Yeah, We Had To: Holiday Cocktail Recipes That’ll Make Santa Smile

Yeah, We Had To: Holiday Cocktail Recipes That’ll Make Santa Smile

With the holidays fast-approaching (um, how those campaigns lookin?), we could all use a little perk-me-up and de-stresser. So in preparation for your holiday gatherings, we slapped on a Santa hat, sprinkled a little magic, and found some holiday cocktail recipes worth sharing.

peppermind winter wonderland christmas holiday cocktail in maritini glass

Winter Wonderland

Wow, if something screams “candy cane” plus “Christmas” it’s this, baby. I’m dying to try this and it feels like the perfect dessert holiday cocktail. holiday cocktail recipes 

Ingredients

  • 1.5 oz vodka
  • .75 oz peppermint schnapps
  • .75 oz white chocolate liqueur
  • Candy cane
  • Red sugar

 

Method

Mix and chill ingredients. Pour into a red sugar-rimmed martini glass. Garnish with a candy cane hanging on the rim.

From Morimoto Asia at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida via Town and Country Magazine.

gin apple fiz cocktail glass with apple

Gin Apple Fiz

This cocktail has been a go-to at my home this Fall – it’s easy to make and easy to adjust to taste. It’s the perfect pre-dinner cocktail that feels special while not complicated. Enjoy!

.Ingredients

  • 2 oz Alibi Gin
  • .25 oz lemon juice
  • Agave nectar, to taste
  • Sparkling apple cider
  • Garnished with thyme and apple

Method

Pour gin in shaker, add lemon juice and agave nectar, shake, and then pour into a high ball glass and top with sparkling cider. Garnish with fresh thyme and an apple slice. holiday cocktail recipes 

From The Ebbitt Room at the Virginia Hotel in Cape May, NJ via Town and Country Magazine. 

north pole nog spiced eggnog in glass with cinnamon stick

North Pole Nog

Yeah, no one feels like making homemade eggnog. Especially in 2020 (unless it’s the next sourdough trend, and if that’s the case, then how far have we fallen?) Anyway, combining spiced rum and bourbon adds a wonderful depth to this eggnog akin to a warm hug. Choose your favorite ‘nog – this list can help – and get spikin’. You can easily triple (or more) the recipe and serve in a glass pitcher. Bonus: there are great egg- and dairy-free eggnog options, too, so all the more reason to drink more?

.Ingredients

  • 6 oz eggnog
  • 1 oz spiced rum
  • 2 oz bourbon
  • 1 tbsp ground cinnamon, for garnish
  • Cinnamon stick, for garnish

Method

Add spiced rum and bourbon to eggnog and stir to combine. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Top with cinnamon stick, for garnish

From Andrea Correale of Elegant Affairs via Town and Country Magazine.

cranberry margarita in glass holiday cocktail

Cranberry Margarita

I couldn’t not add a margarita – and a holiday margarita? Yes, please. I’ll be making this tonight, probs (def).

.Ingredients

  • 2 oz cranberry Juice
  • 1 oz fresh lime juice
  • 1.5 oz blanco tequila
  • .5 oz Cointreau (optional)
  • .25 oz simple syrup or agave syrup
  • Fresh cranberries and lime for garnish

Method

Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled with ice. Shake until outside of shaker is frosty and cold. Pour into a salt rimmed glass over fresh cubes. Garnish with cranberries or some lemon cranberry bars along with the lime wheel.

Created by Trisha Antonsen, chief cocktail officer at Drizly.com via Town and Country Magazine.

.

swedish glogg mulled wine glass

Swedish Glögg

Glögg is a Swedish spiced mulled wine with a little more oomph than your usual ho-hum forgotten-ten-dollar-wine-you-threw-on-the-stove-and-hoped-for-the-best. In Sweden, glögg is served at every meal in December and signifies the start of the holiday season. The number of ingredients makes this look a little more complicated than it is; once on the stove, this glögg will fill your home with the scent of the holidays.

.Ingredients

  • 2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
  • 1 tsp. cardamom pods
  • 1 small piece ginger, peeled
  • Zest of orange
  • 6 whole cloves
  • cup vodka
  • 1 750-ml bottle dry red wine
  • 1 cup ruby port or Madeira
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. vanilla sugar
  • blanched whole almonds
  • cup dark raisins
 

Method

  • Crush cinnamon and cardamom in a mortar and pestle (or put them on a cutting board and crush with the bottom of a heavy pot.) Transfer to a small glass jar and add ginger, orange zest, cloves, and vodka. Let sit 1 day.
  • Strain vodka through a fine-mesh sieve into a large saucepan; discard spices. Add wine, port, granulated sugar, vanilla sugar, almonds, and raisins and heat over medium just until bubbles start to form around the edges.
  • Ladle glögg into mugs, with a few almonds and raisins in each one. Keep any remaining glögg warm over very low heat until ready to serve (do not let it boil).
 
This recipe is adapted from the cookbook ‘Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine,’ by Marcus Samuelsson via Bon Appetit. holiday cocktail recipes 

We hope you enjoy these easy holiday cocktail recipes and give them a try – at home, with family, or wherever the holidays (safely) take you this year. It’s never been more important to relish the little things that bring joy. Who knows, maybe one of these will become a new holiday tradition? Happy Holiday Cocktail -ing and sending you love from the Bidtellect family!

Charlotte Otremba is Director of Communications and Marketing at Bidtellect.

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Going Green: Everything to Know About Carbon Costs & the Scope3 + Bidtellect Integration

Going Green: Everything to Know About Carbon Costs & the Scope3 + Bidtellect Integration

With Scope3 now in Bidtellect’s platform, clients will gain transparency into the carbon cost of their advertising campaigns and the tools to reduce their emissions immediately directly through our DSP.scope3 bidtellect  green advertising, carbon cost, sustainability, ad supply, advertising transparency

lon otremba CTV OTT bidtellect

“Digital programmatic media has always been accused – justifiably – of being far too complex, and we now know that its waste comes with a high cost to the environment. If you are an agency or a brand that values and prioritizes buying media based on its carbon footprint, Bidtellect is the only buying platform that puts actionable tools based on Scope3’s unique data in your hands today.

Lon Otremba, CEO of Bidtellect

The Current State of Carbon Emissions & Digital Advertising

Wasteful, multiple supply paths, and lack of cooperation have kept the ad’s supply path hazy and emissions-heavy.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Digital technologies are responsible for up to 5.9% of total greenhouse gas emissions, of which Internet advertising is a significant contributor. The energy consumption of these technologies is increasing by 9% a year (World Economic Forum).

Media Waste

1/2 of online ad money is being siphoned off by the adtech ecosystem before it reaches publishers (ISBA and PwC) .

"Untraceable" Ad Paths

Of that, about 1/3 of the money was “completely untraceable.” 88% of dollars could not be traced from end to end (ISBA and PwC) .

What Does Scope3 Do?

Scope3 is the only company to report true supply chain emissions data. Scope3 brings granular visibility into the advertising supply chain by measuring the carbon emissions of every single part of the ad journey based on their programmatic setup.

Scope3 is named for the type of emissions they track: emissions that are not produced by the company itself or as a result of activities from assets owned or controlled by them, but by those that it’s indirectly responsible for up and down its value chain (“scope 3 emissions”). scope3 bidtellect  green advertising, carbon cost, sustainability, ad supply, advertising transparency

Scope3 + Bidtellect

With Scope3 integrated into the Bidtellect DSP, clients will be able to seamlessly incorporate its data into their campaign strategy.

Bidtellect users will have accurate insights into the carbon impact of their campaigns. More importantly, they will be able to take immediate action in the platform with ease – choosing or blocking domains, creating specific allow lists, and more – based on Scope3’s carbon data.

In a time of calls for sustainability and transparency, both publishers and advertisers benefit from initiatives like these.

scope3 bidtellect  green advertising, carbon cost, sustainability, ad supply, advertising transparency

headshot photo of Brian O'Kelley Co-founder and CEO of scope3

“When brands have accurate emissions measurement data available in the same place they are executing media buys, it’s a lot easier to factor carbon into optimization decisions. Bidtellect is paving the way while prioritizing action. By offering Scope3 data directly in their platform, Bidtellect is giving buyers exactly what they need to make progress on sustainability commitments, improve advertising and proactively reduce carbon emissions.”

Brian O’Kelley, CEO and Co-Founder of Scope3

The Positive Side Of Reducing Emissions

The obvious benefits are: reduced waste into the environment, a cleaner advertising ecosystem, more transparency into the pathway of an ad delivery, greater trust between consumers and advertisers, between publishers and advertisers, and on and on.

49% of executives surveyed in October by Deloitte believed sustainability efforts will have a positive impact on their brand and reputation. 76% of advertisers want the industry to further reduce carbon emissions according to eMarketer.

Next Steps

Scope3 is currently live in Bidtellect’s platform. Initial data point to a strong correlation between low carbon emission sites and higher quality of supply. Reach out to your Bidtellect rep or contact us here to begin testing today.

Read the Press Release:

Green Advertising First to Market: Bidtellect Adopts Scope3 to Offer Carbon Transparency, Helping Advertisers Take Immediate Action to Reduce Carbon Footprint | Newswire 

scope3 bidtellect  green advertising, carbon cost, sustainability, ad supply, advertising transparency

Read more about waste and sustainability in the digital advertising ecosystem:

 

How ad tech is positioning itself for success in sustainable programmatic ecosystems

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CTV/OTT Advertising: Why It’s a ‘Must-Have’ Strategy

CTV/OTT Advertising: Why It’s a ‘Must-Have’ Strategy

Great news: CTV/OTT advertising is the latest addition to the Bidtellect toolkit. With Bidtellect’s CTV/OTT solution, brands will be able to connect with audiences where they are already consuming content and expands their reach beyond linear TV. Why CTV/OTT with Bidtellect? ctv vs ott Access CTV/OTT Advertising with Bidtellect DSP OTT and CTV advertising is required video ads

Better yet: advertisers can maximize the same performance bidding and optimization technology they are accustomed to with Bidtellect.

So what is CTV? OTT? What is the difference between CTV vs. OTT? And why does it matter to advertising strategy? We break it down.

Cord-Cutters

There will be more than 55 million cord-cutters by 2022

Cord-Nevers

Millions more have avoided paying for traditional cable TV

Subscriptions vs. People

Right now the US has more video-on-demand subscriptions than people

340 million

There are more than 340 million subscribers for over-the-top (OTT) services

The New Must-Have: CTV/OTT Audiences Are Growing

Today, CTV/OTT advertising is an all but required component of a successful media strategy. Studies have proven most purchasing decisions are made at the household level, meaning the key to creating long-term customer connections is to deliver meaningful messaging to the members of the household. With Smart TV sales at record highs and linear TV audiences diminishing, CTV/OTT is the most engaging and cost-effective way to reach them.

CTV/OTT advertising is no longer a “nice to have” piece of a media strategy. It’s required.

ctv/ott

ctv vs. ott ott ctv advertising ctv advertising ott advertising

140 Million AVOD

US users watching ad-supported video-on-demand (AVOD) will surpass 140 million in 2022, up 8.6% YoY.

2/3 of US Population

⅔ of the US population is projected to watch CTV content in 2022.

33.1% Increase in Ad Revenues

eMarketer projects a 33.1% increase in CTV ad revenues for 2022, to $18.89 billion.

10% of All Ad Spend

By 2026, CTV ad spending will account for more than 10% of all digital ad spending, having more than doubled to $38.83 billion.

What’s the Difference? CTV vs. OTT

One of the primary differences between OTT and CTV advertising is that OTT ads are typically served in the form of video ads within accessed video content. In contrast, CTV ads are usually served alongside apps that are installed on CTV devices or the device’s homepage itself. As a newer medium, advanced TV presents an evolving variety of monetization opportunities for advertisers willing to keep up.

CTV

CTV is an internet-connected device a customer uses to watch TV/video content online.

OTT

OTT is the delivery mechanism for TV/video content online, usually through streaming or video on demand (VOD) in addition to, or “over the top of,” traditional network providers.

Why CTV/OTT with Bidtellect?

Bidtellect’s new CTV/OTT solution will connect brands with audiences where they are already consuming content and expands brands’ reach beyond linear TV.

  • Streamline the planning, trading and execution with Bidtellect’s world-class support.
  • Power of Context: leverage Bidtellect’s industry-leading context-driven technology and metadata coverage across the entire supply ecosystem.
  • Access to the largest CTV/OTT enabled SSPs and premium publishers.

Users will be able to leverage Bidtellect’s unique and unmatched performance bidding and optimization technology to seamlessly incorporate CTV/OTT into their media buying strategy.

lon otremba CTV OTT bidtellect

“The way people access entertainment continues to evolve. In a sea of streaming choices, consumers want a knowledgeable voice to be a directional guide. Consumers are receptive – and expecting of – targeting and recommendations.”

Lon Otremba, CEO

Access CTV/OTT Advertising Directly Through Bidtellect’s DSP

Clients will be able to activate CTV/OTT directly through Bidtellect’s DSP through all service models, with the ability to optimize and target premium content categories across multiple goals and bid types. Bidtellect’s capabilities like budget fluidity, pacing, bid shading, creative flighting and more for maximum campaign ROI.

Deals

• Location
• Language
• Ad Type
• Inventory Quality

Optimization

• Completion Rate
• Supply Tier

Bid Types

• Max CPM
• Dynamic CPM
• Flat CPM

Additional Capabilities

• Campaign Flighting
• Daily Caps
• Bid Shading
• Creative Flighting
• Budget Fluidity
• Pacing Preference
• Delivery vs performance

Fraud Protection

With our partnership with HUMAN, all Bidtellect inventory is frequently scanned, and the majority of invalid traffic is blocked

Round Out Your Video Strategy With Bidtellect

With the combination of movement and sound, video advertisements are almost guaranteed to catch the attention of the viewers. With the right partner, video ads can provide a great return on investment. Read more about Bidtellect’s Video Solution here.

Context-Driven Video Solutions

Multiple Formats

Efficiency

ctv/ott

ctv vs. ott

ott ctv advertising

ctv advertising

ott advertising

Scale

ctv/ott

ctv vs. ott

ott ctv advertising

ctv advertising

ott advertising

Goal Variety

ctv/ott

ctv vs. ott

ott ctv advertising

ctv advertising

ott advertising

Brand Safety

ctv/ott

ctv vs. ott

ott ctv advertising

ctv advertising

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Download Bidtellect's CTV/OTT Spec Onesheet Now

11 + 8 =

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Bidtellect’s Top 10 Holiday Campaign Tips for for Brands & Advertisers

Bidtellect’s Top 10 Holiday Campaign Tips for for Brands & Advertisers

This is our no frills, top 10 list for holiday advertising success.

$1.3 trillion

eMarketer predicts 2022 holiday retail sales to increase 3.3% to $1.262 trillion (eMarketer). 

 

4%

Only 4% of U.S. holiday shoppers did not use digital channels for their shopping in 2021 (Think With Google)

61%

61% of consumers joined a loyalty program to receive discounts during the 2021 holiday season (Deloitte)

1. Holiday spend is going to be big. Now is the time to scale.

Bidtellect’s platform is integrated with 25+ of the industry’s leading SSPs and exchanges, giving buyers access to 98%+ of the internet-connected US, and 100s of thousands of publishers and global supply.

2. Don’t skimp on brand safety. 

Filter towards quality to ensure viewability, brand safety, supply path optimization, and to combat fraud.

3. Make use of all Bidtellect’s ad formats & devices

We’re talkin’ Responsive Native, High Impact, Banner Display, Video and Desktop, Tablet, and Mobile – all to drive brand and promotional awareness. Bonus: we now offer CTV/OTT. Talk to your contact to see if you can incorporate it now.

4. Reach consumers already engaging with holiday content,

holiday shopping content, or any topic of your choosing with context-driven targeting and optimization.

5. Utilize Bidtellect’s proprietary audiences,

which use natural language processing technology and the context of the page to build custom audiences that show an explicit interest in the category of your choosing.

6. Save where it counts.

Our optimization technology – especially our automatic bid factoring tool, AARDvark – will ensure you’re paying for the true value of an ad placement, maximizing ROI.

7. Loyalty programs matter to holiday shoppers

for early deals and access – the data shows it. Show off loyalty programs and exciting savings promotions in your holiday creative assets. Ads with promotions are consistently top performing, according to [b]+studio.

8. Rely on real-time optimization

 to identify the creatives and content that deliver the best results across devices and sites.

9. Analyze campaign performance

with Bidtellect’s robust analytics, customized reporting, third-party measurement solutions and proprietary insights for the most in-depth assessment of your holiday campaigns.

10. Teamwork makes the holiday dream come true

Our creative experts [b]+studio will create custom, eye-catching, and high performing holiday creative assets for your brand. Our performance analysts make recommendations based on performance and goals.

 

Brands and advertisers, we hope these top 10 tips for holiday campaigns are helpful. Reach out to your Bidtellect rep to learn more.

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Holiday Creative Assets: 6 Mandatory Tips for Engagement from [b]+studio

Holiday Creative Assets: 6 Mandatory Tips for Engagement from [b]+studio

Hello, holiday advertisers! We asked Santa aka Bidtellect’s in-house creative agency their mandatory tips for engaging holiday creative assets. Don’t you want your brand on on the high-engagement “nice list?”

Remember, no matter how great your platform’s placement and optimization capabilities, bad creative assets (we’re talking images, videos, and copy) will kill engagement faster than you can say, “Is this coal?!”

So here’s what you need to know.

1. It’s the Happiest Time of Year – Keep Your Holiday Creative Assets & Messaging Positive!

 

Simple as that! Use positive adjectives in headlines coupled with happy images to increase CTR. Cold, monotone creatives do not bring joy. Bonus: add puns or rhymes to make it even more…puntastic.

2. Keep the Holidays Front of Mind in All Creative Assets

 

‘Tis the season: remember to include at least one holiday reference in the image or copy in all holiday creative assets, or you’ll risk seeming out of the loop (as well as suffering poor engagement).

Use the concept of “gift guides.” Offer helpful, valuable tips and create content that’s great to drive to. Think: find the perfect gift for “X” which doubles as calling out the targeted demographic, but in a fun, holiday way. Be a holiday thought leader – and help your shoppers out!

3. Refresh Your Holiday Creatives For Engagement & Re-Engagement

 

Switch up your holiday creative assets! Better yet: rotate based on the event, as you count down to Black Friday, that big holiday sale, or new holiday release. Bidtellect’s advanced platform optimizes to best-performing creatives (read more on Dynamic Creative Optimization) and our team will manually rotate creatives to find your best performance.

Plus, you’ll want to re-engage with users thanks to our sequential messaging tech and other re-engagement tactics – so you’ll need fresh content!

4. High Impact Units Are Your Best Gift

 

Take your holiday creative assets up a notch with high impact creative units: cinemagraphs, scroller units, and carousel units are major engagement givers. These are highly effective at telling a short story and conveying a specific setting or emotion. They also drive maximum in-unit engagement. One advertising agency found that cinemagraph content tends to have more virality, with 71% higher organic reach than still photographs. Don’t believe us? Check out this case study or this one.

5. Incorporate Video into Your Holiday Creative Assets

 

9/10 people report wanting to see more videos from brands, according to Hubspot. So go ahead, give consumers the gift of video ads in your holiday creative assets this season – and you’ll give your brand the gift of higher engagement. Keep them short, sweet, and positive – and be sure your message can be conveyed with and without sound.

Bidtellect’s context-driven solutions ensure your video ads will be relevant to the content surrounding it – a good thing since 74% of consumers are likely to remember an ad if its message relates to the content around it.

6. Make Sure You Offer Deals and Promotions in Your Headlines

Santa with Sale Sign

 

Everybody loves a sale – especially during the holidays! So include deals, discounts, incentives, and reward programs in the copy of your holiday creative assets. Bidtellect’s [b]+studio consistently sees highest performance for headlines including a discount.

Examples: promo codes, flash sales, bundle deals, free shipping, etc. Combine promotions (discounts or a special offer) with the shipping deadlines to incentivize your customers to start shopping. Most predict consumers will start shopping even earlier this year.

Brands and advertisers, we hope these tips for engaging holiday creative assets are helpful!  The holiday 2022 shopping season is going to be a great year!

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These Are The Top 3 Trends Predicted for the 2022 Holiday Shopping Season

These Are The Top 3 Trends Predicted for the 2022 Holiday Shopping Season

Holiday shopping is just around the corner and the data shows that consumers will be spending and shopping even earlier this year! Here’s what brands and advertisers need to know when it comes to their holiday advertising and digital marketing campaigns for 2022.

$1.3 trillion

eMarketer predicts 2022 holiday retail sales to increase 3.3% to $1.262 trillion (eMarketer).

4%

Only 4% of U.S. holiday shoppers did not use digital channels for their shopping in 2021 (Think With Google)

61%

61% of consumers joined a loyalty program to receive discounts during the 2021 holiday season (Deloitte)

1. More Spending & Growth Predicted this Holiday Season

Call it post-pandemic energy, excitement, or relief – whatever it is, consumers spent big last year and that trend is predicted to continue. Brands can take advantage of this trend and market their products properly in order to increase their sales. In such scenarios, direct marketing can prove to be beneficial. This is why leaflet distribution services are still important as companies tend to take their help in distributing marketing information such as offers and discounts through leaflets or direct mail. For instance, a travel agency might want to distribute promotional offers to people through leaflets that might also have a coupon code for a discount. Honestly, if the weather is fine and the diseases do not spread, then there are higher chances of people taking vacations. For instance, this year, the weather seems to be in favor of people taking a break from their mundane schedules, and so are viruses and bacteria. Hence, individuals would look forward to visiting Leavenworth vacation homes by Meredith Lodging (and the like) to spend quality time with their loved ones. As a result, more and more people will shop in large quantities. They would of course need travel gear while being on the move, wouldn’t they?

That said, total retail spending grew 16.1% in 2021 – the fastest growth rate in more than 20 years, according to eMarketer; Deloitte reported a similar statistic citing that 2021 total holiday retail sales increased 8.5%, the largest annual increase in 17 years. eMarketer predicts consumer holiday spending will grow 3.3% in 2022 to $1.262 trillion.

Retail and Holiday Spending & Prediction Data:

  • US retail sales grew by 16.1% to $1.221 trillion in the 2021 holiday season, the fastest growth rate in more than 20 years (eMarketer, February 2022)
  • Total holiday retail sales in 2021 increased 8.5%, the largest annual increase in 17 years (Deloitte, 2022)
  • eMarketer predicts 2022 holiday retail sales to increase 3.3% to $1.262 trillion (eMarketer, February 2022).
  • Apparel and accessories ecommerce sales surged 22.5% to $45.35 billion to make it the No. 1 category in terms of both growth and dollar figure (eMarketer, February 2022)

Advertisers: Holiday spend is going to be big. Now is the time to scale.

Budget higher spend and scale across the web, ad formats (Responsive Native, High Impact, Banner Display, and Video) and devices (desktop, tablet and mobile) to reach more interested consumers. Bidtellect’s platform is integrated with 25+ of the industry’s leading SSPs and exchanges, giving buyers access to 98%+ of the internet-connected US, and 100s of thousands of publishers and global supply. Better yet, all inventory available through Bidtellect’s platform can be filtered towards quality to ensure viewability, brand safety, supply path optimization, and to combat fraud.

santa holding a credit card for holiday shopping online christmas shopping advertising

2. eCommerce Continues to Dominate Holiday Shopping & Sales

Great news digital advertisers: ecommerce shopping growth has been holding steady post-pandemic. Nearly all shoppers will buy something online this holiday season – Google reported that only 4% of U.S. holiday shoppers did not use digital channels for their shopping in 2021, and eMarketer predicts nearly 16% growth in ecommerce sales this year, compared to 0.9% growth in brick and mortar sales. Additionally, e-commerce companies prefer to take the help of post-purchase customer experience platforms like Wismo, which can help them increase their rate of sales. These platforms tend to bridge the gap of communication between the seller and customers about their order, its status, and the ETA of delivery. Personalized messages to the customer regarding their order can make them feel special and motivate them to to come back again to the e-commerce website for their shopping needs.

Following the pandemic, businesses seem to be allocating more money to advertising and promoting their various categories of products due to the phenomenal growth of eCommerce. Therefore, they usually work with their financial advisers to formulate effective holiday plans, use software (like the ones provided by Finlyte) to optimize their profits, and devise interactive promotional campaigns focusing on their best-selling products in order to maximize sales during the holiday season.

We recommend shifting focus to Cyber Monday, which was the heaviest online spending day in 2021 (no surprise) and is predicted to be the No. 1 spending day of the season this year, too, rising 12.0% to $12.22 billion according to eMarketer. That said, Black Friday will be the second biggest, rising 9.8% to $9.91 billion.

eCommerce Holiday Spending Data:

  • Holiday eCommerce sales will climb 15.5% to $235.86 billion in 2022 (eMarketer)
  • Only 4% of U.S. holiday shoppers did not use digital channels for their shopping in 2021 (Think With Google)
  • 2021 ecommerce sales increased 11% compared with 2020 and 64.1% compared with 2019 (Deloitte)
  • Cyber Monday will be the No. 1 spending day of the season -rising 12.0% to $12.22 billion (eMarketer)
  • Black Friday will be the second biggest online spending day, rising 9.8% to $9.91 billion (eMarketer)
  • Thanksgiving will again grow the fastest at 14.1% to reach $5.90 billion (eMarketer)

Advertisers: Use context to reach more relevant audiences and industry decision-makers where they are consuming holiday content.

Contextual targeting seamlessly integrates your ads into relevant content users are already consuming – like holiday gift inspiration, holiday deals to take advantage of, or holiday shopping sites – and provides higher engagement and greater cost efficiencies, especially in combination with Bidtellect’s context-driven optimization engine.

Utilize Bidtellect’s proprietary audiences, which use natural language processing technology and the context of the page to build custom audiences that show an explicit interest in the category of your choosing.

elves shopping holiday shopping advertising

3. Holiday Shoppers Will Start Early Thanks to Loyalty Programs & Stock Concerns

In 2021, holiday shoppers started shopping sooner – and this was thanks to brand loyalty programs combined with fears of missing out on a key wish list item. Not only that, 50% wished they had started shopping earlier, according to Google. Loyalty programs trigger earlier shopping thanks to exclusive discounts and gift inspiration – Deloitte reported that as many as 81% shopped specific brands because they were a member and 61% joined a program just for a discount.

Loyalty Program Holiday Data:

  • 81% of consumers shopped specific brands during the 2021 holiday season because they were a member (Deloitte)
  • 61% of consumers joined a loyalty program to receive discounts during the 2021 holiday season (Deloitte)

Early Shopping Holiday Data:

  • As of June 2021, 31% of U.S. shoppers had already started their holiday shopping and 37% of shoppers who shopped last holiday season wished they had started earlier (Think With Google, March 2022)
  • In June 2021, stock issues were top of mind for holiday shoppers. Over 50% of U.S. shoppers surveyed saying they would start holiday shopping earlier to avoid an item being out of stock (Think With Google, March 2022)

Advertisers: Call out loyalty programs and discounts in your creative assets

Holiday shoppers are eager to maximize their loyalty program membership and join if it offers exclusive discounts. Bidtellect’s in-house creative agency, [b]+studio, consistently sees the highest engagement with creative assets that offer a discount or loyalty program in the headline. Creative expertise combined with optimization technology will ensure maximum engagement to best-performing creative assets in real time.

We hope these holiday 2022 advertising trend predictions and campaign tips set you up for success.

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