Are you prepared for the inevitable Christmas rush? With everything from Black Friday to Cyber Monday quickly approaching, it’s vital you make sure your campaigns are prepared to face a significant upturn in online shopping.
The online purchase penetration rate in the UK has been rising at a substantial rate over the past ten years, increasing slowly from 62% in 2010 to a much improved 87% in 2020. Furthermore, last year more than 54% of shoppers used five or more online channels to shop over a sustained two-day period so, when it comes to PPC marketing, it’s important to know what you’re doing, and more importantly, know that what you are doing is, in fact, making an impact.
So, with this in mind, as our trusted and authoritative Google Ads expert, PPC Geeks thought it best to list the top 5 things you must know prior to Christmas.
1. Question Your Newfound Demographic
There’s no question that you understand your audience unlike anyone else, but can you say with 100% certainty that your target demographic doesn’t change or alter completely over the festive season?
With men shopping for women and vice-versa,it’s important to take a moment to step back and analyse the keywords or search terms that entice your potential customers to visit your website, and then try to incorporate more general phrases into your campaigns and wider strategies.
At Christmas, every day shoppers are complimented by newcomers to the online shopping sphere; it’s important you don’t miss out on reaching them.
2. Christmas Doesn’t Start & End With Christmas Day
Remarketing is hugely important not just during the festivities, but in the days and weeks prior to and after Christmas Day. Customers mainly start planning their gift ideas way before Christmas, and shop around for the best deals in the likes of October and November. This is also set to intensify due to the ongoing cost of living crisis in the UK.
Remarketing lets you re-serve your campaigns to previous visitors of your website who have shown serious interest in your products, helping you to stay at the forefront of their minds as they continue to browse other websites on the Internet.
So, it’s massively important to start considering creating festive-specific remarketing ads to target those more forward-thinking shoppers in the run up to November and December.
3. Boost your PPC Budget
Your Cost Per Click goes through the roof during the festive period. CPC is a straightforward pay-per-click bidding model in which marketers are billed every time someone clicks on their ads which, as you’d imagine as Christmas shopping intensifies, hugely increases.
Furthermore, with festive-themed keywords becoming even more popular and more competitive, it’s vital to make some alterations to your budget in order to compete at the level you desire.
This also means increasing your Google ads budget to leverage the increased amount of visitors; but the best way to square off the extra spend is that, in essence, more customers means increased profits.
4. Create an Online Shopfront You Can Be Proud Of
With 75% of holiday shoppers buying their Christmas presents online, being an ever present force and standing out on Google is absolutely imperative to Christmas shopping success.
It’s vital to build strong foundations for your Google ads to succeed. This can include updating your ad copy to reflect the Christmas period, keeping your product prices constantly updated, and continuing to drive consumers to your pre-prepared landing pages via your ads.
This Christmas, it’s good to think of your ads as your virtual shopfront. Dress it up in line with the festivities to not only encourage your customers to work with you, but to also reflect the Christmas mood.
5. Analyse Your PPC Metrics
Analytics are vital to any successful Christmas campaign, though how you analyse them can be just as important.
Where to begin, however, can be tricky. We recommended taking a closer look at your analytic output for November and December last year, before closely analysing the most popular keywords on your website and which pages performed the best during the same time the previous festive season. In doing so, you can feel more prepared for what’s to come this Christmas, but also more likely to make gains on previous years.
Moreover, be careful not to overlook your insights and analysis as you go as your results will give you a window into how your campaigns are performing, providing you with an invaluable opportunity to change tact if needed.
Trust PPC Geeks This Christmas
We pride ourselves on what we achieve for our clients on a daily basis, be that results or knowing how to help them through the most important time of the PPC season: Christmas.
As we always have your best interests in mind, if you require any help or want to improve your PPC or Google Ads, then why not invest in one of our 100% FREE, completely comprehensive PPC audits?
