The holiday season is upon us and we’re working harder than ever to make sure we maximise the large increase in spending that comes with Q4. For Pay-Per-Click Managers this means ensuring our adverts stand out in a sea of ads put in-front of internet shoppers.
Taking a look at the growth in internet shopping over the last decade highlights some key trends to consider as we approach Christmas.
Internet Sales have been growing consistently year-on-year
The percentage of retail sales being purchased online has been growing steadily in an upwards trend. People today feel safer putting their card details into a website than they did back in the early 00’s. There’s also been huge development in payment security systems throughout this time with companies such as PayPal making transactions secure for the customer.
Internet Sales spike in Q4
We can clearly see that more people choose to shop online during Q4, driven by increased spend from the Christmas holidays. The increased variety of products on offer online vs what’s available on the high street drives this growth.
The Pandemic had a huge effect
It’s no surprise that the COVID-19 pandemic drove more people to shop online than ever before. With high-street brick and mortar stores being forced to close their doors for months at a time, people turned to online shopping to make their purchases. One constant across all industries is that you need to innovate to stay ahead. Businesses who didn’t have a website or had a dated website were hit harder than those who invested in their online presence with a modern website.
So, how can you take advantage of Christmas trends to make sure your adverts stand out and maximise your online sales this holiday season?
Create Seasonal Adverts
Instead of leaving the same adverts that you’ve had all year to run by themselves, try experimenting with holiday-specific adverts. Whether this is Halloween, Black Friday, Christmas or New Year, customers search for specific purchases in the time leading up to an event so make sure your ad content is tailored to appeal to that audience.
Bid On Seasonal Keywords
Running Google Search campaigns? You should review the keywords you are bidding on to include seasonal terms such as ‘Christmas’ and ‘xmas’. For example, if you are already bidding on the keyword ‘Gift for Her’, you could expand to ‘Christmas Gift for Her’ to effectively capture seasonal shoppers.
Make Use Of Ad Extensions
Ad Extensions are a powerful tool. They not only help make your advert appear bigger and more eye-catching within the search results, they also help get your message out there. Particularly the promotion extension for special seasonal offers will show customers they are getting a good deal because of the season.
Create a Seasonal Landing Page
Making your adverts seasonal to capture the holiday search traffic is one thing, but ensuring your website matches your adverts is another. When someone clicks on your advert they expect to be taken to a relevant page so make sure the landing page needs to mirror the seasonal message in terms of design.
With both online shopping and consumer spending expected to be higher than ever this Q4, it is important your brand has the right message in place to capture holiday sales. With the right marketing driving traffic to an attractive offer you should see a healthy return on investment.
