Navigating the holiday rush | Preparing your PPC digital marketing strategy

Navigating the holiday rush | Preparing your PPC digital marketing strategy

Love it or hate it, the countdown to a Q4 marathon season of holiday moments has begun. Halloween, Singles Day, Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas emails will start flooding inboxes and popping up on social media feeds. ‘Tis the season when retailers and e-commerce businesses gear up for what is arguably the most exciting and challenging time of the year as the advertising world witnesses a significant surge in activity with related consumer behaviour changes. This increased demand for consumer attention has a profound digital marketing impact on businesses, particularly on pay-per-click (PPC) platforms. 

What can you expect during the holiday season and how can you effectively prepare for it?

The PPC landscape during the holiday season

The nuanced challenges and domino cause-and-effect nature of big season moments force e-commerce businesses and digital marketing agencies to ‘gird their loins’ to stay ahead of the curve. 

This is what you can expect, year-on-year:

  • Increased competition: Businesses from various industries are vying for the attention of their target audiences and, as a result, securing ad placements becomes more competitive, which can drive up advertising costs.
  • Rising costs: Higher competition naturally increases costs per click (CPC). At this time of the year, advertisers are willing to bid more for prime ad placements which drives up the cost to reach potential customers. The combination of higher competition and rising CPC can result in an increased cost per sale/acquisition (CPA). Businesses may find that they need to spend more on advertising to achieve the same level of revenue, which, in turn, can impact profit margins.
  • A surge in the volume of promotional messages: Businesses and brands vying for attention with enticing offers and seasonal promotions go all out at this time of year. To stand out in such a strong competitive online environment, it’s crucial to be creative and authentic with compelling, visually appealing content that resonates with your target audience’s emotions and values. Utilize storytelling to forge a connection, highlight the uniqueness of your products, and emphasize the value they bring.

It’s important to stress that non-retail businesses are not immune to the impact of this heightened competition during the holiday season surge in advertising. Non-retail enterprises – from service providers to B2B companies – also face the challenges of rising CPCs and all that comes with that as they navigate the crowded advertising landscape. 

How to prepare for the holiday season

A pre-holiday checklist – for each upcoming moment – is key to any successful seasonal digital marketing strategy. If you want to smash your Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or Christmas advertising campaigns, the best time to start was ‘yesterday’ and the second best time is today! (It is critical to be ahead in the starting blocks if you want an edge). 

How to adjust your Q4 digital marketing strategy to prepare for the holiday season

  • Plan budgets in line with your growth ambitions: As you prepare for the holiday season, consider an increase in your advertising budget.  Analyse your past performance during this time and allocate more funds to your digital marketing efforts should you wish to maintain similar sales results as non-holiday season periods or if you have growth targets to reach during this period. This will help you stay competitive and set your campaigns on the way to reaching your goal.
  • Prepare your audiences: Often overlooked, this nurturing strategy is a secret weapon to engaging with your customers and subscribers. Start prepping your target audiences for upcoming deals and promotions. Create additional buzz by integrating your email marketing and social media strategies, and running teaser campaigns, will build anticipation and excitement. 
  • Capture email addresses: The influential and tactical power of email is huge, making the collection of email addresses crucial during the holiday season. Use lead generation strategies and enticing offers to encourage website visitors to share their email addresses. This will enable you to run email campaigns, promoting your holiday deals and offers directly to interested customers.
  • Ensure you have ample stock: Stock shortages are a death sentence for your e-commerce store over the holiday season; leading to missed opportunities,  dissatisfied customers and a compromised brand reputation. Check your inventory and make sure you have sufficient stock to meet the expected demand and promotional offers. (Consider strategic ordering and supply chain management to avoid stockouts).
  • Precise delivery times: Be transparent about delivery times and order cutoff dates to ensure customers know when to place orders to receive their items before Christmas or other holidays. Communicate these deadlines clearly on your website and in any of your digital marketing efforts.

Maximizing success during the holiday season

A key digital marketing strategy in leveraging the festive season is to create compelling holiday-themed ad creatives that resonate with the spirit of the season, utilising appropriate seasonal visuals and messaging to capture the attention of potential customers. 

Take the time to optimise your landing pages for a seamless and engaging user experience: 

  • Clear calls to action
  • Enticing product displays 
  • Responsive design for both desktop and mobile users. 

Tips for creating compelling holiday-themed ad creatives

Equally important is the ability to adapt to changing market dynamics by closely monitoring campaign performance and making real-time adjustments. Analysing the data and keeping your finger on the pulse of consumer behaviour allows businesses to refine their strategies, targeting and messaging, ensuring they stay ahead of the competition to maximise their success during the holiday season.

The post-holiday period

After the whirlwind of Q4 seasonal campaigns, the post-holiday period is a critical phase in your digital marketing strategy. Take a step back and assess the performance of your initiatives by meticulously analysing the key performance indicators (KPIs), like click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS). This evaluation will provide valuable insights into what worked and what didn’t. 

Once you’ve identified the strengths and weaknesses, it’s time to immediately shift focus towards retaining holiday customers and fostering long-term relationships. 

  • Start implementing retargeting campaigns and personalized email marketing to keep your brand top-of-mind
  • Special promotions and loyalty programs can incentivise holiday shoppers to return
  • Maintaining engagement on social media and offering informative content can help build trust and a sustainable rapport with your audience beyond the holiday rush.

As consumers are drawn towards the hype of e-commerce promotions and deals, it becomes increasingly challenging for non-retail businesses to capture their target audience’s attention and maintain a competitive edge. The rise in advertising noise and advertising costs, as well as the need to craft compelling and relevant messages, are just a few of the seasonal challenges.

The bottom line of any seasonal digital marketing strategy is the recognition that all types of businesses, not just retailers, need to plan their marketing efforts creatively and effectively during holidays to stay visible and relevant in the minds of consumers.

Despite the increased competition and rising advertising costs, the Q4 holiday season is critical for all businesses to boost their revenue. The thoughtful planning and careful execution of your digital marketing strategy – well in advance – are the keys to a successful and profitable season.

Boost your Q4 holiday advertising strategy today by partnering with an expert Digital Marketing Agency for a festive season to remember.