Facebook Ad tips for the holiday season

Christmas is creeping closer and closer and for many small businesses it's definitely time to start thinking about holiday promotions if you haven't already been doing so. 

It's called the silly season for a reason and the number of ads circulating social media will be at an all-time high making it hard to get seen. See some tips below to make the most of your holiday campaigns.

Plan ahead

If you’ve never run ads before and want to start in the lead up to Christmas, I would recommend testing the waters in October and November, if not sooner, to get an idea of how ads work and what content and targeting will work best for your business.

If you have a date you’d like people to order by to ensure delivery in time for Xmas, make it obvious to them. If you have any holiday discounts, make it easy for people to use and redeem them.

Check your campaign start and end dates align with when people are most likely to do their Christmas shopping, accommodating for things like shipping times where possible. 

Get creative with your Ad Creative

Ad Creative simply refers to the ad copy (text) and visual you use in your advertising.

Use something that stands out from the many other Xmas-focused ads that will be abundant across all social platforms over the next few months. Choose something that highlights your product or service in a way that is unique to your business.

Use data-driven targeting

Look at your Facebook insights and any data from previous ad campaigns (if applicable) to see which demographics are most engaged with your page and content. If you haven’t already, invest time into thinking about your ideal customers and who they are - design your ad with them in mind.

Facebook sets the default audience to reach everyone in the country of all genders 18+, which is too broad for most businesses. There are endless combinations of interest targeting that can help you reach the right people and those most likely to be interested in and purchase what you’re selling.

There are also some helpful interest-based targeting options such as ‘Christmas Shopping’, ‘Engaged shoppers’, and ‘Online Shopping’ if you want to reach people with a history of online shopping and those most likely to go ahead with making a purchase.

Set a budget

Keep in mind that it usually costs more to get your ads in front of people this time of year. What does this actually mean for you? A key metric that increases is the cost-per-1,000 people reached and cost-per-1,000 impressions.

Where a budget of $100 may have reached 20,000* people throughout the majority of the year with a brand awareness campaign, that same $100 may only reach half that or less over December when businesses are all competing for precious ad space.

It can be tempting to boost every holiday post you make to get in front of as many people as possible however this isn’t the best approach. Doing so can add up quickly. I recommend setting a Facebook Ad budget early on and sticking to it.

I prefer to and recommend clients set monthly ad budgets. For small businesses this could look like setting $X amount for December and choosing to spend 50% in the first week of December and the other 50% in the second week to give people time to make an order. ​If you have a physical store open right up until Christmas Eve, this allocation might look different.

​The minimum ad budget you can set is $2/day and $100/month is a pretty common budget for many small businesses.

​See what you're up against

​Did you know you can see whether your competitors are running ads or not, and if so, what they're promoting?

​Facebook makes this available in their Ad Library and this can be found under 'Page transparency' on the About section on any Facebook page.

​Seeing what other ads your target audience might be seeing can help you design yours to stand out and be different.

End with a call-to-action

This is something most business owners neglect, especially when boosting posts. You want to make it clear what action you want people to take next after seeing your ad. The holiday season is not the time to be asking for page likes, this is when you want people to be opening their wallets.

This could be including a line like "Visit our website to view our full range and order online today to guarantee Christmas delivery" or "Popular items are selling out fast, visit us in-store or online soon so you don't miss out on our best sellers".

Make it unique and relevant to your business and if you're including a link, use one that leads people to a relevant page on your website rather than just your home page.

Want to promote your business over the holiday period? 

Facebook Ads are a great way to reach more people when done right. Reach out if you have any questions or want a second opinion regarding your ad creative or audience targeting.

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​*Example numbers only at a cost-per-1,000 reach of $5

Photo Credit: KB Group via Canva