The Smart Lab: Now Is the Time to Begin Online Advertising

The holiday season is characterized by a flurry of gift-giving, goal-reaching and, if you’re a jeweler, sales.

Advertising is how you make sure your brand and product offerings stay in the minds of potential customers. If you wait too long to begin your online advertising, you could be hurting your Q4 results.

While most consumers might make their purchases in December, they begin shopping around more than a month in advance. According to a Google survey, 59 percent of U.S. consumers planned to begin holiday shopping in November.

This is a crucial statistic to be privy to because it means that November is when you want to begin delivering your brand messages to consumers. The goal is for consumers to remember your marketing when December rolls around and they are ready to buy (your products hopefully).

According to Cardlytics, there are four types of shoppers, as characterized by the time they shop during the holiday season:
—Steady shoppers: those who shop throughout the season;
—Early-bird shoppers: those who begin in October and early November;
—Black Friday shoppers: those who shop mostly over Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday; and
—Last-minute shoppers: those who wait for the last few weeks of December.

And here’s what the numbers say about these shoppers across 10 product categories:
—46.4 percent are steady shoppers;
—26 percent are last-minute shoppers;
—19 percent are Black Friday shoppers; and
—8.6 percent are early-bird shoppers.

Additionally, the Cardlytics report says that Black Friday is losing its significance.

Despite this, most retailers continue to target most of their advertising spend toward Black Friday shoppers. With only 19 percent of consumers spending their money during that time, an informed retailer knows that it’s far better to target a strategic mix of all the segments.

When jewelers begin advertising in November, they are reaching the nearly 9 percent early-bird segment and the 46.4 percent steady shopper segment.

When jewelers continue to spend their advertising budget consistently throughout the holiday season, they also reach the Black Friday and last-minute shoppers.

When companies begin their holiday advertising in November, they are laying the groundwork for the rest of their holiday marketing. Customers are more receptive to companies they have heard from before.

If you begin advertising in December, you will lose sales to companies that began in November because customers will be more likely to purchase from the companies they saw earlier.

The best way to target customers is through digital marketing