It’s that time of year again; Back To School is about to hit its peak for retailers.
So, how do we maximise the return of seasonal campaigns, when the build-up is slow and steady, but activity balloons to a peak at the last minute?
It’s all very well to adopt a “make hay while the sun shines” strategy to seasonal campaigns, by increasing spend and hoping for the best in terms of conversion. However, there’s a fine line between overspending and underspending when you’re trying to generate the optimal amount of sales without becoming unprofitable. There is no reason why a seasonal campaign can’t be profitable/achieve its goals at every stage of its existence.
Here are some tips for getting the best out of seasonal campaigns:
1. Look at year-on-year trends to work out when the peak will hit (but don’t depend too much on this) and devise your strategy. The key levers are:
a. Budgets
b. Bidding
c. Ad copy
d. Monitoring performance.
2. Be flexible about budgets when it comes to seasonal campaigns. No two years are the same, so try to allow room for manoeuvre here.
3. EF technology has configurable settings which make bidding more/less reactive to market shifts. This is critical for seasonal campaigns.
4. Monitor performance daily, and use what you see there to anticipate growth. There is nothing worse than seeing a campaign which missed out on several sales simply because the bids were not high enough.
5. Utilise first page bids to expose keywords which might generate sales at a time of elevated market demand.
6. Use your ad copy to:
a. Tell your audience you have exactly what they need at this time of yearb. Inject a sense of urgency into the user as the peak gets closer, especially if you are running a related promotion e.g. “free delivery on all orders received before...”
Charlotte Rogers, UK Account Director
I think the name of the game for this season right now is deep discounts. Who ever has the best sales will sell more back to sell products.
Posted by: Nick Stamoulis | September 03, 2009 at 06:33 AM