TripleLift’s Holiday Season retail media guide finds 63% of US marketers will increase off-site spend before the holidays, yet they feel unprepared for campaign execution.

TripleLift, the world’s leading Creative SSP, released the Holiday Season Edition of the “The Creative Edge in Retail Media” guide, revealing that although almost two-thirds of US marketers are initiating their Q4 retail media off-site strategy between May and July, nearly half don’t have access to advanced creative technology for activating quality off-site ads – signaling challenges with creative execution.

As Amazon Prime Day unfolds this week, it presents a perfect opportunity for marketers to optimize budget allocation, secure prime ad placements, and obtain valuable audience insights. However, as four in 10 marketers struggle to predict consumer interest and shopping trends during critical periods, Prime Day is the perfect moment to capture critical intelligence that will help marketers shape their holiday retail media strategies to ensure a successful Q4.

“Our data shows nearly two-thirds of US marketers begin their holiday retail media planning between May and July, demonstrating that “Christmas in July” has evolved from retail cliche into an actual observed practice,” said Ed Dinichert, Chief Revenue Officer at TripleLift. “With the holiday season contributing up to 40% of annual revenue for many brands, crafting a strategic retail media approach now can mean the difference between a record-breaking Q4 and a disappointing end to the year. Brands who proactively engage in retail media strategies during the summer months are better positioned to capture early shopper interest, test campaign effectiveness, and make necessary adjustments before the peak holiday rush, ultimately leading to a more impactful and profitable Q4 performance.”

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Holiday Planning Strategic Timeline

The Holiday Season Edition of our retail media guide includes a strategic timeline packed with insights to set you up for success. For the holiday season, consider this timing:

• Early Phase (September-October): 77% of marketers implement seasonal shopper segmentation strategies during this phase – the perfect opportunity to build awareness with educational content and gift guides.
• Peak Phase (November): 74% of marketers plan their largest budget increases during Black Friday/ Cyber Monday, but winners understand that urgency messaging and competitive pricing are what can influence active deal-seekers.
• Last-Minute Phase (December): 76% of marketers plan to increase holiday campaign spend in December. Focus on convenience and reliability, highlighting shipping deadlines, expedited delivery, and click-and-collect options to appeal to procrastinators.

Honing Holiday Messaging & Audience Targeting

Holiday-specific creative best practices (74%) and A/B testing strategies for holiday messaging (67%) are seen as the most effective tools for driving campaign performance. In addition, supportive tactics like format recommendations (47%), production timeline planning (42%), and creative refresh cadence (38%) also contribute, emphasizing the value of seasonally relevant, well-structured creative execution in maximizing results.

When it comes to audience targeting, our research found that marketers prioritize tailored seasonal targeting strategies during the holiday period. Seasonal shopper segmentation targeting early, late, and last-minute buyers is the most widely implemented strategy (77%), followed by distinguishing between gift purchasers and self-purchasers (70%), and using category-specific audiences (68%).

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The Creative Technology Revolution

The industry conversation has been dominated by audience targeting and measurement, but the real competitive advantage lies in creative technology. Our research shows that online video (84%) and native advertising (83%) significantly outperform display (46%) and Connected TV (26%) during Q4 holiday campaigns. Their high engagement potential and adaptability for storytelling likely contribute to their strong holiday-season impact.

Post-Holiday Analytics and Learnings

Holiday retail media isn’t just a seasonal sprint but the foundation for year-round success. Although a quarter of US marketers plan to decrease spend during the post-holiday months of January through March, leveraging key campaign data and insight are essential to a brand’s continued success. Developing an ‘always-on’ strategy informed by holiday customer data, campaign performance patterns, and key audience segments would ensure that customers stay engaged long after they switch off the Christmas lights.

As the world’s leading Creative SSP, TripleLift is uniquely positioned to help brands make retail media creative and develop seamless experiences that feel native to each shopping environment.