Essential Last-Minute PPC Moves Before the Holidays

Did you know that 67% of online purchases in November and 50% of those in December will have started with a consumer’s click this month, in October? That’s one of the many great insights from Microsoft Ads’ just published 2023 holiday playbook for advertisers.

That means getting ready for Black Friday and Cyber Monday starts now.

In this post, I'll cover 4 key things retailers should focus on today to make the most of the critical Cyber Week shopping rush.?

Getting these essentials in place now will pay off with increased sales during the holiday season. Read on for tips to optimize your PPC campaigns, capture online conversions, appeal to deal-seeking shoppers, and diversify your ad formats. With the right strategy, you can ring in the holidays with marketing success.

Get Ahead of the Surge

Start ramping up holiday campaigns and budgets in October to get ahead of rising costs and increased competition. Use audience targeting like in-market and remarketing early to generate awareness and capture interest. As search volume increases in November, focus budget on highly converting keywords and assets.

Tools you’ll need: audience management

Capture Major Deal Days

Aim to capture major deal days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday when online conversions peak. Remove budget constraints on these high-volume days. Most holiday conversions come from clicks in October and November, so make sure shopping feeds are optimized by then.

Tools you’ll need: budget pacing controls

Appeal to Deal-Seeking Shoppers

This holiday season will see a lot of deal-seeking buyers focused on lower-priced items. Use broad match keywords, dynamic search ads, and automated bidding to connect with these deal-focused searches. Include relevant terms like "free shipping" and "free returns" in ad copy.

Tools you’ll need: ad creative testing

Diversify Campaigns and Formats

Diversify campaigns across platforms. 28% of holiday clicks were on mobile last year. Consider new ad formats like connected TV and online video to reach shifting audiences. Running search and audience network campaigns together improves conversions 11.5x over search alone.

Tools you’ll need: cross-platform reports and insights

Conclusion

Online shopping will continue to grow this year, and it's critical that retailers are ready to capture all the demand through online ads. Using the insights shared by 微软 and the efficiencies and automation from ad tools like Optmyzr , advertisers can look forward to a profitable Q4.