Have you got a marketing plan in place for Q5?

‘The what now?’ I hear you say.

According to Snap, Q5 is the period after Christmas till late January, when demand for ad inventory declines, but consumers are still looking for good deals.

As per Snap:

“Beginning on the last shipping date before Christmas, this often-untapped moment follows the peak of the shopping season period. And as supply chain disruptions continue and consumers are increasingly looking for better deals during a time of economic uncertainty, earlier shopping is leading to earlier shipping.”

Snap also says that the Q5 period continues to expand each year, which presents a major opportunity for brands to tap into this key period.

“Targeting Q5 doesn’t just mean brands save on their advertising budget – it also means they can reach much larger audiences. For example, Christmas Day sees a significant rise in mobile-device activation among Snapchatters, along with a surge in app installations to prepare for the new year. Q5 shows particularly high consumer intent around self-improvement, such as health, wellness, and fitness, finance, career and education, and hobbies.”

As you can see in this chart, the cost of reach declines in the period after Christmas, while as Snap notes, there’s still a lot of consumer interest, which could be a valuable consideration for your approach.

And if you are considering the potential, Snap has also provided some ‘golden rules’ for Q5 marketing:

• Diversify your ad formats – We know that multi-product campaigns drive better results. Use multi-format delivery to increase efficiency and improve performance.     
• Take advantage of app installs reaching an all-time high during Q5 – Expand your targeting to reach new user demographics who might be looking for new apps for their “New year, new me — why not?” mindset.
• Let us do the heavy lifting for you – Use dynamic Auto-Bidding to help manage your campaigns throughout Q5.
• Measure what matters, iterate, and optimize – Find out what’s working with our measurement tools, test, learn, and optimize your ad campaigns to reach your goals.

It could be a good consideration for your approach, especially, as Snap notes, given the high number of people installing new apps and checking out new features in the holiday period.

I mean, the addition of a whole other quarter probably sends chills down the spine of many marketers, but conceptually, it makes sense.

You can read more of Snap’s Q5 recommendations here.