Holiday PPC Tips For Retailers And E-tailers

Writing by Brick Marketing on Thursday, 25 of September , 2008 at 8:33 am

If you haven’t already started your holiday PPC campaigns then now is the time to think about it. You have just a few more short weeks before it will be too late. October is the month that many Christmas shoppers seriously begin to think about gift ideas. November is when they begin opening their shopping eyes and then - of course we all know - as soon as Thanksgiving is over, it’s gangbusters for Christmas retail. But online shopping generally starts earlier because, for one thing, it’s more convenient, and secondly, consumers allow for shipping times, which can vary from 5 days to 6 weeks.

In truth, the longer your shipping time is then the sooner you should be running your PPC campaigns. If you have a 6 week shipping cycle then shoppers will likely not buy from you after the first week in November. That means you should have your PPC campaigns on full throttle throughout October.

Here are a few tips to help you plan for the Christmas holiday shopping season and using PPC to drive customers to your online e-tail storefront or your local brick and mortar store:

1. We all know that Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving Day, is the busiest shopping day of the year for off line retail, but for online retail, that day is called Cyber Monday, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, which falls on November 24 this year. Make that your day to top out on your PPC advertising.
2. Mondays throughout December also tend to be busy shopping days online so pay attention to your keyword bids on Mondays in December.
3. The first two weeks in December are the highest revenue days for online e-tailers. Make sure you have your PPC campaigns turn on and that you are driving traffic to your most important landing pages.
4. Increase your bids for the shopping season because your competitors certainly will.
5. In this slow economy, online shoppers are going to be very selective. Make sure you don’t let them off of your website without buying. Offer special deals, promotions, coupons, whatever it takes to close the sale on them right now.
6. Take advantage of consumer shopping sites and do everything you can to gain an edge over the competition.
7. People are still shopping online and buying off line so to close them on the sale on your website, you’ll have to offer free shipping or online-only coupons. Do whatever you can to gain an advantage.
8. Another way to help people feel comfortable shopping online is to offer guaranteed shipping dates.
9. If you have any bugs in your shopping cart system, now is the time to work them out.
10. Ensure that you are bidding on the right keywords. Do the research. Find out what people are searching for in your niche and use the best keywords for your product offerings.
11. Don’t go overbudget, but don’t be afraid to spend money. You are not just acquiring business for this shopping season. You are also building a lifelong customer. It’s OK to lose a little bit now to gain a whole lot later.

Follow these tips in building your 2008 Christmas shopping customer base and grow it from year to year. Each year, more and more consumers make purchases online, which shows that people are getting more comfortable buying online.

                      Category: Comparison Shopping Sites, PPC Keyword Research, PPC Management