Avoid Advertising Limbo With Inspiring Q5 Video Ads

This article explores the concept of "Q5" by looking at how videos ads can be deployed during this period, enabling brands to head into the new year with a sense of momentum.

With Q4 campaigns in full swing, Christmas is often viewed as the light at the end of the frantic holiday season tunnel. However, the “Q5” period that occurs after Christmas, and continues through until Q1 starts heating up in mid-to-late January, holds a lot of opportunity for brands seeking to gain some added value off the back of the festive season. 

Keep your foot on the gas!

Once you hit Christmas it can be extremely easy to lose a lot of your built up advertising momentum. This is understandable. The intensity of Q4—with its high frequency of important sales dates—can take a toll on even the most battle-hardened of marketers. 

Once the festive season wraps up, a strange period of time occurs, often lasting until mid-to-late-January. The days of the week become irrelevant and confused—lost in a post-Christmas haze. For brands and advertisers alike, this often creates a state of advertising limbo where activity goes dark. 

Although it is reasonable for ad spend to drop significantly during this time, there is still a huge amount of value that can be extracted by brands who keep the ball rolling and maintain a digital presence. 

Develop a "Q5" Strategy

“The festive shopping frenzy may be over, but the window of opportunity is still far from being closed.”

Advertisers should view the December 26th to mid-January period as a mini “quarter” that can be thought of as “Q5”. 

Although short in length, there are a number of unique characteristics that define Q5...

1. Competing advertising noise decreases, enabling you to capitalize on the fact that many of your competitors may have pulled their ad presence;
2. CPM and CPA averages drop significantly, offering those who continue their efforts the chance to take advantage;
3. Purchasing behaviour changes to a more personal, aspirational mindset.

So, with all of that in mind, let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can utilize video ads—not just to keep your head above water, but to actually extend upon your holiday advertising efforts and head into 2021 strong. 

1. Tap into the positive, aspirational mentality

As people make the transition into the new year, they start shopping for products that help them to fulfil their goals and aspirations for the year ahead. After a turbulent 2020, people will be looking towards 2021 with an unmatched sense of hopeful reinvigoration, offering a huge opportunity for brands who tap into this mentality.  

Develop video creative that matches this goal-oriented mindset. Health & Fitness-related products have a leg up here. However, brands of all types can adopt this theme by showing the personal benefits of their product/service, coupled with positive messaging—speaking to concepts such as rejuvenation and personal improvement.

2. Shift messaging from "spoil your loved-ones" to "treat yourself" 

After shopping for family and friends during the holiday season, people have the chance to shop for themselves during the Q5 period. Maybe Santa forgot something from their wishlist, or perhaps the gifts they received from their family weren’t quite up to scratch—the post-holiday period is when people can buy what they really want. 

Adapt your creative to reflect this change. Make sure your copy speaks directly to the viewer on a personal level and utilize “treat yourself” messaging to really drive home the message.

3. Keep the deals coming!

Just because the traditional holiday sales dates have come and gone, doesn’t mean that you can’t keep delivering deals. Q5 is a great time to clear out unwanted inventory that may not have sold at expected volumes. 

Develop creative that emphasizes the discounts on offer by using big, bold text that dominates the screen.

Post-Holiday Pro Tip: If you want to limit your offer to a specific audience, try Facebook’s Offer Ads. This feature allows you to set a limit on the number of offers claimed, and provide each potential customer with a unique one-time code (so it can’t be shared online for the whole world to use). 

Wrapping things up

Developing video ads for Q5 can be as simple as adapting your holiday creative to include new messaging that is focused around the three themes mentioned above.

By doing so, you can take advantage of a less competitive landscape and maintain momentum going into 2021, rather than having to build back up from ground zero.