Contributor: Mallory Bouslog, senior account executive, Marketron
Despite fourth quarter signaling the end of the year, it is also actually a huge advertising opportunity for the year. Retail and other industries see bumps in spending, making it critical to promote their business to rake in holiday shopping sales.
While the foundation of holiday shopping advertising remains, unique trends are impacting the dynamic. From earlier shopping starts to consumers being more price-conscious in gifting, local media sellers and their customers can leverage these to deliver more compelling messaging.
The 2025 Holiday Shopping Landscape
Several analysts have put out projections for holiday shopping. eMarketer reported it expects only a 1.2% increase over 2024. Bain is more optimistic, predicting a 4% boost for November and December.
Changes in budgets for gift-giving also differ across demographics. Gen Z will decrease their spending the most, while baby boomers are expected to expand theirs.
How people will shop is an important consideration, too. The Bain survey found that consumers will be shopping more in-store for clothing, accessories and personal care items.
When consumers begin making their lists, they will see a change as well. Many will start shopping by October. Of course, the big five days — Black Friday through Cyber Monday — still command the most spending, representing 40%.
Understanding these trends helps local media salespeople and the advertisers they work with gain a competitive advantage.
Here’s how.
Translating Trends to Winning Campaigns
A refresh on holiday shopping campaigns is the key to better performance, benefiting sellers and advertisers. The strategy should consider consumer preference changes, which will affect messaging and creative.
Here are some tips and angles to make the most of the data and capture consumer spending.
Create Excitement Around In-Store Shopping on Black Friday
With more customers expected to visit stores on this date, local businesses need to inspire enthusiasm. It’s not just about promoting specific deals — it’s the experience.
What can these places do that delivers this? Free coffee and snacks? Gifts with purchase linked to a game they could play in-store? With this approach, shoppers will put these retailers on their Black Friday list.
Lead with Price When It Makes Sense
Everyone wants a deal, and 55% of holiday shoppers lamented that higher prices were busting their budgets. If local businesses have in-demand gifts at competitive prices, it should be part of their campaigns.
Doing this as a comparison could be helpful if competitors charge more. These will likely be limited-time promotions, so play up the urgency in the creative. Adding a touch of humor to getting the best price also makes the ad more relatable.
Target Ads to the Custom Audience Advertisers Want to Reach
Local media sellers want to emphasize both radio spots and digital tactics. Mixing these typically leads to better performance, as noted in lots of research, including that from RAB. Radio will provide the reach to inform lots of different types of customers.
Digital enables more targeted campaigns. When advertisers have a specific audience they want to engage, using targeting smartly makes this possible. Lots of options are available, including demographics, location and interests. Since we know those are key areas where there are differences in how people shop, the message can be more relevant.
Present an Omnichannel Plan to Advertisers
There are four key periods for holiday shopping campaigns. Delivering a proposal that covers all of them can increase local media’s budget capture and drive more sales for advertisers.
Here is a sample.
October
- Brand awareness ads on the radio and digital set the stage.
- Early discounts for select audiences via digital tactics (e.g., retargeting) capture early spenders.
November
- “Coming soon” and teaser ads on the radio and digital should focus on the big five to create anticipation and excitement.
- During the week of, amp up radio ads reaching in-car listeners to motivate them to shop in-store or online. Couple this with geofencing, video and social media ads.
December
- In the first two weeks, themed promotions can trigger more in-store and online visits. An example would be the 12 days of Christmas with unique discounts each day.
- As the big days approach, urgency is key to hooking those consumers who are last-minute shoppers. Promoting things like buy online and pick up in store may be beneficial, too.
Post-Holidays and the New Year
- Ad campaigns shouldn’t end after the event because there are more opportunities! Ads can highlight clearance and sales along with messaging to tempt gift card recipients to spend sooner rather than later.
- Radio, coupled with geofencing retargeting and social media ads, is a great option.
Start Talking About Holiday Campaigns Now
For local media sellers and businesses, the time to begin campaign ideation and set up is now. Don’t wait on this, as consumers will be in gift-shopping mode soon. With these ideas and strategies, everyone can win this holiday season!
This post was originally published on Radio Matters.