Formidable PPC Lessons for the January Sales

Black Friday is known for chaotic commerce and marketing madness, and each year new advances and challenges are discovered by those frantically attempting to stay ahead of the trend.

This year was no different. Take a look at some tips and tricks that our PPC gurus picked up in the run up to Christmas – and what this means for the January sales.

Dave says… Believe it or Not, Bing Can Be Helpful

“Bing upped its game this year, with the ability to import campaigns and speed up the once tedious uploading process. Be mindful though as its automated settings often sets ‘search and content’ regardless as to whether you’ve actually selected ‘search only’ for your Adwords campaign.

However, while Bing has definitely made some improvements this year, it hasn’t quite ironed out all of its issues just yet.

If you’re a fan of Adwords, be mindful that Bing’s latest updates don’t cover a lot of the features you may take for granted. For instance, there’s still no ‘labels’ feature that makes switching ad copy hell of a lot easier, especially at busy periods.”

Take note Bing and be ready for Boxing Day.

Alix says… Mobile Madness Enters the Ring, but Desktops Still Reign

“During the early hours of Black Friday (probably before we all went to work), we noticed a huge surge in mobile traffic to our eCommerce stores, with sales increasing by a fifth on last years between the 8 and 9am, so expect the same in the new year.

There’s no doubt that smartphones are redefining the way we shop, but they aren’t quite dominating the sales just yet. Desktop deals became more prominent as the day went on as shoppers hunted for deals during the working hours.”

Cher says… Assisted Conversions Are Awesome

“Assisted conversions saw a surge this Black Friday event, with stats showing direct conversions are becoming more and more infrequent

This may be down to increased online savviness, with shoppers more likely to snoop around for sales rather than commit to a purchase there and then.”

Corey says… It’s Time For Timelinks

“Remember the days when people had to do things manually?!

Well reminisce no longer as timelinks are adding even more efficiency to shopping bonanzas. Gone are the days of people having to *manually* change their online advertising at midnight, as technology is finally advanced enough to allow automatic changes to come into place at a set time.”

Chris says…. Be Mindful of the Budget

“Budget – everybody’s least favourite word. Alas, the Christmas period is a time for spending and traffic typically peaks during this time. Therefore it’s important to mindful of your budget during this time.

Likewise, if you’re going to plug in a little bit more this year, Christmas is probably a good place to start.”

Amy says… Feed the Feed

“Efficiency is key during Black Friday, and setting up a feed filled with updated prices is a must if you want to optimise your traffic during the big day/week/month, whatever.

“Anyway, the truth is you need your website at the top of its game and automated midnight updates are a must.”

Merry Christmas!

So these are the key lessons learnt for this year’s marketing madness, and we hope these tips and tricks help you capitalise on the bonanza yourself and have a very productive festive season. Otherwise, good luck and Merry Christmas from us here at Liberty.