The days leading up to Thanksgiving represent a unique opportunity for marketers to capture high-intent audiences. According to the National Retail Federation, 58% of shoppers plan to make holiday purchases during Thanksgiving weekend, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Even more compelling, nearly 45% of consumers wait until the final days before Thanksgiving to complete their purchases.
Thanksgiving weekend saw 197 million U.S. shoppers spending $41.1 billion online—about 60 % via mobile devices
This last-minute rush is driven by urgency, seasonal promotions, and the fear of missing out (FOMO). Smart brands capitalize on this by launching hyper-targeted Facebook Ads campaigns focused on late shoppers.
Maximize Impact with Custom Audience Targeting
Using LeadEnforce, you can create highly refined Facebook Custom Audiences by targeting users based on group memberships, and following Instagram profiles. During the Thanksgiving lead-up, this means narrowing your focus to:
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Shoppers actively engaging in holiday prep groups
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People browsing seasonal deals and promotions
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Users interacting with competitor brand content
With custom audiences, you increase relevance and reduce ad spend wastage, ensuring your message reaches shoppers in decision-making mode.
Leverage Urgency-Driven Ad Creative
When targeting last-minute shoppers, your ad creative should communicate urgency and value. Consider these proven tactics:
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Limited-time offers ("Ends Tonight!")
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Countdown timers in visuals or headlines
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Free same-week delivery incentives
Combining urgency with compelling offers taps into the immediate needs of last-minute buyers and can dramatically increase click-through and conversion rates.
Capitalize on Lookalike Audiences for Scale
LeadEnforce enables you to build Lookalike Audiences from your best-performing custom audiences. This is particularly effective in the high-traffic Thanksgiving window, allowing you to scale outreach while maintaining targeting accuracy. Facebook's machine learning matches your ideal shopper profile to millions of similar users, ensuring broader but still relevant reach.
Smart Budgeting and Scheduling Tips
Facebook ad benchmarks: median CTR ≈ 1.5 %, and holiday CPMs can increase by up to 66 % around Thanksgiving‑Cyber Monday
To optimize performance:
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Increase ad spend starting the Monday before Thanksgiving, peaking Wednesday and Thursday
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Use dayparting to schedule ads during peak online shopping hours (typically 6 PM - 10 PM)
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Retarget users who engaged with your ads or website in the last 7 days
These tactics ensure that your campaign budget aligns with the highest engagement periods and buyer intent.
Measure and Optimize on the Go
Even during the holiday rush, data should guide your decisions. Use real-time performance insights to:
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Adjust bids for better-performing ad sets
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Pause underperforming creatives
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A/B test headlines, visuals, and CTAs
Conclusion
Thanksgiving is a critical window for lead generation, especially when targeting last-minute shoppers. By leveraging Facebook Custom Audiences, urgency-based creatives, Lookalike Audiences, and smart budgeting strategies, your brand can rise above the noise and convert more buyers. LeadEnforce empowers you to execute these strategies with precision and confidence.
