‘Tis the season to whip up some super sweet holiday ads! When it comes to developing your Q4 paid social ad strategy, there are a few can’t-miss ingredients to bake into this year’s marketing mix. As holiday marketing efforts become more inclusive and a lot less traditional, you’ll need to tweak your recipe to keep up with customer expectations and competitor advances.
To help you develop a top-tier holiday ad copy strategy, we’ve sifted through our seasonal best practices and whipped up a guide to making this holiday season a sweet one!
Seasonal Creative with Tasteful Touches
Traditional doesn’t always mean timeless – gone are the days of red, green, and candy-cane stripes! Shoppers are tired of the same-old seasonal creative. Instead of sticking with the classic holiday color scheme and seasonal design staples, we recommend trying something a little different. Something more subtle, like warm, earthy tones and tasteful touches, still embodies seasonal sentiments without being too loud.
Here are a few examples that are the crème de la crème of softer, subtler holiday creative:
Feature Your Promo In the Headline and Post Text
This is always a best practice, especially during the season’s hottest sales. Highlighting your holiday promo in both the post text and the headline gets your deal in front of your prospective customers’ eyes twice in the same ad – just in case they don’t catch it the first time. While this may seem like splitting hairs, this small reinforcement can really make a difference in your ad’s performance.
Trendy, Seasonal Pop-Culture References
Paid social holiday copy tends to lean into the ever-popular (and always-changing) social media trends that are so prevalent on these platforms. From PSLs (pumpkin spice lattes) to OOTDs, and hashtags, there are so many ways to tap into what’s trending this season. To stay top-of-mind (and top-of-trend), leverage what’s trending in the social media sphere to create copy that resonates with active and engaged users. Here are a few examples from our clients’ paid social holiday ads:
- Sweater season needs more hands-free moments (for holding PSLs). ☕ Fall in love with the style and ease of PhoneCombos.
- SPOTTED: an always photo-ready accessory that keeps your essentials accessible in style. It's designed to be seen with you! 📸
- Your all-day, everyday staples + Black Friday & Cyber Monday savings! 😉💸 Live #handsfree with up to 40% off + free shipping.
- The #FOMO is REAL. Don't miss your chance to get up to 20% OFF these can't-miss, limited-time clean beauty products! ✨
- A little something that goes a long way. 😉 Ditch your "cheap" stocking stuffers for top-shelf clean beauty must-haves! 🎁
Get Shoppers in the Spirit with Punny, Festive Copy
Depending on your brand’s tone and voice, a little festive wordplay can go a long way! Not only do sentiments like ‘Tis the Season for a Sale and Unwrap Your Promo Code or even Our Holiday Collection is *Brimming* with Seasonal Must-Haves get users in the holiday spirit, but these short, sweet lines add a little sugar, spice, and everything nice to intent-driven copy.
Because this time of year is all about warm wishes and giving, hard-selling, call-to-action copy won’t resonate well will audiences. Give your users something to smile about with wishlist-worthy holiday puns. Here are a few examples from our clients:
- Spice up 🍂 fall festival 'fits & game-day garb with hands-free fashion that keeps your phone & cards accessible + protected.
- We’re making our blisslist and checking it twice!
- bella bliss® is brimming with cozy collections! ☕ Keep your little ones warm and toasty in these oh, so cute seasonal styles.
- Cute, comfy, and oh, so cozy! 🍂 Keep your little pumpkins warm and toasty in the seasonal styles shoppers are pining over.
- The holiday season is here! Celebrate the most wonderful time of year with seasonal styles fit for a bliss-ard. ☃️🎁
- 'Tis the season to save on luxury kitchen + bath essentials! Sign up for VIP access to deals you won't want to miss. 😉🎁
- 'Tis the 'sea-sun!' To make holiday shopping easy and ocean breezy, we're offering up to 30% off select designs. 🐚
- We're 🐚 shell-abrating 🐚 the holidays early. Save up to 30% off on a one-of-a-kind gift they'll never forget with our Black Friday Collection. 🌊
- Spice up your home with 20% off color-inspired accessories. Imagine: Your home *brimming* with cozy comfort colors! 🍁☕🍂
- Sign up for emails to get 30% off cozy, quality-crafted, American-made furniture. Spruce up your home for the season! 🍁🍂
Tone Down the “Christmas-Centric” Copy
It’s no secret that Christmas is perhaps the most popularized holiday of the season. But, to make marketing a little more inclusive to maximize reach and extend sentiments of inclusivity during the most wonderful time of year, steering away from Christmas-centric copy is a must. As a best practice, consider creating paid social ads that use more inclusive language; something as simple as “Happy Holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!”
As we know, trends come and go, but this shift away from Christmas-centric copy may be here to stay! So, toning down Christmas references in your holiday ads might just be the secret ingredient to success this season. But how do you find that perfect balance between holiday copy and inclusivity? Here are a few ideas for headlines, plus some copy inspo from our clients:
- Cozy Collections
- Sweater-Weather Season
- Festive Fun!
- “Spice Up” or “Spruce Up”
- Seasonal Must-Haves
- Help Yourself To November Savings! 🦃🍴
- Get In The Spirit of Giving
- Warm Wishes
- Holiday party season is here – we have accessories for that! 🍾🥂 Save up to 50% on styles designed for hands-free holidays.
- One-of-a-kind jewelry + a little something extra to make the sea-sun bright! 🌞 Get a FREE ornament with orders over $125. 🎁
- Racing against the tide to find a gift? 🌊⏳ Give loved ones a one-of-a-kind jewelry designing experience with a gift card!
- Welcome your holiday guests into a happy home, brimming with cozy coastal collections in warm, comforting colors. ☕
- Spice up your home for the season! Set the stage for happy holiday gatherings with colorful furniture that's merry & bright.
- THE sale of the season is here – and the deals are 🔥. Save BIG on products beauty influencers are obsessing over! 😉
- THE gift of the season: Clean, safe + effective beauty & wellness. Save up to 20% on wishlist-worthy limited-edition sets. 😉
Tug on Your Customers’ Heartstrings
As you well know, this time of year is all about giving, being thankful, and spending time with loved ones. With this in mind, you’ll want your holiday ad copy to resonate with these seasonal sentiments. Leverage your copy to invoke deep, holiday-affiliated feelings like warm wishes, season’s greetings, and – of course – giving!
Use copy to tug on the heartstrings of your audiences. You’re not just selling your customers a product or service, but an experience – so you want them to really feel something when they interact with your brand’s holiday ads. This is the time of year to connect with your customers and not only make a sale but also build loyalty.
Customers are in the mood for warm wishes, cozy collections, and getting in the holiday spirit. Here are a few heartwarming description lines, plus some chef’s kiss inspo from our clients’ seasonal paid social ads:
- The season of cozy.
- The coziest time of the year.
- Gather around, and dig into a sale!
- Nostalgia is all around us!
- Let the fun festivities begin!
- Warm hands and full hearts.
- Warmly welcome guests with all the holiday essentials.
- Your holiday wishes are coming true.
- Serve up a little holiday cheer.
- Holiday season-certified.
- A unique jewelry designing experience awaits. With 5,000+ sand & earth elements + a gift card, the world is your oyster!
- Make every holiday gathering a little happier with cozy, colorful coastal cottage furniture designed with joy in mind. 🌟
- Hosting for the holidays? 'Tis the season to make your home merry & bright with cozy styles from the happy furniture company.
- Spice up your home with happy furniture, quality-crafted to make holiday gatherings a little cozier (and more colorful!).
Spice Up the Season with CAKE!
Looking to give your paid social holiday ad copy strategy a boost? With CakeCommerce, this season is sure to be a sweet one! To learn more about our services, contact us.
