As an online advertiser looking to make the most of your digital ad spend during peak Festive Season, high click-through rates (CTRs) and low costs-per-click (CPCs) could be an overwhelming responsibility. Capturing your target audience and converting them to customers is what every advertiser aims to achieve. With over 12.4M digital buyers and an average spend of $1,665 per person(1), advertisers will require scalable campaigns, and an insights led strategy to get the most return on investment (ROI). Online spending grew 13.5% in the 12 months to June 2016, and retailers forecast online sale volumes to increase by 24% on average over next year(2).. If all this data were to tell you one thing, it is that online shopping will be at its peak this Christmas season.
This Christmas retail season we delve into shopping behaviours for specific retail sub-verticals, including clothing & accessories, consumer electronics, and gifting. We break down key factors to consider while planning your Bing campaign:
1) Purchase triggers: shoppers begin their gift inspiration with generic search terms in order to generate a wish list and understand pricing and options. This is the initial stage that leads to a prospective customer then choosing a brand, and product to finally purchase. In order to create exclusivity and interest at stage 1, ad copy plays a crucial role in creating interest. Accommodating unique shopping experiences to motivate buyers has proven to help digital purchases.
Some keywords to include in pre-Christmas season ad copy:
- Free delivery
- Loyalty points
- Quick & easy checkout
- Easy return
- Coupons & discounts
Advertisers could also help influence a buying decision by reviewing copy phrasing, creating a sense of urgency, and utilising lively verbs to influence perception, which could lead to greater conversions.
2) Targeting: more than 55% of all retail search queries made on the Bing Network are from people between 35 and 64 years of age however as our insights deck covers in greater detail, click share does vary by gender, device type and time of day.
3) Increase conversions:
a) Smarter Ad Copy
At the time of creating your ad, don’t hesitate to spend those extra few minutes revising ad copy. Being specific with what your service is offering should be a key take-away from ad copy. The specific offering and a clear call to action (CTA) is what helps conversions as it brings greater relevancy and acts as an added motivating factor for a consumer when shopping online.
b) Remarketing – typical online shopping behavior consists of consumers browsing for gift inspirations prior to making the final purchase. Since this is the stage of window shopping and visitors may drop off from your website after a few clicks to investigate other gift ideas, it creates an opportunity to re-target those visitors by exposing them to your ads again, before they reach their final decision. By adopting remarketing[FM(1] in paid search campaigns, one time visitors are familiarised with the brand and interested products.
For a comprehensive breakdown of retail shopping trends and actionable insights for Christmas 2016, download our full retail deck here[FM(2] .
Source:
1*Source: http://c-store.com.au/2016/02/05/30748/
2* Source: https://www.commbank.com.au/content/dam/commbank/business/pds/retail-insights-report-edition-2.pdf
[FM(1]Hyperlink to https://ads.bingads.microsoft.com/en-au/remarketing
[FM(2]Hyperlink to download deck