PPC Adventure Land – Do You Have a Post Holiday Strategy?

It’s December 15^th! Which can only mean one thing: just…. ten….more….shopping….days….left….

The malls are undoubtedly going to be packed with those last minute shoppers that never learn their lessons. We know this to be true because we witness the yearly chaos if we step foot within 10km of a mall.

What do we know about online though?

For those of you running PPC campaigns, I’m sure you’ve been ramping things up since late October and early November. You've seen that HUGE spike in traffic that comes in the first few weeks of December, and right about now, things are starting to slow down. This is the yearly cycle we go through in the land of PPC, and this cycle makes sense….right?

Retailers set their shipping cut-offs right around now and surely, people aren’t buying stuff online if they can’t get it for Christmas? Well, buckle your seats folks, because although we see overall search volume and conversion rates trend downwards in the week leading up to Christmas, these 7 days still account for…

20% of Holiday Sales!

ComScore, 2009

So, what does this mean for you?

It means that NOW is the time to take advantage of all your competitors who are beginning to slow things down and aren’t watching their campaigns as closely. As far as they’re concerned, the season is over. The season isn’t over, and if you’re a retailer, it’s your time to shine:

Test out your bids, can you lower them as competitors drop out of the market?
Be creative with your ad copy, speak to those late shoppers or those hunting for deals
Make sure you have presence on the weekends! People, tons of people, are shopping online through the weekend.

Okay, that’s leading up to December 25^th…. but what about after?

This nifty little chart was created with Google’s Insights for Search. It represents the 2008 Holiday Season and search volume around people looking for Sales

After everyone opens all their gifts on December 25^th, they’re back online looking for a deal come Boxing Day. If you’re a retailer, you need to make sure you are prepared for this day – Fresh Ad Copy, a Bidding Strategy and Budget allocated.

So you’ve got the next 10 days locked up, you’ve got Boxing Day locked up, but now what?

Keep these little factoids in mind:

Conversion Rates bounce back up on Boxing Day and tend to hold on par with November rates through the first week or two of January
Although traffic bounces back on Boxing Day, your competitor’s don’t, which means CPCs tend to be lower – Volume is up, Cost to capture that volume is Down.
People want to buy! Make it easy for them.

So, there you have it folks, with just 10 days left until December 25^th, are your PPC campaigns still firing on all cylinders? I hope so!

Happy Holidays Everyone,

Tyler