2022 Holiday Shopping Advertisement Guide

BY Kyla Snodgrass
Featured image for “2022 Holiday Shopping Advertisement Guide”

With November starting and the holiday season quickly approaching, 23% of Americans have already spent their gift budget. What does this mean for your retail clients’ seasonal advertising, and how can they coerce customers to still choose to do holiday shopping with them?

Holiday Trends for 2022

Celebrating is a priority during this period, and consumers respond by cutting spending on nonessentials to afford travel and gifts. Advertising should be geared toward consumers’ wants and needs, such as the importance of branding and mindful shopping. AdAge states, “Brands who can authentically and proudly showcase unique offerings from and to traditionally underserved communities should showcase and support offerings through all content-​delivery strategies.” There’s a trend of customers looking for more personalized experiences:

  • 74% want to support small businesses
  • 71% want to buy American-​made products
  • 57% want to shop at minority owned businesses

How to Get to Know Your Target Market

Sales reps and agency professionals can check out in-​depth data on various shopper audiences by using AudienceSCAN, an AdMall tool powered by SalesFuel. AudienceSCAN will tell you where, when, how often, and what drives your client’s target audience to seek and make holiday purchases. This information will prove critical in the 2022 holiday shopping season as competition for consumers’ spending will be fierce. Sitecore reports:

  • 53% of Americans will spend the same amount on holiday shopping as 2021
  • 22% will spend less on gifts
  • 15% will sell their possessions to afford gifts
  • 17% will regift items
  • 17% will find another job or work more hours

Online Beats "In Line"

Although 63% of Americans believe Black Friday shopping to be a tradition, the pandemic-​led increase in online shopping that happened during lockdown is expected to continue. Therefore, brick-​and-​mortar stores should focus on websites and digital advertising for holiday shopping considering that:

  • 79% of Americans plan on shopping online
  • 56% say that this is due to convenience
  • 61% say that it is because of ease
  • 60% claim they want to avoid crowds of people

However, some customers will still choose to do holiday shopping in store, in addition to online. 47% of in-​person shoppers did note that they wished they had promo codes or digital coupons that are offered online. Many consumers have missed the Black Friday experience which was disrupted because of the pandemic. They intend to be in the stores this year, looking for deals and those hard-​to-​find items.

Reasons customers prefer to shop in-person:

  • Instant gratification (33%)
  • Better deals (26%)
  • Secure gifts ahead of time (23%)

Customers Value Discount & Free Shipping

Sitecore details that free shipping is the most sought-​after feature for 45% of consumers. 32% of Americans will not purchase an item without free shipping, and 35% will buy more solely to meet a minimum purchase requirement for free shipping. Consider what packages or bundles your client could be offering to influence those value-​conscious individuals who are holiday shopping to check out their goods, such as an opportunity to buy a gift and to receive a little luxury for themselves, like self-​pampering. About one in three Americans will participate in retail therapy, and 49% do so to distract themselves from world events.

When to Run Holiday Shopping Promotions

Deloitte found that inflation has affected the window for holiday shopping, and the period of activity has been reduced to 5.8 weeks from 6.4 weeks. Rachel Cagle, writing for SalesFuel, advises to contact people using email marketing by sending an email once per week with different calls-​to-​action. And the best time to send these marketing messages are at 10 a.m. on Tuesdays.

In conclusion, you can help your clients create the best ad campaigns by appealing to consumers’ needs and wants this holiday season. Use AudienceSCAN to understand where consumers shop and which media formats carry the most influence. Advertise at the times when the target audience is most receptive to messaging. Your clients can make the most of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping activity by using these tips and statistics.

Photo by Heidi Fin from Unsplash.


Share: