Safety in Numbers: Why Keywords Travel Best in Groups
The retail holiday shopping countdown has started. The busiest three months of buying is among us; but where are you? If you haven’t given your PPC campaign a holiday season makeover, mapped out your strategies to hit the target days, or even begun your PPC campaign-ing now’s the time! The most successful businesses are already thinking – and implementing – ways that they can revive their marketing for the last quarter. We’re listing our top three here:
1) Keyword Performance Review
When the weather changes and the holiday season approaches, customers are taking to their online searching with a different frame of mind. Now is the time to look over your keyword performance for the past year to identify trends. Right away you’ll be able to identify keywords that work for your campaign and those that may be seasonal. Even better, you’ll be able to notice keywords which attract the wrong kinds of attention – for instance, a dentist marketing a dental “bridge” may end up paying a significant amount of money for people looking for architectural bridges. With valuable marketing dollars on the line, you still have time to maximize your keyword performance for last quarter success!
2) Ad Copy Testing
Free shipping or 10% Off? Free gift, or $20 off? Choosing the right call-to-action is more than just adding bait to your PPC ads in an effort to get potential customers clicking (and buying!); these ads present a promise to your customer for a great deal and allow for you to capitalize on the immediate attention your ads are receiving. Certain calls-to-action perform better than others, and the holiday season brings out the bargain shopper in all of us. Sizing up your competition and analyzing your current customer’s buying habits is a start, but the most successful retailers know that the winning formula comes from testing. Try out different calls-to-action within your ad copy and headlines, and keep testing throughout the coming weeks – paying close attention to the results to make last quarter profits jump off the annual report pages.
3) Think Green
Unfortunately, we don’t mean the environment – we mean money and we know it’s a touchy subject. However, the last quarter of the year is also the biggest shopping time of the year and you can’t afford to let your marketing budget go untouched. Campaigns on tight budgets show ads less frequently, and often during the off-peak hours of the day. It’s crunch time now, so make sure your PPC budget isn’t the reason for lagging sales. If marketing cash flow is giving you trouble, consider turning off your PPC ads during slow times, or funneling money towards better performing keywords. Improving your PPC campaign quality score by ensuring page load times are quick and landing pages are relevant will boost your favorability within the search engines. PPC campaigns with high quality scores pay less for top positions, meaning you can stretch your advertising budget even farther.
If you’re stumped for ways to maximize your PPC campaign potential and boost your yearly performance, check in with NetSearch Direct’s staff at (804)228-4400. Current clients can receive updates on last quarter performance goals and optimization techniques that are already underway, and potential clients can always attend our seminars for free.