By Ossie Bayram, Vice President, Outcomes, Adlook UK
The holiday season race to the checkout is on. But who gets to the finish line first won’t be determined in November or December, but months earlier.
While seasonal events like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Boxing Day – not to mention those other times of year such as popular sports events – bring huge spikes in consumer engagement, for brands they also present a major challenge.
There’s a constant battle for attention between competitors, which means the cost of media rises. And with consumers spread across many different touchpoints, from a marketer’s point of view, it may even feel like it’s more difficult to connect with customers and prospects during seasonal shopping events.
Studies show that most holiday shoppers actually begin researching weeks in advance of promotional events. Many make up their minds in the early discovery phase. That means that early-stage influence is an essential strategy for brands. Here I’ll outline a few key principles that brands can use to cut through the noise during – and ahead of – peak shopping season.
Adopt content-based strategies
Capitalising on seasonal peaks requires brands to engage consumers well in advance. This is especially true if the products in question have a long purchase cycle, such as home electronics or holidays. Marketers need to reach potential buyers long before they’ve made up their minds – trying to influence them just as they reach the point of purchase is too late.
Content is crucial for engaging early with prospects. People are likely to be reading reviews, gift guides, product comparisons and analysis before they start shopping around, so brands that utilise content-based strategies can reach them at the very start of their journey. This way, brands can shape consideration at a time when decisions are still fluid and acquisition costs are lower. It’s also key that marketers ensure their content is being indexed by AI, considering that nearly two-thirds (63%) of consumers are open to using AI to help with their shopping this holiday season.
But as well as attracting the attention of AI bots, it’s crucial to make a connection on a human level. When attention is at a premium, creative execution is the quality that will help a brand cut through and make consumers sit up and take notice. Story-based formats such as short videos, carousels, and interactive banners can illustrate real-world product usage and also help brands create an emotional bond with prospective customers. Again, it’s vital to keep things fresh – visuals, formats and hooks should be updated regularly.
Understand seasonality for different categories
Consumer intent typically rises or falls depending on the time of the year, but also the type of item. For impulse purchases with short lead times, for example brands can either focus on building long-term presence or capitalise on short-term intent. Either way, they must avoid simply repeating the same messages.. The focus should be on momentum, not monotony, so they should think in phases where anticipation is built early with teasers, followed by a discovery stage where more details are released, followed by urgency in the peak shopping week.
Simply putting all products on sale for a month isn’t going to drive sales momentum; if nothing feels urgent, then brands will miss out on the high-intent shoppers that need that final push to make the purchase. Think about using mini-deadlines like a weekly drop or an early-access sale for subscribers, while limited editions and creative reveals will inspire interest too.
Of course, it’s vital that pricing strategies are fair and transparent for consumers. Eight companies are currently being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in the UK under a review of online pricing practices. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act introduced in 2024 rules that any practices deemed to involve pressure selling, drip pricing, or misleading countdown clocks could lead to businesses being fined up to 10% of their global turnover, and these punishments won’t even have to be determined in the courts.
The importance of planning – and influencing – early
Competition between brands will be fierce around any sales event. With timescales tight and inventory at a premium, CPMs will soar, and any brand that has left their planning to the last minute will have to pay through the nose – and will probably see meagre returns.
Marketers cannot overlook top- and mid-funnel tactics if they want to make a real impact in peak shopping season. How people first discover a brand sets the tone for everything that follows, influencing the initial sale, customer retention and loyalty. It’s vital that brands get noticed at the right time, build momentum through their campaign and keep their creative fresh if they want to succeed with their seasonal objectives.
