With only a few weeks left until the Black Friday weekend, now is the time to review, update and prepare your paid advertising strategy. Optimising your Google Ads is the only way to ensure you stand out to shoppers over the biggest shopping weekend of the year.
To capitalise on the high purchasing intent of customers, make sure you are targeting the right audiences with advanced PPC strategies that drive relevant traffic to your site.
Read on to discover our top tips to ready your Google Ads for the Black Friday Cyber Monday shopping spree.
Forecasting & Sales Modelling
Anticipate and forecast your online demand early. Work through contingency scenarios NOW. Understanding worst-case scenarios will help expose critical gaps in your operations. This planning will also help plan any logistics that need sorting out before the peak periods get underway.
Leverage Smart Shopping
Advertisers see more than a 30% increase in conversion value on average when using Smart Shopping campaigns or Target ROAS for Shopping campaigns. Use Target tactics and broad match keywords to find upstream keywords which will bring more potential consumers onto your site.
Campaign Budgets & KPIs
Make sure you have enough wiggle room in your PPC budgets so products are not limited by budget. Set the right target so that if your business goals change during the holiday season, you can adjust CPA/ROAS targets to capture a more significant share of the market. For example, if you want to be more competitive in auctions, you can raise CPA or lower ROAS targets.
Ad Frequency & Remarketing
Switch up your Google remarketing budgets, frequency and efforts. Black Friday is the period when consumers are most likely to convert for your business or your competitor. Sequential advertising and engaging users with offers and promotions are likely to be the difference in winning the sale.
Google Shopping Inventory
Automate price and availability updates. Inventory and prices change quickly, especially around Black Friday. Automatic item updates ensure you’re showing the correct price in your Shopping ads and are not promoting out-of-stock items.
Reviews
Check and double-check your reviews leading up to the busiest time of the year. One poor review that hasn’t been responded to in a timely manner and correctly could make your service inadequate, and this will no doubt have a knock on effect with sales.
Communicate with Your Customers Early and Often
Establish proactive customer messaging that clearly communicates specific delivery dates as early in the purchase funnel as possible. Set clear expectations at the checkout in order to convert more customers.
Prioritise communication capabilities. Consider automated email and/or SMS alerts to inform customers of shipping delays. Proactively setting and communicating delivery timelines reduces unnecessary customer service inquiries. Provide multiple cut-off dates to drive earlier sales and reduce contacts to customer service to delivery queries.
Start Earlier
31% of (US) shoppers have already started their holiday shopping; 72% say they expect to 80% of Holiday shoppers expect to shop on Black Friday in-store; 58% say they will shop online more than previous years. Get your messaging and product out earlier, making sure your product and services have high exposure.
Delivery
Understand what your market expects in terms of delivery, i.e. UK consumer demands “Need it Fast, but Willing to Pay”. Provide a range of options at different price points – but be realistic and transparent as delivery could prove challenging due to soaring demand.
Need a hand?
It’s never too late to review, update or completely overhaul your Google Ads strategy for the peak trading season ahead. Our award-winning team is available to advise and implement a Google Ads campaign that will guarantee to achieve your goals and objectives. Get in touch today to speak to our team.
Your Omni-Channel Black Friday Ecommerce Strategy
Check out our other guides for this year’s Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend:
