Download - Holiday 2015 Digital Marketing Trends

October is the New DecemberHoliday 2015 Digital Marketing Trends

September 24, 2015

2Copyright © 2015 Response Mine Interactive, Inc.

2015 Campaign Timing & Key Dates for Promotions

Online Shopping Trends

Mobile Trends

Social Trends

Tactics & Takeaways

Today’s Agenda


In 2014, 25% of shoppers started their holiday shopping before Halloween and 48% of shoppers did a majority of their shopping on or before Cyber Monday (up from 40% in 2013)

And starting in October, in-store and online purchases are dead even, yet by December, 60% of customers are shopping in a physical store, compared with 40% using online methods o Key Takeaway: Digital marketers need to make the most of the early holiday season

before physical store traffic takes the edge

Tuesdays & Wednesday are the most popular days for online shopping and Fridays and Saturdays are top days overall for in-store holiday shopping

Holiday Digital Campaign Timing


Promotional Holiday Date Timing Notes

Early Black Friday/Cyber Monday Sales Sunday 11/1 - Thanksgiving

In 2014 Amazon called Saturday 11/1 the "official start of the holiday shopping season and on Monday 11/3 Walmart.com hosted a "cyber savings event"

Thanksgiving Thursday 11/26 Biggest spike occurs around 10:30 pm. EST

Over the entire holiday season, Bing reported highest CTRs during the Thanksgiving 2014weekend

Black Friday Friday 11/27 Sales peak around 12 p.m. EST

Cyber Monday Monday 11/30 Sales peak around midnight EST Cyber Monday 2014 exceeded 2 billion in sales – biggest online sales day in U.S. history

Giving Tuesday Tuesday 12/1 Mobile searches spiked in the evening

#3 top day for searches on Bing and the #2 for online spending on Bing in 2014

Hanukkah Sunday 12/6 - Monday 12/14

Green Monday Monday 12/14 Most major retailers start their sales online at midnight EST

Traditionally the 2nd Monday of December - in 2014 generated 1.6 Billion in online desktop sales

National Free Shipping Day Friday 12/18Offers free shipping with guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve.

Weekend before 2014 Christmas showed greatest growth in sales YoY with a 36% growth attributed to in-store pick-up, later shipping cut of dates and extended free shipping

Christmas Eve Thursday 12/24

Christmas Day Friday 12/25 In 2014 US e-retail sales increased by 8.3% over 2013 and Average order value was up 6.2%

Key Dates for Promotions


Holiday CPC Trends


Holiday CPC Trends


78% of shoppers used the internet for holiday research and 40% of all holiday shopping occurred online

39% of online purchases began with a search and 45% of online traffic during the holiday season was from mobile

IBM reports 4 of the “hottest” categories with substantial online sales growth for Cyber Monday will be dept. stores, health & beauty, home goods and apparel

Gender is No Object/Men Matter – 75% of men buy gifts between Nov. – mid Dec. with 39% seeking advice from social networks and online research when deciding what to buy

o Key Takeaway: Tailoring message for men matters!

Online Shopping Trends 2014


Cyber Monday- The King of Online Shopping Days


Cyber Monday May Be The King… But Thanksgiving Shows the Most Growth Opportunity


45% of online shopping traffic was from mobile in 2014 and mobile revenue grew 111%

83% of smartphone users engage in shopping activities on their phone immediately before, during or after visiting a store – 53% while shopping in-store

67% of consumers move between devices when they’re shopping online Key Takeaway: Be consistent across devices – offers on landing page should

be identical and easy to find

Mobile in-app campaigns convert at 5-10x the mobile web rate and people spend 82% of mobile time in-app

Mobile visitors spend approximately 50% less time on a site as desktop visitors

Mobile Trends


Thanksgiving Reaches The Mobile Tipping Point


While Smartphones account for 69% of mobile visits (vs. 31% tablet), the rule of thumb of bigger screen = more conversions still apply with 52% of mobile sales coming from Tablet

The Rule of Thumb – try navigating a landing page with just your thumb. The most important content should be in the middle of the screen for maximum engagement

The “Rule of Thumb”


• Buy Button BetasSocial Trends

Facebook’s buy button has been in the NewsFeed for over a year and the company is now ready to add dedicated shops pages where users can browse and purchase

The Instagram button appears only on sponsored posts. Beyond purchases, Instagram now offers buttons for Install Now, Sign up and Learn More

To take advantage of the Pinterest “Buyable Pins” available on the iPad and iPhone you will need to use Shopify or Demandware

Last June, Twitter added Twitter Cards to ad campaigns which include the following CTAs: Buy Now, Shop Now, Learn More or Book Now

With the upcoming “Purchases on Google” mobile AdWords feature, users will be able to checkout directly through a sponsored result. While only starting out with a handful of retailers, it is expect to expand to include more US retail partners through 2016


In 2014, while prices remained relatively stable on mobile, purchase rates rose fairly significantly

During holidays peak purchasing days are over the weekend, as opposed to Thursday during the rest of the year

Most active time for purchases was between 9 – 11 a.m. EST

11 a.m. EST on weekends is when marketers get the most purchases for their ad spend

While ad engagement on mobile remained at virtually the same rate during holidays as rest of the year, engagement on desktop ads rose – with CTRs for females doubling and males experiencing 33 % increase

Facebook Advertising Trends


Desktop Purchase Rates Nearly Triple During Holiday Period


Cross Device Consistent Messaging - Whether shopping online or in-store, 68% of consumers who made a purchase said they visited the store’s website on their phone while in-store

Take advantage of lower CPCs in early November before the spike the week prior to Thanksgiving

Campaign Flighting –Be sure to allocate more budget and scheduled automated bidding rules for key promotion dates and time of day sales spikes

Don’t forget the self-gifting messaging – 73% of millenials plan to self-gift while holiday shopping

With the weekend before Christmas sales showing strong growth YoY, be sure to highlight shipping options, free shipping and in-store pick-up in ad copy

Beat Mobile ADHD – With less time on site for mobile users, ad messaging, landing page design and shopping cart experience need to be easy to use and extremely engaging

And remember, it’s never too early to start planning for the holiday season…so start today!

Tactics & Key Takeaways


What’s your holiday digital strategy? Share your findings with

the team!

Thank You