4 Holiday Shopper Mindsets Brands Should Keep Up With, According to Google Throughout the holiday season, we at Google have annually watched shoppers move between 4 distinct mindsets, or what we call the ‘4Ds:’ deliberate, deal-seeking, determined, and devoted. What are these four Ds? Starting in July, consumers are deliberate, thoughtfully planning their holiday purchases and wishlists. From October to November, they’re deal-seeking, hunting for deals and prioritizing quality and value. By December, they become determined to complete their shopping ahead of the holidays and are using all days and resources to get it done. And finally, by January, consumers become devoted as they continue to shop past peak season. Check out this quick short where we highlight these trends: What Do the 4Ds Mean for Your Brand? With December fast approaching, we’ll start to see the determined shopping mindset emerge followed by devoted buyers in January. Leveraging these three strategies has helped us, and will also help you, align with these busy shoppers: Keep momentum in December and beyond Connect with customers across touchpoints Build long-term brand loyalty Keeping Momentum in December -- and Beyond The opportunity for retailers doesn’t end with Cyber 5, the peak deal period from Black Friday through Cyber Monday. According to a Mastercard analysis we ran with BCG from October 2022 through January, 46% of U.S. consumer holiday spending occurred between Cyber Monday and Christmas Eve...

Top Marketing Holidays of the Year, According to Marketer Data As a business, you likely run marketing campaigns all year round. There are specific occasions, though, where you might spend more time and money on your efforts to maximize exposure and inspire the most sales. Holidays are a great example of this, where events like Black Friday can bring in significant sales and revenue compared to other days of the year. In this post, we’ll go over insights from marketers on the holidays and annual events that they spend the most money on and why. What holidays and annual events do marketers build strategies for? We asked marketers and advertisers about the holidays/annual events they plan to build marketing strategies for in the next 12 months. They were asked to select up to three options, and the top three responses were: Winter/End of Year Holidays (ex. New Years Day) Black Friday Halloween What holidays and annual events do marketers spend the most money on? We asked marketers and advertisers about the holidays/annual events they spend the most time and money on marketing. The top holidays were winter/end of year holidays, Black Friday, Halloween, and Valentine’s Day. We also asked marketers why they spend the most money on the events they selected and the most common responses were that their selected annual holidays and events drive the most sales and bring in the most revenue. For example, some marketers said they spend the...

9 Black Friday Marketing Strategies for 2022 The holiday season is around the corner, so it's time for marketers everywhere to gear up for Black Friday. From optimizing your website to launching outstanding deals and giveaways — there's a lot that marketers need to account for. If you're unsure what to do, here are nine marketing strategies that will wow your customers and boost your company's revenue. What is Black Friday? Best Black Friday Marketing Ideas Incorporate social media commerce. Leverage email marketing. Optimize your website for shopping. Audit product pages. Give longtime customers irresistible deals. Follow up with customers after Black Friday. Provide minimum spend rewards. Create a sense of urgency. Create a holiday marketing calendar. Black Friday Marketing Tips What is Black Friday? Black Friday is the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States and marks the start of the holiday shopping season. It's also when many companies (including your competitors) begin rolling out numerous deals and discounts on products. To stay competitive, your company must prepare a marketing strategy to boost revenue and delight customers. Best Black Friday Marketing Ideas Below are nine Black Friday marketing ideas you should consider for 2022. 1. Incorporate social media commerce. Social media is now becoming where consumers make purchases and learn more about products and brands. In 2020, social media commerce earned $26.97 billion in sales, which is expected to double to $56.17 billion...

6 Spooky Marketing Campaigns Just in Time for Halloween Spooky season is officially upon us. It’s a fun time for consumers and an even better time for brands that get to be playful with their audience. Below, you'll find examples of Halloween marketing campaigns, from ad spots and seasonal products to social media posts and influencer campaigns. 1. Twix It’s hard to think of Halloween without thinking of chocolate. Since 2012, Twix has delivered ad campaigns focused on the left and right sides of their chocolate bars. For Halloween, they continue with the same theme – except this one comes with a twist (or should I say Twix?). In this commercial, young adults dressed in costumes sit in a circle in front of an Ouija board, a device used to communicate with ghosts, spirits, and other supernatural beings. As they play, a gust of wind blows through the room, and before they know it, the “spirit” has taken a bite of a Twix bar. Everyone starts screaming and the ending shot reads, “The spirits have decided. Left or right, either is a good decision.” This is a great example of how a brand can tweak an existing campaign and give it a holiday twist. 2. Disney Parks & TikTok On TikTok, text-to-speech is a popular feature used by a lot of creators. Voices can range from standard American accents to popular characters and serve to add more depth(or fun) to videos. To celebrate Halloween, Disney Parks...

278 Social Media Holidays for Your 2021 Content Calendar Do you celebrate International Cat Day, Pizza Day, or Talk Like a Pirate Day? There are a plethora of observance days worldwide during which marketers can share content relevant to their industries, get involved in a movement, or simply generate more awareness. But odds are, you probably don't acknowledge these days until you see your favorite brand posting about it. These social media "holidays" are a fun way to connect with new and existing followers who share an affinity for a specific food, fictional character, or pet. While we don't suggest sharing content on social media and then adding an irrelevant holiday hashtag to it, these holidays can be a chance to promote your brand in a relevant way. Not doing so could cause you to miss valuable opportunities where your brand can join the conversations taking place among members of your target audience. To help you plan for trending holidays, we created a list that you can bookmark, as well as a downloadable calendar so you can receive automatic reminders. Downloadable Holiday Calendar To help you keep track of all these unique holidays, here's a Social Media Holiday Google Calendar. Aside from 2021 holidays, we've also set dates on the calendar to repeat annually — either on the exact date they occur or the weekday they occur within the month. Want to finish out your 2021 calendar with some upcoming holiday posts? Tap the + symbol in...

9 Valentine's Day Marketing Campaigns We Love Love, flowers, chocolate, bla bla bla ... Where are the marketing results?! Okay, probably not what your Valentine's date cares about. But if you're a marketer, you might be interested in merging the most lovey-dovey of days with your marketing. But how? Well, these companies have figured out some creative ways to leverage the warm and fuzzies (or unadulterated rage and crushing loneliness ... whatever) that Valentine's Day instills in people. If you don't have a marketing campaign planned for the 14th, maybe some of these will inspire you to get in on some last-minute Valentine's Day action. 9 Effective Valentine's Day Marketing Campaigns 1. Crook & Marker's "OnlyCans" Website In 2020, many online threads and message boards were discussing the controversial website "OnlyFans." This platform invites users to purchase videos or images from people or influencers with profiles on the site.  Fast-forward to 2021, Crook & Marker is embracing the OnlyFans controversy with relatively PG marketing content. The cheeky holiday campaign, which aims to earn donations for Muddy Paws Rescue, began with the brand launching a co-branded website called OnlyCans.dog. When visiting the "OnlyCans" website, you instantly see videos and images of shirtless men holding cute puppies. You can also browse the profiles or each man-puppy duo. From each profile page, you can then pick and share a pre-recorded video message or photo of them...