While advertising during a holiday period is always very competitive, the fourth quarter of the year is undoubtedly the peak time for consumer focused advertising. In this post we’ll give authors an idea on what to expect when running digital ads near the end of the year and explain why Q4 brings so many changes to the advertising landscape.
Because there are so many consumers in a buying mindset with the holidays coming up, advertisers flock to platforms like Facebook to try and convince people on why their latest and greatest product will make the perfect gift.
Due to this increase in demand for their services, most advertisers start to see the cost of running ads increase at the start of the quarter and show no signs of dropping right until the end of the year.
Due to the huge influx of advertisers, Facebook starts to charge more money to reach the same audiences. This is because competition for eyeballs in this time is fierce and Facebook operates on a bidding system to show ads. The more advertisers and the more money spent in a given period, the higher ad costs get.
As we go through Q4, the CPC (Cost Per Click) for every ad run will likely increase for all businesses directing Facebook Ads to consumers. While paying more for the exact same ads to run is a hard pill to swallow, it can be worth it.
There are two different sides to the argument on whether it is worth it to advertise over the Q4 holiday period.
If you are running on tight budgets and every dollar you spend needs to be spent in the most economical way, then it is probably advisable to avoid advertising on Facebook during Q4. It’s a higher risk because you are putting more money on the line to reach consumers.
On the other hand, there is one specific advantage to advertising on Facebook despite the higher prices: conversion rate. The final weeks of November are key selling periods thanks to sales around Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but the entire quarter generally sees a major spike in sales activity due to gift giving around Christmas.
Because of this, any ad a Facebook user sees in this period has the possibility to see a higher chance of conversion because people are buying more. So, if you are willing to spend a little more, ads running in this period have a higher chance to convert, which in the long run, might help you sell more books.
Avoiding the Q4 holiday period entirely is a strategy authors can also employ if they want to avoid the risk of higher CPCs. Instead of trying to compete in this time, you could instead lower your spend in Q4 and then increase budgets in the new year.
Over the first quarter, CPCs should start to drop and now that you have a higher budget allocation (from the money you saved in Q4) you can start to ramp up your marketing efforts in a time that is actually great for authors. The new year is often a time that people make resolutions to read more, which means it’s the perfect moment to get your books in front of them on Facebook!
Are you looking to run Facebook Ads in the holiday season when people are in a buying mindset? Or would you prefer to secure placement in the new year when CPCs get lower? Reader Reach Ad inventory is currently open into Q1 of 2022, you can purchase a spot here.