How To Get Your Google Ads Ready For The Holiday Season

Looking for holiday shopping success this silly season? Here’s the official RankingCo guide to helping advertisers prep and optimise their shopping and search campaigns just in time for the holiday season. 

Make that list, check it twice 

Before you dive right into your Google Ads and Merchant centre you want to make sure you have a strategic plan. 

Think about your budget and set KPIs: Estimate your spending by looking at historical data from last season and layer it into your current year-on-year trends. Catch missed traffic by budgeting more for days where your historical click share drops but retail query volume click share rises. Remember to allow budget flexibility in order to survive shopping peaks and valleys. 

Create a promotional calendar: Research shows that a majority of holiday weekend purchases were driven by promotions, so you want to make sure your promotions are aligned and tightly scheduled. 

Determining what and how long you want to promote your products for. Check which promotions historically have driven the highest profits and conversion. 

And don’t forget about any new products, site-wide promotions or exclusive promo codes! 

Have a crisis response plan 

It’s best to be prepared for any trouble that may arise and confirm Christmas on-call contacts. As a team, define what is considered a crisis and who needs to be involved to fix said problem, and the expected lead time.

Build your digital storefront 

Once your plan is ready to go, it’s time to start creating your foundation. 

Drive product and brand awareness: Mobile shoppers have a habit of changing their minds about which retailer to buy from when they shop on Google, so it’s essential that you keep your products on top of their minds even while they’re exploring different options. One way of doing this is by budding and showcasing your products on broader search queries. 

Expand the coverage of increased Christmas queries: If you have more products in the auction, this means you’ll be qualifying for more impressions and become more visible to those seasonal shoppers. 

Keep your product price and availability fresh: keep in mind that shoppers will bounce from your shop if there isn’t a price or item availability. Enable your automated feed delivery, content API and automated item updates to make frequent updates to products with fluctuating prices and available during the holiday season. 

Optimise product data and maximise the relevance of your ads: show your most competing and relevant information to ensure you’re matching what shoppers are looking for. 

Capturing seasonal shoppers 

With your shelves fully stocked, it’s time to reach and attract customers throughout their holiday shopping journey. 

Double down on mobile shopping:  it’s becoming increasingly important to be both visible and optimised for mobile devices. Ensure your mobile site is taking less time to load to create a positive mobile shopping experience. 

Reach out to your most valuable customers: Research shows that 2 out of 5 shoppers will leave a site without converting. Drive extra traffic and re-engage shoppers who have already shown interest in your product. 

Show shoppers that you have what they’re looking for nearby: consumers who have clicked on a retailer’s Google Search ad before visiting the physical store are more likely to buy something in-store. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to drive traffic to shops, enable your location extensions to bid by location and proximity of shoppers to your shop. 

Every year, the holiday season seems to sneak up on us and before we know it people are Christmas shopping- we start seeing targeted campaigns on Google earlier and earlier every year. So there’s no harm in prepping early and start planning your Google Ads for the holiday season. 

If you’re a small business looking to leverage Google Ads to help with your business this Christmas, the team at RankingCo is more than happy to manage your account to ensure success over the holiday season. 

If you’re ready to kick start your digital marketing journey, please don't hesitate to contact our team directly on 1200 247 047 or email us at contact@rankingco.com