Six ways to ensure the most successful sales season ever – as outlined by Google
Halloween might have only just been and gone but Fionnuala Meehan, VP EMEA, Google Marketing Solutions has taken to the search engine’s blog to outline six ways that retailers can make this their most successful holiday shopping season ever.
With turmoil on the high street, trying a few of these Google-suggested approaches could see your seasonal sales campaigns off to a much needed flying start. Read on to discover how to put Google’s advice to “think laterally, act local and keep on going until the party’s over” mantra into action right now.
1. Think like a shopper
This might sound like an obvious piece of advice but, it might actually be something that is missing from your paid search campaign strategy. Google says that some retailers are guilty of focusing on the very obvious keywords that support the festive season with other products being overlooked – potentially to the detriment of your bottom line. Creating a campaign for batteries for example could well net you a host of extra sales with a spike 24-30 December each year. Tailor your adverts and budget to appear when demand is at its seasonal peak.
2. Start now, finish later
The sooner you switch on your seasonal ads, the sooner you will start to make sales but, avoid the temptation to switch them off too early. It actually pays to leave ads live longer than you may think, with Google revealing that almost a quarter (20%) of shop traffic in December actually happens six days after peak season. Keeping your ads live a little longer than conventional wisdom dictates mean you’ll be perfectly placed to benefit from that unexpected shopping surge.
3. Try remarketing
If you don’t normally run remarketing campaigns, the festive season is a great time to dip your toe in the water. Research shows that 41% of those shopping on a mobile device will bounce from your ecommerce store without making a purchase – but cash conscious consumers could well simply be shopping around and comparing deals so investing in remarketing ads makes sure you stay in the running by staying visible.
4. Show inventory levels
If technical possible, be transparent about how much stock is left – 41% of online shoppers want retailers to do better when it comes to sharing inventory information. In the run up to Christmas this is especially important as this gives the buyer the confidence that the item they want to gift is in stock and will arrive on time.
5. Don’t neglect local ads
Local search is still lucrative at this time of year so don’t forget to have a locally focused campaign up and running too. This is especially important if you have a physical store location or your product is stocked in a local retailer’s store as 85% of those performing a local search visit a physical store within 24 hours.
6. Try new formats
Shoppers have proven themselves to be open to purchasing from new retailers and Google recommends that as an advertiser, you take a leaf out of their book. This means making an effort to try something new, such as one of the new seasonal ad formats just launched.
Need some more help ramping up your sales activity this holiday season? Get in touch with us to find out how we can help you maximise seasonal sales opportunities.
