Q5: Seizing post-shopping-season opportunities

Dan Heffernan, Head of Global Agency, APAC, Snap Inc.

If Christmas is the season of giving, the period after is the season to continue receiving for brands – provided they are ready to seize business opportunities quickly. Especially for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), this window of time in the post-holiday season, also known as Q5, is often untapped.

The post-shopping-season is now known to begin on the last shipping date before Christmas, when lower demand increases available ad inventory, typically from mid-December through January. It’s crucial for brands to seize this opportunity and make Q5 the period to increase revenue and attract new users across a number of verticals.

This comes as consumer habits continue to be largely influenced by the ongoing macroeconomic changes and supply chain issues. As more and more shoppers search for better deals, early and last-minute purchases are expanding the gifting season on either side of the traditional Q4 shopping period.

Besides knowing when to grasp an opportunity, it is even more important for SMBs to figure out how to do so effectively as most of these businesses run on lean teams that are already occupied by day-to-day operations. Targeting Q5 means brands can reach much larger audiences, especially if they tap on digital platforms that have a greater reach and do not require as much manpower to run.

For SMBs to thrive in and make the most of Q5, here are some golden rules we recommend:

  • Diversify your ad formats.
    • Multi-product campaigns drive better results, increase efficiency and improve performance.
  • Take advantage of app installs reaching an all-time high during Q5.
    • As consumers tend to have more downtime during the holiday season, they are more likely to install a new app that piqued their interest.
    • Brands should expand targeting to reach new user demographics who might be looking for new apps for their “New year, new me — why not?” mindset.
  • Measure what matters, iterate, and optimize.
    • Brands should evaluate and figure out what’s working with relevant measurement tools, to test, learn, and optimize ad campaigns to reach their goals.

To excel in today’s retail landscape, consumer brands, especially SMBs who have limited resources and are more vulnerable to the influences of external factors, need to be increasingly forward-looking to anticipate potential disruptions by identifying and maximizing opportunities in Q5.

With the seasonal surge in app installs and high consumer intent around the new year brands should take advantage of Q5 to finish 2022 off with a bang — and ring in 2023 with a head start.