We are fast approaching the Winter months of 2015 and many brands are already looking forward to their online marketing plans for 2016. However, there are still three key dates remaining in this calendar year that provide an excellent opportunity to drive sales and leads through pay-per-per click advertising. Whether you are selling your products online or whether you are looking to generate leads, there is still time to get your marketing plans in place and capitalise on these three key dates.
Black Friday – 27th November
This yearly event has become one of the biggest days in the online shopping calendar. Originating in the US, it has successfully made its way over the UK with almost every retailer getting involved. In 2014, Black Friday generated £810m in sales alone. This year looks set to be even bigger with shoppers becoming more online savvy and waiting for the bargains they can find online.
It is essential to prepare your paid search campaigns in advance with everything ready to go first thing on Friday 27th November. Typically, sales will peak in the morning, lunchtime and the evening with slight dips in between. This means your budgets need to be strategically spread out during the day across all platforms. Look at your previous sales data and see when you generated the most sales and enquiries and ensure your team is proactively managing your accounts at these times. If your entire daily budget is exhausted by 11 am you can potentially be missing out on hundreds of bargain-hunting customers.
Cyber Monday – 30th November
Hot on the heels of Black Friday is Cyber Monday. Taking place on Monday 30th November, this is another mammoth day for sales for online retailers. The concept is very much the same as Black Friday and sees retailers creating a new set of offers for the event or simply continuing on their offers from Friday. Whether you are running multi-channel paid search campaigns or just the one, your budget needs to be monitored closely to ensure you can reach the right customers throughout the day. Brand term campaigns and sales ad groups will need to feature targeted ad copy and site links to reflect the change from Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Unique campaigns will allow your team to analyse and measure the effectiveness of each day giving you useful data for Black Friday and Cyber Monday in 2016.
Christmas Period
If you have left your Christmas marketing plans a little late pay-per-click advertising can help you to get your message in front of your customers quickly and effectively. The Christmas period typically runs from the last week in November through to the final few days before Christmas Day. An integrated campaign that includes your website, email marketing, social media and paid advertising is essential to maximise your marketing efforts. Consumers are geared up for the festive period and are on the lookout for special offers or products with fast delivery which means a joined up marketing approach will deliver the best results.
Let us know how you are preparing your paid search campaigns for the remaining months in 2015 over on twitter.