We’re getting our holiday giving started a bit early this year. Our first gift to you? This 12-day blog series designed to help you get through your seasonal marketing without a hitch. If you’re just joining us, you can start at the beginning here.
Paid search may not immediately come to mind when considering your marketing strategy for the holiday, but the fact is, it should. As carols fill the air and the new year looms, we start to see a change in search behavior and smart brands are adjusting their paid search campaigns accordingly. Even brands that aren’t directly impacted by the surge in holiday gift buying should assess their programs during the the weeks leading into this, the most festive time of year.
Pay attention to how your target personas are searching in quarter four. Your customer may not be skimming Google results for Black Friday deals, but other factors could impact how they’re using search engines.
Maybe they’re taking a look at their year-end performance and want a solution to optimize operations in the new year. Or maybe they have budget they have to spend before December 31, and you happen to offer the solution they’ve been waiting to pull the trigger on.
Whatever it is your brand offers, chances are your audience can be reached through timely search terms. Conduct keyword research to discover long-tail keywords associated with these seasonal concerns. You can start by taking a look back at your ad performance during last year’s holiday campaign and continue to refine and test keywords as you progress through the current campaign.
Along the same vein, you’ll want to make sure your budget accounts for any increased search volume. Retail brands may choose to increase spend limits on Black Friday or Cyber Monday to account for the spike in search activity. Pay attention to patterns around days and times your customers are searching throughout the season and adjust your budget accordingly.
This testing and refinement process goes beyond keywords and budgets. Tweak headlines and ad copy as you go as well. It’s the best way to optimize the performance of each campaign. Speaking of the ad content, make sure it reflects any holiday promotions you’re running. This both ensures you give search audiences a compelling reason to click as well as consistency across all your brand’s holiday touchpoints.
