After the recent warm temperatures it is difficult to get into the Christmas mood. It is however important to start early with the preparations, to ensure that your Google Ads are ready for the Christmas season. There are two important dates in November, which are essential in the lead-up to Christmas: Black Friday which falls on the 23rd of November 2018 and Cyber Monday on the 26th of November 2018.
This trend from the US is becoming increasingly popular in Europe, with most E-Commerce Shops following in the footsteps of American retailers such as Amazon. Online users are also actively looking for discounts on these days to help them reduce the cost of their Christmas shopping.
Furthermore, as the first Christmas gifts are already being purchased in October and November, your Google Ads for the Christmas period should already be running in October.
Tip 1: Start Budgeting for Your Christmas Campaigns Early
Customer’s Christmas preparations already start in October. According to Google Trends data, the keywords “Black Friday” and “Cyber Monday” see the highest volumes in the lead-up to Christmas. It is recommended, to check last year’s numbers in advance, especially those from October to December. Based on this historical data and your experience from the previous year, you can start to calculate a budget for this year’s campaign.
Tip 2: Adjust Ads for Christmas
Special products, which are suitable as Christmas gifts, should be prioritised in the text ads for Christmas. When setting up these ads, keep in mind the changes to the expanded text ads – it is now possible to add a third title, a second description and use up to 90 characters per description. Also make sure to have several ads available in every ad group, so that Google has a selection of ads to publish. By adding a label to the ads, it is easier to filter the campaigns and evaluate them. If necessary, these campaigns can then also be activated for the following year.
Ad extensions also provide the opportunity to differentiate your ads from those of your competitors. We recommend highlighting your USP (Unique Selling Point) in the ad extensions. If the Unique Selling Point, for instance “Free Delivery”, is being mentioned then the ad can highlight the difference between you and your competitors. This leads to a better chance of a user clicking on your ad and completing the purchase in your online shop.
Furthermore, we recommended making use of the following ad extensions for the Christmas period:
- Sitelinks (Make sure to adjust these accordingly).
- Leave a telephone number
- Use promotion extensions
The next point we would like to highlight is delivery time: Shortly before Christmas, it is especially critical that gifts are being delivered on time. It is important to pay attention to the delivery time – which will be communicated in the text ads. This includes whether or not gifts can be delivered before Christmas.
Tip 3: Bid Adjustments
It is recommended to monitor on which days and at what time of the day most conversions are generated, you should then look at which day of the week Christmas falls on to determine when you are most likely to see conversions. With an ad planer, you are then able to increase and decrease the budget to try and maximize conversions. This ensures, that the most successful ads and keywords are displayed on the days and at the times where you are most likely to see conversions. On days where you do not expect to see conversions, the budget can be decreased. This ensures that you maximize the budget.
Furthermore, it is advisable to monitor on which devices (Computer, Smartphone or Tablet) the ads have been clicked on. Potential customers often start their Christmas gift search on their smartphones. According to the keyword planer the keyword “Christmas gifts” has a total of 17’504 Impressions and 3’095 Clicks in Switzerland. Most of these Impressions and Clicks are linked to mobile devices.
It is therefore extremely important to monitor the development of the conversion rate and set bid adjustments for each particular device.
Tip 4: Set up Notifications
With the Google Ads Interface there is also the possibility to set automatic e-mail notifications.
This way, in the event of any problems, Google instantly notifies you via e-mail. In addition, you can also download the Google Ads App, which is helpful tool for taking a quick look at your Google Ads Account.
Conclusion
Overall you need to start preparations for Christmas much earlier than previously, thanks to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Hence it is important, that you plan your Google Ads as early as possible for the christmas period. This entails preparing the ads, planning the budget and planning bid adjustments for weekdays and devices.
