Holiday Season and PPC
It’s the Holiday Marketing Season
With the exception of yearly back-to-college shopping, the winter holiday season is the biggest consumer spending event of the year. Adobe predicts that online sales will be up 2.5 percent over last year—with sales expected to reach $209.7 billion. It may seem too early to be thinking about the winter holidays while you’re still pondering Halloween costumes, but it’s already time to break out the pumpkin-spice and make sure your business doesn’t miss out on a successful holiday season that sets you up for the new year!
Gone are the days when Black Friday signaled the start of the holiday shopping season. Now, that season starts in October. Last year, less than 20 percent of US shoppers intended to wait until after Thanksgiving to start shopping, and 43 percent intended to start before November. What does that mean for you? It means you could miss out on potential customers if you think you still have plenty of time to start your holiday marketing campaigns.
So, where should you be in your holiday campaigns, and is it too late to catch up? Let’s ease your minds first—it’s definitely not too late, but you may need to put everything in high gear! Many businesses have most of their planning and list clean-up done by the end of September and focus on the specifics of their holiday advertising in October, to have it ready to go by mid-to-late-October. Let’s dive into some easy holiday advertising ideas.
Holiday marketing techniques
Use video marketing or webrooming. People love videos . . . and “trying” things. Make your pay-per-click (PPC) ads video ads to raise interest and engage potential customers. Or turn your website into a virtual showroom where customers can “browse” or virtually try your products.
Make online communication a two-way street. Engage with your potential customers on social media and on your website. Try using polls on social media or running contests. Make sure you’re responding to customer interactions on social media.
Be festive! Incorporate holiday themes, images, and puns into your holiday shopping ads. Holiday shopping can be stressful. You can lighten the mood and relieve some stress for your customers with fun and festive ads that give them some of that holiday spirit back.
Retargeted! Ensure you have a comprehensive retargeting campaign. Most people shop; around online before they make a purchasing decision. Making sure that you’re following up on items left in carts and people who stopped by your site but didn’t purchase anything can bring in extra sales.
While you’re at it, don’t forget to make everything you do mobile-friendly. It’ll keep your customers and search engines happy. More and more people are using their phones to make purchases and Google prioritized mobile-friendliness in their search engine ranking algorithms. Feeling overwhelmed? You’re not alone! So are most holiday shoppers. They’re worried about inflation and the supply chain, not to mention the stress of hosting family and friends for the holidays. They’re looking for a shopping experience that removes some of their stress levels and makes their holiday shopping experience run a little smoother so they can focus on their families.
Just like you can make your customers’ holiday season a little more convenient and easy to manage, a full-service digital marketing agency, like Globe Runner, can do the same for your holiday marketing season. Everyone goes into high marketing gear for the holidays, which is why now is a great time to engage in a pay-per-click holiday advertising campaign. Prices of ads do go up during the season, but the payoff is worth it. And agencies like Globe Runner can make sure you get the most for your PPC money. But don’t stop there! Globe Runner can also assist with conversion rate optimization and SEO.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why should you advertise during the holiday season?
Let’s be honest, you should be marketing all year long! But the holidays are a fabulous time to engage your loyal customers and bring in new ones. It is, without a doubt, one of the busiest (and most profitable) shopping seasons of the year. The question is really, why wouldn’t you advertise during the holiday season?
When should you start advertising for the holiday season?
Supply chain issues over the last few years made people nervous about waiting to purchase gifts. And they’re worried that inflation will keep increasing prices. While the weekend after Thanksgiving used to signal the start of the holiday shopping season, it now starts in mid-October. Which means you should be advertising now! But it’s not too late to put together a stellar holiday advertising campaign and make the most of the holiday season!
