The holiday season is here again, but this year’s advertising landscapelooks very different. AI is changing how consumers discover brands, For years, ecommerce brands have relied on a familiar holiday playbook: buildawareness, promote deals, retarget cart abandoners, and drive shoppers tocheckout. Those tactics still matter, but the path to purchase has changed.Shoppers are no longer moving neatly from ad to homepage to product pageto cart. They’re researching across AI tools, search, social, publisher sites,review content, and the open web before they ever decide which brands areworth considering.For years, ecommerce brands have relied on a familiar holiday playbook: buildawareness, promote deals, retarget cart abandoners, and drive shoppers tocheckout. Those tactics still matter, but the path to purchase has changedto cart. They're researching across Al tools, search, social, publisher sites,review content, and the open web before they ever decide which brands are are asking AI for product recommendations, comparing options throughsearch, or browsing gift guides before they ever visit your site, your brandneeds to show up before the buying moment. The goal is to stay top of mindwherever potential customers are spending time, researching options, anddiscovering what to buy next.search, or browsing gift guides before they ever visit your site, your brandneeds to show up before the buying moment. The goal is to stay top of mindwherever potential customers are spending time, researching options, and 22 At the same time, shoppers are becoming more selective. According toAdRoll’s Q2 State of Digital Advertising Report, U.S. inflation reached its highest level since 2023, while consumer the levels, power-ups, and final-boss moments ecommerce brands need to plan for,including how to:How to build brand awareness and affinity before your ideal customer prompts AIwith a question in your categoryHow to bring back cart abandoners and retarget your most valuable audiencethe levels, power-ups, and final-boss moments ecommerce brands need to plan for.How to build brand awareness and affinity before your ideal customer prompts Alwith a question in your categoryHow to bring back cart abandoners and retarget your most valuable audience Tracking your campaigns with accuracy for successful reportingExamples of successful holiday campaigns from real AdRoll customersTracking your campaigns with accuracy for successful reportingExamples of successful holiday campaigns from real AdRoll customers Let’slevel up yourholidaygame! HOLIAY GAMEO 4 If you want to influence shoppers to ask their favorite AI platforms about you, investin brand awareness ahead of your peak conversion time. Research bySparktoro +Datosshows that search happens everywhere before conversion, meaning thatresearch for brands and products happens across AI, search, social, news publishers,review sites, your site, and so many other places across the web.By committing to brand awareness and affinity building ahead of your busiestseason, you’ll prime your audience for conversions down the road and avoid highCPMs during Q4.Choose Your Character:If you want to influence shoppers to ask their favorite Al platforms about you, investin brand awareness ahead of your peak conversion time. Research by Sparktoro +Datos shows that search happens everywhere before conversion, meaning thatresearch for brands and products happens across Al, search, social, news publishers,++By committing to brand awareness and affinity building ahead of your busiestseason, you'll prime your audience for conversions down the road and avoid high+ + Finding Your BrandAwarenessTargetAudiencePersonalization and targeting help you make the most of your ad spend by reaching thepeople most likely to engage, consider, and buy. Instead of treating every shopper the same,audience segmentation lets you tailor your campaigns based on who someone is, what theycare about, and where they are in the buying journey.FINCING YOUR BRANOWOREHESSTOEGETPersonalization and targeting help you make the most of your ad spend by reaching theaudience segmentation lets you tailor your campaigns based on who someone is, what they There are several ways to segment and target your audience, and each plays a different role.The key is knowing when to use each approach so your ads feel relevant, your budget worksharder, and your campaigns are built for more than just broad reach.There are several ways to segment and target your audience, and each plays a different roleThe key is knowing when to use each approach so your ads feel relevant, your budget worksharder, and your campaigns are built for more than just broad reach. 5 6 With AdRoll, you can reach new contacts who behave like your current customers. By usinglookalike targeting to reach users who visit the same websites, have similar online habits, andlive in the same geographies as your existing customers, you can generate new interest withpotential customers wh