiming to drive digital sign-ups through a Facebook advertising campaign. Through link-click campaigns and precise location-based targeting, we ensured that ads reached the right audiences within the club’s service area. This strategic approach resulted in over 300,000 sign-ups, 1.5 million link clicks, and 700 million impressions, significantly enhancing the club’s digital presence.

Download the Facebook Health and Fitness Case Study here

Knowledge of Effective Ad Formats and Strategic Placements

With a deep understanding of Meta’s most effective ad formats, a Meta ad agency customizes options like Reels, carousels, and Stories to enhance engagement and performance. As Meta continues to expand its diverse array of ad formats and Advantage+ placements, it’s worth exploring which aspects of the Meta advertising network will drive traction for your holiday advertising campaigns.

For your Q4 2024 holiday advertising, Meta has introduced a new AI-powered feature within its Advantage+ shopping campaigns, allowing promotions to be showcased within the same ad. For instance, a promo code can be prominently displayed as a spotlight feature on a Reels ad:

Based on insights from Strike Social’s Campaign Lab data, here are our recommendations for the top Meta ad placements and advertising formats for your Q4 2024 holiday campaigns:

24/7 Execution of API-led Bid Optimization

To enhance this process, our Campaign Lab technology facilitates continuous campaign monitoring every two hours. Notifications are sent to the designated media buying team, making sure there is always vigilant oversight on your Facebook and Instagram holiday campaigns.

Strike Social’s Proven Success on Meta Advertising

We can confidently say that you should choose us to manage your holiday advertising campaigns this year, but what is our promise without the backing of our clients’ success?

How Targeted Meta Ad Placements Produce 34% CPLC Efficiency

As part of its anniversary collection, a luxury watch brand’s Facebook advertising campaign needed to introduce its new product line. While their brand represents luxury and prestige, the goal was to effectively reach a broad audience that would likely engage with their Facebook ad campaigns.

Results: The campaign successfully combined targeted placements to drive engagement and cost efficiency. Facebook overlay ads on Reels captured 77% of overall impressions and generated 48% of link clicks, proving highly effective in reaching a wide audience. Feed placements provided an additional 15% of impressions and accounted for 36% of link clicks, while Instagram Stories, though a smaller contributor, added 3% of impressions and 8% of link clicks. 

In terms of cost efficiency, each format demonstrated significant savings: Reels overlay ads reduced the cost per link click (CPLC) by 49%, Feed placements by 44%, and Instagram Stories by 38%. Altogether, this strategic mix resulted in a 34.69% reduction in overall CPLC compared to the projected rate, highlighting the advantage of targeted ad formats and thoughtful budget allocation for achieving high engagement at a lower cost.

Achieving 28x Facebook ROAS Through Data-Driven Monitoring

For a leading financial services provider, Strike Social executed a comprehensive campaign focused on acquiring conversions and leads, going through a meticulous approach from setup to ongoing optimization. It was a large-scale endeavor for a Facebook campaign and presented challenges, especially being far from the Thanksgiving and Christmas advertising surge.

Results: The conversion campaigns went live within 48 hours, swiftly generating impressions, clicks, and leads. Ongoing monitoring of the Meta Pixel was essential to maintain its effectiveness, allowing us to quickly resolve any issues in collaboration with the client. We also kept a close eye on cost per acquisition (CPA) and auction bids, which helped us meet our campaign objectives while staying within budget.

Thanks to this strategic approach, the Meta ad campaign achieved an impressive 28x Facebook ROAS, resulting in 66,000 leads and over 7,000 purchases through Facebook ads.

Your Go-To Meta Advertising Agency Partner is Just a Click Away

Choosing Strike Social as your Meta advertising agency means gaining access to unparalleled expertise, advanced tools, and proven strategies designed to optimize your Q4 holiday advertising costs.

With our focus on precise audience targeting, mastery of ad formats and placements, and proactive campaign adjustments, we are committed to helping you achieve both performance and cost-efficiency in your 2024 holiday marketing strategy.

Scaling your 2024 holiday advertising campaigns can be made easy. Fill out the form below for a personalized walkthrough of our ad tech solutions and discover how a certified Meta advertising partner can drive success for your campaigns. Whether you aim to reach new audiences or convert them into loyal customers, Strike Social is here to help.

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The post How A Meta Ad Agency Can Improve Your 2024 Holiday Advertising Costs appeared first on Strike Social.

Recent developments are poised to significantly change the trajectory of the elections and political advertising in general. To make informed decisions about your ad strategies and budget allocations, we must first analyze the key events and what they mean for the 2024 political ad spending trends.

What Are the Major Events Impacting 2024 Political Ad Spending?

Several events have already influenced – and will continue to influence –  political ad spending during this U.S. election cycle. Currently, the projected U.S. political ad spend for 2024 is expected to exceed $12 billion, reflecting a 24% increase from the 2022 midterm elections. However, given the dynamics of recent political events, there is still potential for significant changes as we approach election day. 

June 27: The First Presidential Debate Sparks Hesitation Among Biden Supporters

The initial presidential debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden revealed notable weaknesses in the latter’s performance. His lackluster delivery, characterized by a hoarse voice and unclear responses, raised concerns among his supporters. 

July 13: Attempted Assassination of Former President Trump During Pennsylvania Rally

As Republican presidential nominee Trump spoke during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, multiple shots were fired toward his direction, barely missing him, with one of the shots injuring him on his right ear. Trump was pronounced safe, but the incident has been classified by the FBI as a potential act of domestic terrorism. 

July 16: Dismissal of One of the Three Remaining Criminal Cases Against Trump

In mid-July, Former President Donald Trump was cleared of one of the three remaining criminal cases against him. This dismissal follows a different fate in another case: a conviction on 34 felony counts related to the 2016 election. 

Despite these convictions, Trump’s ability to continue his presidential campaign remains intact, especially as sentencing has been postponed until September.

July 21: President Joe Biden Drops Out of the 2024 U.S. Presidential Race

President Joe Biden, initially committed to running for re-election, officially withdraws from the 2024 presidential race. Biden has since nominated Vice President Kamala Harris as the new Democratic presidential candidate.

July 23: Vice President Kamala Harris Steps In as the Democratic Nominee

Vice President Kamala Harris officially accepted the Democratic Party’s nomination for President. With this endorsement, Harris is set to challenge Former President Donald Trump and four independent and third-party candidates.

Budget Allocation in U.S. Political Ad Spending for 2024

Given the significant events that have already occurred and the many more expected leading up to the election, how will the budget for political ad spending be allocated? With increased funding for both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, we need to step back and examine the overall distribution of funds for the 2024 political ad campaigns.

Has a U.S. Election Candidate Dropped Out Before?

Advertisers should not be surprised by Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the presidential race. This is not the first time a major candidate has exited the race close to the election. In 1972, Democratic candidate George McGovern’s running mate, Thomas F. Eagleton, withdrew and was replaced by Sargent Shriver just three months before the election. The Democratic ticket of George McGovern and Shriver lost in a landslide election defeat to Republican President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew.

In Kamala Harris’s case, this shift signifies a reallocation of the Democratic Party’s ad spending budget. With Election Day just over three months away, Harris faces a compressed timeline to transition the Biden-Harris campaign to focus on her candidacy. This will likely lead to a more concentrated and targeted ad spending strategy to maximize impact in the limited time available.

How Will the Democratic Party Adjust Their Campaign Strategy and Rebranding?

Under Biden, Democratic ad spending was expected to ramp up from September to October. With Harris taking over, spending is expected to increase much earlier. Harris has already raised $200 million for her campaign and is set to inherit $100 million from the Biden-Harris campaign. This rapid fundraising effort will likely result in a significant push in ad spending to rebrand and promote her candidacy.

Historical Perspective on Political Ad Spending

Along with traditional advertising mediums, digital advertising for political campaigns is expected to rise, accounting for 25% of total spending on presidential advertisements and other political ads.

CTV and Digital Political Advertising on the Rise

The 2024 Olympics and political ad spending are major drivers of CTV advertising’s growth this year. While broadcast and cable are still projected to receive the highest budget allocations for 2024 political ad spending, CTV is expected to account for up to 45% of the digital ad spending budget, with social media advertising at 17.5%. 

Google TV and YouTube TV ads are the top destinations for increased CTV spending, primarily due to their extensive reach.

Social Media’s Role in Digital Marketing for Politicians

Despite paid social media advertising accounting for a small portion of the total political ad spending for 2024, it remains a key medium for candidates to promote themselves and their parties. Many U.S. adults are wary of using their information for political advertising and believe social media platforms should not allow such ads.

This creates limited space for political advertising on social media. However, this also presents an opportunity for those willing to navigate the restrictions, as there may be less competition in the social media ad space.

Platform	Allowed	Allowed with restrictions	Not allowed
Facebook	(authorization required)
Instagram	(authorization required)
YouTube		(verification required) (with targeting restrictions)
TikTok			✘
X (Twitter)
LinkedIn			✘
Snapchat
Pinterest			✘

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Further Reading

Is Pausing October Ads the Right Move as Election Season Intensifies?

As the 2024 election draws closer, ad auction costs are set to rise with the influx of political campaign ads, especially with 50% of political ad spend expected in the final 30 days before election day. Explore data and insights to assess whether advertising during this October surge in political spending is worth the investment.

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What Advertisers Should Be Aware of Amidst the Surge in Digital Political Ad Spending

This information is not just for political advertising agencies; digital media buyers in general must be aware of these movements in the digital ad space to position their advertising strategies effectively. Here are the key strategies and considerations for media buyers and advertisers during the height of political ad spending on paid advertising platforms.

Swing States Likely to Increase Political Ad Spend

A “swing state” is a U.S. state that can likely determine or turn over the results of the presidential election, possibly due to unbridled support for one candidate or extremely high poll results leading to the election. In 2016, Trump won 7 out of 11 swing states against Hillary Clinton. 

This year, six swing states are being considered:

• Arizona
• Georgia
• Michigan
• Nevada
• Pennsylvania
• Wisconsin

As of May 2024, here’s how the ad spend for these states has been going:

The Democratic Party, led by Kamala Harris, has taken an early lead with plans to invest $50 million in political advertising across six key states. Meanwhile, MAGA Inc., a pro-Trump group, is set to spend $32 million on negative campaign ads targeting Harris’ record as a prosecutor. These attacks will begin in her home states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona. 

As Harris’ poll numbers rise among Pennsylvania voters, the competition for ad spend in this state is expected to intensify.

What This Means for Media Buyers:

Geo-targeting-wise, the impact of political campaigns on your brand’s existing campaigns can drive CPM rates higher, especially leading up to the election peak periods.

If budget is an issue, nationwide brands can focus ad spending on non-swing states, where the competition will be lighter on the political ad side and similar to non-political periods.

Here are our CPM projections on how political ad spending will affect CTV advertising costs in the months leading to the 2024 US presidential election:

As shown above, CPM costs are projected to rise from September to October due to heightened political ad spending. Traditionally, October is a peak month for efficiency in Q4, but the surge in political advertising is expected to drive up costs during this period.

CPM costs are anticipated to decline in November, particularly in the final week before Election Day. This decrease is attributed to platforms like Meta instituting bans on political ads during the final week of the campaign and after the polls close, possibly lowering CPM costs at that time.

Quick tip to optimize ad spending:

When running a long-term campaign, utilize always-on advertising.

If you’re concerned about overspending, there’s no need to turn off your ads during the election period. Instead, reduce budgets and spending during this campaign duration for consistent performance, focusing on your top-performing ads and campaigns. 

When the election period winds down, likely around November, you can increase your auction buys to get that extra push. You can achieve your desired results with proper campaign pacing while maintaining efficiency.

Capitalize on Targeting Strategies Restricted for Political Ad Campaigns

Depending on the social media advertising platform, several restrictions are imposed to balance advertising policies and the safety of user information. Regular paid advertising campaigns already have an edge against political advertising, as the latter faces multiple restrictions on audience targeting.

What This Means for Media Buyers:

For example, U.S. political campaign ads on Google and YouTube can only use the following targeting methods:

• Geographic location (except radius around a location)
• Age, gender
• Contextual targeting options such as ad placements, topics, keywords against sites, apps, pages, and videos

Thus, media buying teams should focus their ad spend on campaigns directed towards other targeting strategies such as:

• Interest targeting
• Household income
• Custom audience and segments
• Custom search terms
• First-party data such as website visitors, customer lists, etc.

Video Advertising on YouTube and CTV Will Be Maximized

CTV advertising for political ads received a huge leap from just 19% of the digital ad spend budget allocation in 2020, primarily because it provides a more targeted, personalized ad experience. Additionally, the completion rate for CTV ads can reach up to 96%, making it an excellent medium for ensuring video ads are fully viewed by audiences.

As competition for video ad placements increases on YouTube, YouTube TV, Google TV, and Connected TV, advertisers must adapt to maximize their media buys during the height of the 2024 political ad spending.

Strike Social has demonstrated the efficiency of CTV in YouTube campaigns, proving it to be the most effective medium even when compared to mobile platforms.

What This Means for Media Buyers:

CTV ad inventory is vast, including not only Google TV and YouTube TV but also major streaming apps like Pluto TV, Hulu, Crackle, and Netflix, along with CTV app devices like Roku, Chromecast, Firestick, Apple TV, and other connected devices.

If you haven’t expanded to CTV advertising yet, especially in YouTube campaigns, know how you can do so to broaden your reach and achieve increased efficiency. 

Managing Your Ad Spending During the Political Campaign Season

The 2024 political ad spending surge is inevitable, and so is the increase in digital ad space spending. Brands and advertisers must be ready to adjust and adapt to the changing dynamics of the U.S. elections during this period.

While increased budgets and spending are projected, they can be managed effectively with the right media planning and support from a reliable social media advertising agency.

Contact our team today for a personalized walkthrough and see how Strike Social’s technology can help you achieve your desired results at efficient costs.

The post Breaking Down the 2024 Political Ad Spending Trends appeared first on Strike Social.

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Now that you’ve successfully shipped off many orders and achieved substantial sales during Amazon Prime Day, it’s time to reassess your inventory stocks and strategize how to push the excess stock using paid social media advertising. Whether you have high inventory levels remaining or simply want to maintain the momentum from Amazon Prime Day, we’ve compiled these tips to extend your post-Amazon Prime Day sales well beyond the event.

5 Tips to Maximize Your Sales After Amazon Prime Day Ends

Retaining interest and keeping Amazon shopping purchases flowing can be a significant challenge after major retail events like Halloween, Thanksgiving, or the 4th of July. Consumers typically tighten their purse strings and wait for big discount events like Amazon Prime Day in the summer, the back-to-school season, and Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

According to Salesforce’s data, 23% of all online holiday sales occur during Cyber Week, with average discounts reaching up to 27% of unit prices. However, sales remain steady seven weeks before the peak retail holiday and even four weeks afterward.

Here are five tips to keep up the momentum, secure Amazon shopping cart checkouts, and seal the deal on those Prime Day sales.

1. Analyze Your Amazon Prime Day Sales Data

Once Amazon Prime Day concludes, the first step is to evaluate the performance of your sales campaigns during the 48-hour event.

Determine which ad or ad group received the most link clicks.
Identify which ad or ad group generated the highest engagements.
Evaluate which ad format was most effective for each product or collection.

Understanding the success of your top Amazon Prime Day ads will guide your strategy for effectively marketing the remaining inventory.

Let’s convert this data analysis into a visual to offer a clearer view:

Based on this data, here are quick insights and recommendations to improve your post-Amazon Prime Day sales campaigns:

• Refine Targeting:
  • Luxury: Expand targeting beyond the top 10-20% HHI bracket. Consider broader income brackets or interests like art and travel that align with luxury watch buyers.
  • Sport: Test different interests within the “outdoor activities” category (e.g., running, hiking, swimming).

• Bidding & Budget Adjustments:
  • Classic: Given the high VR and CTR for several Classic Collection ads, consider increasing bids to capture more impressions and potential sales.
  • For ads with consistently low CTR and engagement (e.g., Diamond-Studded Watches, All Sport Collection Watches), consider reallocating budget to better-performing ads or ad groups.

To further evaluate the effectiveness of your Amazon Prime Day ads, collaborate closely with your sales team to gather metrics such as:

• Items added to cart;
• Items purchased

These metrics provide insights into customer behavior post-Amazon Prime Day, helping refine strategies to maximize sales after the event. It’s crucial to correlate your ad performance with actual sales numbers to develop strategies that effectively boost your post-Amazon Prime Day sales.

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Further Reading

Drive Holiday Sales with Post Engagement Campaigns

Meta’s data reveals that 55% of holiday shoppers were influenced by Meta technologies in their purchasing decisions. Discover how Facebook engagement strategies can turn broad audience reach into meaningful interactions and higher conversions during the holiday season.

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2. Keep Your Amazon Prime Day Campaigns Active

Don’t slam the brakes on your Amazon Prime Day advertising campaigns. With the Amazon shopping data you gather after the two-day event closes, you should be able to make informed decisions about optimizing your campaigns to attract audiences for post-Prime Day deals. 

Ad messaging and creative tip:

During Day 1 of Amazon Prime Day, 56% of shoppers waited for items to go on sale. Offer exclusive post-Prime Day deals or limited-time discounts to capitalize on lingering purchase intent. 

Combine your in-demand products with your listed Amazon Prime Day products, which have ample inventory. This strategy allows you to engage individuals who expressed interest in your, for instance, high-priced items but were seeking complementary deals.

Audience targeting tip:

54% of customers doing their Amazon shopping will likely complete their purchase when they see a discounted price for items left in their abandoned shopping carts. To capitalize on this, focus on retargeting audiences who showed interest during the event but didn’t make a purchase. During your Amazon Prime Day campaign, gather enough data to create an audience list for remarketing immediately after the event.

For instance, if you used a landing page for your Amazon product links, ensure your platform pixel (e.g., Meta pixel) is installed to capture website visit data. This allows you to retarget users who clicked on your landing page and find similar customer profiles who are likely to choose you for their Amazon shopping.

Campaign optimization tip:

Maintain consistent campaign pacing throughout the entire campaign duration. Start your campaign before Amazon Prime Day 2024 and ensure it continues smoothly after the event concludes. 

Allocate peak budget specifically for the 16th and 17th, with higher auction bids during Prime Day week. Afterward, adjust your bids to regular levels for consistent campaign delivery.

3. Sustain Brand Recall Post-Prime Day

After Amazon Prime Day concludes, leverage your campaign insights to drive future awareness and consideration-focused campaigns. If you’ve achieved your sales goals during this period, now is the time to ensure your brand remains prominent outside peak Amazon shopping seasons.

Awareness and consideration campaigns:

Aim for an effective frequency of ‘three-plus’ exposures. This means your ads should be seen by each audience member at least three times to ensure they leave an impact and are remembered.

One effective approach is using a Video Reach Campaign with targeted frequency settings, allowing your Amazon shopping ads to be shown up to 4 times weekly or 8 times monthly to the same viewer.

Sales campaign:

Did you know that after a customer’s first purchase, there’s a 27% chance they will buy again? This likelihood increases to 49% after their second purchase and jumps to 62% after their third. Don’t halt your sales efforts just yet — capitalize on post-Amazon Prime Day sales to clear excess inventory and retain customer loyalty.

Temptations, a cat treat brand, effectively utilized Amazon Prime Day to boost customer loyalty. During the 2023 event, they secured 74% of direct purchases, with the remaining 26% made through their Amazon store. Additionally, 28% of all purchases were from repeat buyers, showcasing the effectiveness of their promotional strategies.

4. Re-identify your Targeting Segments

A social media advertising team that optimizes your campaigns around the clock allows you to shift from broad to highly specific targeting once you identify successful market segments or demographic audiences. Conversely, you can broaden your audience to increase impressions or views.

Eliminate Irrelevant Placements, Boost Effective Ones

When running YouTube ads, analyze which topics and channel placements yield the best results for your Amazon shopping ads. Pause or remove placements that underperform during your post-Amazon Prime Day sales push. Conversely, optimize bids for YouTube channel placements, driving clicks and conversions to maintain top ad spots.

Which Household Device Worked Best?

Besides assessing keyword effectiveness and ad placements, you must evaluate which device targeting yielded the best results for your ads. Did mobile ads generate more traction, or did Connected TV viewers contribute to higher click-through rates and views?

Our Q2 2024 YouTube benchmarks reveal that ads delivered on Connected TV garnered 55% more impressions than ads delivered on other devices. Mobile devices followed closely, with a 38.2% share of impressions.

As the Connected TV (CTV) market expands, it demonstrates that targeting large-screen devices remains a viable and effective strategy. However, mobile devices continue to excel due to their accessibility and user-friendly nature.

Furthermore, Amazon Prime Day data from the event’s second day indicates that over 60% of average household spending fell within the $100 to >$200 range, with each order averaging $10 to $40. This suggests that consumers shop via mobiles and place multiple orders after discovering better deals or offers on different devices.

Understanding your top-performing devices enables strategic decisions post-Amazon Prime Day. Whether expanding to Google TV or focusing on mobiles, align your strategy with campaign data to maximize post-event sales before the next retail cycle.

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Further Reading

Expand Your Audience with Google TV and YouTube CTV

As YouTube’s Connected TV inventory grows, media buyers aiming to connect with living room audiences should make Google TV and YouTube TV a core part of their media strategy.

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5. Coordinate your Post-Amazon Prime Day Sales Strategy with The Team

Once you’ve gathered all campaign data and identified successful and unsuccessful strategies, you can convene with your client or agency to strategize for post-Amazon Prime Day sales. 

Aligning your media buying team’s strategy with your target Amazon shopping sales is essential for maximizing your brand’s ROAS (return on ad spend) and achieving optimal results from your paid social media ad campaigns. This alignment ensures that both teams are on the same page. In contrast, the media buying team optimizes Amazon shopping ad performance using machine learning and AI; the sales team can provide insights and direction to enhance overall effectiveness.

A significant advantage is having a responsive media buying team capable of 24/7 optimization. At Strike Social, our teams leverage advanced technology and media buying expertise to achieve desired KPIs while optimizing costs. This approach ensures that your Amazon Prime Day advertising campaigns perform well even after the event, maintaining strong brand visibility and audience engagement.

Explore how Strike Social’s data-driven approach delivers measurable results for your campaigns. Contact us here and find out how our experienced team can help you reach your social media advertising goals.

The post Strategies For Post-Amazon Prime Day Sales Advertising appeared first on Strike Social.

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5 Back-to-School Advertising Strategies That Generate Sales

The winter holidays may be the biggest advertising event throughout the year; however, back-to-school marketing promotions come to a close second. Hence, competition can be fierce as school and college necessities are among the first items that back-to-school shoppers seek. But you should be good to go if you have the right back-to-school ad strategy to tap into those markets and appeal to those interests.

Whether you’re running a back-to-school weekly ad for college dorm furniture or recurring social campaigns for the trendiest school bags, these strategies for your back-to-school ad campaigns are designed to drive your audience from their screens to their shopping carts.

1. Develop Funnel-Focused Campaigns

Within the Meta platform, Facebook has allowed brands to effectively promote their back-to-school ads, from raising awareness and building consideration to ultimately driving conversions.

By creating a well-structured funnel-focused campaign, you can guide your Facebook audience from becoming aware of your brand to increasing brand recall by targeting those who engage with your brand and similar brands.

The next step is to present them with engaging back-to-college and back-to-school ads that build trust. By featuring information about educational resources and specific programs, you can attract students who are looking to choose a college major, ultimately converting them into leads or buyers.

Here’s a sample media plan that takes your audience from awareness to conversion:

To optimize your back-to-school ads timeline, here’s a comprehensive breakdown of our Facebook benchmarks spanning Q2 to the start of Q3:

Using Advantage+ audience targeting, you can expand the reach of your back-to-college ad campaigns while applying detailed targeting options such as age, gender, interests, demographics, and behavior. Custom audiences, such as lookalikes and those based on Meta engagements, can also be utilized with Advantage+.

2. Implement Advanced Audience Targeting

Just as you can target sports audiences for a non-sports brand, you don’t need to be a back-to-school supplies brand to succeed during the back-to-school advertising season. YouTube, combined with Google’s advertising ecosystem, reaches up to 600M+ users and devices. While this reach is excellent for brand awareness, the ultimate goal is to narrow it down to funnel your audience toward conversions.

By leveraging YouTube and Google’s advanced targeting capabilities, you can optimize audience targeting to maximize your sales during the back-to-school and back-to-college season.

Get on the Big Screens

With families spending time at home during the summer break, it’s the perfect time to utilize Connected TV devices, which are present in 83% of U.S. households. This year, the top back-to-school shopping destination remains online, with 57% of shoppers expected to shop from their desktop computers or mobile phones.

Expand the Summer Sales

Target “summer” searches and interests while integrating summer themes into your ads to blend with users’ searches and browsing activity.

Shoppers have already started as early as the 4th of July, with others waiting until Labor Day. These periods provide the best opportunities to capture shoppers’ attention and drive purchases for school and college supplies.

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Further Reading

5 Winning Strategies for Your Fourth of July and Summer Ads

No matter your industry, there are countless ways to make your Fourth of July campaigns shine. Stay ahead of the competition this summer with our expert tips for creating engaging and impactful holiday ads.

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3. Excluding Negative Keywords and Topics

With regard to YouTube brand safety and suitability, it is imperative to remain informed about any potentially adverse issues that may arise, particularly when employing a specific geo-targeting strategy. It is essential to avoid any association with negative news or controversial topics, as such headlines can harm brand perception and reputation.

Video & Channel Placement Exclusions

You can exclude your ads from appearing on news channels. While news channels can be an effective way to reach parents, they can also negatively impact your brand if your back-to-school ads are shown alongside undesirable news. 

Additionally, exclude your ads from YouTube Kids channels to prevent unintended clicks that can skew your ad performance.

Negative Keyword Targeting

Similar to keyword targeting, you can create a list of negative keywords that you don’t want your ads to appear with. Set this up at the account level to apply a default set of negative keywords to all your back-to-school and back-to-college YouTube campaigns. 

You can also create negative keyword lists at the campaign and ad group levels.

Category Exclusions

Using category exclusions in YouTube ads gives you greater authority over the contexts in which your advertisements are displayed. By excluding categories like tragedy and conflict, profanity, rough language, sexually suggestive content, and other sensitive topics, you can ensure that your back-to-college and back-to-school ads appear alongside content that better aligns with your brand’s image and values.

4. Boost Your Sales Using Spark Ads and UGC

Spark Ads on TikTok allow brands to promote User-Generated Content (UGC) and their own organic content as sponsored ads within the platform. According to TikTok’s data, Spark Ads have a 20% higher landing page arrival rate than non-Spark Ads. Additionally, brand recall on TikTok increases by up to 27% when brands partner with TikTok influencers.

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Further Reading

Promote User-Generated Content with TikTok Spark Ads

With TikTok Spark Ads, you can boost visibility for your own videos or those from content creators by turning them into promoted ads. Discover how to leverage influencer-generated content to reach a wider audience on TikTok.

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• Promote Trust: Utilize content from TikTok users who post about your product or service to build trust in your brand.
• Provide Authenticity: Showcase authentic experiences with your brand, enhancing credibility.
• Foster Collaborations: Develop good relationships and potential collaborations with TikTok users who can promote your brand to their audience.

For example, a mini printer brand showcased its product by demonstrating how cleanly it prints a skeletal system diagram, which the student in the video could easily stick to their notes.

Another example is a portable stove pot, where a college student shows how easy it is to prepare a quick meal without leaving the dorm bed.

5. Maintain Brand Recall with Proper Campaign Pacing

Utilize always-on advertising to keep your brand top of mind for back-to-school shoppers. While you don’t need to be the top bidder or show up constantly, it’s crucial to be visible during peak back-to-school sale days. With proper campaign pacing and strategic timing, you can maintain a consistent presence on users’ feeds, increasing your impact when they decide to purchase.

Take note of these peak retail events, during which 68% of shoppers plan to make their purchases for school and college supplies. These are the times to increase bids within your campaign duration:

• 4th of July
• Prime Day
• Labor Day

Boost Your Returns with Effective Back-to-School Sales Ad Campaigns

As you prepare, launch, and monitor your campaigns during the back-to-school marketing season, remember that while all funnel stages are important, the ultimate goal is to generate sales and keep the cycle going. To ensure your social media advertising efforts pay off, you must partner with experts who can help you maximize your profits by optimizing your campaigns for better results.

At Strike Social, our goal is to drive results for your campaigns. With over 10 years of successful campaign data, we help you achieve your goals by setting up tailored segments based on data science and ensuring transparency in outcomes. We can help you maximize your campaign performance on YouTube and other biddable social platforms. Contact us here to discuss how we can boost your sales campaigns.

The post Drive Customer Purchases with These 5 Back-to-School Ad Strategies 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.

The Latest Back-to-School Marketing Trends for Your 2024 Strategies

Before finalizing your 2024 back-to-school campaigns, review how the 2023 season unfolded to gather advertising ideas. Examine the trends and assess whether your media plan aligns with previous ad seasons, identifying the top strategies to implement.

Timing Your 2024 Back-to-School Campaigns

To successfully target shoppers during the back-to-school season, you must begin your campaigns well before the season starts in early July.

Statistics show that 55% of consumers start shopping around this time, making it essential to have campaigns up and running or in the learning phase before that. Additionally, many parents take advantage of Amazon Prime Day for back-to-school shopping deals, making it a strategic point to engage potential customers.

However, don’t exhaust your budget early on. Keep your campaigns running through the school season and even afterward. Despite the initial rush, 85% of shoppers still have half of their shopping left after the first weeks of July. Notably, one-third of US students return to school in mid-August, presenting further opportunities for your back-to-school advertising efforts.

What’s on the Back-to-School Shopping List

Spending per household is expected to rise, with electronics and computer-related accessories in high demand for up to 69% of back-to-school shoppers.

Additionally, big-ticket items such as dorm and apartment furnishings are popular this year, driven by a projected increase in college enrollment. Public college enrollments are expected to increase by 230,000, while private college enrollments are expected to increase by 80,000.

Drivers of 2024 Back-to-School Spending

In addition to higher prices, 43% of shoppers want to purchase new items this year, such as trendy streetwear-inspired back-to-school outfits for kids, or versatile footwear that complements any school look. By staying in tune with what your audience wants and aligning your offerings accordingly, your brand has the opportunity to attract new customers through innovative products and compelling campaigns. 

Moreover, big-ticket items and additional school supplies are major drivers of spending during back-to-school season. Hence, brands offering packages or promotions on these items should expand their advertising efforts to highlight them effectively.

How to Prepare Back-to-School Campaigns That Hit the Marks

Will your back-to-school advertising campaigns pass the checklist for effective ads that will excel this year? Here’s how your back-to-school social campaigns can pass with flying colors and achieve the metrics you’re aiming for.

Prioritize Mobile Optimization

In the 2022-23 school year, 47% of U.S. parents shopped exclusively on mobile devices. Use short-form videos for Meta Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikTok. Using the 9:16 ad format, you can take advantage of mobile-first placements and gain better visibility among mobile users. Check out the TikTok benchmarks for this time of year:

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Further Reading

Cross-Posting Your Back to School Ads on Short-form Video Ad Platforms

Ensure your back-to-school ad campaigns stay impactful by adhering to the safe zone requirements of each short-form video platform. Follow these guidelines to avoid underperformance—or worse, ad rejections.

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With 40.9% of YouTube watch time on mobile devices, YouTube Shorts is a prime spot for ads. The latest Google Marketing Live update allows landing pages to be viewed in-app, boosting user engagement.

Quick tip for your back-to-school campaigns: Ensure your landing pages and websites are mobile-responsive to maintain a consistent layout across all devices.

Maximize Reach with Cross-Device Targeting

In addition to the standard contextual or audience targeting options available for YouTube ads, you can also target specific devices such as computers, mobile phones, tablets, and TVs. Interestingly, despite desktop computers only accounting for 23% of retail website traffic in Q1 2024, they were responsible for 34% of all purchases in the United States.

Quick tip for your back-to-school ads: Use Product Studio to enhance the backgrounds of your back-to-school ad creatives without needing entirely new content. Ensure your Shopping ads are optimized for desktop viewing as well.

Engage Repeat Customers

Don’t neglect visitors who didn’t convert on their first visit. Retargeting on social media helps remind them of your brand, especially during peak shopping. According to Mintel research, dads primarily rely on brand familiarity (32%) and social media (33%) when shopping for back-to-school supplies. On the other hand, moms prioritize school recommendations (41%) and promotions or coupons (40%).

Incorporate discounts and coupons in your retargeting ads. A discount can drive an initial purchase, and a coupon for future use encourages repeat business. Additionally, loyalty or reward programs should be offered to incentivize frequent purchases further.

Quick tip for your back-to-school advertising strategy: To effectively target dads and moms, consider incorporating discounts, coupons, loyalty programs, and rewards into your back-to-school retargeting ads.

A discount can encourage a one-time purchase, while a coupon for a subsequent purchase can increase customer loyalty. A loyalty program or rewards system for frequent purchases can be the cherry on top, further incentivizing customers to continue buying from you.

Additional Strategies for Your Back-to-School Ads

Promote Inclusivity in Your Back-to-School Campaigns

While Americans with disabilities constitute a significant consumer base, only approximately 1% of advertisements feature them.

Both students with disabilities (54%) and typically developing students (51%) spend over two hours on social media, highlighting the importance of inclusive advertising. Surprisingly, few back-to-school advertising campaigns highlight individuals with disabilities.

Creating inclusive ads demonstrating how your products or services benefit this demographic can help close this gap. By doing so, you’ll align with the values of diversity and inclusion and tap into a significant and often overlooked consumer base.

College students consider personal care items a significant part of their list, comprising 30% of their shopping. Hence, brands need to understand how to showcase inclusivity effectively. Benefit Cosmetics has set an excellent example with its ad featuring Kate Grant, a woman with Down syndrome, as the lead role. This ad garnered 5K likes and positive engagement on Instagram, demonstrating the importance of celebrating diversity and inclusivity in marketing campaigns.

Appeal to Price-Conscious Shoppers

With a consistent presence in the market, discount stores continue to attract price-conscious buyers, accounting for approximately 40-50% of shoppers for the past three years. Furthermore, up to 46% will purchase pre-configured back-to-school kits this year.

Your social media ad campaigns should emphasize discounted bundles and promotional packages to stand out and capture the attention of budget-minded shoppers. This approach effectively appeals to consumers seeking cost-effective and convenient shopping solutions during the back-to-school season.

Tap into the Millennial Parent Demographic

Millennials are now entering the phase where they have children of school age, which means they are a key demographic for your campaigns. 71% of millennial parents prefer to purchase back-to-school supplies online, with YouTube and TikTok being popular platforms for influencer marketing.

The convenience and wide selection of online shopping, coupled with the influence of social media, have made online shopping the preferred choice for many millennial parents.

Advertiser’s Notes for Your Back-to-School Social Campaigns

Don’t wait for the peak period to prepare your media plan and launch your back-to-school campaigns on paid social media. With the help of this Strike Social guide, we’ve compiled key takeaways to ensure your campaigns are a success this peak advertising season:

Keep Your Ads Active Before, During, and After the Back-to-School Season

With the right campaign pacing, maintain a balanced budget and ad delivery throughout the entire campaign period from early July to late August or early September.

Refresh Your Creatives Without Taking New Images or Videos

Google’s AI has made it easier for advertisers to keep their creatives fresh without constantly creating new content. With the Product Studio, you can optimize your back-to-school ads with captivating backgrounds and designs for desktop and mobile placements.

Refine Your Audience Targeting

Age and country demographics are just the beginning of audience targeting for paid ads. Use keywords, retargeting, affinity, and live events to refine your audience and improve ROAS and conversion rates.

Strike Social helps brands optimize performance without exceeding costs. Contact us now to learn more about Strike Social’s services and customized solutions and discover how our data-driven approach can drive measurable results for your campaigns.

The post Kickstart Your Back-To-School Advertising Campaigns This 2024 appeared first on Strike Social.

Top 2024 Father’s Day Strategies for a Winning Ad Campaign

The quest for the perfect Father’s Day gifts starts early, with searches spiking as early as the first week of June. Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or a newly-fledged media buyer, there’s ample opportunity to build up your ads before the 2024 Father’s Day frenzy reaches its peak. From consumer behavior to advertising strategies, we’ll cover what you need to know to maximize this retail opportunity.

What Consumers Are Looking For This Father’s Day 2024

While trends may evolve, the timeless nature of our fathers’ preferences often remains constant. If you’ve ever assumed that shopping for dads is a breeze compared to shopping for moms, think again. 

Take a look at the 2023 Father’s Day advertising trends and observe how consumer behavior has shaped over the years:

Where People Shop for Father’s Day Gifts

As you gear up for Father’s Day advertising this 2024, it’s evident that online platforms will continue to reign as the top shopping destination for consumers. Social media platforms are already buzzing with anticipation for this retail event, making it an opportune moment for advertisers to capitalize on the paid social media advertising space.

What Father’s Day Shoppers Are Searching For

Drawing parallels to trends observed during Mother’s Day, “gifts of experience” are increasingly valued during these celebratory occasions. These experiences may include tickets to sporting events, concerts, or indulgent dinners and brunches.

However, for Father’s Day 2023, special outings took precedence, followed closely by clothing and gift cards as the top two choices. Subscription boxes have also emerged as a top pick, offering curated selections ranging from specialty cocktails and shaving sets to golf gear and apparel.

Drawing parallels to trends observed during Mother’s Day, “gifts of experience” are increasingly valued during these celebratory occasions. These experiences may include tickets to sporting events, concerts, or indulgent dinners and brunches.

However, for Father’s Day 2023, special outings took precedence, followed closely by clothing and gift cards as the top two choices. Subscription boxes have also emerged as a top pick, offering curated selections ranging from specialty cocktails and shaving sets to golf gear and apparel.

Father’s Day Ad Spotlight:

Catch a glimpse of The Personal Barber’s video ad promoting a shaving subscription set. The ad showcases the set’s contents and provides audiences with a vivid depiction of what they can gift their dads this Father’s Day.

Subscription boxes allow dads to explore new products and experiences tailored to their interests, making them thoughtful and convenient Father’s Day gift options that continue to delight throughout the year.

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Further Reading

8 Creative Ways to Market Your Subscription Boxes

Subscription boxes are thriving, and people can’t get enough of them! With Father’s Day just around the corner, standing out with unique subscription box marketing ideas can be challenging. That’s why we’ve compiled 8 strategies to keep your subscribers engaged and excited for every celebration.

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Father’s Day Advertising Ideas to Lead Your 2024 Campaigns

Now that you’ve gained insights into Father’s Day 2024 shopper preferences, it’s time to translate this knowledge into actionable strategies. Not all brands will have the same offers; thus, you can certainly use these tips to ensure your brand remains at the top of customer’s minds when they see your ads on social media.

Strategic Targeting

Specify your audience

Utilize the advanced targeting options provided by paid social media ad platforms. You can reach highly relevant audiences by leveraging user demographics, interests, purchase history, and even life events (such as getting married).

On YouTube, you can target your video ads to users experiencing specific life events, such as recently getting married or planning to get married soon. Additionally, you can target users who have identified as parents, allowing their spouses or children to see your ads as part of the Father’s Day advertising campaign. Here are the estimated weekly impressions for these audience demographics related to Father’s Day:

Line up the lookalikes

If you have a robust customer file, upload it onto your chosen ad platform to create lookalike audiences. Platforms like TikTok utilize AI to identify similar Father’s Day audiences with shared characteristics, boosting the chances of driving purchase intent.

Bonus Tip: Retargeting your website visitors

Remember to retarget website visitors who have shown interest in Father’s Day-related products or categories. Targeted ads can serve as reminders to complete their purchases.

On TikTok, you can utilize the Website Traffic type of Custom Audience to retarget individuals who have performed specific actions on your website. If you have installed the TikTok Pixel on your website, you can also enable retargeting on your specific ad group based on their previous actions.

Shifting family dynamics

Move beyond traditional dad stereotypes and tailor your Father’s Day advertising campaigns to resonate with people buying for single dads, stepdads, grandfathers, or other father figures.

According to NRF’s 2023 data, half of those celebrating Father’s Day purchased gifts for a father or stepfather, followed by a husband (27%), son (11%), brother (9%), friend (8%), or grandfather (7%).

Platform-Specific Strategies

Interactive Instagram ads

Create engaging video ads in the form of Instagram Stories. Use interactive features like polls, quizzes, and product demos to captivate your audience. Some examples of Father’s Day creative ideas include running a poll asking users to vote on their favorite Father’s Day gift or including a quiz about their dad’s preferences.

Alternatively, you can showcase your product in action on Instagram Reels ads. Include direct links to your e-commerce site, allowing users to shop instantly from your ads.

Under a Clicks objective, you can see how your ad drives traffic to your website. Here are the benchmarks for Clicks-focused campaigns on Instagram to gauge your success during the Father’s Day advertising period:

Capture attention on TikTok

60% of consumers trust brands that feature user-generated content (UGC) because it offers social proof from influencers and content creators who share genuine experiences with your product or service.

Incorporate UGC into your TikTok ads by highlighting your Father’s Day gift packages or showing how creators celebrate Father’s Day using your exclusive service. If your main objective is to boost brand awareness, here are some CPM benchmarks to guide your campaign evaluation:

Get Insider Tips on Father’s Day 2024 and More

Father’s Day 2024 is another excellent chance to boost your brand’s visibility on social media. Even though it’s only halfway through the year, you don’t want to miss out on this profitable opportunity. Onto the rest of 2024, we’ll continue to track and share insights on peak advertising trends for upcoming seasons.

For more valuable information, browse our blog and subscribe to our newsletter to stay informed.

The post Advertising Strategies to Build Up Your 2024 Father’s Day Campaigns appeared first on Strike Social.

How Targeting Sports Audiences Drives Results During Major Sports Events

The meteoric rise of powerhouse women athletes like Simone Biles, Alex Morgan, Sabrina Ionescu, and Caitlin Clark exemplifies the surge of sports on social media. Beyond their remarkable achievements in women’s sports, these athletes have each seen their careers skyrocket and a boost in social media engagement. Comscore reported that women’s sports are becoming mainstream, boosting a 219% YoY social media growth from ESPNW.

This year, the 2024 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament shattered viewership records, capturing the attention of sports fans nationwide. The championship game between the University of South Carolina and the University of Iowa drew 18.7 million average viewers, peaking at over 24 million combined on ESPN and ABC. The 2024 collegiate season marked the first time a women’s final surpassed the viewership of the men’s championship game.

Let’s understand how social media’s influence is pivotal in sports marketing. By examining how brands and advertisers can harness sports-centric content strategically, we can uncover opportunities to enhance campaign engagement, establish emotional connections with audiences, and create brand loyalty.

Sports Teams and Athletes are Becoming Brand Champions

Sports teams and athletes possess universal appeal, enabling businesses to engage with enthusiasts and a broader demographic that may not traditionally follow sports.

These types of content transcend various cultures and demographics, capturing themes of unity, perseverance, and victory that resonate with the masses. Notably, sports fans, regardless of their level of fanaticism, often engage with a team or athlete’s social media pages, especially during significant events.

Caitlin Clark, a generational talent in the WNCAA, has experienced phenomenal growth on Instagram, mirroring her exceptional career. In September 2021, she had 46,808 followers. Approximately three years before securing the top pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, Clark has amassed a remarkable 1.5 million followers on Instagram. Her follower count surged during her March Madness stint, with approximately 60k new followers in February-March 2022, 350k in February-April 2023, and a staggering one million in February-April 2024.

The prominence of sports fandom on social media has been amplified recently, particularly with the increasing popularity of women athletes filling our social newsfeeds. As a result, brands can capitalize on this surge of engagement by aligning their advertising campaigns with the trending sports buzz. This strategic placement of ads within relevant sports-related content can effectively capture the attention of a wider audience and enhance brand exposure.

Why Should Non-Sports Brands Add Sports Audiences To Their Targeting?

Given the effectiveness of sports teams and athletes as brand advocates, it’s beneficial to understand why non-sports brands should consider including sports audiences in their paid social strategies.

Looking at the example, Caitlin Clark’s explosive growth on social media exemplifies the individual athlete’s influence and the broader potential for brands to tap into these vibrant fan bases and target highly engaging sports content.

Here are three insights on why advertisers should be targeting sports audiences:

1. Broader Market Reach

Sports and athletes provide a gateway to diverse audiences. Lifestyle brands can have a fresh new set of eyes from sports and athlete followers. Sports content usually shows victory, motivation, and perseverance, and brands can harness these themes to enhance their ad narratives.

2. High Engagement Levels

Athletes like Caitlin Clark demonstrate the potential for quality engagement with sports followers on social media platforms. Brands should be around conversation during key sports events. Interaction with sports followers drives results as it translates into significant brand awareness and recall.

3. Efficient Personalized Messaging Through Localized Campaigns

During events like the NCAA Finals, geo-targeting specific regions or cities where games are being held or where fan bases are located can be highly effective. Localized campaigns allow for more personalized marketing, leading to higher engagement rates at a lower cost than broader national campaigns.

Sports Audience Targeting in Action

The team used custom affinity audiences in a YouTube ad campaign, balancing sports-centric audience targeting and sustainability interests. The campaign achieved a 13% CPM efficiency for non-skippable ads and a 40% cost reduction in CPV for skippable ads.

An important insight gained was that sports-centric audience targeting worked well with non-skippable ads on connected TVs (CTV). Understanding viewers’ viewing intent based on the device can increase efficiency. For non-skippable ads on larger screens, viewers are likelier to stick around and watch the ad, as they’re consuming long-form sports content like condensed games, replays, analysis, or match breakdowns. Unlike mobile viewers, attention spans are shorter, and viewing intent is mixed.

Balancing the ratio of sports-centric and interest-based, matching the right ad formats, and device targeting are factors that advertisers shouldn’t overlook.

Download our 2024 YouTube HVAC Case Study

By targeting sports audiences, the HVAC brand tapped into its viewer’s interests, leading to significant reach and surpassing view targets through the use of Custom Intent audiences in its YouTube campaign.

Download the report

Social Platforms Ad Tools That You Can Use In Capitalizing Growth in Sports Viewership

Having established the synergy between the explosion in sports viewership and social media, advertisers can now know how to capitalize on the popularity of high-profile sports events by utilizing social platforms as dynamic advertising toolkits. These platforms allow brands to effectively engage with sports fans at all levels by tapping into each platform’s user base’s unique features and consumption habits.

Apart from targeting sports audiences, below are three refined strategies advertisers can employ:

Streamline Endorsements or Brand Partnerships Process

• TikTok Spark Ads: Collaborate with influential creators to produce authentic branded content. For example, a sports drink brand might partner with fitness influencers on TikTok to create native-looking workout videos that subtly highlight product benefits.
• Instagram Branded Content: Partner with athletes and influencers to integrate branded messages into their content, enhancing credibility and appeal.
• YouTube BrandConnect: Work with YouTube publishers and sports content creators to amplify brand narratives within fan communities, fostering deeper connections.

Leverage Specific Features or Ad Placements for Integrated Campaigns

• Instagram and Facebook Reels, Stories Ads: Use immersive, short-form video content to captivate audiences and drive engagement during major sports events.
• YouTube Shorts Ads: Go for bite-sized, visually compelling advertisements to reach viewers and maintain their attention.
• TikTok Interactive Add-Ons: Boost engagement through interactive elements like stickers, filters, and mini-games, making ad experiences more engaging.

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Further Reading

Which Short-Form Ad Platform is Your Go-To?

TikTok pioneered bite-sized videos and quickly became one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. In response, Meta introduced Reels on Instagram and Facebook, while YouTube Shorts soon followed. The question is: which short-form video platform should your brand prioritize?

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Utilize Extensive Targeting Capabilities

• TikTok Hashtag Targeting: Reach audiences based on their interests and behaviors within specific content categories, such as #Olympics2024 or #marchmadness2024
• Facebook and Instagram Behavioral and Connection-Based Targeting: Target users precisely based on their interests, online activities, and connections to sports-related pages and groups.
• YouTube’s Access to CTV, Affinity, and In-Market Audiences: Exploit advanced targeting options to reach highly relevant audiences across devices and platforms, optimizing for viewers actively looking for sports content or related products.

If you’re looking to harness the power of sports fandom in your marketing campaigns and see real efficiencies in targeting sports fans, our team is ready to assist.

We understand the dynamics of sports marketing and the unique opportunities it presents on social platforms. By partnering with us, you’ll access data-centric insights that can transform your advertising efforts.

The post Non-sports Brands Can Score Big by Targeting Sports Audiences appeared first on Strike Social.

This post was updated in January 2025 to provide you with the latest information.

Winning Ad Campaigns for Amazon Prime Day 2024

Exclusive sale events hold a unique allure for shoppers, and the numbers from the 2023 Amazon Prime Day speak volumes: U.S. sales surged nearly 6% year-over-year to $6.4 billion on the event’s first day alone.

As we approach the 2024 Amazon Prime Day, set to rival even the busiest retail holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, anticipation is high for what could be one of the largest e-commerce moments of the year. With retailers gearing up to offer substantial discounts, consumer spending is expected to soar. But where do media buyers fit into this equation?

Amazon Prime Day Trends Across Seasons

Amazon Prime Day debuted on July 15, 2015, commemorating the company’s 20th anniversary. Initially accessible in only 9 countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and France, the event has since expanded to over 20 countries and now spans a duration of 48 hours.

Shopping by Household

In 2023, over a third (37%) of US households participated in Prime Day, marking a notable increase from previous years. This surge was accompanied by a slight uptick in spending per household, fueled by increased orders.

Shopping by Preference

82% of Amazon Prime Day shoppers in 2023 knew what they wanted to purchase, with 53% specifically holding out for discounted prices during the event. Additionally, 34% of shoppers availed themselves of Lightning Deals, emphasizing the event’s appeal to bargain hunters.

Shopping by Deals

The satisfaction levels among Prime Day shoppers were high in 2023, with two-thirds expressing extreme or high satisfaction with the deals offered. Notably, data reveals that most deals featured percentage-based discounts, with a significant proportion offering discounts of 60% or more.

How To Promote Amazon Prime Day Products On Social Media

When promoting Amazon Prime Day 2024 products on paid social media, there are a few considerations to remember. While Amazon has its advertising platform, Amazon Ads, which offers opportunities both on and off the platform through the Amazon Demand Side Platform (DSP), leveraging social media advertising can enhance your promotional efforts. However, there are some potential hurdles to navigate.

Platform Policies

One significant obstacle advertisers face is the inability to track events, particularly conversions and purchases, when using Amazon shop links on social media advertising platforms. You cannot install the Meta pixel on Amazon shop links, and thus tracking purchases becomes challenging. Facebook’s Terms of Service categorize Amazon as a third-party advertising website, imposing limitations on advertising within Meta.

What you can do:

Instead of using direct Amazon links, which violate Facebook’s terms, consider using a dedicated landing page for your featured Amazon Prime Day products. Directing traffic to a landing page allows you to bypass the restriction and provide more flexibility in presenting your products.

A dedicated website and landing page enable you to showcase additional product benefits and features that may not be included in your Amazon product descriptions. This presents an opportunity to tailor your messaging to your audience and highlight unique selling points not openly stated in your Amazon product link.

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Further Reading

Accurate Facebook ROAS Tracking for Amazon Prime Day

Learn the mechanics of calculating Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) to better identify your ideal Facebook ROAS benchmarks. Explore the typical issues and discover practical solutions to ensure accurate ROAS reporting.

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Approaching Audiences

As Amazon Prime Day 2024 approaches, competition intensifies, with fierce competition for ad space and user attention. With an estimated 2.5 million reach as early as two months before the event, precision in targeting is crucial to focus your advertising efforts within your brand’s niche. 

What you can do:

While targeting specific audiences may incur higher costs, social media platforms offer the advantage of precise audience targeting. Utilizing custom audiences, lookalike audiences, and retargeting options enhances your ability to reach those interested in your products.

For example, platforms like TikTok allow the creation of custom audiences based on landing page visits or engagement with your profile.

Since Amazon Prime Day 2024 is expected to occur from July 10th to 11th, consider uploading your custom audience list from previous retail seasons, such as Mother’s Day and the 4th of July.

Furthermore, if your landing page remains active year-round, ensure you embed the TikTok pixel to target a lookalike audience of your landing page visits from the last 30 days.

Technicalities and Backend

Tracking the effectiveness of your social media ad campaigns requires the proper setup of backend analytics to determine whether sales originate from your campaigns. Establishing connections between your ads and landing pages is essential for accurately measuring campaign performance.

What you can do:

Utilize UTM parameters in your landing page URLs to track traffic sources. For instance, if YouTube video ads drive traffic to your Amazon Prime Day 2024 landing page, create URLs with UTM parameters indicating the traffic source.

By tracking these links through Google Analytics, you can assess the impact of your social media advertising efforts and optimize accordingly.

Here’s an example:

https://yourbrand-amazonprimeday.com?utm_source=bumperads&utm_medium=videoads&utm_campaign=amazonprimeday2024&utm_id=youtube

You can obtain this using an online UTM builder. Tracking the link through GA4 lets you determine if you’re gaining landing page traffic from your YouTube ads.

Effective Ad Formats For Your Amazon Prime Day Strategy

When advertising your products on social media for Amazon Prime Day 2024, you must choose ad formats that effectively showcase your offerings. While Amazon ads are straightforward, featuring product images, prices, and details, transitioning these ads to social media can be tricky.

Fortunately, several ad formats are available on social media platforms that can help boost your Prime Day marketing efforts.

Meta Collection Ads

The Collection ad format lets you showcase large cover images or videos and smaller product images from your catalog. Users who tap on the cover image or video are directed to a full-screen Instant Experience to explore your products.

Tapping on the smaller product images leads users to your nominated landing page for your Amazon Prime Day featured products.

Meta Carousel Ads

Like Collection ads, Carousel ads enable you to display multiple images or videos within a single ad. Users can scroll through the carousel and select items that interest them, eventually directing them to your dedicated landing page.

The fun thing about Carousel ads is you can take them through a journey. Create a continuous creative (see a sample below) or simply list down the Prime Day products you want to feature.

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Further Reading

Optimizing Your Meta Ads for Prime Day Promotion

The Meta platform feeds offer many opportunities to promote for Amazon Prime Day. It’s important to stay updated on the latest Meta ad sizes and specs to maximize engagement and relevance with audiences.

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YouTube Shopping Ads

Despite Amazon and Google Merchant Center being separate platforms, you can link them to make the most of Google and YouTube’s reach. You can export your Amazon shop catalog to the Google Merchant Center using various external tools.

From there, YouTube Shopping Ads will feature your products on the platform through search partners and suggested products.

TikTok Interactive Add-Ons

To enhance your Prime Day marketing strategy, utilize TikTok’s interactive add-ons to showcase your exclusive 2024 offers effectively. These interactive ad campaigns take on a shorter flight, thus complementing seamlessly with your ongoing brand awareness TikTok campaign. 

Engage with users who have previously interacted with your awareness campaigns through retargeting, gradually building anticipation towards Prime Day. These engaged audiences will be specifically targeted with the gift code sticker ad, enticing them to explore your Amazon Prime Day deals further through the interactive campaign.

During Amazon Prime Days 1 and 2, integrate the gift code sticker interactive add-ons into your video campaigns. As the gift code sticker appears in your ad, viewers can effortlessly click “Redeem Code” to copy it to their phone’s clipboard and redeem the code when purchasing from your Amazon shop.

Prime Your Ads for Amazon Prime Day Sales

E-commerce platforms hold immense power, often underutilized. With Amazon Prime Day 2024 approaching, there’s still time to optimize your listings and social media ads for the platforms we’ve discussed.

While participation in the Amazon Prime Day event promises gains for Amazon sellers, integrating strategic social media campaigns can significantly amplify your results. Curious about how to maximize this opportunity? Contact us today or schedule a meeting with our team. Let’s make it happen.

The post How Advertisers Should Prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2024 appeared first on Strike Social.

This post was updated in March 2025 to provide you with the latest information.

How to Create Successful Mother’s Day Advertising Campaigns

In 2024, Americans allocated up to $33.5 billion for Mother’s Day gifts and festivities, according to the National Retail Federation. While this marked a slight dip from the steady increase in Mother’s Day spending since 2019, it still ranked as the second-highest recorded spend for the holiday.

For advertisers, this emphasizes the importance of staying top-of-mind during Mother’s Day advertising season. How can you make your brand stand out and capture more sales? Explore the strategies in this blog to learn how to make the most of this much-awaited holiday.

Analyzing Consumer Behavior for Mother’s Day Marketing Strategies

Before we strategize how your brand can make its mark, you must understand first how consumer behavior shifts during this holiday.

Online shopping remains the top destination for Mother’s Day purchases, making digital ad strategies more important than ever. By analyzing past trends and spending patterns, you can uncover key insights to optimize your 2025 Mother’s Day campaigns.

Shopping Destinations

According to NRF’s survey, online spending surged in 2020 due to limited in-store options. However, the past four years have seen a resurgence in physical store visits, with specialty stores gaining popularity as shoppers seek curated Mother’s Day gifts and unique experiences.

Despite this shift, online retailers continue to attract the most shoppers during the holiday. Thus, your Mother’s Day sale ads must be strategically targeted to the right audiences to drive clicks and engagements where it matters most.

Gift Choices

Flowers, greeting cards, and special outings have remained the top three gift choices for three consecutive years. The allure of “gifts of experience” continues to grow, reflecting consumers’ desire for meaningful presents that foster lasting memories.

Although jewelry and electronics dominate consumer sales and spending, special outings continue to claim the second spot, highlighting the preference for unique experiences. Mother’s Day gifts are increasingly focused on the memories people want to create with their loved ones, as spending on special outings continues to rise in 2024.

Purchase Planning

Unlike other holidays that require extensive planning, most Mother’s Day gifts are purchased within one to two weeks before the holiday.

With Mother’s Day 2025 falling on May 11th, brands should time their Mother’s Day advertising campaigns strategically. While the majority of shoppers buy last-minute, 30% of purchases happen one to two months in advance.

Tapping into this early shopping window allows brands to build awareness, capture high-intent buyers, and maximize conversions leading up to the holiday.

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Further Reading

Advertising Strategies to Build Up Your Father’s Day Campaigns

With Father’s Day just around the corner, brands have a prime opportunity to capture attention. As the celebration kicks off near summer, now is the time to refine your paid social campaigns for greater reach and engagement.

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How Advertisers Can Spark Buzz for Mother’s Day Promotions

Now that we understand shoppers’ preferences and behaviors during this retail holiday, how can we align our Mother’s Day advertising strategies to stay at the top of our minds? Here are the tips to keep in mind:

Engage Your Audience with Interactive Ads

Did you know that audiences are 47% more likely to engage with interactive ads compared to static formats? By creating Mother’s Day advertising campaigns that invite participation, brands can capture attention, encourage clicks, and ultimately drive conversions.

Take France Luxe’s Mother’s Day Facebook ad, for example. Using carousel ads, they transformed their promotion into a Mother’s Day gift guide, enticing audiences to swipe through multiple product options.

Carousel ads on Facebook are a powerful tool for driving engagement, as each card swipe counts as an ad interaction. This Facebook ad format is especially effective for highlighting multiple offers or discounts across different products.

Explore the cost-per-engagement (CPE) benchmarks during the Mother’s Day purchase planning period:

CPE costs increase by up to 23% in the 1-2 months before Mother’s Day, indicating a competitive period for engagement-focused ads. However, in the 1-2 weeks leading up to the event, CPE drops by 16%, making it a prime window for driving conversions. This trend highlights the importance of focusing on engagement early, ensuring your Mother’s Day ads drive awareness and lead consumers toward making purchases in the weeks leading up to the big day.

Highlight Relationships and Motherly Love

Mother’s Day is fundamentally about celebrating relationships, particularly the bond between mothers and their loved ones. Tailor your campaigns accordingly:

• for women aged 30 and above, expressing gratitude towards mothers in general may resonate;
• younger demographics like Gen Z and millennials may appreciate assistance in finding the perfect gift for the maternal figures in their lives.

On TikTok, 73% of ad viewers get inspired by recommendations for special occasion gifts. Brands can take advantage of this engagement to capture their target audience and drive purchase intent.

Short-form ads certainly hit the spot, much like Bath and Body Works’ ad with a 21-second duration. The specialty retail brand promotes their seasonal fragrances while tapping into nostalgic memories of the content creator’s childhood with her mom. This emotional connection aligns with what shoppers seek when choosing Mother’s Day gifts.

While uncertainty around TikTok’s future in the U.S. lingers, advertisers still have an opportunity to capitalize on declining CPMs. See the TikTok CPM benchmarks during this period:

The 2-3 weeks leading up to Mother’s Day is when shoppers actively seek sale ads and gift ideas on TikTok. CPMs rise steadily in March and April as brands compete for visibility, with costs peaking up to 17% higher in the final week. Still, up to 20% of TikTok users make their Mother’s Day purchases during this time, presenting a last-minute opportunity for brands to drive conversions.

Communicate Your Mother’s Day Marketing Offers

Don’t hesitate to promote your Mother’s Day offers prominently. Whether it’s discounts, promo codes, or seasonal packages, make sure your audience knows about them. Since special outings have consistently ranked among the top three gift choices for this season, being explicit about your offers can significantly impact your Mother’s Day advertising campaigns.

Take a look at this ad from Ancient Lore Village, which showcases bookable experiences like wine dinners and brunches—activities that moms and wives can enjoy. By tapping into Mother’s Day celebrations, they create an engaging and compelling reason for viewers to take action.

Starting your Mother’s Day advertising early helps build momentum and keeps your brand top of mind when consumers are ready to purchase or book. Using Advantage+ audience retargeting, you can re-engage ad clickers and engagers, guiding them down the funnel toward conversion.

To help guide your Mother’s Day ad costs for 2025, here are the Facebook CPC benchmarks for clicks campaigns targeting website traffic objectives:

Cost-per-click (CPC) peaks in March, aligning with the surge in Mother’s Day purchases, before dropping by 37% as the holiday approaches. However, costs spike again at the end of May, driven by early ad spend for 4th of July and summer campaigns, as brands prepare for purchases made 1-2 months in advance, as well.

Find New Audiences with Influencer Communities

Influencer campaigns have proven effective across various brands and social media platforms. In fact, a leading CPG brand saw up to a 70% lower CPLC (cost-per-link-clicks) from its influencer campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. This highlights the power of influencer marketing in driving engagement—especially when partnerships align well with the brand and are targeted to the right audience.

For their Mother’s Day promotions, Sephora partnered with Bustle, a digital media brand catering to women-focused content like beauty and fashion.

One of Sephora’s key collaborations was with @audreypatriciaw, a lifestyle content creator with over 17,000 Instagram followers. In her video, she shared her personal fragrance recommendations for Mother’s Day gift ideas and directed viewers to shop for them on Sephora’s website.

Download the Multi-Platform Influencer Case Study

For a leading CPG brand, utilizing influencer-driven content is the key to driving engagement across audiences in different paid social media advertising platforms.

With Strike Social’s campaign activation and management expertise, the team successfully optimized the performance and cost-efficiency of influencer campaigns in TikTok, Facebook, and Instagram.

Download the full case study

Celebrate Your Brand This Mother’s Day 2025

While Mother’s Day might seem like just another retail event, it’s a golden opportunity waiting to be seized. With online shopping continuing to dominate this season, there’s no better time to leverage the hype and dive into the frenzy.

We understand your love for your moms and the brands you represent. So, why not make this Mother’s Day 2025 a win-win? Craft compelling campaigns that tug at heartstrings and connect with consumers on a deeper level. By delivering what they want and need, you’ll ensure your brand feels the love it deserves.

As you gear up for Mother’s Day 2025, keep your finger on the pulse of consumer trends, think outside the box, and offer irresistible deals. With the right strategy, you’ll make this Mother’s Day one to remember.

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Article by
Syd Olivarez, Strike Social’s SEO Content Specialist

Syd crafts content on paid digital advertising strategies, blending 5+ years of writing expertise with 3 years in digital marketing. She keeps up with the latest trends to deliver valuable insights that keep brands informed and competitive.

The post Trends and Ideas for Mother’s Day Advertising 2025 appeared first on Strike Social.

Budget-Focused Strategies for Your 2024 Olympics Advertising Campaigns

Amid the pandemic’s peak, the Tokyo Olympic Games 2021 set a record-breaking 5.5 billion streaming minutes watched on social media and platforms like NBCOlympics.com, the NBC Sports app, and Peacock. Additionally, the International Olympic Committee’s social media accounts gathered 6.1 billion engagements, including video views, shares, comments, and likes during the games.

With such an extensive potential reach spanning different devices, updating your advertising strategies becomes crucial. Identifying your target audience and knowing when and where to reach them best is key to effectively advertising during the 2024 Olympics season without overspending.

How Your 2024 Olympics Advertising Plan Can Look Like

As the 2024 Summer Olympics draws closer, the window of opportunity to promote your brand remains wide open. If your brand is not an official Olympics sponsor or partner, there’s ample time to start your 2024 Olympics social media marketing and test your way into an effective campaign.

Budget and Timeline

Whether you’re presenting Q2 and Q3 marketing ideas to your director or catching up on utilizing your marketing budget, paid social media advertising offers a flexible and effective way to reach your target audience.

The beauty of having a set budget is that platforms’ AI capabilities can adapt to your requirements. Here’s a breakdown of how your sample budget and timeline can look like:

Refined Audience Targeting

To craft a detailed targeting strategy for your 2024 Olympics advertising plan, it’s essential to understand how your audience consumes related content. Aside from the brand you are advertising, what preferences and interests should you be focusing on?

We’ve crafted a detailed list of all Olympic sports available for interest targeting on advertising platforms.

Get the full list here.

To test how this refines or broadens your reach even further, let’s look back at the table from above:

Case Study: HVAC Company Campaigns Targeted Towards Sports Fans

During last year’s winter season, an HVAC company launched an advertising campaign to target both the US and Canadian markets effectively. However, with distinct demographics, interests, and audience behaviors in each region, the challenge was to devise strategies that could succeed in both markets. 

Canada Strategy

In Canada, the campaign’s approach was tailored to showcase the resilience of the company’s HVAC solutions across various seasons. Additionally, the campaign leveraged YouTube’s audience targeting capabilities, particularly focusing on Custom Intent audiences and Canada’s enthusiasm for sports.

These strategies yielded the following outcomes:

• A 13% increase in CPM efficiency for Non-skippable ads
• A 40% reduction in CPV for Skippable ads, surpassing Strike’s guaranteed rates
• Sports-centric audiences comprised 51% of the campaign’s spending, views, and impressions. Despite being smaller in size, this audience segment delivered equal engagement and value to the campaign.

While the campaign didn’t directly target sports events, it effectively tapped into the audience’s interests, particularly Canadians’ passion for sports. This highlights the versatility of the marketing strategy, which is suitable for year-round implementation in the Canadian market and effective beyond specific sporting events.

Download the YouTube Audience Targeting Case Study

By targeting sports audiences across Canada, Strike Social successfully optimized for video views and cost-efficiency for a major HVAC brand. Discover the strategy behind this successful YouTube campaign.

Download the full case study

US Strategy

For its U.S. campaigns, the HVAC brand aimed to cater to the substantial number of mobile viewers prevalent in the country. To achieve this, the brand adopted Video View Campaigns (VVC), distributing its creative across various formats, including skippable in-stream, in-feed, and Shorts.

The VVC initiatives yielded the following outcomes:

• The campaigns generated 19 million impressions and 5.3 million+ total video views.
• 43% of views and 37% of clicks originated from YouTube Shorts ad placements.
• Connected TVs (CTVs) achieved 94.66% video completion rate (VCR).

This case study showcases the importance of adapting creatives to cater to mobile viewers while also ensuring visibility across other platforms like CTVs. Despite the focus on mobile audiences, the brand successfully reached a substantial number of viewers through both Shorts and CTV placements, highlighting the equal importance of these platforms in the VVC strategy.

Bonus: Creative Strategies for Sustaining Advertising Momentum Post-2024 Olympics

The sports season isn’t just for die-hard fans anymore. Even casual sports enthusiasts and those curious about their country’s performance can be valuable targets for paid social media advertising.

Here are some creative tips to ensure your advertising remains impactful long after the Olympics:

IcyBreeze

IcyBreeze, a manufacturer of portable AC units, smartly capitalized on the Olympics without explicitly mentioning the event in their ad. By featuring Coach Prime from the University of Colorado Boulder’s football program, they targeted their audience effectively. While the ad focused primarily on product usage, its association with Coach Prime subtly tied it to the Olympics, offering versatility for year-round use.

NBC and BuzzFeed

NBC have not only broadcast live Olympic events in the past but have also collaborated with BuzzFeed on Olympic features distributed across Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. One standout example is their feature with Olympic Swimmer Townsley Haas, addressing the unique challenges faced by tall individuals, commonly known as “tall people problems.” 
Listicle videos like this one consistently rank among the most popular types of video content on social media platforms.

e.l.f. Cosmetics

Despite being released on Game Day, the e.l.f Cosmetics ad did not explicitly reference the big event, allowing e.l.f to repurpose it year-round. By seizing the ad spot and leveraging celebrity endorsements, e.l.f ensured its brand stayed at the top of the mind long after the event.

Furthermore, notice how engagement accumulates two months after its initial posting on YouTube, underscoring its ongoing relevance and effectiveness in connecting with the right audience.

Here’s how you can follow suit: Imagine you’re a TV distributor looking to capitalize on the 2024 Olympics buzz. Rather than directly referencing the event, envision a scenario where a family upgrades to a larger TV to enjoy quality time together watching the games. By focusing on the bonding experience facilitated by your product or service, you can resonate with audiences beyond the scope of the Olympics.

High-Impact Strategies for 2024 Olympics Advertising

The strategies outlined in this guide are paramount to your advertising success during the 2024 Olympics. With NBC Olympics securing $1.2 billion in ad sales for the upcoming games, it’s clear that ad space competition will be fierce. However, budget constraints need not limit your reach to Olympic audiences.

This is just the beginning of what you can achieve. For further insights on optimizing your 2024 Olympics advertising strategies, send us a message and discover how Strike Social can elevate your campaigns. Contact us for inquiries or schedule a consultation with one of our experts today.

The post Achieving 2024 Olympics-Sized Exposure Without Olympics-Sized Costs appeared first on Strike Social.

Think with Google describes an Always-On Strategy as always being present when consumer purchase behavior changes, before and after tentpole events. As one would expect, marketers in the alcohol industry have seen numerous shifts in user habits that affect alcohol purchase even before the pandemic, complexity in regulations both state regulations and online advertising platforms, the growing market share of no and low-alcohol millennial market, and the decline in volume and earnings last 2020 largely due to the reduction of restaurant and bar activities.    

As advertisers for alcohol brands, the primary goal is to have the product or brand message available to the target consumer anytime, all the time, despite any circumstance. 

Always-On Offers Advertising Agility

Marketers welcomed 1Q 2021 with a 5.73% increase in ad spends and 40% more activated campaigns versus the busiest season of 4Q 2020. The data can be an indicator that alcohol video advertisers are ready to recuperate from the pandemic slump. As expected, beer premiumization will be a crucial factor on their road to recovery, but does the market know about this?

Always-On campaigns allow more space for marketers to move and refocus their target KPI performance – ad reach, brand recall, or awareness. In relation to this, campaigns targeting an increase in exposure record a 98.29% increase in impressions. Furthermore, clients choose to allocate more ad spending on Always-On video advertising against shorter drives in most cases. As a result, these campaigns get a 4.5% CPM improvement. 

Timely Seasonal Messaging Through Campaign Efficiencies 

How efficient is Always-On Advertising for the alcohol industry’s tentpole events? Brands need to follow their audience to deliver their seasonal assets from pre-buzz, event’s peak, and post celebration. Therefore, ads shouldn’t stop together with the occasion. Running a more extended video ad allows you to meet product users wherever they are in their customer journey.

Looking at our data, Q4 CPM shows an 8.86% savings in using an Always-On Video advertising strategy. The record shows a similar movement with a 12.04% CPM in Q1, wherein evergreen campaigns deliver ad efficiencies against seasonal campaigns.

Minimal Gain in Traction: Costly for Short Runs

Launching tentpole video advertising in condensed periods is a sure-fire way to overpay in the auction. Campaign objectives may vary but one thing’s for sure; advertisers should be ready to spend a little more when running a short-lived campaign. 

On average, seasonal campaigns produce a slightly higher Video Completion Rate compared to extended campaigns, 0.16%, and 0.66%  Q4 ’20 and Q1 ’21. Spike in VCR increase can be months with celebration and gathering connected with increased consumption of alcohol: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Chinese New Year, and Valentine’s. Therefore, marketers may consider a Cost-Benefit analysis when running a sprint campaign.

Key Takeaway

YouTube’s Always-On advertising strategy gives alcohol brand marketers the ability to be agile based on their campaign objective. Therefore, marketers can focus on what’s more important: increased ad reach, brand awareness, and video views. In addition, timely assets with topical call-to-actions paired with well-crafted video ads will increase the chance to attract targeted audiences.

With the help of advertising technology, granular targeting, and daily ad optimization significantly increase the success rate of running evergreen campaigns together with your seasonal ads. 

The post 3 Reasons Why Always-On Video Advertising Strategy Fits Well in Alcohol Brands appeared first on Strike Social.