Make the Most of Holiday Campaigns With Marketing Research

As the holiday season progresses, your marketing efforts should already be underway. In a challenging economy, success depends on data-driven action, not guesswork. Thorough market research can provide the foundation you need to identify opportunities, fine-tune your message, and target the audiences most likely to convert during the holidays. Now is the time to leverage real-time audience insights and performance trends to make decisive adjustments. When you get the basics right, you’ll drive real holiday marketing success — guided by smart market research.   

How Market Research Impacts Holiday Campaigns

Holiday marketing without research is like navigating without a map — it often leads to wasted effort and missed opportunities. Solid research gives you the insights needed to make data-driven decisions during the busiest shopping season of the year and into the post-holiday period. It helps you move beyond guesswork to see which channels, platforms, and strategies deliver real results.

By using methods like social listening, customer surveys, and industry reports, you can identify what truly motivates your target audience. This information allows you to refine your channel choices, reduce wasted ad spend, and improve your campaign ROI. Research also guides critical decisions around product pricing and promotions, helping you uncover unique opportunities to stand out from the competition.

Ultimately, effective research provides a direct line to your customers. It connects campaign performance to your broader digital presence, minimizes risks, and gives you a complete view of your marketing efforts. This perspective is essential for building smarter strategies that drive meaningful growth for your brand during the competitive holiday season.

Key Insights To Remember This Holiday Season

This year is going to be unique. Eighty-four percent of consumers in the United States report they plan to cut back on spending. In fact, the PwC 2025 Holiday Outlook survey found that consumers expect their spending to drop by around 5%, spending an average of 11% less on gifts. Why? A higher cost of living, tough job market, and new tariffs have all made shoppers reconsider their spending. Here are some things that you need to know about consumers this holiday season:

-Those who are concerned about tariffs expect to spend around 10% less than those who aren’t concerned. That’s a drop from around $756 to $690. 
-Households with children continue to be a key driver for marketers. They are expected to spend around $2,349 on average, which is more than twice what those without children are expected to spend this year. 

Leveraging Data for Holiday Sales

With an understanding of this year’s consumer mindset and key trends, it’s time to put your own research to work. Begin by analyzing your first-party data to define your target audience more clearly. Ask the right questions to segment your best customers effectively: Which groups buy most often during the holidays? What are they shopping for? Which offers matter most right now — stronger discounts, product bundles, or free shipping? Note what might hold each group back, such as tight budgets or delivery timing, and pair them with a fitting offer and message.

This audience-first approach is critical for efficiency. Use the information you’ve collected directly from your customers to create custom segments, building lists of people who have recently engaged with your brand or visited specific product pages. By tracking clicks and purchases from these groups, you can quickly adjust your strategy. Retargeting these warm leads is one of the most cost-effective ways to nurture interest and guide them toward a purchase, ensuring your efforts are focused where they will have the greatest impact.

Best Practices for Better Holiday Campaigns

Along with showing the value of your products and services, you can use these best practices to help your brand stand out. Try these throughout the season to improve your chances of holiday success, even when the market is tough. 

Launch now and go after market share. Even if competitors are already active, it’s not too late. Analyze what’s working — rival ads, trending keywords, and emerging themes — and use those insights to shape campaigns that highlight your unique value and drive conversions.

Set clear and measurable goals. Review industry research alongside your internal key performance indicators (KPIs) and channel performance to establish realistic targets for the season. Build campaigns that are designed to hit those goals and make sure your tracking is in place so you can measure progress clearly.

Maintain consistency across all channels. Your customers expect a seamless experience, no matter where they interact with your brand. Consistency builds trust and makes your brand feel reliable. This means your sales messaging, pricing, and promotional offers should be the same everywhere, from in-store displays to your social media ads and website. This alignment prevents frustration and creates a cohesive brand experience that encourages customers to complete their purchase.

Reduce friction in the buying process. Your job is to make it as simple as possible for people to buy from you. The fewer steps and less effort required, the higher your conversion rates will be. Start with your website. Is it fast and easy to navigate on both desktop and mobile? A slow-loading site is a major deterrent. Consider implementing features like a one-click checkout process to speed things up. Offering flexible payment options, such as “buy now, pay later” (BNPL) services, can also remove a barrier for shoppers. Finally, make sure your customer service team is staffed and prepared to handle questions quickly, providing support when and where customers need it.

Focus on high-return channels and audiences. Now is the time to be strategic with your budget. Prioritize the channels and campaigns that have consistently delivered the best results for your brand. If email marketing has been your strongest performer, lean into it. If a specific social media platform drives the most sales, allocate more resources there. 

Build a true omnichannel experience. Your customers don’t stick to one channel, so your marketing shouldn’t either. A well-executed omnichannel strategy ensures your message is consistent and visible wherever your audience spends their time. This could include a mix of connected TV (CTV), online video, social media, display ads, and audio. The key is to create a unified journey. A customer might see an ad on CTV, get a follow-up email, and then see a retargeting ad on social media. Each touchpoint reinforces the others. By carefully measuring the impact of every dollar you spend across these channels, you can quickly see what’s working. This allows you to shift your budget away from less effective tactics and double down on the strategies that are driving real results.

This holiday season, success hinges on moving from guesswork to informed action. By combining deep market research with your own customer data, you can build a holiday marketing strategy that truly connects. Focusing on the right audiences, maintaining consistency across channels, and creating a smooth buying journey will set your brand apart. Put these insights to work, stay agile, and make this a season of impactful, data-driven results.

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