Five phases from pre-season audit to the January reset. Built around the August 17 Target CPA / Target ROAS bidding change, so bid strategy gets more attention than a normal year.
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01
Pre-Holiday Audit & Foundation
Sept – Early Oct
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Pull last year's Q4 performance by campaign: CPCs, conversion rate, ROAS/CPA, spend pacing by week
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Set margin targets & break-even ROAS/CPA per client before touching any bid
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Pull 2–3 years of monthly averages (CPA/ROAS, volume) and set targets slightly more aggressive than average
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Ease targets back if clicks/spend slip once live, don't hold firm out of stubbornness
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Test Maximize Conversion Value where Target ROAS struggles to find volume
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Confirm holiday budget per client (BFCM week often needs 2–3x normal daily spend)
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Build shared promo calendar: sale dates, codes, shipping cutoffs
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Audit conversion tracking across GA4, Google Ads, and Meta Pixel
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Competitive check in Auction Insights
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Nonprofit / Ad Grants clients: confirm account compliance (5%+ CTR, 2+ keywords per ad group, no single-word or overly generic keywords, geotargeting on) before ramping holiday campaigns
Why this phase matters most this year: the Aug 17 bidding change means Target CPA/ROAS need active monitoring, not a set-and-forget target. Know the profitable floor first, everything else works off it.
02
Creative & Campaign Setup
Mid – Late Oct
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Submit new ad assets for policy review early, before queues back up in November
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Build dynamic countdown copy and promo extensions for mapped sale windows
Write promo copy in Title Case, lead with the number ("30% Off Sitewide")
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Update sitelinks, callouts, and promotion extensions
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Refresh negative keyword lists to cut irrelevant holiday noise
03
Peak Execution
Nov – BFCM Week
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Raise daily budget caps on top converters so they don't run dry mid-day
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Apply seasonality adjustments for short 1–7 day spikes (flash sales) without corrupting Smart Bidding's learning
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Defend brand terms aggressively, check Auction Insights daily for new conquesting entrants
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Coordinate inventory checks, pause ads on out-of-stock SKUs
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Check budget pacing at least 2x/day, Thursday through Cyber Monday
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Monitor Impression Share lost to budget as the early warning sign
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Confirm tracking fires correctly on day one, log every mid-sale change
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Nonprofit clients: launch a dedicated Giving Tuesday campaign and donation landing page, separate from any retail-style holiday promo
Nonprofit note: Giving Tuesday lands right after Cyber Monday, inside this phase. Ad Grants accounts cap out around $329/day, so if a client wants a bigger Giving Tuesday push than that, pair the Grants account with a paid campaign rather than relying on the free budget alone.
04
Post-Cyber Week & Wrap-Up
December
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Pivot messaging to shipping cutoffs: "Guaranteed Delivery by Dec 24"
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Shift to Digital Gift Cards / BOPIS once shipping cutoffs pass
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Capture the post-holiday self-gifting rush with clearance and New Year offers
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Normalize bid targets and budgets back to evergreen levels
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Nonprofit clients: keep year-end giving messaging live through Dec 31, tax-deductible deadline urgency, matching gift call-outs, and a separate push from any shipping-cutoff or Cyber Week creative
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Pull a mid-Q4 snapshot per client, flag budget reallocation needs
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Start drafting the BFCM/Q4 recap while details are fresh
05
Early January Follow-Up
January
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Full Q4 recap per client: spend, ROAS/CPA, year-over-year comparison
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Document what worked for next year's playbook
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Reset budgets and bid strategies to steady state
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Archive expired holiday assets and promo extensions