How to optimise your paid search during peak sales season

“E-commerce brands will have to be meticulous in their ads if they want to be visible this season” warns Polly Astill, Senior Marketing Manager of Impression. Due to the UK currently being in a period of economic uncertainty, marketers will need to fight over visibility as consumers are expected to reduce their spending throughout this period. Add in the possibility of account structure issues and this fourth quarter will be extremely difficult for brands to react and adapt over the promotional period.

The Zen Agency has created some tips which can help you stand out in Q4.

Use Ad Extensions

What are ad extensions? ad extensions help extend your ad to add additional information. Ad extensions can help increase your ad’s click-through rate (CTR). Within an ad extension, you are aiming to give people more reason to choose your ad. Extension formats can include call buttons, location info, additional text-based around USPs or offers, etc.

Using ad extensions can help your ad stand out from the crowd by clearly communicating your offers.

Sitelinks

Officially launched in 2006, sitelinks take users to a specific part of a page. The Zen Agency suggests using sitelinks to take users to a specific “sale” part of your site. According to Google, advertisers who use 4 or more sitelinks will boost their CTR up to 20%.

You can find out more about sitelinks here

Incentive Callouts 

Use your reach to shout about your incentives for people who shop with you over your competitors, whether it be free shipping, 10% off, or free returns. Share what makes you the best choice, without taking up too much character space.

Promotion Extensions 

Promotion extensions can add more value to your ads by highlighting your sales and promotions for people that are searching for the best deals your business has to offer. They are completely free to add – you’re only charged for the clicks. Promotion extensions offer more opportunities for your customers to click on your ad without having to spend time on copywriting.

This is a good technique for seasonal sales like Black Friday and Christmas. 

Ad Customisers 

Ad customisers allow you to automatically customize the text of your search ads. You can adapt your ad text based on keywords.

Using ad customisers allows you to create a copy of your ads and use labels to differentiate between ads with sales and evergreen business as usual ads. By using rules, you can then switch between sale and non-sale ad copy (particularly useful if you have frequent or spontaneous sale periods).

Countdowns are effective as they create a sense of urgency, reminding the user that they have a limited time left to secure a bargain

For more info visit - https://support.google.com/google-ads/answer/6072565?hl=en

Effectively use Call To Actions

Your call to action (CTA) should be different from your usual CTAs to help you stand out from your competitors. Be direct, and fit your offers into heading one, two and three to enhance your visibility. We recommend you test your ad copy to find the best version. By testing your ad copy you can measure which approach had the largest positive impact.

Update Your Product Feed

Making sure your product feed is in good shape is crucial. Limit the risk of your top products being disapproved by setting up alerts for when products become ineligible for shopping ads.

You should review and optimise your product titles, images, and description regularly as these are the first things your customers see before clicking on your site.

Preparation Is Vital 

Finally, when planning a sale period, it is important to consider the existing structure of your ad account, as this will influence how you can best promote your sale.

PPC offers a wealth of opportunities to promote upcoming sales. For larger promotions such as Black Friday and Christmas, preparations should be made months ahead to give your teams time to create assets, write and proof copy, and ensure account structure is in order.

Leave it too late and risk underutilizing your ad account, and in turn losing visibility against your competition. Set a clear goal, plan, and drive meaningful value for your business with these simple but effective tactics.

Follow us on LinkedIn for more free tips!

The Zen Agency Can help optimise your paid search!

Through our dedicated team of marketers, we have the skills & experience to help you stand out when it comes to paid search. With years of paid search experience, our team can help optimise your ads. 

Are you interested in finding out more about how to optimise your marketing? Contact the Zen team on 0141 229 1333 or fill out our quick enquiry form on our website and a member of the team will be in touch to discuss your marketing needs.