The holiday shopping season is a major opportunity for brands and retailers in the consumer electronics space. This should come as a surprise to absolutely no one; Black Friday is almost synonymous with smartphone sales and fights over HD TVs. Based on our Network data from last year, Black Friday and Cyber Monday together drove more than 7X the online shopping traffic than a typical day. The consumer electronics category as a whole sees a 141% increase in traffic growth over the course of the winter months, with smaller spikes right before and after Christmas Day. It is no secret to brands and retailers that shoppers are in-market for phones, TVs, digital cameras, and other electronics during this time, and, because of that, it is extremely difficult to stand out amongst all the noise and competition. To help with that, here are three different types of advertising campaigns you should consider running to take advantage of this critical shopping window.
1. Pre-Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotional campaigns
If last year’s shopping patterns are any indication, shoppers will begin researching potential consumer electronic purchases as early as two weeks leading up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Yes, that’s right around the corner, but there’s still time to double check or adjust your advertising strategy for next week. It is very common to see brands and retailers begin offering early bird sales and touting their Black Friday promotions well before the end of November, so how do you compete? With data-driven strategy, that’s how. If you knew that shoppers were currently in the consideration phase for your products, how would that shape your advertising campaign? Take a look at your own website analytics — did certain product pages see traffic spikes or increased time on page in late October or early November last year? Are there product pages that have already began to see increases this year? Even better — can you or your advertising data provider can see data on other intent signals across your product set — like product page engagement, return visitors, or users who visit multiple variations of the same product? If your data shows increased attention for certain products, these may be good items to feature in retargeting or promotional advertising campaigns.
2. Feature- and innovation-focused campaigns
If everyone is running advertising campaigns for the same types of electronics at the same time, how do you make sure your products stand out? One option is to talk about how your products are different from your competitors’. First, do you know what your differentiators are? If not, a good place to start mining for that insight is in your existing product reviews. Pay attention to what your customers talk about when they leave a review. Do they mention specific features — like the user-friendly navigation on a digital camera or the long battery life in a pair of wireless headphones? The same features that your current customers appreciate the most are likely to resonate just as strongly with potential buyers. If you’re not already, consider using your advertising campaigns to educate those early browsers on the unique features and differentiators of your products.
3. Word-of-mouth advertising campaigns
What’s even more effective than you talking about your differentiators in advertising campaigns? Your own customers talking about your differentiators in advertising campaigns. A strong majority of online shoppers for consumer electronics (as high as 65% of TV shoppers) read product reviews before making a purchase decision. Put your existing customer reviews to work — feature them in the creative for your ads. Word-of-mouth advertisements can include star ratings and/or quotes from your actual customers, which lend credibility and authenticity to your campaign. Our clients that have implemented this type of campaign have seen continued success:
“We consistently see more interaction with ads and social posts that include a customer review than those that don’t,” said Pete Brace, VP Communications at Merrick. “The third-party testimonial provides a more authentic viewpoint that is relevant to the person considering the purchase.”
“We did word of mouth ads this year,” said Joe Turoff, VP of Sales and Marketing for Chervon. “I can confidently say it was a good buy and we’ll be doing it again.”
With your customers speaking on your behalf, you have a better chance of your message influencing holiday shoppers.
It can be tough for your advertising to stand out during the noisy holiday season, especially in the competitive consumer electronics category. Be strategic about the types of campaigns you run — use data from your website, your data provider, and your customers to inform when and on what you focus your efforts. For more holiday insights from our Network, including a consumer electronics-specific infographic, visit our Holiday Headquarters.
