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Holiday PPC Campaign Checklist – Are Your Campaigns Ready?

Holiday PPC Campaign Checklist – Are Your Campaigns Ready? Vizion Interactive Reading Time: 5 minutes

This post was last updated in September 2024.

This year’s PPC campaigns need more strategic planning and earlier rollouts as this holiday season is shorter.

In 2023, 50% of shoppers began buying for the holidays before November. Although down 6% from 2022, it was still within the typical half-mark experienced in the last few years.

However, this year’s Thanksgiving and Christmas are closer. Unlike other years, when it’s often 4.5 to 5.0 weeks, you only have 27 days this year. Since most holiday shopping happens during this time, marketers scramble for ad space. And this raises costs.

A shorter duration means the costs are more likely to be higher than usual. Costs-per-click have already been on the rise and now – with the Holiday season – this problem will be compounded by the fact that the Holiday season is shorter.

This guide discusses navigating the key factors impacting holiday PPC marketing this year. Keep reading to see what tricks to use, when to roll out your ads, how to budget, and more.

Plan Your Holiday PPC Budget

You’re already anticipating high holiday PPC expenses, more so this year, as there’s less time to shop. At this point, the trick is to distribute your budget wisely. Plus, ensure your top products don’t run out of funds early.

Previous data shows that consumers convert at higher rates during the holidays. They also tend to spend more. For instance, year-over-year (YOY) US retail sales between 1st November and Christmas Eve rose by 3.1% in 2023. Online stores had the biggest YOY gains at +6.3%, while physical ones rose by +2.2%.

With the heightened search volumes and more competition, prepare to increase your budget.

Consider your historical budgeting data and new variables like shifts in customer behavior. A good way to identify these aspects is to review the following:

  • Spend: How did your 2024 and holiday advertising costs change over the years? What is your average spend?
  • Impression Share: What was your ad and product visibility with your set budget? Check your Search lost IS metrics to see where you missed impressions because of your ad rank and budget and adjust for 2024.
  • ROAS – What was your campaign’s profitability with your budget? Which products and campaigns are your most profitable? Increase the budget share to those elements for an overall boost in ROAS.

To ensure your top-selling products don’t run out of funds early, give them separate campaigns to maximize their reach. This separation provides a more straightforward way to assess and adjust their budgets for optimal returns.

Remember that shoppers start seeking holiday gift ideas before the peak shopping season. So, include a ramping-up period in your budget plan several weeks before the shopping rush begins. 

Gradually increasing your budget provides time for data collection and algorithm adjustments. By the time the holiday shopping frenzy begins, it’ll find your campaigns ready to compete favorably.

Moreover, marketing conditions can change rapidly. So, assign some funds for last-minute adjustments.

Time Your Holidays PPC Campaigns

Besides this year’s short holiday shopping period, the elections will impact returns before and after results. These factors call for early holiday campaign launches to mitigate effects.

Most people shop for the holiday within October or earlier. According to Statista, only around 10% of consumers wait for December. 

Holiday Ppc Checklist Holiday PPC Campaign Checklist – Are Your Campaigns Ready? Vizion Interactive

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Some even start shopping in January, with 7% doing Christmas shopping year-round.

Also, the November U.S. presidential election will come before the peak buying season. As with previous elections, they’ll make holiday marketing more complex this year.

For instance, Jungle Scout’s 2020 report mentioned that 32% of Trump’s supporters would spend less on holiday shopping following his loss. 

Furthermore, Adobe Digital Insights’ report showed a 14% drop in sales on 9th November 2016 (the day after the elections). Within the first two weeks of November of the same year, retailers lost $800 million.

So, plan your campaigns while considering potential disruptions.

Launch your holiday ads two or three months before the shopping frenzy to capture early interest.

Also, be consistent in all your marketing channels to reinforce your identity and build trust. These elements are crucial in attracting conversions and earning loyal customers come 2025.

As you schedule your holiday campaigns, identify your commencement date and when you’ll intensify your efforts. Plan for each season of your PPC campaigns as follows:

September to October (Early season)
November (Midseason)
  • Ramp up your budget.
  • Push more holiday-centered promotions.
  • Focus on competitive keywords and adjust bids for favorable competition.
Cyber five and December (Peak season)
  • Ensure ads are highly relevant to audiences.
  • Release high-intensity campaigns in late November through December.
  • Use precision targeting to attract last-minute shoppers.
January (Post-holiday)
  • Adjust campaigns to capture shoppers still seeking gift cards and holiday deals.

 

Exploit Google’s New AI Features to Understand and Attract Customers Better

Google unveiled several updates in the Think Retail event 2024. The changes which aim to improve performance analysis and customer acquisition include:

  • New AI-powered shopping trend insights in Merchant Center.
  • AI-generated summaries for merchants highlighting recent product performance.
  • Custom report generation from natural language queries. For example, “Show me how my sports sneakers are performing.”
  • Automated syncing of in-store product availability on the website with local inventory ads.
  • Option to bid only or higher for new customers with ad campaigns using the new acquisition goals.
  • Format-level customization of brand exclusions for more precise impressions.
  • Profit-based optimization options for Standard Shopping and Performance Max campaigns (in beta).

Exploiting these new AI-powered tools offers various benefits, such as:

  • Real-time trend data for better-informed decisions that align with customer searches.
  • Automated insights for faster identification of opportunities and performance issues.
  • More efficient organization of local inventory ads.
  • Fewer bounces due to product unavailability.
  • More ways to attract new customers.
  • Options for profit-based campaign optimization instead of only revenue.

Plan Campaigns Strategically to Compete Favorably During the 2024 Holiday Season

As we advance into the shortest holiday season since 2019, push out your PPC campaigns early to attract attention. This calls for proper planning and flexibility to adjust based on any behavioral shifts and challenges.

Your competitors are likely striving for visibility too. And more marketers will scramble for the pricier-than-ever ad space. So, get aggressive with your strategy and bids.

Track your impression share, shifts in cost-per-click, and competition. Identify the best times to ramp up your campaign based on your findings.

Additionally, align messages with your selected keywords and speak directly to holiday shoppers.

Ensure each ad has a compelling, holiday-themed copy that showcases:

  • Your unique selling proposition.
  • Discounts.
  • Special offers.

Include exclusivity and urgency to attract more clicks and conversions. For example, you can highlight offer deadlines and feature countdowns.

Finally, as you prepare for the holiday season, be sure to take advantage of Google’s new AI-powered tools to boost your PPC campaigns. Use AI-driven shopping trend insights to align your ads with customer searches, and leverage automated performance summaries for quick insights. Custom report generation with natural language queries can help you easily track your top-performing products, while profit-based campaign optimization ensures you’re maximizing returns. These tools will help you attract more customers, improve inventory management, and drive better results throughout the holidays.

At Vizion Interactive, we have the expertise, experience, and enthusiasm to get results and keep clients happy! Learn more about how our status as a Google Partner, along with our PPC Management, Google Shopping Ads, Social Media Advertising, Amazon Advertising, and other Paid Media services can increase sales and boost your ROI. But don’t just take our word for it, check out what our clients have to say, along with our case studies.