'Tis the season to celebrate summer, head to the beach, take a vacation...and begin to think about the holiday shopping season! Tough economic times have changed the way we shop and cautious customers are researching more, heavily weighing quality and value, and ultimately taking longer to make a purchase. In this economy, now is the perfect time to take the steps to ensure that your PPC program is polished and prepped for the busy November and December months. Here are 10 ways to start preparing for Holiday 2009:
1. Start Planning NOW
Don't wait until the new year to make your SEM resolutions. You could end up spending too much for traffic that doesn't convert well. Thorough, advanced planning will give you a well-tested campaign that will generate maximum profits during those six to eight weeks when it matters the most. Waiting until the last minute is extremely stressful and could serverely damper your potential for significant returns. Get a leg up on the competition, get ahead of the game, and start planning for the holiday season today.
2. Ghosts of Christmas Past
Carefully and thoroughly analyze the historical performance of past holiday seasons. Examine your program, first from a broad overview, and then narrow your analyses to a precise granular level. What consistently peformed well year-over-year? What didn't? And more importantly, why? Are there opportunities that might have previously been left unexplored? Knowing that consumers will be cost conscious this season, how can you leverage that insight to your benefit based on historical data?
3. Set Specific Goals
It's extremely important to indentify precisely what you want to achieve this holiday season and set specific (and attainable) goals. Your qualitative goal might be "overall growth over last season," however a quantitative goal, such as "20% increase in revenue with a ROAS of 8.5," will allow you to make actionable, informed decisions when making campaign optimizations.
4. Pad your Holiday Budget
With an influx of queries from potential gift-buyers, plan to expect an overall increase in CPCs as fierce competitors fight to dominate the paid search listings in desperate attempts to convert customers. If possible, try to pad your holiday budget, or you could quickly exhaust your funds and miss out on potential converting customers. However, if the funds are not available, keep in mind that a fine-tuned search program may ultimately be just as successful and more efficient than competitors with deep pockets.
5. Play your Strengths
Identify the parts of your program that you know work well time and again. Typically for advertisers, just a handful of keywords consistently drive most of their business. Take the time NOW to optimize these keywords to their maximum potential. A well-oiled machine will run that much more smoothly once the holiday season begins. Leverage your top-performing terms through the holidays.
6. Test Now
Don't wait until November to start testing new search tactics. Take the time now to truly refine your program so that you are informed to make calculated decisions when the shopping rush begins. Test ad copy, landing pages, and keyword sets to ensure your program is running smoothly and efficiently by the end of Q3.
7. Optimize your Landing Pages
Customers are more likely to purchase from a website that is simple, informative, and relevant to their search query. A well-designed landing page with a short conversion funnel can significantly improve conversion rates. Making refinements now can be extremely profitable in Q4.
8. Discounts, Coupons, Offers, Promotions and Incentives
With intense competition and price-sensitive customers, expect many retailers to rely heavily on promotional messaging across all their marketing efforts. A customer will make a purchase based on their perception of quality and value. Plan for promotions that are not only profitable for your business, but appeal to the sensibility of your target customers. Also, consider promotions that incentivize the customer to make a purchase sooner rather than later.
9. Holiday and Seasonsal Keywords
Leverage the gift-giving season by adding keywords that are holiday-specific, but beware of generic terms that will likely be expensive and ultimately unprofitable. Find terms that are both relevant to your offerings and unique to the season.
10. Make a List, Check it Twice
As we anticipate what this holiday season may bring, it's extremely important to get organized. Checklists, calendars, timelines, media plans and ad copy should be diligently documented and readily accessible on demand. Far too often, we overlook the necessity for careful organization and documentation, but once in place, you are able to react quickly and efficiently to ensure maximum success.
