5 Tips For Crushing This Holiday Season

November 18, 2015 By BJ Cook,

Twas the month before December, when all through DO, ALL the employees were working, preparing for Snow (Just kidding, San Diego doesn’t get snow). With the holiday season around the corner, things will be changing. For better or worse, the holiday season defines the year’s performance for most advertisers. Black Friday seems to start earlier every year so we thought we would share 5 tricks to make sure your digital campaigns are ready for action, without having to swap the turkey for a mouse.

Establish Goals

Define what the goal for each channel will be during the holiday season. Whether you’re looking to drive incremental revenue with similar ROAS, or operate more efficiently with an optimal CPA and similar traffic, having established goals is the foundation for success this holiday season.

Planning, Planning, Planning…Did I mention planning?

If you haven’t thought of ways to capture the incremental holiday traffic, then we suggest a brainstorm with account managers ASAP to lock down a plan. Although there’s going to be unexpected hurdles, having all digital initiatives accounted for on one single calendar can help guide strategy for additional keywords, copy, and campaigns.

Decide On Activation Channel Strategy

Let’s say you were looking to increase revenue while keeping efficiency (We’ll use sneakers as a product example). You could set up an RLSA shopping campaign (paid search) for higher ROAS, highlight the top selling sneakers in the weekly newsletter/blog, and utilize Facebook lookalike audiences to go after new users looking for sneakers. Regardless of the product/service being offered, knowing how each channel will be utilized is imperative to being prepared to adapt to ever-changing circumstances.

Utilize Automation

All digital marketers who value a work/life balance are pros when it comes to automation. Utilize rules to set ads live on certain days. In paid search, use custom labels and rules to have your Black Friday ad turn on at midnight without having to fight off the tryptophan (Just make sure to test the ad and have the ad approved by Google/Bing before pausing in preparation for the big day). There are similar options in the Facebook Power Editor and Ads Manager to make your life just a tad easier.

Don’t Make Decisions Based On Small Data

It’s tough not to look at Black Friday/Cyber Monday performance and make generalizations for the holiday season as a whole. If Black Friday/Cyber Monday didn’t perform as well as you’d like, it’s easy to shift budget around and cut back on spend for the remainder of the holiday season. Although BF/CM are big shopping days, there’s still time to hit your goals with many key shopping days falling between Cyber Monday and New Years. Don’t panic, everything will be alright. So sit back, relax, and capture the incremental traffic this holiday season (After steps #1-4 are completed)! Cheers!