Brief:

• Social media will be the most popular way for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to advertise during the holiday season, per a survey by location-based marketing firm Reveal Mobile. Its study found that more than a third (36.4%) of advertisers will allocate the majority of their holiday ad budgets to social media, followed by email marketing (15.2%), TV (14.7%) and print (14%).
• Facebook will be the most popular social media platform with 41.8% of SMBs saying they will primarily spend on the social network, followed by Google (28.2%), Facebook-owned Instagram (17.6%) and Amazon (12.4%). Mobile advertising is the least popular ad format, with only 0.5% of respondents saying they plan to dedicate the majority of their spending to digital ads on mobile platforms.
• More than a third (37.2%) of SMBs increase their ad budgets during the holiday season. Most SMBs (84%) will use location data for marketing during the holidays, with 28% saying they will use it on every holiday ad campaign. Reveal Mobile surveyed more than 260 owners and managers of SMBs in the United States.

Insight:

Facebook is the clear winner for the holiday season, considering that the company also owns Instagram. Facebook and Instagram together will capture 59.4% of ad spending from SMBs, per Reveal Mobile, demonstrating their appeal to many businesses that seek to reach highly targeted audiences during a time in which ad spend will increase. 

The low number of SMBs that dedicate the majority of their spending to digital ads on mobile platforms is a surprising statistic, yet Reveal notes that much of the social media and search ads will end up being served as mobile ones because of how much time consumers spend on their devices. This continued dependence on smartphones and other devices means marketers shouldn't write off the mobile component of their ad spend, especially during the holiday season.

Marketers will also have to consider the numerous new formats that are coming out when planning their ad spends. Facebook this week made ads in its Stories feature available to advertisers around the world after testing the format in the U.S., Mexico and Brazil starting in May, the company announced. The company is not alone in improving its offerings, with both Google and Snapchat unveiling new features this week.