Should You or Shouldn’t You Pause Your Ads Over Christmas?

Christmas is just around the corner! And no doubt you (and many businesses out there) are probably wondering whether to pause your advertising over the Christmas period or not. At first glance it seems like a logical step to take, given that everyone’s expecting that people won’t be shopping or spending as much over Christmas. However, there are some points to take into consideration before you make your final decision.

1. Less Competition = Cheaper Ad Spend

In the past, advertisers spent big budgets on ads over the Christmas period. However, given the global pandemic, reports are coming in that this holiday season will be slightly different. In fact, this 2020, The Guardian predicts that online ad spending will be cut by 3.7% and 11%. 

While one might initially think that these are signs to consider lowering or pausing their advertising, it is actually a sign for increased opportunities for some added exposure.

Online ads are auction based, and the prices on ad spend for Google and Facebook have only climbed because of the limited spaces for advertising. This means that the more advertisers there are competing with one another, the more expensive clicks will be. On the other hand, if other businesses are choosing to forgo spending for ads over the Christmas period, that then points to cheaper clicks.

2. Pausing Google Ads Can Hurt Your Rankings

If you find that your Google rank and Ad Rank are in a good place at the moment, pausing those ads will only hurt them. This is because pausing your ads puts you at a disadvantage against your competition, especially if they decide to continue running theirs.

While pausing your Google Ads can save you some money in the short term, it has the potential to hurt you in the long term.

Putting a pause on your Google Ads ultimately means giving up your spot to your competition. Pausing places a negative effect on your Ad Rank, meaning that all the effort you’ve placed on improving your rankings throughout the year might be put to waste. 

3. People Are All Over Google and Social Media

One marketing principle that holds true to this day is the Rule of 7. Simply put, the rule of seven states that a potential buyer needs to be exposed to your marketing message at least seven times before they decide to buy from you.

Being that more people will be online over the holidays, it’s a great opportunity to give your business as much exposure as possible, thereby jumpstarting your new year with a slew of interest and inquiries.

Facebook Ads are usually more expensive over the holidays due to everyone wanting to give their business the most amount of exposure. However, one way to circumvent that is to allocate your budget towards re-targeting your more engaged audiences.

Maybe there were some in your audience that showed an interest in your products pre-Christmas, but they’d already set their budgets for the holidays. Re-targeting them over the holidays helps keep them interested during a period when they’re most likely to forget about your products or services.

4. Don’t Count Out the Last-Minute Shoppers, and Always Plan Ahead!

If that’s not enough to convince you, consider the fact that not everyone does their Christmas shopping early. There will always be last-minute shoppers. Back in 2018, Salesforce reported that peak mobile shopping happened on Christmas Day, not to mention that there was a 34% social traffic growth over the entire holiday season.

In this year’s report, Salesforce predicts that “30% of global retail sales will be made through digital channels.” That’s 7% higher than last year’s 23%. Pausing your ads would mean missing out on that growth and potential.

Lastly, you want to think about your sales pipeline. How long does it usually take to turn a prospect into a sale? Having your ads run through the holidays ensures that when you come back to the office in January, you won’t face a mountain of work chasing down leads in the first few weeks of the new year.

In the end, it’s all about planning ahead and putting your best foot forward. It’s far better to kick-start a new year already on a roll rather than having to spend the first few weeks building momentum.

 

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