Maximizing Q5: Leveraging Post-Holiday Sales for a Strong Start to the New Year

Marketers recognize the significance of the holiday season, but many may not realize that the opportunity doesn’t stop once the holidays are over. In fact, it extends from late December through mid-January, a period sometimes called the "fifth quarter" (Q5).

During this time, consumers are actively hunting for deals, making returns, redeeming gift cards, and spending the cash they received as gifts. For businesses, this period presents an affordable marketing window. While many reduce their advertising budgets, forward-thinking marketers take advantage of lower media costs and continued consumer demand to close out the year strong and kickstart the new year with momentum.

Leverage Lower CPMs on Meta

Data shows, that CPMs on Meta drastically decrease during the post-holiday period which represents an opportunity for many E-coms to leverage lower marketing costs to capture the attention of the audience.

UGC strategy for Q5

People have unique reasons for purchasing the same product. During the Q5 period, tailored creative content can effectively address these diverse motivations.

Some of the strategies include:

• Create campaigns that focus on a variety of themes relevant to the post-holiday season, such as special sales and discounts, self-gifting or New Year's resolutions
• Consider promoting products similar to those purchased during the holiday period: E.g. Nice slippers that go with the socks that you received. (Complementary products)
• Try repurposing your best performing holiday
  creative with light tweaks to reduce creative fatigue.

1. Self care & New Year, New Me

Create content that focuses on Self-care products, and products that play along the narrative of new year new me. Create videos with unboxing ad angle, testimonial ad angle and voiceover videos.

2. Upsell products

Showcase other interesting products that go with your best selling offers. If you sell hair growth products and your best sellers are shampoo & conditioner, try promoting hair growth brushes, or serums or any other products that would complement the bundle perfectly. Make UGC videos with Unboxing ad angle, GRWM angle, and Christmas haul.

3. Reuse your best-performing creatives

Q5 videos don't need to break the bank. Simply re-use your existing best performing UGC videos and give them a new spin; add new text overlay, switch out the CTA, or adapt the messaging in the ad copy. It can be as simple and as easy as that.

While many marketers reduce their advertising spend during this time, savvy marketers take advantage of lower media costs and continued consumer demand to end the year strong and begin the new year with momentum. To maximize the impact of Q5 campaigns, businesses should develop creative content that speaks to a variety of post-holiday motivations, such as sales and discounts, self-gifting, New Year's resolutions, or social good. Tailored creative approaches can effectively resonate with consumers' diverse needs during this critical period.