Holiday ads: Focus on mobile, social

The holiday shopping season has already begun and this year seasonal advertising is all about mobile and social. An eMarketer report shows that according to research from the firm Chase Paymentech, U.S. retailers on the web expect more than half of holiday sales to come from ecommerce and 6 percent to come from mobile. Also, 86 percent planned to use Facebook for promotions and 70 percent planned to use Twitter. And, they’d be smart to do so. A new study out from ConsumerSearch.com shows that 62 percent of respondents said they use social media sources to find gifts, including user reviews, online wish lists, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.

Coupons seem poised to be big this year as well. Research from SessionM, which provides a mobile ad loyalty platform, shows that 60 percent of respondents said they would be more likely to buy a gift on their phones if they had a mobile coupon or reward.
All this means that publishers would be wise to help advertisers target via social and mobile. ClickZ’s Lisa Raehsler suggests these tips for creating holiday campaigns this year: Be present in the channel by creating mobile-only campaigns; consider timing on budget; be aware of shopper motivations like free shipping or coupons and use multiple ad placements and formats. She writes, “Mobile will continue to grow, so understanding and staying current on mobile user behavior will be critical to expanding into this device channel.”

• Prepare Your Online Advertising for Mobile Holiday Shoppers (ClickZ)

• Mobile, Social Get Holiday Boost (eMarketer)

• Social Media Emerges As Major Source of Holiday Gift-Giving Ideas (The About Group)

• Social Media Outranks TV, Newspaper, and Online Advertising as Source for Consumers’ Holiday Buying Decisions (PR Web)

• Cyber Monday looks set to remain biggest ecommerce day of the year (eMarketer)

• Coupons Drive Mobile Holiday Shopping, SessionM Says (ClickZ)