The holiday season is a time of magic and mayhem, joy and consumerism. It’s also a make-it-or-break-it time of year for businesses, filled with opportunities and challenges. Shoppers are ready to spend, but brands need to find ways to capture their hearts and wallets.
This brings added pressure on advertising teams to make every campaign sparkle, every ad dollar work harder, and every click end in a sale.
Santa has Rudolph’s red nose to guide him through the most important time of the year. Thanks to the experts in The Taboola Creative Shop, advertisers have something better: the 2024 Q4 Holiday Creative Playbook, which is full of data-backed insights that illuminate the consumer mindset!
Instead of guessing and stressing, follow their vertical-specific creative advice, and you’ll transform your holiday ad campaigns, boosting engagement and hitting those KPIs like never before.
Merry Marketing: Vertical-Specific Creative Tips
Beauty: A Natural Glow
Title Trends: Beauty consumers are increasingly drawn to eco-friendly materials and sustainable practices. Highlight natural ingredients, recycling old products and special discounts to catch their eye.
Image Trends: Feature closeups of a person applying the product, hands holding the product, or its effectiveness with before-and-after transformation pictures.
Technology: Innovation at Your Fingertips
Title Trends: Tech products enhance daily life. Highlight practical uses, share hacks, and secrets, or emphasize new and state-of-the-art features. Include discounts and promotions to entice shoppers.
Image Trends: Use closeups of the product or hands holding the device to create a sense of intimacy and authenticity. Featuring real people using the product adds a convincing touch of relatability.
Bonus Tip: Download our Tech Creative Playbook or Gaming Creative Playbook for more tips.
Fashion, Style & Shopping: Trends and Endorsements
Title Trends: Headlines should focus on product personalization features, brand sustainability, and who endorses it — whether it’s a celebrity or teen-approved. Point out who the product is perfect for and its ‘cool factor.’
Image Trends: Showcase the product on a clean, simple background or from unique points of view to make it stand out.
Healthy Living: Wellness in Reach
Title Trends: Health and wellness look different for each person, so talk about personalized plans, the product’s health benefits, or how it addresses specific health concerns.
Image Trends: Use images displaying hands holding or using the product or featuring authentic people representing your potential audience.
Bonus Tip: Download our Health Creative Playbook for more insights.
Travel: Adventure Awaits
Title Trends: Headlines should point out urgent sales and booking opportunities, personalized holiday bookings (think families or singles), and planning ahead for summer.
Image Trends: Use images showing people enjoying beach or resort destinations, capturing the essence of vacation milestones and creating a sense of wanderlust.
Bonus Tip: Find more insights in our Travel Creative Playbook.
Home & Garden: Nurturing Spaces
Title Trends: Home and garden enthusiasts love practical tips, so write headlines that reveal useful hacks, use numbered lists for trends and gifts, and communicate promos and discounts clearly.
Image Trends: Show closeups of products in appropriate indoor or outdoor settings or hands demonstrating the product to create a sense of practicality and usefulness.
Automotive: Drive into Delight
Title Trends: Eco-friendly features are a big draw nowadays, so emphasize them. Be direct about promotional offers, trading or selling opportunities, or new 2025 models.
Image Trends: Use eye-catching colors or show cars charging, driving on open roads, or in holiday or winter environments to create a sense of excitement and adventure.
Bonus Tip: Download our Auto Creative Playbook for more advice.
Finance: Wealth Wisdom
Title Trends: For finance-related ads, leading with value and expertise is crucial. Craft headlines that feature expert predictions, name assets or institutions, or call out audiences by life events.
Image Trends: Select visuals that show types of assets or currency, people using devices to organize their finances, or headshots of experts to create a sense of trust and reliability.
Bonus Tip: Get more insights in our Finance Creative Playbook.
Unwrap Holiday Success
Download the complete 2024 Q4 Holiday Creative Playbook. It’s packed with insights, creative strategies based on key moments, shopper mindsets, and more. It’ll make your campaigns shine brighter than a star atop the tree! Access more creative playbooks and best practices here.
For further holiday and Q4 insights and trends, read our additional blog posts and check out:
- Our Holiday Hype Reel discussing different Q4 strategies!