• DE&I Commitment
  • Careers
  • Locations
  • Book a Meeting
    Book a Meeting
  • Company
    Learn a little more about us, our values, and our team
    Our Values
    We don't just talk the talk; we live by our core values
    About Us
    Empowering brands to realize their potential with data, insights, and technology
    Leadership
    Meet our leadership team
    Secure Data Architecture
    Our promise of data security and privacy. We keep your data safe from publishers, competitors and bad actors
    Corporate Social Responsibility
    We are committed to making a positive impact on our communities and our planet
  • Platform
    Plan, manage, optimize, and measure your campaigns with our omnichannel platform
    Our Platform
    A platform that connects all walled garden media
    Connected Media
    Create and manage campaigns across search, social, retail media and apps, in one platform
    Connected Data
    Make data-driven decisions as you plan and strategize
    See the industries we serve
    Learn how our customizable solutions can help with your unique needs
    Explore our partner integrations
    See the media, retailer, and data partners we work with
  • Clients
  • News and Events
    Check out recent announcements and see what we’re up to
    News
    Check out our recent media coverage
    Events
    Join us for our next conference or webinar
    Roundtable discussion: Beyond Onsite
    Tackle the next phase of retail media over breakfast with Nectar360 and peers
    Retail Media for Grocery Webinar
    Join us to dig into trends and challenges shaping the industry in 2023
  • Resources
    From new releases, to industry trends and best practices, Skai has you covered
    Blog
    Read the latest insights and thought leadership from our industry experts
    Capabilities
    Take your campaigns to the next level by enhancing your platform capabilities
    Research
    Explore our reports and whitepapers so you can keep up on the latest industry trends
    Subscribe
    Sign up to get the latest updates straight to your inbox
    Quarterly Trends Report
    Learn digital advertising campaign performance trends from Q4 2022
Back to Blog

The Skai 5: Five Tips for Brands to Nail Their 2019 Holiday Planning

Michelle Urwin, VP Marketing

August  20, 2019

2019 holiday planning for marketers is wrapping up right now. It’s one of the most important times of the year—especially for retailers—to cash in on the giving season. But, with so much competition and clutter, brands need to put their best foot forward. And that all starts with having the best plan.  

Even though many of us have just finished our summer vacations and are busy making Labor Day plans, the 2019 holiday season is right around the corner. And since more and more customers are looking for holiday deals right around the same time they’re purchasing Halloween candy, planning for a holiday strategy that stretches over the entire season while setting brands apart from the crowd is more important than ever before. 

2019 Holiday Planning Tip for Brands #1 – Be ready for the long haul

If it seems like the holiday season is getting longer—that’s because it is.

A recent study by Facebook found that one in five consumers actually began their holiday shopping in October. But just because shoppers are getting started earlier doesn’t mean that they are finishing their shopping any sooner. Now that 1-2 day shipping has become standard for go-to’s like Amazon, the holiday season starts before Halloween and lasts until a couple of days before Christmas.

So, brands, your holiday plan of action needs to be pretty much set to begin right after Labor Day.

2019 Holiday Planning Tip for Brands #2 – This year will be the biggest holiday season yet

In 2018, shoppers spent over $850 billion dollars over the course of the holiday season, up 5.1% from the previous year, according to Reuters. Online sales also set new records; they were up 16.5% for a total of $126 billion. 

And consumers weren’t the only ones spending big last year. Last year’s Digital Advertising Trends report for the 2018 holiday season from Skai in partnership with ClickZ found that  46% of companies planned to increase spending for the holiday season from the previous year, while 46% remained the same. It seems like those strategies paid off. 

So now is the time to start planning budgets and strategy for what is set to be another banner year for sales. The National Retail Federation (NRF) predicts growth in retail sales for all of 2019, meaning that the holiday season should be another record-breaker.

2019 Holiday Planning Tip for Brands #3 – Make sure your Cyber 5 strategy is part of a larger game plan

The “Cyber 5” has come to refer to those all-important days from Thanksgiving, November 28, through Cyber Monday, December 2. And while it is important to recognize the Cyber 5 as huge shopping days, adopting a more holistic approach to holiday search and advertising could lead to a more consistently effective campaign, especially for those consumers beginning their shopping well before Thanksgiving.

In 2018, marketers devoted 19% of their search budgets to Cyber 5 spending, though the days make up for just 9% of holiday shopping. According to our recap of the 2018 holiday season, this year, more marketers might just be looking for a strategy that encompasses the Cyber 5 but also covers the entire extended holiday season, catching both those October early-bird shoppers and the last-minute deal seekers alike:

“While more mature channels such as Search and Social saw spend spike heavily during the Cyber 5 compared to the growth of the rest of the season, Ecommerce advertising grew 82% year-over-year (YoY) for the entire season and 55% YoY for the Cyber 5,” the report found. “What this indicates is that marketers invested in the Cyber 5 last year but this year they wanted to have better coverage across the entire shopping period with an “always-on” approach.”

2019 Holiday Planning Tip for Brands #4 – Push the envelope

With every retailer around fighting for attention during the holiday season, shoppers are overwhelmed with choices. The only course of action to help one brand stand out over another is to go bold. Adopting a unified holiday strategy that embraces the entire holiday season–focusing on building brand awareness very early on, building email lists in the early autumn, and focusing on holiday SEO right after Labor Day–could be a bold way to make the most of those holiday budgets.

2019 holiday planning

2019 Holiday Planning Tip for Brands #5 – But let the data be your guide

 A holistic approach to holiday campaigns shouldn’t involve guesswork. Luckily the numbers from Q4 from the past few years can be an excellent indicator for where to begin preparing for 2019. When did volume pick up last year from shoppers interested in buying for the holidays? Look at web traffic in addition to both conversions and CTRs on holiday messaging.

Consumer behaviors from previous years left important clues as to when buyers are ready to begin their holiday shopping. Using those clues to prepare for 2019 is an excellent way to make sure 2019 is your best holiday season yet. 

Book a Meeting of Skai

Related Posts

  • One smartphone displaying ads for Cottonelle Fresh Care wipes in the search bar on Google, with buy on Amazon at the bottom of the search result; the second smartphone displaying the same product on Amazon to purchase.
    Amazon Attribution is the Key to Using Search & Social to Supercharge Amazon Sales
    Read More
  • [WATCH] Reinvent Your Marketing Strategy for the Next Normal
    Read More
  • Monthly Paid Media Spend Snapshot – May 2021
    Read More
  • 2021 Publisher Holiday Trends: Roundel
    Read More
  • 2021 Publisher Holiday Trends: Walmart
    Read More
  • 2021 Publisher Holiday Trends: Instacart
    Read More
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share via Email
  • Copy Link
    Copied!
Tags: Apps, Create, Data & Insights, Facebook, Holiday, Local, Plan, Research, Retail Media, Social, Target, xTLx

Subscribe to Updates

Media that matters.
Marketing that works.
© 2023 Kenshoo, Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy. Cookie Policy. Recruitment Privacy Policy.
  • Connected Data
    • Market Intelligence
    • Our Approach
    • By Need
    • By Solution
  • Connected Strategy
    • Dynamic Marketing Mix
    • Budget Forecasting
    • Strategic Consulting
  • Connected Media
    • Overview
    • Retail Media
    • Paid Search
    • Paid Social
    • App Marketing
    • Auditing
    • Expert Services
  • Measurement
    • Incrementality
    • Experiments
    • Cross-Channel Attribution
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • Glossary
    • Case Studies
    • Training & Enablement
    • Developer Hub
Privacy Preference

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential, while others help us to improve this website and your experience.

Privacy Preference

Save All

Save

Accept Only Essential Cookies

Manage Cookie Preferences

Cookie Details Privacy Policy Imprint

Privacy Preference

Here you will find an overview of all cookies used. You can give your consent to whole categories or display further information and select certain cookies.

Save All Save Accept Only Essential Cookies

Back

Privacy Preference

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the proper function of the website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Name
Provider Owner of this website, Imprint
Purpose Saves the visitors preferences selected in the Cookie Box of Borlabs Cookie.
Host(s) .skai.io, skai.io
Cookie Name borlabs-cookie
Cookie Expiry 1 Year
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Purpose This cookie stores selections made by the user in the Accessibe tool in order to maintain those settings on future visits. These cookies help us make our website compliant with our obligations under US law.
Privacy Policy https://accessibe.com/privacy-policy
Cookie Name acsbState, acsbReset
Cookie Expiry n/a
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name wordpress_sec_,wordpress_test_cookie,wp-postpass_*, wordpresspass_*, wordpressuser_*
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

We use these cookies to enhance functionality and allow for personalisation, such as live chats, videos and the use of social media.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .chilipiper.com, skai.chilipiper.com
Cookie Name fs_uid, CHILI_PIPER_CLUSTER, guest-session, _sp_ses*, _sp_id*
Cookie Expiry Session / 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) .comeet.co, www.comeet.co
Cookie Name visid_incap_, nlbi_#######, incap_ses_, referrer22_00a, incap_ses_1364_2167377
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Owner of this website
Host(s) skai.io
Cookie Name moduleFormPardotDownload
Cookie Expiry 30 days

Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for website analytics. Generates statistical data on how the visitor uses the website.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name _ga,_ga_*,_gat,_gat_*,_gid
Cookie Expiry 2 Months
Accept
Name
Provider Hotjar Ltd., Dragonara Business Centre, 5th Floor, Dragonara Road, Paceville St Julian's STJ 3141 Malta
Purpose Hotjar is an user behavior analytic tool by Hotjar Ltd.. We use Hotjar to understand how users interact with our website.
Privacy Policy https://www.hotjar.com/legal/policies/privacy/
Host(s) *.hotjar.com
Cookie Name _hjClosedSurveyInvites, _hjDonePolls, _hjMinimizedPolls, _hjDoneTestersWidgets, _hjIncludedInSample, _hjShownFeedbackMessage, _hjid, _hjRecordingLastActivity, hjTLDTest, _hjUserAttributesHash, _hjCachedUserAttributes, _hjLocalStorageTest, _hjptid, _hjSessionUser_2229986, _hjIncludedInPageviewSample, _hjIncludedInSessionSample, _hjAbsoluteSessionInProgress, _hjFirstSeen
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Marketing cookies are used by third-party advertisers or publishers to display personalized ads. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Linkedin
Cookie Name lidc, li_gc, lang, AnalyticsSyncHistory, UserMatchHistory, li_sugr, bcookie, TDCPM, TDID, bscookie, ln_or
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year
Accept
Name
Provider Skai
Accept
Name
Provider 6sense
Cookie Name _gd_session, _an_uid, _gd_visitor, _gd_svisitor, 6suuid
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Pardot
Purpose Cookie name associated with services from marketing automation and lead generation platform Pardot. The visitor value is the visitor_id in your Pardot account. This cookie is set for visitors by the Pardot tracking code.
Host(s) .pardot.com, pi.pardot.com, skai.io
Cookie Name pardot, visitor_id*, lpv*
Cookie Expiry Session / 10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Google used for conversion tracking of Google Ads.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en
Cookie Name IDE, 1P_JAR, NID, SOCS, CONSENT, AEC, _gcl_au, OTZ, test_cookie
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Cookie by Facebook used for website analytics, ad targeting, and ad measurement.
Privacy Policy https://www.facebook.com/policies/cookies
Cookie Name _fbp,act,c_user,datr,fr,tr,m_pixel_ration,pl,presence,sb,spin,wd,xs
Cookie Expiry Session / 1 Year

Content from video platforms and social media platforms is blocked by default. If External Media cookies are accepted, access to those contents no longer requires manual consent.

Show Cookie Information Hide Cookie Information

Accept
Name
Provider Wistia
Host(s) .wistia.com
Cookie Name cb_anonymous_id, _sp_ses.2b40, _li_dcdm_c, __hssrc, _gcl_au, _clsk, hubspotutk, _sp_id.2b40, __hssc, __hstc, _uetsid, _uetvid, _gid, _ga, _ga_GQR109DZ3Y, _lc2, fpi, _ex-pricing-cta, _fbp, cb_group_id, cb_user_id, _clck
Cookie Expiry Session / 400 Days
Accept
Name
Provider Meta Platforms Ireland Limited, 4 Grand Canal Square, Dublin 2, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Instagram content.
Privacy Policy https://www.instagram.com/legal/privacy/
Host(s) .instagram.com
Cookie Name pigeon_state
Cookie Expiry Session
Accept
Name
Provider Openstreetmap Foundation, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cowley Road, Cambridge CB4 0WS, United Kingdom
Purpose Used to unblock OpenStreetMap content.
Privacy Policy https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_Policy
Host(s) .openstreetmap.org
Cookie Name _osm_location, _osm_session, _osm_totp_token, _osm_welcome, _pk_id., _pk_ref., _pk_ses., qos_token
Cookie Expiry 1-10 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Twitter International Company, One Cumberland Place, Fenian Street, Dublin 2, D02 AX07, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock Twitter content.
Privacy Policy https://twitter.com/privacy
Host(s) .twimg.com, .twitter.com
Cookie Name __widgetsettings, local_storage_support_test
Cookie Expiry Unlimited
Accept
Name
Provider Vimeo Inc., 555 West 18th Street, New York, New York 10011, USA
Purpose Used to unblock Vimeo content.
Privacy Policy https://vimeo.com/privacy
Host(s) player.vimeo.com
Cookie Name vuid
Cookie Expiry 2 Years
Accept
Name
Provider Google Ireland Limited, Gordon House, Barrow Street, Dublin 4, Ireland
Purpose Used to unblock YouTube content.
Privacy Policy https://policies.google.com/privacy?hl=en&gl=en
Host(s) google.com
Cookie Name CONSENT
Cookie Expiry 6 Month

Borlabs Cookie powered by Borlabs Cookie

Privacy Policy Imprint