Enjoy the Silence (While You Can)

It’s your last chance to get your ads and campaigns ready for the oncoming holiday onslaught

You know that scene in a horror movie where someone says, “It’s quiet,” and someone else responds, “Yeah, too quiet.” You just know that something unbelievably loud and/or insane is about to happen.

Well that’s where we are now, in the days leading up to Thanksgiving, enjoying a brief bit of silence before the holiday madness begins and all hell breaks loose. For some it may feel like we’re just barely past Halloween and still nowhere near the holidays, but nowadays “the holidays” begin the second that Halloween ends, and those who wait until after Thanksgiving to get their search marketing campaigns ready may be left in the dust come Friday.

To that end, we’ve put together a few holiday best practices that could help make your season (and your ads) a whole heck of a lot brighter:

Bejeweled
When it comes to jewelry, we have found that users are looking for personalized items. So if you offer them, be sure to call it out in your ads. We also found that users often respond better to jewelry ads that focus on the offering, rather than the business itself. It’s great if you’ve been around for 25 years, but since ad space is so limited, it’s really better to use that space to explain what you sell and why you’re a great choice for consumers.

‘Tis better to give…
For advertisers that sell food and flowers, we determined that users respond better to ads that put the focus on giving, rather than receiving. An ad suggesting that users treat themselves didn’t go over as well as an ad suggesting that a user could visit that site to find the perfect gift for someone. We’ve also noticed that sites that offer local delivery could be shooting themselves in the foot if they make it appear as if they only serve a very specific local area. If you have a local store but you sell nationally (or internationally), don’t limit yourself by putting your physical location into your ad. Doing so could cause users to assume that your service isn’t available to them.

Blips and bleeps
For ads concerning electronics and toys, consider veering away from listing high price points. Users may shy away from ads that offer items at price points that they consider high, even if the price is actually extremely competitive. It’s better to focus on other things, such as what promotions you offer, or the uniqueness of the item for sale. Your ad is the gateway to your site, and hanging a sign above the gateway that reads “what you want is expensive!” may deter some users.

In the case of price points that are lower, be sure to check the marketplace, to make sure they’re low enough. If your competitor’s ad states that they’re offering the item for $10 less than your ad states, it’s a no-brainer which ad the user will click on. Additionally, if you sell name-brand items, be sure to list them in your ad. While users are concerned with quality and prices, they also want to see the big names in ads, especially when it comes to electronics and other big ticket items.

Get into the spirit
Creating holiday themed ads is important to catching user eyes, but if your product or service isn’t particularly holiday-oriented, it’s even more important. Sites that sell something that isn’t completely related to the holidays but not totally unrelated (for example, a candle site) should consider specific, “holiday” themed ads, that will appeal to users searching around the holidays. The more relevant your ads are to the holidays, the better.

Tips for all seasons
Of course, the usual factors that help improve campaign performance still apply:

• Write clear, concise ads that point out exactly what products or services you offer.
• Take advantage of available character space in ads—why just say “We have ornaments” when you have enough room to say “We have ornaments at great prices”?
• Go easy on the jargon, and avoid copy like “lowest prices on the net” and “don’t pay too much!”
• Avoid noise words like “full time” and “online,” since anyone shopping on the Internet probably already knows that they’re online and can buy at any time, etc.
• Keep an eye on potential scope issues in your listings. Remember that broad keywords (i.e., “Christmas gifts”) should bring back broad results; for example, ads that stress the wide variety of potential Christmas gift items you offer. A general keyword (i.e., “iPod Touch”) should bring back highly specific ads offering the iPod Touch and not five other similar products.
• Make sure your holiday ads are all up to date and that they don’t reference the 2008 holidays, or special sales that have already ended, etc.
• Use keyword insertion, so that your keywords appear in your ads, making them instantly more relevant to users. Use alt text to make sure that those keywords appear in the ads correctly, in cases where you’d like to replace a keyword that’s too long for the ad, or for a purposefully misspelled keyword that you’d like have appear in the ad properly spelled.

Now more than ever, shoppers are actively seeking online deals and promotions that can save them money. This is why it’s so important to call out whatever special deals or promotions you may be offering for the holidays. Stuff like free shipping, gift wrapping, coupons, discounts, guaranteed Christmas delivery and any other deals you may offer really go a long way with consumers.

You know that the next six weeks are bound to be completely insane (in a good way), so now’s the time to get ready!

— Noah Belson, Content Quality Analyst