Study: Marketers to start holiday campaigns early

Costa Mesa, Calif. – Almost half of holiday marketing campaigns will start before Halloween, according to a survey of 200 marketers by Experian Marketing Services.



In addition, the study shows that the first 15 days of November are the most popular time to launch a holiday-themed campaign.



Other results include:

• Overall 69% of the marketers stated they started planning holiday campaigns by August.

• Eighty-three percent of marketers said they plan on running coordinated, cross-channel marketing campaigns during the holiday season, with 55% stating they will be coordinating marketing campaigns across four or more channels.

• According to the survey results, the top three marketing channels that will be used this holiday season are online display (59%), email (55%) and print (46%). Search (30%) and mobile (24%) are the next top two channels that round out the top five.

• Free shipping offers ranked as the top promotional tactic that marketers will integrate into their customers’ holiday shopping experience this year. Thirty-nine percent of marketers surveyed will use free shipping, followed by deal of the day offers (28%) and e-coupons (21%).

• Almost half (49%) of respondents answered that they plan on integrating social sharing tools from their website. Social advertising 45% and product promotions (36%) rounded out the top three.

• Marketers didn’t rank mobile marketing as a top priority, but many said they will be using mobile tactics during the holiday season.

• Developing mobile-optimized websites was ranked as the top activity by 43% of respondents, followed by creating mobile-optimized email (37%) and using mobile advertising (31%).

• Geo-location promotions will be used by 15% of marketers surveyed this season.

“Retailers have been extending the shopping seasons with promotions, post-recession, so it’s not surprising to see that nearly half of all marketers stated the would launch a holiday campaign before Halloween,” said Bill Tancer, GM of global research, Experian Marketing Services. “This year’s Back to School season started in early July as a big promotional month versus last year. Our consumer confidence data shows it as the highest it’s been since the recession, so we expect the early promotion trend to carry over into the holiday season with Black Friday deals being offered even earlier than last year.”