Shoppers have already begun their holiday shopping for the 2022 season! If your client hasn’t started their holiday advertising (including local business advertising), it’s time to get on that. Here’s what you and your client need to know, according to a study by Tinuiti.

Your Holiday Advertising Guide for 2022

This Year’s Spending Expectations

In a previous SalesFuel blog based on Dentsu research, we revealed that 75% of American shoppers are worried that inflation is going to increase the prices of the products they want to include in their holiday shopping this year. But good news was also revealed: 63% of shoppers still plan on spending more or the same amount on gifts.

Tinuiti goes into further detail in their report. They report that the majority of shoppers plan on spending between:

$251 and $500: 30%
$101-$250: 23%
$501-$1,000: 21%

However, this spending estimate doesn’t mean that holiday shoppers are ignoring inflation. In order to save money, they plan on:

Shopping around more: 50%
Buying different types of gifts than usual: 36%
Buying fewer gifts: 32%
Cutting back on non-holiday expenses: 30%
Buying cheaper brands: 26%

With this in mind, your client’s holiday advertising needs to promote their savings, discounts, coupons, etc. If you’re creating local business advertising, you need to focus on potential savings even more since consumers sometimes associate local/small businesses with more expensive merchandise.

When Will Consumers Do Their Shopping?

According to Tinuiti, 30% of consumers have already begun their holiday shopping. They’re getting their start either this month or began even earlier. But if your client hasn’t begun their holiday advertising (including local business advertising), there’s no need to worry just yet. Another 24% of consumers will begin their shopping in November. More than 50% of consumers plan to have their holiday shopping done by Thanksgiving, but for the rest, big shopping days will be quickly approaching.

Big Ticket Shopping Days

The Cyber Five, or the five days between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, will continue to be a big deal for shoppers this year. According to Tinuiti, 48% of holiday shoppers plan on completing a minimum of 50% of their holiday shopping during this period of time. Additionally, 30% of holiday shoppers plan to begin their shopping on Thanksgiving or Black Friday.

Deals are the primary reason the Cyber Five are so popular. According to Tinuiti, the factors that sway holiday shoppers to buy from a particular brand at a particular time are:

Price: 50% of holiday shoppers agree
Sales and/or discounts: 22%
Free shipping: 13%
Fast shipping: 7%
Availability of in-store pickup for online purchases: 4%
Easy returns: 4%

So, if your client offers low prices or any other factor listed above, they should definitely include those advantages in their holiday advertising (especially local business advertising).

Online Shopping Forecast

Most consumers plan on doing at least a little of their holiday shopping online this season. Here’s the full breakdown of where consumers plan to do their holiday shopping this year:

Mostly online: 39%
50/50 in store and online: 24%
Mostly in stores: 15%
All online: 14%
All in stores: 8%

So, digital ads, or at least traditional ads that point to digital resources, are a good idea to add to your client’s holiday advertising strategy this year.

Also, here’s how consumers plan to do their online shopping this holiday season:

On their phones: 70%
Using their laptops or desktops: 55%
Via their tablets: 31%
Through voice-enabled devices (such as Amazon Echoes and Google Homes): 8%

Be sure that your client’s digital holiday advertising and local business advertising are formatted with these devices in mind.

Which Types of Ad Media to Use for Your Client’s Holiday Advertising

Not sure which types of traditional and digital ads to use in your client’s holiday advertising and local business advertising this year? Well, that depends entirely on their target audience. AudienceSCAN on AdMall by SalesFuel can help. Simply look up your client’s target audience’s profile and browse the marketing research tab. There, you’ll discover which types of ads influenced your client’s target audience to take action within the last year. Added bonus: You can also look up what types of purchases these audiences plan to make this year. That way, you’ll know which products or services your client should highlight in their holiday advertising.

Photo by Kevin Turcios