Beyond The Cyber 5: A Roadmap For Maximizing Holiday Ad Spend

The 2025 holiday shopping season is poised to be distinct due to this year’s rollercoaster of consumer certainty. Initially projected to grow 3.9% YoY, holiday retail is now expected to grow a marginal 1.2% YoY — the slowest growth since 2009. In contrast to a more optimistic outlook during the 2024 holidays, consumer caution brought on by economic uncertainty will define the 2025 holiday shopping timeline and product evaluation process. Mobile, social shopping, and AI’s roles in the ecommerce and in-store purchase journey will all continue to expand and evolve from previous years, now with more impact on consumer behavior than ever before. Facing a cautious consumer and evolving digital platforms, there are strategies advertisers can deploy to optimize every ad dollar throughout the entire shopping season and not just peak sales days.

Dos and don’ts this holiday season

With these trends in mind, there are some core dos and don’ts to help navigate the 2025 holiday shopping season:

Don’t

Don’t reserve ad spending for Cyber 5 alone 

• 21% of shoppers will start holiday shopping before summer ends, up from 16% last year, and most shoppers will continue browsing well into December
• Anticipating tariff-driven price hikes, many customers are shopping earlier and taking advantage of early promotions like October deal days, expecting continued price increases as we get closer to the holidays
• Cyber 5 remains important — accounting for 16% of total retail ecommerce holiday season sales (flat YoY) — but won’t make brands’ holiday season thrive alone

If brands can convert consumers outside the more competitive and cluttered holiday sprints, they can reduce CPC and CPA by avoiding the inflated bidding time frame that defines the Cyber 5.

Don’t overly prioritize AI-driven search at the expense of traditional SEO and social search

• AI usage for product discovery is growing quickly, but significantly more consumers still search on traditional search engines or social platforms than with AI tools
• That said, the holiday season will be a great testing ground to introduce or refine GEO (generative engine optimization), as adoption continues to grow and new features like instant checkout in ChatGPT officially connect AI to ecommerce — however, GEO shouldn’t consume all of your team’s attention
• Gen Z is twice as likely as average to buy gifts via social media, with TikTok being a key platform for product discovery and research

Tailor social content to the audience journey and platform. Brands will find that this not only boosts influence on social but lifts discoverability at large, including AI engines.

Don’t ignore the importance of a seamless, mobile-optimized experience

• A Radial consumer survey found that nearly half of respondents have abandoned carts due to complicated checkouts, while 31% have walked away because their preferred payment options aren’t available 
• Mobile accounts for more than half of online sales during the holidays, yet Unbounce’s latest conversion benchmark report uncovers that mobile conversion rates still lag desktops by 8%, signaling an opportunity to improve mobile UX for consumers, which will have a measurable impact on advertising KPIs
• Nearly 60% of shoppers still use their mobile devices while in a physical store to compare prices or research deals and coupons (according to HRC Retail Advisory)

Mobile’s role in holiday shopping is pivotal to generating revenue, regardless of whether the person buys online or in-store. Ensure that every aspect of the customer journey, from product discovery to checkout, is seamless and efficient on mobile devices.

Do

Do introduce a wide variety of ad messaging that progresses with the season and addresses the value people crave during uncertain economic times

• Nearly 58% of people plan to tighten their holiday budgets, a significant increase from 38% in 2024

Get in front of consumers early with a clear value proposition. Start with gift guides and bundles early in the season to inspire gift ideas, then transition focus later in the season to tangible, long-term value — not just low prices — to justify an indulgence.

• Two-thirds of consumers say they would give up a 5% discount to guarantee their delivery window. Among younger respondents, nearly one-in-three would still choose delivery certainty even over a 20% discount

Make sure to highlight shipping guarantees, gift cards, or flexible returns as Holiday deadlines approach — it’s worth a premium as consumer needs shift.

Do keep existing and previous customers engaged via retention efforts

• Loyalty can be hard to come by as consumers become more likely to make purchasing changes based on tariffs and economic concerns
• Rather than asking for an upsell, connect with existing customers and re-engage them via email or retargeting ads that offer value and encourage their continued growth within your brand based on time of year or past purchases
  • E.g., a holiday home transformation regimen. Instead of just another holiday sale email, promote a guide featuring your products that takes customers through a phased decorating or organizing journey that allows them to progress from October through the end of December

What this means for marketers

Especially amid a climate of economic uncertainty, everyone is looking to maximize every dollar, both as marketers and consumers. Keeping these core dos and don’ts in your playbook will help you get the most return out of this holiday season, future-proofing your strategies for the economic rollercoasters to come.