Knowledge is the Foundation To Success  

Google recently published a Retail Holiday Study that we found very interesting here at JumpFly. Granted it was conducted in September, and some answers might be different now, but there were some key findings I wanted to share.

1. Researching Starts Early: 31% of consumers planned to start shopping before Halloween, and 57% are researching right now, before Thanksgiving.

2. Research is Increased Due to Economy: 43% of consumers say they plan to spend more time this year shopping and researching gifts because of the state of the economy.

3. Online Research is King:54% of people go online to research than go to the store to buy, 49% research online and purchase online and another 28% research online, go to the store to check out the products and then go back online to actually buy the products.

4. The Internet is Key Influencer of Holiday Purchases: 86% of users will use the Internet to plan their holiday shopping and 63% of users plan on paying attention to advertising while planning or doing holiday shopping.

5. Post Holiday Sales Are Important: 63% of consumers say they plan on taking advantage of holiday sales.

A few other key nuggets of information, online shopping will gear up right on Cyber Monday, which is the first Monday after Thanksgiving, or December 1st for 2008. It continues to climb until right before Christmas.

And what are consumers looking for when they are online? 86% of users are looking for and plan on taking advantage of price discounts and sales, while another 75% of consumers are looking to taking advantage of free shipping. What does that mean for you? Unless you are the only player in your market, you better be offering some kind of special like a discount or free shipping or you are going to miss out on customers, plain and simple. Now is a great time to adjust your pay-per-click (PPC) advertising ad copy to reflect any available incentives.

The holidays are coming, so be ready. Plan now because waiting even a bit longer will be too late.

About Nikki

Yes, it’s that time of year again. And every year it seems to come a little earlier. The Macy’s and Walmart in my area already have their Christmas decorations and displays out, and Walmart has even slashed prices on their toys to drive holiday sales. And I’ve heard rumors that other businesses will be following suit.

So what’s an online advertiser to do? I say, get ready.

Now, I’m not saying that you have to slash your prices right now, but instead take this time to get ready and plan your online marketing and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising strategies. The competition will be fierce this year and people, now more than ever, will be looking for the best deals. Do your homework and decide your plan of attack – unless you have a niche product, people online will expect sale prices, free shipping, free gifts with purchase or other incentives. The greatest thing for shoppers (and the bane of ecommerce) is the fact that it’s so easy to price shop – you can check out five or six websites and see who has the best price or offers the best deal before you buy.

Use this time wisely to decide your offer and what’s economically feasible for you, when and how you’ll showcase it on your website, when to start advertising it in your PPC ads, and what your cut-off date is. Make sure you have a clear, mapped out strategy, but be ready to deviate as necessary. Something else you’ll need to consider is your PPC budget – are you able to increase what you’re willing to spend in order to make sure you capture all impressions? What about your position? Are you willing to spend more to be in the top three if you know you are competitive?

I also just did a quick totally unscientific poll of some staff members here at JumpFly: of the 10 people I asked, a few are going to be spending less this year, one will be spending more, and most will be spending the same, but the key thing is that more of them will be using the Internet to find the best deals when they know what it is they want. And several of them have already started shopping so they don’t end up spending lots of money all at once.

So this is the time to get ready, because it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas and when it arrives, you don’t want to be left alone in the cold.

Learn more about Nikki

From the Google AdWords Blog – Retailer tips and tools for maximizing holiday sales

Sometimes we get some distressed calls here at JumpFly.  My traffic is down! My Sales are down! What is going on with my pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign??!!  You can imagine the panic – you may have even felt it before.  However, in order to put your best foot forward in updating your PPC advertising campaigns, you need to look at the big picture in your marketplace.

PPC Management -  Understanding Seasonality

First, take a look at your seasonality.  Not all markets have the same seasonality.  Some don’t have much seasonality at all. The timing and the length of your high season could be related to what you sell (i.e., bathing suits or snowboards) and where you sell it (air conditioning repair in Michigan).

Over the summer I received a call from a client who was upset because overall conversions were down.  They have a hotel in Mexico.  Is it really a surprise that they don’t book as many rooms in July as they do in January??  I live in Chicago and I can tell you that I’m thinking about a balmy vacation more in the dead of winter than I am during the 3 short months of warm weather we have here. 

You have to understand the seasonality of your marketplace.  When are your customers most likely to order your product or require your service?

Does this mean you just give up and go with the flow? No! Of course not, but you need to be much more creative in your ads and your offers when it is your down season.

You may also find, depending on what you sell, that you just need to adjust your focus.  This is why heating contractors also repair air conditioners – more year round business.  And why landscapers also offer snow plowing.  Instead of lying down and giving up or fighting what you can’t control, roll with it and figure out how to keep going.  When your typical customer is NOT looking for your product or service – what would they be looking for instead?  Be creative and expand your market to even out your revenue.

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