Today’s consumers exist in an always-connected environment. According to the IAB, the time spent online per person is almost three hours per day, so there’s a massive window for brands to reach their exact target audience. The holiday season is one of the most competitive times in the advertising calendar, but it’s also one with a lot of opportunity.

Are brands taking advantage of the mobile opportunity that the festive season offers?

Making the most of mobile

According to a recent report from ZenithOptimedia, almost two thirds of people in key digital markets will have a smartphone by the end of 2018. Mobile penetration is only going one way, and the holiday season offers opportunities that are there for the taking. Our own research found that 71 per cent of holiday shoppers will use a smartphone and/or a tablet to shop over the Christmas season, up from 53.5 per cent last year. For brands focusing on a millennial audience, having a mobile first strategy is essential as 60.4% of mobile holiday shoppers aged 18-34 will exclusively use a smartphone as their shopping device.

With more people operating on more devices comes more consumer data. Advertisers have access to whole new reams of information and know more about their audiences than ever before thanks to data. It’s up to brands to make sure they’re making the most of what’s available to create more meaningful and relevant dialogues with consumers this holiday season.

Stepping through the in-store door

Mobile is undoubtedly a key tool to reach on the go consumers, but it needs to be taken one step further to achieve maximum effect. Brands need to use the data that is out there to know where consumers are, both physically and in their purchasing journey. According to a recent eMarketer forecast, consumers are ready for proximity marketing. Brands need to take note of this and more importantly, act on it.

Consumers are open to in-store engagement, with eMarketer revealing that 63 per cent of shoppers confirming they’d consider receiving offers based on where they were in a store at particular moment. Recent research has revealed that half of holiday shoppers will use mobile devices while physically in brick and mortar retail locations to assist in the shopping process. The ticket to success for brands is maximizing data generated via mobile activity so the right content reaches the right person on the right device and in the right place. Looking beyond the right time and place, marketers need to ensure they’re targeting influencers through social channels. Reviews and referrals play a big part in consumers’ decision making process and it’s essential holiday marketing tactics reflect that.

Tailor made

By understanding the profile of the holiday shopper, brands can customize marketing content more effectively. A tailored approach is the key to reaching and engaging with holiday shoppers, communicating at the right time and in the right place to influence behaviour. Geo targeting should always be considered, and will go a long way to encourage engagement, which is particularly important when volume of content is at its highest. More than half of consumers using mobile devices in-store are researching and comparing purchases on the go, and marketers need to reach them at that critical point of the journey. With holiday shoppers currently at their most active, there’s a huge opportunity for brands to influence and leverage last minute purchases.

If consumers see marketing content that’s relevant to where they are, with the information they need at that point, then they’re far more likely to interact with the brand. Content must always be the relevant to both the brand and its customers – one side of the equation isn’t enough.

To make marketing even more successful next year, brands should look closely at the data collected from shopping behaviour in 2015 to plan content and offers based on the unique behaviours of holiday shoppers. The backlash from Black Friday and Cyber Monday is a perfect example of why brands should focus on the user rather than the milestone in 2016. They need to look at the holiday period and the holiday shopper, rather than a specific weekend. Brands should also look at device preferences and trends of holiday shoppers to better target by operating system, focusing on those with higher engagement and conversion rates. 2016 will be about looking beyond the text and interspersing video content into the advertising calendar, especially in the busy holiday season.

 

By Mark Kaefer, Marketing Director at RhythmOne. 

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