The festive season changes the way people live their lives. While this is the time to have fun with friends, family, taking long walks in the great outdoors, enjoying good food and engaging in conversation. What you do to keep a competitive advantage and acquire information before your competition matters a lot. This is also true for the way LinkedIn users engage in marketing.
LinkedIn ads campaigns can achieve the most success in the weeks between Christmas and New Year. But many marketers overlook this opportunity because they aren’t thinking about the time and attention of their audience. People will be less likely to engage with content if they have more time for other things. This is a mistake. They assume this means that people won’t engage with any content at all, or that the engagement that occurs is less valuable. Nothing could be further from truth. LinkedIn audiences are more engaged during festive periods – which gives campaigns an exceptional opportunity to increase reach, influence and cost effectiveness.
What happens to engagement during the festive season?
LinkedIn data shows that engagement rates for campaigns on the platform drop from mid-December to the present. This is because audiences spend less time on their phones and laptops and more time decorating, wrapping gifts, and going to parties. But engagement does not disappear completely – and those that do occur have greater value.
While the average engagement rate of LinkedIn campaigns in Europe drops by 19.6%, the average click through rate for these campaigns rises – by 19.2%. How is that possible? While there may not be as many people who engage, those who do are more engaged. They take the time to read. They act. They are those who use their quieter moments during the holiday season to think deeply about the next year and take action. This is a great opportunity to influence others and build brands.
Reaching out to influence others at a lower price is the key.
There is real value in Christmas engagement. However, there is also less competition. Marketers who believe campaigns should be stopped when stockings and decorations go up are wrong. This is because there are fewer people bidding on impressions and clicks from your target market. This reduces the cost of a campaign by using LinkedIn’s second price auction model to buy impressions. The average cost per click of a LinkedIn campaign actually drops by 16% over this time. The cost per lead drops by 13.9%. It is easy to see that the period of lower engagement overall is one of the best times to increase engagement.
The festive season is more than a magical time of year. This is also a wonderful example of the importance of ongoing marketing. It illustrates the idea that campaigns work best when they are sustained over time. It allows you to build reach and frequency over a longer time, bid less for impressions, and make your budget go further. Campaigns that are always on find value and opportunities to add to the conversation – opportunities you would miss if you second-guessed when your audience is ready.
Marketers understand the importance of increasing their market share (SOV) to help them grow during times of recovery. They understand the importance of reaching out to and influencing senior decision-makers who spend their downtime researching buying decisions. But, the challenge is to find a way to do this on a limited budget. This is one of the best ways to do it. This is a great gift idea that you won’t want to pass up.
