Mom’s the Word

Clean your room, eat your peas and make sure your ads are ready for Mother’s Day

There are three things in life you’d better not forget: your wedding anniversary, where you parked your car and most importantly, Mother’s Day. The data suggest that not too many consumers do forget mom: According to the National Retail Federation’s annual Mother’s Day survey, Americans will spend an average of $123.89 per person on Mother’s Day in 2009, compared to last year’s $138.63. Total Mother’s Day spending is expected to reach $14.1 billion, just slightly more than Easter.

To catch the eye of Mother’s Day shoppers, make sure your ads are “clean behind the ears” before we get too close to May 10. To that end, the tips below can serve as your virtual washcloth:

• If you sell jewelry but also buy or repair it, be sure to be put the emphasis on sales in your ads. Consumers searching on keywords like “mom jewelry” are almost certainly looking to buy, rather than sell.
• Personalization and customization have strong appeal to consumers—be sure to mention it in your ads if you offer it.
• Promoting same-day or next-day delivery tends to put flower delivery ads over the top. Even shoppers who haven’t waited until the last minute seem to find quick delivery appealing, so if you offer that, be sure to let your customers know.
• Ads for broad keywords don’t usually perform well when the results are too narrow. For example, if the keyword “buy magazines” leads to a site that only sells beauty magazines, users will almost certainly be deterred. A good rule of thumb is that if the keyword is general, the result should be, as well.
• Avoid writing ads that clash with your keywords, like one that touts great deals on Father’s Day items but shows up when a user searches on “mother’s day.” Conflicts like that are confusing for users and may cause them to pass over your ad rather than try to decipher it.
• As always, if you offer any promotions (free shipping, discount codes, etc.) be sure to call them out in your ads. Now more than ever, consumers are looking for ways to save money, so letting them know what deals you offer is a really good idea.
• Sites that don’t serve a national audience (such as local florists or gift basket delivery services) should create geo-targeted campaigns for their non-location-specific keywords; i.e., “flower delivery.” Geo-targeted campaigns serve up results to users who are specifically within the area of the business, which gives you much more targeted traffic than if you were to display those ads nationally.
• Remember to write direct, concise titles and descriptions that clearly explain what you offer and make the best possible use of the space allotted. Use “alt text” to ensure that the inserted keyword appears in the ad the way you’d like it to, to replace keywords that are too long, or for purposely misspelled queries.

By putting these ideas into action, you’ll have a better chance of hooking consumers who want to cater to their mater this May. Happy Mother’s Day (in advance) to all the moms who read the YSM blog!

— Noah Belson, Content Quality Analyst