Tis the season to celebrate that special lady in your life – your mom! Mother’s Day will be here before you know it on May 14th. My hope is that you’ve been making plans around your PPC campaigns for this holiday for several weeks. After all, 87% of Americans celebrate Mother’s Day! That’s an opportunity for retailers whose only rival is Christmas.
If you haven’t been planning (or didn’t plan well) for Mother’s Day, don’t fret. Courtesy of my friends at Bing, I’ve got some last minute PPC tips to make the most of the days remaining until Mother’s Day hits home!
1. Don’t Forget Bing Ads
Did you put all of your eggs in the Google AdWords basket (post-Easter joke… get it?!?!?)? Neglecting Bing Ads has long been one of my biggest pet peeves, but there’s more to it than that. The average searcher on Bing has more value than a searcher on Google.
- Bing searchers have 23% more Buying Power Index than the average internet user.
- Bing searchers have 34% higher household incomes in the $100k+ range.
- Bing searchers are 9% more likely to have spent $200-$499 on jewelry in the last 6 months.
- Bing searchers are 13% more likely to have spent $200-$499 on flowers in the last 6 months.
If you are guilty of putting on your Bing-blinders this year, take advantage of the Google Import features in Bing Ads (or Bing Cloner in Acquisio) and copy those campaigns over TODAY!
2. Time is Of the Essence
While this would seem obvious given the fast-approaching May 14th date, the good news is that the PEAK for Mother’s Day search traffic is RIGHT NOW. Search traffic for Mother’s Day keywords will peak 4/25 through 5/8.
- If you were late to the game, this means you still have time.
- Now is the time to amplify bids across search and shopping campaigns for your Mother’s Day keywords and products.
3. Demographics, Man (or Woman)!
While a HUGE 87% of Americans are going to celebrate Mother’s Day, that spans a wide spectrum of age groups and covers both men and women. What does that mean? Well… understand the demographic trends and adjust accordingly.
- On Bing, 34% of retail searches related to Mother’s Day are made by those aged 35-49.
- Females account for 65% of Mother’s Day searches on Bing.
- Add demographic bid adjustments, folks!
4. Flex the Remarketing Muscle
Search is not the only channel driving quality Mother’s Day traffic. Further, not all of those visitors are converting on their first visit. Maybe they’re kicking the tires and comparing prices between you and your competitors. Maybe they’re just cheap or indecisive. Either way, don’t miss the opportunity to pull them back in with remarketing for search.
- As your previous site visitors continue their path to purchase, ensure that you remain a part of the conversation by applying smart remarketing audiences to your search campaigns.
- Incentivize these individuals with special offers and get creative with your ads (see last minute tip #7!).
5. Devices, Mobile Devices
Computers, tablets and smartphones – oh my! You’re probably getting sick of hear
- On Bing, 45% of the searches related to Mother’s Day are done on smartphones.
- Better yet, the performance speaks for itself. Those smartphone Mother’s Day searches have a significantly lower CPC and higher CTR.
- Add device bid adjustments, folks!
6. Stay On Top of Product Feeds
Dropping prices in the lead-up to the holiday? Running out of inventory? Whatever the case may be, any busy shopping holiday is a clear-cut reason to make sure that your product feeds are updated frequently.
- Making changes daily? Set up your feed on a live URL so that whenever the feed updates, your Google and Bing merchant center accounts are also updated.
- Keep up on price changes for the obvious reasons (relevancy!), but also the not-so-obvious reasons. Like the Bing Ads Price Drop Alert annotation. This annotation will only appear when the Bing system recognizes there has been a price drop!
7. Be On-Point With Ad Copy
This is a tip that should apply all year long, but the final stretch leading into the Mother’s Day holiday provides a unique opportunity. Let those creative juices flow and reap the benefits with better CTR and more conversions!
- Test calling out the last-minute rush to buy a Mother’s Day gift. “Don’t Wait Another Day!” or “Avoid the Rush at the Store!”… you get the picture.
- Be playful with the idea of procrastination. Add some snark to differentiate your ads, but as the smart marketer that you are – tap into searchers’ fears and reptilian
brain (Response! Fight or flight! Crap, mom will kill me!). - Be clear with cut-off dates for shipping and delivery dates. “Order by 9 pm today and get your gift in time for Mother’s Day!”
- Go deeper and recognize trends within your target audience. For instance, millennial moms are super honest about how difficult being a mom is and readily share their stories with the hashtag #momfail. Match that honesty with well crafted, authentic ad copy.
Make the Most of Mother’s Day
There you have it. If you want to know more, I highly recommend that you read through the data from Bing’s Mother’s Day report (and definitely download the PDF!). Now, don’t waste another minute – go forth and apply these 7 last minute tips to YOUR Mother’s Day PPC campaigns. You can thank me later. After all, Father’s Day is just around the corner!
Image Credits
Feature Image: iStock Photo/ Personal Bing library
All screenshots by John A. Lee. Taken April 2017 from Bing.