Holiday campaigns can be a wild ride. One day, your ads are bringing in conversions by the sleigh load, and the next, it feels like you’re pouring your budget into a black hole.
So how do you know when it’s time to pull the plug on underperforming holiday ads, and more importantly, how can you shift gears fast without losing momentum?
For digital marketers aiming to make sharper calls on holiday ad performance and avoid any “maybe next year” regrets, stick around because we will show you how to stay on top.
Spot the Warning Signs Early
Experienced marketers know metrics are everything—but some are more telling during the holidays.
Instead of only focusing CTRs and impressions, take a more granular look:
ROAS vs. Daily Budget Burn Rate: Are you seeing returns that justify the daily spend? If your ROAS is consistently below 1 or 1.5, it's a sign your ad isn’t working and might need a strategy change.
Frequency Spike Without Sales Bump: High frequency on your ads with no additional conversions can indicate audience fatigue, especially if you’re targeting niche holiday shoppers. Try to keep frequency below 3.5 to avoid overexposure, and consider expanding your audience if you’re hitting caps.
CPC Creeping Up Unexpectedly: Holidays often bring fierce competition, so a rising CPC is normal, but keep an eye on your conversion rate. If CPC increases and conversions start to tank, your ad might not be competitive enough to hold up during the rush.
Set Realistic Performance Thresholds & Cutoffs
We get it, it’s tempting to ride an ad campaign until the wheels fall off, but deciding on clear thresholds for ROAS, CTR, and CPA can keep you from investing in ads that aren't pulling their weight.
Here’s how you can do that:
ROAS Thresholds: If your campaign's ROAS drops below 1.2, this signals that your ad may not be generating enough revenue to cover costs, especially during high-stakes holiday periods.
For example, if you started with a ROAS of 2.0 but it slips below 1.2, this is a strong indicator to re-evaluate the campaign. Consider pausing or reallocating the budget to ads with higher returns.
CTR Minimums: If your click-through rate (CTR) falls significantly below your expected level (say, from a solid 2% down to around 0.7%), it’s not a positive sign. This might suggest the visuals or messaging aren’t hitting home, or your audience has seen the ad enough times to start overlooking it.
CPA Cap: Tracking your CPA closely is critical. If your CPA goes beyond a predetermined cap—let’s say your typical max is $10, but it jumps to $15—you might be spending too much for each conversion. Setting a CPA limit keeps you within budget and ensures you’re only paying what you’re willing to for each sale.
Optimise On The Go
Ads can lose effectiveness over time, so having your team keep a close eye on the metrics is essential.
Regular, proactive checks ensure that any underperformance gets addressed immediately, with adjustments made even over the weekend if needed.
ROAS: When ROAS starts slipping below your established threshold (maybe dipping under 1.2 for several days), now is the time to evaluate whether the ad is worth further budget.
Team members can monitor ROAS closely to avoid wasting resources on ads that aren’t delivering the returns you expect.
CTR Decline: Keeping track of even small, steady dips in CTR helps pinpoint when an ad may need a refresh.
If CTR is falling by about 0.3% each day over the course of a week, maybe have your team update the visuals or messaging to keep the ad interesting to your audience.
Test and Pivot
If the plug needs pulling but there’s no time for a full campaign overhaul, a few quick adjustments can help avoid a disaster:
Switch Up Creative, Not Strategy: Try switching the ad with updated visuals or maybe a new copy while keeping the overall strategy intact. Simple tweaks, like adding a seasonal touch or a “Last Call for Deals” CTA, can give the ad a fresh feel without changing your targeting or messaging.
Change the CTA: Change CTAs to action-focused phrases that fit the holiday rush. Simple shifts like “Order Now” or “Ends Soon” can pull in more impulsive clicks.
Re-Target Hot Leads: If you have a list of high-engagement users from the campaign, pivot by creating a smaller, retargeted audience. Consider reintroducing your holiday offer or using dynamic retargeting to showcase specific products they’ve shown interest in.
Prepare to Pivot Without Losing Data
The beauty of a mid-season pivot is you don’t have to start from scratch. Use what you’ve already learned to fine-tune and save budget:
Use First-Party Data: Reach out to past holiday shoppers or those who’ve shown interest in similar products. Your most engaged audiences from previous campaigns are usually more cost-effective to bring back and can give you a solid boost in conversions.
Adjust Your Audience with Custom and Lookalikes: If your campaign isn’t hitting, consider tweaking your audience parameters. Try building lookalike audiences based on high-value customers or those with strong buying patterns—this can give you a fresh group with a higher chance of converting.
Use Smart Budget Shifting
The holiday season is no time to hold onto budgets that aren’t delivering. If an ad set is underperforming, pause it and move that budget to ads that are bringing in results.
Redirect Budget to Top-Performers: If an ad set is lagging, pause it and manually reallocate those funds to your best-performing ads. Prioritize ad sets with a solid ROAS, ensuring your budget goes to what’s working well rather than spreading it thin across weaker performers. This way, you’re focusing your spend on ads that drive real results without needing a major campaign overhaul.
Explore Multiple Channels Quickly: Test your top performers on other platforms where CPC might be lower or competition is less aggressive. For instance, if Meta isn’t converting, push those ads to Pinterest or even TikTok, which might be more cost-effective for niche targeting.
Leverage Post-Holiday Data
Each holiday season comes with its own set of surprises. Take note of what worked, what didn’t, and key moments when you decided to make changes.
While this year’s wins might not be a guaranteed success next time, these notes will give you a solid head start for next year, helping you avoid unnecessary adjustments.
Final Words
Flexibility is everything during the holidays. Trends can turn on a dime, and knowing when to pull back on underperforming ads can protect your budget and open up space for better opportunities.
A few smart tweaks here and there can keep your holiday campaigns on track, helping you close out the season strong and stress-free.
SO, WHERE DO YOU FIND THIS PARTNER?
Well, aren’t we glad you asked! We at DigiCom are obsessive data-driven marketers pulling from multi-disciplinary strategies to unlock scale. We buy media across all platforms and placements and provide creative solutions alongside content creation, and conversion rate optimizations. We pride ourselves on your successes and will stop at nothing to help you grow.
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