It’s the end of November and we’re well and truly into the holiday swing here in Australia. Streets and shopping centres are decorated. Sale signs are coming out and it’s taking me longer to find a park near the shops.
Most of the time I feel immensely grateful for having an online business that’s seemingly not affected by the holiday madness.
My products and services aren’t particularly seasonal or affected by the Christmas frenzy, but yours might be different.
You may have thought about Facebook advertising in the lead up to Christmas but then reconsidered as you figure it will be busy online.
You’re not wrong and in today’s post I want to go into what will happen to the cost of Facebook ads heading into the holiday season (and why this shouldn’t stop you from advertising!)
1: Ad costs will increase
Ad costs will most certainly increase, which is normal in an economy based on supply and demand. The demand for ad space will go up as more business owners want to advertise their products and services, and the supply will be limited as Facebook only has so much news-feed space to offer.
2: More competitive
There has been a trend of the Facebook ads space becoming busier over the past few years. More businesses are starting to reap the rewards from Facebook advertising and so it becomes more competitive. As I said in the previous point, Facebook only has a certain amount of real estate (or space in the newsfeed) and we’re all competing to be seen.
3: End of year rise
As businesses ramp up their advertising for the end of the year you’ll likely see an increase in cost and more competition from the end of October until early January. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t advertise, it means that you need to be aware of it and be ‘smarter’ with your ads.
Why should you not let this stop you from advertising?
1: Most cost effective way to reach your audience
Facebook is still the most cost effective way to advertise your business and your products. Traditional forms of advertising are great but you simply don’t have the flexibility and data collection that you have with Facebook ads. With Facebook ads you can switch on and off what is or isn’t working and the data Facebook provides gives you a real-time snapshot of your campaign’s performance.
I don’t recommend trying your first ads during the holiday season unless you have a product or service that converts organically and has a ‘proven’ sales record.
Facebook can help you amplify your sales during the holiday season, not fix a sales problem.
2: You are helping your ideal audience
Another reason not to let this stop you is that by advertising you are getting in front of your ideal audience who absolutely needs your product or service, so don’t hide it from them because the ads might be more expensive.
Share your work and attract your ideal audience.
3: Know your numbers
During this time it’s extremely important to know your numbers so that you always know if you’re still running profitable ads. The aim is of course to spend less on your ads and make money from what you’re selling.
Be vigilant in checking in so that you’re not up for any surprises.
As long as you’re making more than you’re spending you’re doing extremely well and should keep going.
Recap:
So now you know that ads costs will most likely rise over the holiday period but this shouldn’t be a reason not to advertise. Be aware of your numbers and focus on helping your ideal audience.
