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2021 Holiday Planning Guide

The document provides guidance on holiday planning and best practices for the 2020 holiday season based on consumer shopping trends. Some key points include: - Shopping started earlier in 2020, with 48% of consumers beginning by mid-November compared to 39% in 2019. Advertisers need strategies that run throughout Q4, not just Cyber Week. - Shopping also ended later, with over half of consumers still shopping in December. Campaigns should continue driving sales past Black Friday and Cyber Monday. - Consumers used Facebook and Instagram for inspiration, discovering new products and filling gift lists. Creative and targeting needs to reach all potential holiday audiences.
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
49 views13 pages

2021 Holiday Planning Guide

The document provides guidance on holiday planning and best practices for the 2020 holiday season based on consumer shopping trends. Some key points include: - Shopping started earlier in 2020, with 48% of consumers beginning by mid-November compared to 39% in 2019. Advertisers need strategies that run throughout Q4, not just Cyber Week. - Shopping also ended later, with over half of consumers still shopping in December. Campaigns should continue driving sales past Black Friday and Cyber Monday. - Consumers used Facebook and Instagram for inspiration, discovering new products and filling gift lists. Creative and targeting needs to reach all potential holiday audiences.
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 13

holiday planning guide

getting holiday ready with FB


Table of Contents
Topics covered in this guide

pg. 3 Holiday Prep Quiz

pg. 4 What You Need to Know About 2020

pg. 5 How to Think About 2021

pg. 6 Q4 Shopping Considerations

pg. 7 Q4 Auction Trends

pg. 8 Core Best Practices

pg. 9 Additional Product Recommendations

pg. 10 Creative Considerations

pg. 11 Pixel Health and Spend Planning

pg. 12 Frequently Asked Questions

-2-
Holiday Prep Quiz
Can you and your team answer the below questions?

1 When does your holiday promotional period begin?


• Knowing consumers are shopping earlier this year, are you ready for holiday
shoppers in October and November?

2 Do you plan to run promotions for Black Friday and / or Cyber Monday?
• Why or why not?
• If so, when are your ads going live? Consider scheduling in advance to reduce ad
review time and increase time spent live.

Do you plan to run promotions prior to Black Friday, in-between Black Friday and
3 Cyber Monday and / or post-Cyber Monday?
• Why or why not?
• If so, what’s your plan to make Black Friday bigger?

4 How much do we plan to spend on Black Friday and Cyber Monday?


• What if your CPAs are half of your non-holiday average costs?
• Note: Advertisers who spend more on Black Friday see a higher increase in ROI
than advertisers that spend less.**
5 How many days / weeks before the holidays do you plan to start ramping for Black
Friday and Cyber Monday?
• Many advertisers subscribe to Cyber5 to avoid the BF/CM rush, keep the sale
running longer and to snag early shopper attention.
6 What's your plan if CPAs are high on the morning of Black Friday?
• How long do you let CPAs run before you adjust strategy?
• Do you know what bidding strategy works best for you in high-pressure
auctions?
• Is CBO and Automatic Placements activated?

Do you have inventory to support your best sales day in history?


7 • Many advertisers see their best numbers on BF/CM - make sure your internal
systems can support a highly successful holiday.

8 Who is your target market for the holidays?


• Is your product giftable?
• Is your product something someone might want to purchase for themselves?
• Who is buying the product as a gift? Are we targeting them?

9 What does your holiday creative and messaging look like?


• Do you have a message for all potential audiences?

10 What's your last ship date?


• Are you running a promotion for Last Ship Date?
• Do you have gift cards to promote post-Last Ship Date?

11 What are your plans post-Black Friday and Cyber Monday?


• Q5 is a big moment for a lot of Q1 advertisers and has historically low CPMs

12 Does your product lend itself to New Year, New You messaging?
• Do you have a message for all potential use cases?
• When do you plan to switch messaging?

13 What are your Q4 goals?


• How much product do you want to sell?
• How much revenue do you want to drive?
• What’s your target return on ad spend or cost of acquisition?
-3- **Source: Internal Facebook analysis, November 2019

What You Need to Know About 2020


All the big changes that came out of a challenging year.

Shopping started earlier.


2019 2020 2019 2020

39% 48% 55% 65%

of people surveyed had already started their holiday of people surveyed say they started shopping
shopping by mid-November (before Mega Sales Days)* for the holidays in November or earlier in 2020*

Shoppers are looking to social media to discover new products and fill out their holiday gift list.
This manifests as an always on shopping mindset - allowing consumers to seamlessly shift
between communicating with friends and online shopping.
What does this It’s important to structure your account and strategies for increased sales the whole holiday season, not
mean? just during Cyber Week. Consider how your promotions or offerings can increase or change over the
quarter to match consumer interest and potentially capitalize on a less competitive time frame than
Cyber Week.

Shopping ended later.

56% 43%
of people said they
More than half of consumers are still
shopping after Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
What does this mean?
of respondents said they BF/CM are not the END of the holiday shopping season,
finished their holiday shopping still make most of their for some it marks the middle. Consider how consumers
in mid-late December (Dec purchases during the celebrate the holidays differently and may not be pressed
11-31), proving that shopping month of December* by a 12/25 delivery date. Design your campaigns to
continues well into the holidays continue to drive sales post BF/CM.
for most people.*

Shoppers looked to FB/IG for inspiration.

40% of people say they discovered a product or service they didn’t


know about while shopping online for the holidays*

47%
of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers say they discovered ideas or
browsed for inspiration during the holiday season on Facebook or
Instagram—up from 35% in 2019*

70%
of holiday shoppers who discover on Facebook and Instagram
agree “I often explore di erent product categories during the
holiday season than I do during the rest of the year.” 

Consumers continue to stretch the traditional season of holiday shopping earlier with nearly
half of all consumers beginning their shopping by mid-November - ahead of Black Friday.
What does this It’s critical creative and targeting is designed for broader audiences during Q4. Think about all the
mean? different types of consumers who might buy your product (as a gift or for themselves) and ensure you
have creative messaging to match each combination. This is also an excellent time of year to deploy
higher funnel signal campaigns to bring discovery minded consumers into your funnel.

1”Facebook Holiday Discovery Moment  Study" by YouGov (Facebook-commissioned online study of 49,563 people aged 18+ across 32 markets: AE, AR, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, HK, ID, IT, FR, JP, KR, MY, MX, NL, PH, PL, SG, TH, TR, TW,
RU, SE, UK, US, VN, ZA). Minimum N=1500 per market. 2 Dec to 24 Dec 2020.

-4-



ff

How to Think About 2021
Considerations for a new year

Consumers will be making up for lost time.

30-40 Economists predict 2021 will have


$1.5 As a result of the household savings

years
the fastest annual growth seen in rate doubling to 12.9%, holiday

trillion
the last 30-40 years.3 spending could increase by $1.5
trillion this year.2

Holiday shoppers buy Mega Sales Day shoppers

1 in 2 something during a Mega Sales


Day (Black Friday, Cyber
Monday, Prime Day, etc).
surveyed say these events allow
them to feel “part of a
community.”1
8 in 10
Many of us missed the chance to celebrate the holidays with loved ones last year; this year offers
more hope for get-togethers and moments of shared joy.
What does this Adapt messaging to speak to this unique moment in history; appeal to the pathos of consumers and find
mean? a way to make your product/service more relevant to their current experiences. Use the Q4/Q5 sales
shopping period to attract new customers, along with diversified creative messaging and broader
targeting. Higher funnel signaling affords the opportunity to place your brand in front of people who
may not have shopped you otherwise. With the intensified focus on the holidays this year, your demand
has potential to grow exponentially with alternative campaign optimizations.

Three key categories will get new attention.

Adventure Luggage, sporting goods, vacation wear and outdoor products for
new travel and adventure opportunities.

Social Party supplies, home dining, entertainment goods to celebrate


with friends and family.

Luxury High quality wardrobe items and investment pieces to “return-


to-work” and “return-to-world” moments.

More consumers will shop for “want” items in a shift from last year’s emphasis on “need” items.4
What does this mean?
With more opportunities for consumers to “return-to-work” and make travel and social plans with friends and family,
shopping is expected to follow suit. Having spent more than a year inside and buying home office and grocery supplies, the
2021 holiday shopping season could be more focused on items that bring consumers joy and celebrate everyday moments.

Shoppers will seek real and authentic content.

25% of holiday shoppers say they want to see more content that is real/
authentic on Facebook and Instagram during the holiday season.5

#1 out over quality, content source and length.


Relevance ranked #1 in a list of all preferred attributed of a video winning
6

62% looking for.


of NA shoppers agreed ‘I enjoyed discovering items I wasn’t actively
5

Consumers don’t always know what they’re looking for….and that’s part of the draw.
What does this With 55 percent of surveyed NA holiday shoppers experiencing difficulty knowing what to buy for others,
mean? the need for diverse and relevant content grows in importance this holiday season. Consumers come to
FB/IG platforms in the hopes of discovering something new to explore and purchase. Consider that more
than 1/3 of Mega Sales Day shoppers surveyed say they shop online with a category in mind but without
specific items.7 Creative should feel real and honest; leverage influencers/creators and user generated
content to connect with new audiences in search of inspiration.
1”Facebook Holiday Discovery Moment  Study" by YouGov (Facebook-commissioned online study of 49,563 people aged 18+ across 32 markets: AE, AR, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, HK, ID, IT, FR, JP, KR, MY, MX, NL, PH, PL, SG, TH, TR, TW, RU, SE,
UK, US, VN, ZA). Minimum N=1500 per market. 2 Dec to 24 Dec 2020
2”5 Economic Trends to Watch in 2021” by JP Morgan, Jim Glassman. 12 Jan 2021.
3CNN, March 2021
4”U.S. Retailers Face Extra $223B in Costs of Goods This Holiday Shopping Season” by Salesforce, Caila Schwartz. 20 July 2021
5“Facebook Seasonal Holidays Study” by YouGov (Facebook-commissioned online study of 1,535 people aged 18+). US data only. December, 2020
6Global Media Study, Video by Ipsos. (Facebook-Commissioned online study of over 25,000 people ages 18-64; internet population monthly users of mobile internet & monthly video viewers in AU, BR, CA, DE, FR, IN, JP, KR, UK and US), Oct-Nov 2020.

7 "Unboxing Singles' Day" study by Crowd DNA (Facebook-commissioned online survey of 10,999 Mega Sales Shoppers aged 18-64 in BR, CA, CN, ES, ID, MX, TH, TR, US, UK, VN), Nov 2020. Qualifying respondents made an online purchase at least once
a month and used any social media channel at least once a week.

-5-

Q4 Shopping Considerations
What to consider when planning for the biggest sales moment of the year

Revenue was up YoY in 2020 for Nov/Dec.

Nov/Dec 2020 had all but eleven days break $2B in revenue - compared to 32 days in 20219.2
What does this Spend is up exponentially in Q4 for the entire industry - to break out of the noise advertisers must
mean? consider creative and promotions that entice and excite customers.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday still reign supreme.


All shoppers 55%
Millennials 65%
Gen Z 70%

In 2020, more than half of consumers surveyed reported shopping on Black Friday or Cyber
Monday, with nearly all of Gen Z partaking.1
What does this While consumers are shopping throughout the holiday season, BF/CM continue to be major sales
mean? moments worth investing in. Collectively BF/CM increased 18% YoY in revenue.2 Even if an advertiser
can’t offer a steep discount for this sales moment, just running ads during this time period can be a
revenue driver.

Shipping was a key factor in purchasing decisions.


Timely Delivery 85%
Free Shipping 83%
Seamless In-Store Experiences 66%
Range of Delivery Options 62%
Curbside Pick-Up 38%

In 2020, timely delivery was the most cared about consideration for holiday shoppers, with Free
Shipping in a close second.1
What does this Consumers expect ease in their shopping experiences, especially as they’ve grown accustomed to the
mean? convenience online shopping brings. This holiday season advertisers should plan to over communicate
shipping expectations and even consider free shipping messages to tap into this consumer interest.
Don’t discount the value of leveraging a “free shipping” message for Black Friday/Cyber Monday if a
larger discount can’t be offered.

1”Facebook Holiday Discovery Moment  Study" by YouGov (Facebook-commissioned online study of 49,563 people aged 18+ across 32 markets: AE, AR, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, HK, ID, IT, FR, JP, KR, MY, MX, NL, PH, PL, SG, TH, TR, TW,
RU, SE, UK, US, VN, ZA). Minimum N=1500 per market. 2 Dec to 24 Dec 2020.
2”2020 Holiday Shopping Trends” by Adobe Digital Insights
-6-

Q4 Auction Trends
Things of note looking at the auction

The auction will begin to get more competitive around mid-October and for
the most part likely won't drop significantly until around January 1st.
What does this mean? If you aren't sure what strategies work best for you, now is the time to test. It's also the
time to prospect heavily so that your retargeting dollars can be as efficient as possible
during the holiday season.

Just because the auction is competitive, doesn't mean it's unprofitable.


What does this mean? CPMs are generally high because more advertisers are on the platform; more
advertisers are on the platform because more consumers are purchasing - driving up
conversion rates. As a result high CPMs often indicate high conversion rates and
increased chances for profitability. Don't let high CPMs deter you from retrieving a
high volume of conversions at lower costs.

Q4 is the season of shopping new categories.


What does this mean? As consumers browse their social channels in November and December, the
opportunity to discover new brands increases exponentially. Capitalize on this
behavior by optimizing for higher funnel signal events to expand your reach and aid in
shopper discovery. A recent survey found the likelihood for consumers to shop new
brands by category is as follows: Apparel/Fashion (64%), Food (57%), Health and
Beauty (56%), Toys (56%), Jewelry (48%), Home and Garden (47%), Electronics
(46%), Live Events./Experiences (33%), Films/Music (30%) and Designer Goods (29%)1.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are just a moment in the holiday sales rush.
What does this mean? As new shopping habits formed in 2020, consumers expanded the traditional
shopping period. For many, Cyber Week is just a moment in the middle of the holiday
shopping rush. Keep an always-on approach to holiday strategies and consider
varying promotions throughout the season to ensure we’re casting the widest net of
profitability.

Q4 is full of celebrations aside from the traditional holidays.


What does this mean? Consumers celebrate the holidays in different ways and at different times; especially
with many getting a chance to travel this year for the first time in awhile. As a result,
Last Ship Date for Christmas isn’t necessarily the last ship date for all consumers; some
families take trips over the holidays and open presents after. And if the shipping cut off
has lapsed, many consumers will give gift cards or print out of their receipts.

New Year's is right around the corner.


What does this mean? Take advantage of a low competition auction and consumers being off work to start
Q1 promotions. Post-Christmas (Q5) consumers are still shopping as they prep for
their New Year’s Resolutions, spend the cash or gift cards they received and/or shop
for the things they wanted but didn’t get. Run messaging to relate to this unique
moment and drive ‘New Year, New You’ purchasing behaviors.

Creative plays a significant role in CPAs.


What does this mean? A FB study has found creative can impact up to 50% of your CPA. This means when
looking for efficiency during Q4, creative is one of the best investments we can make.
Consider how consumer needs shift throughout the holiday season and why different
consumers might purchase your product (deep discount, gifting, self-gifting, comfort,
etc.) and run varied messaging to reflect these value propositions.

Creative can impact Creative can impact


+/- 50% +/- 10%

Total
Advertiser
bid X Estimated
action rate X User value = Value
1”Facebook Holiday Discovery Moment  Study" by YouGov (Facebook-commissioned online study of 49,563 people aged 18+ across 32 markets: AE, AR, AU, BR, CA, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, HK, ID, IT, FR, JP, KR, MY, MX, NL, PH, PL, SG, TH, TR, TW, RU,
SE, UK, US, VN, ZA). Minimum N=1500 per market. 2 Dec to 24 Dec 2020.
-7-

Are you engaged with the our core


best practices?
Key best practices to unlock success during the holiday season.

Core Best Practices Why?

As the auction gets more competitive, forcing spend behind


only one or two placements can force you to spend more
money and drive less efficiency. Every user has a different
Automatic Placements
propensity to convert on different placements and allowing
FB to optimize for each individual user improves your
chances of an efficient conversion.

No one knows the opportunity in the auction better than the


Campaign Budget auction itself. Allowing FB to optimize budget based on
Optimization (CBO) opportunity and quality of that opportunity ensures you're
getting the best possible return on your investment.

When the auction is most competitive, we want our


campaigns to be as well-structured as possible to avoid
overlap and consequently inefficient spend. Consider also
Structure for Scale
how Q4 is focused on gifting - hyper-segmented campaigns
can result in missed conversions from audiences outside your
core target.

Dynamic Ads automatically show the most relevant images


from your catalog to the most high-intent audiences,
delivering a turnkey solution to retargeting and prospecting.
Dynamic Ads (DPA and/or
Leverage real-time intent to purchase with Dynamic Ads for
DABA)
Broad Audiences and capture people who are shopping your
competitors. Ensure your catalog is up-to-date and your
targeting set-up is broad to allow this product runway to
return winning performance.

Advanced Matching can improve your retargeting rate and


help FB find the right user to serve your ads to. If you already
Advanced Matching
have Automatic Advanced Matching installed, implement
Manual Advanced Matching for an additional boost.

Why these best practices?


Our core best practices work together to make your account the most prepared
for a competitive auction. When all are engaged (or as many as possible for your
business) these products allow for the best return on spend as they enable
flexibility and liquidity in the auction.

NOTE: if performance is poor in the auction and the above core best practices
haven’t been engaged, I will likely be unable to offer additional strategies.
Consider the above table stakes for efficient performance.

-8-

Additional Performance Products


Other products to help improve auction performance

Product Solution Why?

Audiences that make up "interests" on FB are hard to define and can be


arbitrary assignments. If using interest-based targeting it's recommended to
"expand detail targeting" at the ad set level to make sure we aren't EXCLUDING
consumers demonstrating intent to purchase just because they don't fit our
Expand Detailed Interest Targeting idea of an ideal consumer. For instance, someone could own 3 dogs but not
technically fit beneath the "dog-lover" category on FB. Expanding detailed
targeting allows FB to target this real-life dog lover if they are displaying high-
intent to purchase.

Do you know the difference between bid strategies and which works best for
your goals?

Lowest Cost or Highest Value


• Description: gives FB the freedom to search for the cheapest conversion
without restrictions 
• PROS: drives the lowest conversions as they are available, helps deliver spend
• CONS: can result in high CPAs if lowest hanging conversions have been
exhausted

Lowest Cost with Bid Cap 
• Description: gives FB the freedom to search for the cheapest conversions
but sets parameters on how much it can bid in the auction
• PROS: drives the lowest conversions as they are available and prevents CPAs
from getting too high
• CONS: can throttle spend if bid cap isn't realistic, can take longer to spend if
Bid Strategies conversions aren't available 

Cost Cap
• Description: sets a goal CPA and allows FB to spend whatever it takes to get
to this CPA, prioritizing the cheapest conversions
• PROS: still prioritizes savings, provides more control than bid caps (a bid cap
doesn't equal CPA)
• CONS: can throttle spend if Cost Cap is unrealistic, can take 7 days (like all
other bid strategies) until CPA is stabilized

ROAS Bidding
• Description: sets a goal ROAS that FB must do it's best to meet, regardless of
CPAs 
• PROS: can help advertisers prioritize highest value conversions
CONS: can cause CPAs to rise (in efforts of driving ROAS); can throttle
volume to keep ROAS high

If we are only ever optimizing for Purchases we are only ever targeting people
who are right now, in-market, ready to purchase your product. As we scale on
FB and exhaust that low-hanging audience we need to consider people who
would purchase but need some convincing to continue to keep CPAs low.
Optimizing for ViewContent or AddToCart to a broad audience can expand
Higher-funnel Signaling your targeting, help you drive brand awareness, fuel your retargeting
audiences, help you test creative messaging efficiently and open up conversion
opportunities to new demos. Consider too that your historical target market
for your product could actually be the recipient of your product in Q4; if that’s
the case, higher funnel signaling might enable you to reach those who are
unlike your target market but are planning on gifting to them.

Lookalike audiences can be a very efficient prospecting audience. Consolidate


all your Lookalikes in the same ad set to reduce overlap and allow FB the
opportunity to only spend against the most efficient consumers of each LAL.
Lookalike Audiences Consider adding in holiday based LALs during Q4 (LAL of past holiday
purchasers) and other CRM based audiences over pixel-based to reduce signal
loss.

Knowing Q4 is a gifting season, advertisers should look to expand audiences to


ensure they are reaching the loved ones of their core demos. Consider creative
Broad Targeting and messaging to appeal best to a larger, newer audience and drive
conversions.

If an advertiser is seeing strong success on Black Friday/Cyber Monday


reaching a Daily Spend Limit before EOD is the worst thing that can happen.
Ensure your account limit is set higher than your best spend day to date to
Daily Spend Limit / Payment Plans mitigate the chances of your spend being shut off just as things are getting
good. Consider too switching to a credit line if you want to scale consistently
through Q4.

Increase your optimization window from 1-day click to 7-day click/7-day click,
1-day view. Expanding this window could allow you to reach wider audiences
Optimization Windows
and those that might not have shopped you on a 1-day click conversion (higher
intent)
-9-

Creative Considerations
Things to keep in mind when thinking about creative

1 What creative and messaging works best for your target demo?
• What works best for the friends, family and co-workers of your target
demo who might actually be buying the product or shopping your brand
for the first time?

2 How are you talking about your product that can encourage both self-
purchasing and gifting?
• Remember consumers are still purchasing for themselves in Q4 - even
non-holiday related items like home staples.

3 Does your product carry more importance or relevance coming out of a


pandemic?
• Does it bear emotional significance?
• Does it symbolize a return to “normalcy?”

Are you optimizing your creative for different placements and for different
4 places in the funnel?
• Consider different placements play different roles in the conversion
journey (i.e., Stories is great for discovery, Feed is great for DR action).
Keep automatic placements on but optimize creative for different
placements using placement asset customization.
• How are you speaking to site bouncers differently from cold audiences?
Or cart abandoners differently from past purchasers?

5 Is your competitive advantage and unique value proposition clear?


• What makes you different from your competitors and why should a
consumer care? With competition at an all time high it's important to
have a distinct offering in the market.

6 Are you running multiple creative concepts at once?


• Consider the variety of consumers that might be shopping your brand
and try to relate to each of their unique experiences. Running different
ads focused on different core messages can increase your reach and
delivery. Common themes to consider: price, variety, use-case,
convenience, value, etc.

7 Are you running both motion and static assets in every ad set?
• FB research has shown ad sets with both motion and static assets
outperform ad sets that have just one or the other.

8 Is your catalog up-to-date?


• Ensure your product descriptions are detailed in your catalog and your
images are accurate and compelling. Consider diversifying your catalog
images and/or adding creative elements to your dynamic campaigns at
the ad level.

9 Are you running any flash sales?


• If running a time-sensitive campaign, schedule these campaigns in
advance so you won't be waiting for ad approval to launch.

10 Are you utilizing native built tools?


• Try creating content using IG Stories or IG Reels and/or leveraging organic
creative to run the most digitally native content available.

- 10 -

Pixel Health
Pixel health is critical to success on Facebook

1 Are all events firing properly on your site?


• Test set-up here

2 Is your CAPI set-up showing an equal or higher event count compared to


Pixel events?
• Verify integration here
• Ensure your event match rate is passing as many parameters as possible
• Make sure events are de-duping properly

3 Is your catalog match rate at 100% for all events?


• Check your match rate here

4 What is the last date you will allow yourself to make changes to your
website?
• To mitigate the chances of any website changes affecting profitability
on FB, choose a date to code freeze all website updates.
Want help?
If you answered no to any of these questions ask me how I can help you!

Spend Considerations
Implement a clear spend plan to help ensure success

1 Don't panic.
• High CPMs can make advertisers nervous, but keep an eye on actual
conversions to assess profitability. Remember often times CPMs are
highest when conversion rates are highest.

2 Before throttling spend, consider the mindset of holiday shoppers and


delayed attribution.
• Sometimes CPAs start off high in the morning but decrease as the day
wears on. Consider how many ads consumers are being served and how
actively they are online shopping. Allow some time for the conversions
to trickle in and understand that some conversions may not populate
for a few days after purchase.

3 Ensure your bids are competitive.


• Allow some wiggle room for your ads to be competitive in the auction.
Set your true ceiling if using a cost cap and add at least 20% to your bid
if using bid cap. If you’re facing underdeliver, it might be worthwhile
increasing bid caps/cost caps.

4 Decide when you're comfortable scaling.


• If you're seeing good success right out of the gate, know when you'll
plan to scale and by how much.
• Ramping on Black Friday can push you into the learning phase during a
high priority time. If you want to avoid that, consider a slow ramp-up
prior to BF, increasing budgets a little bit every week until you reach
your goal spend for Cyber Week
- 11 -

Frequently Asked Questions


Common questions around holiday performance

“If we see high CPAs during the holidays, do you recommend


1 focusing on bidding? What are the strategies for manual bidding
over the holidays?”
• During the holiday season, CPMs will generally increase when Conversion
Rates do; which means despite higher CPMs, CPAs can actually drop. As
much as you can, avoid making frequent changes to your bid/budget and
consider longer periods of time to assess performance, given delayed
attribution, before making adjustments.

• If your goal is to control costs and limit uctuating CPAs, consider


utilizing a cost cap or bid cap and setting to your true ceiling. Remember
a cost cap backs into a CPA on a 7-day average, a bid cap backs into your
auction bid (which is not externally viewable).

• If your goal is to capitalize on the holiday season and drive as much


acquisition as possible, remove cost/bid caps or set them extremely high.

2 “How should I be thinking about the learning phase on Black


Friday/Cyber Monday?”
• Increasing budgets/bids aggressively will reset the learning phase in the
short run, but can also expedite learning phase exit.

• Consider raising the budget earlier in the week - this can help you move
through the learning phase faster and fully capitalize on the opportunities
as they arise

• If you’re making a necessary change, don’t be afraid of the learning phase.


The goal is to get out of it as soon as possible but the value is allowing
Facebook to relearn e ciency,

3 “How do larger budgets per ad set perform versus smaller


budgets per ad set? Do larger budgets accelerate the learning
phase?”
• If you are bid constrained, raising your budget generally won’t have
an impact on performance. If you do decide to do this, accept that
you could spend your full budget.

• If you are on auto-bid, increasing the budget will likely increase


delivery and accelerate learning phase exit. However, it can also lead
to increased CPAs or undelivered if campaign structure isn’t optimal.

- 12 -

ffi

fl

thanks!

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