The holiday season is past us, but we wanted to reflect on how it all played out at the end of 2016 – how it impacted businesses and their advertising strategies and techniques.
From the store rushing crowds of Black Friday, to the frantic last-minute shoppers of December 24th, consumers were more prevalent than ever in Q4. And businesses took this shopping activity into account with their marketing strategies; knowing the holiday season is really the time to bring their A-game, companies found ways to do just that through the benefits of traditional television and outdoor advertising mediums.
Businesses Engaged Consumers with Television Advertising
The holiday season’s TV advertising spend reached $869 million as of mid-December, which is a 13.7% increase from the same period in 2015[1]. The number of ads themselves increased 6.7 %, from 230,152 to 245,499[1] with companies like Wal-Mart, Target, Coca-Cola, and Google being some of the biggest spenders. But what is it about using television that makes so many businesses want to use it for their advertising, especially during the holidays? Great advertising is able to affect people on an emotional level, and television allows companies to tell compelling stories which really resonate with viewers. People have been talking for a while now about such heartwarming commercials like Apple’s “Frankie’s Holiday” and M&S’s “With Love from Mrs. Claus” ads. Television advertising can form real connections with consumers that simply cannot be matched with digital means, making them far more effective.
They Got Creative with Outdoor Advertising
The options for Out of Home Advertising (OOH) advertising have expanded far beyond side-of-the-road billboards, and businesses took full advantage this past holiday season. For example, some businesses are using high levels of travel to their benefit by creating intriguing OOH advertising in such areas as airport baggage claims and airport security checkpoints. This is especially useful for when people are bored and are looking for ways to be entertained while waiting for their bags or their (probably delayed) flight. Other ways OOH advertising is expanding is by utilizing the available spaces of malls and other buildings. Malls are still a crucial shopping locale during the holidays, and many have open areas which are perfect for creating larger than usual advertising displays. Finally, projection advertising is used by stores like Saks Fifth Avenue to bring sides of buildings to life with colorful and fun displays. These are just some of the ways OOH advertising communicated with consumers during the past holiday season.
They Used Analytics to Make Smart Traditional Advertising Decisions
Once decisions are made about what advertising will be used, and when and where it is seen, it is critical for businesses to have a solid method of determining the effectiveness of its campaigns. Paying attention to analytics is practically guaranteed to bring better results, particularly during the holidays. In fact, 49% of companies who utilize analytics are far more likely to see better profits than their competitors. Using tools such as call tracking reports and missed call monitors, assisted businesses in their efforts to determine exactly which ads garnered the best responses and from which demographics, and will give them the data necessary to tailor future holiday campaigns accordingly. As Molly Galetto, VP of Marketing Communications at NGDATA says, “Customer analytics enables organizations and enterprises to make data-driven business decisions for direct marketing, site selection, and customer relationship management. The result is a 360-degree view of customers.”[2] Companies that utilize analytics to get the full picture of their customers have a marked advantage over the competition.
Traditional advertising continues to prove itself to be a formidable contender, both during this past holiday season and going forward throughout the new year in 2017. And using a memorable call to action such as easy-to-remember vanity number in said advertising provides even stronger insurance that consumers will remember and reach out to a particular company beyond the seasonal hustle and bustle and into the future.
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Sources:
[1] https://www.adweek.com/news/television/walmart-target-and-verizon-have-spent-most-holiday-tv-ads-so-far-year-174866
[2] https://blog.kissmetrics.com/keep-analytics-at-the-forefront/