Paid search is a tour de force when used effectively in marketing. In the run up to Christmas, you can use it in your campaigns to effectively drive traffic towards your site and increase those Yuletide sales.
When engineering your search advertising campaign this festive season, you will want to start by analysing past performances- if indeed there have been any. Refrain from replicating historical tactics, but consider previously successful tactics. If there were peaks in traffic levels in 2013, remember that these dates may fluctuate in 2014, considering that there will only be 26 days between Black Friday and Christmas itself. Make sure you do have ample budget to cover those shopping peak periods, especially when the New Year sales begin.
Don’t neglect Facebook and other social chancels in your paid search campaign. You can run Facebook campaigns in tandem with other search campaigns, to maximise your reach and your brands online profile. Expand your keyword targets, by looking closely at the sorts of topics and adverts that are proving popular on social channels. If certain topics are proving popular and generating a lot of ‘likes’, you might want to test some new keywords based on these topics. This is especially true during the festive season, when you really want to go all out and drive as much traffic as you can. The hashtag is hugely useful in this context also. Pay close attention to the sorts of hashtags that are trending and consider weaving them into your copy, for further engagement.
You also want to make full use of Google shopping campaigns. Global retail Product Listing Ad (PLA) spend, is on the rise. The great thing about PLA’s is that the product images they use really make them stand out in the search engines. You want to ensure that you use the text under the price, known as the promotional line, to add engaging copy and keywords. If you include information such as “click for 10% off” for example, you can really drive more traffic.
Always remember to keep optimising throughout the season. Don’t just create your campaigns and leave them to fester, keep updating them and respond to any changes in consumer behaviour, or keyword popularity throughout the festive period. Study your ad copy daily and make sure you update your campaign if drops in engagement occurs.
The great thing about Google Keyword campaigns is that you are able to set alerts. Do so and keep yourself up to date with whether or not your ads are hitting certain milestones.
Re-target consumers that have engaged with you in the past. There is a high chance that you will be able to sell to these people again. You can reengage with previous visitors through Facebook Exchange (FBX) or Google Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSA).
Finally you want to utilise local search features to allow consumers to easily find your bricks and mortar stores. You can do this by making sure your address, maps and contact details are all up to date. Activate geo-targeting around store locations. This will ensure shoppers can find you on their mobiles. When you consider the context in which a shopper will be looking for your store, i.e when they are out and about Christmas shopping, this mobile ad extension tool is vital and extremely cost effective.
Engineering and implementing a successful paid search campaign, can really help you generate strong sales this season, allowing you to attract new customers, maximise revenue and edge out the competition.
