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Every year, as Black Friday approaches and Christmas gets closer, the same question comes up in conversations with coaches and course creators: should we pause our Meta™ Ads over the festive season?
It sounds like a sensible decision. You are winding down for the year, your clients are taking holidays, and you have probably heard that advertising costs go through the roof during Black Friday and December. Surely it makes sense to save some money and pick things back up in January?
But here is the problem with that thinking.
The marketing you stop doing in November and December does not just affect your results today.
It affects the leads and sales you were going to have in February and March.
Your sales pipeline does not fill itself overnight
If your business relies on a lead generation funnel, there is usually a journey involved before someone becomes a paying client. They discover you through an ad or a piece of content. They download your lead magnet. They join your email list. They consume more of your content. They attend a masterclass or watch a training. And eventually they decide they are ready to work with you.
That journey might take a few days or it might take several weeks. But the important thing is that your marketing creates the opportunities for that journey to happen.
If you stop all your marketing for 6 or 7 weeks over the festive season, you create a gap in the number of people entering your funnel. And depending on how long your typical sales cycle is, you might not feel the impact of that gap until well into the New Year.
Are Meta™ Ads really more expensive over Christmas?
There is some truth to the idea that advertising costs can increase around Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Retailers and ecommerce businesses put significant budgets into their campaigns, and because Meta™ Ads work through an auction system, increased competition can push costs up.
But that does not mean every business is going to see their campaigns become unprofitable. If you are a coach or course creator, you are not necessarily competing for the same audiences in the same way as a retailer selling Christmas gifts.
And while some businesses increase their spend, others switch everything off, which can actually reduce competition for the people you are trying to reach.
The key is to look at what is happening in your own ad account rather than making decisions based on assumptions.
Three campaigns worth running over the holidays
You do not need a large budget to keep your marketing working over Christmas. Here are three types of campaigns to consider.
Audience-building campaigns. Put valuable content in front of your ideal clients to keep building recognition and trust. Repurpose a Reel or educational video that has already performed well. These campaigns can run for as little as a dollar a day.
Lead generation campaigns. Continue growing your email list and bringing people into your funnel. Your lead magnet does not need to change, although you might test messaging that connects to the time of year, such as preparing for the year ahead.
Retargeting campaigns. If you have people who already know you and have engaged with your content, this is a great time to put your offers in front of them. You do not need to discount everything just because it is the holiday season.
Take your break without losing momentum
The goal is not to work through Christmas. It is to get your marketing organised before you finish for the year. Check your tracking, make sure your landing pages and links are working, ensure your email automations are running, and have a plan for someone to monitor your campaigns periodically while you are away.
When you come back in January, you will have new leads on your email list, an audience that has been hearing from you, and a much stronger foundation to build on. That is a very different position from starting the year trying to rebuild momentum from scratch.
I would love to hear your thoughts...