ways to drive leads from your holiday PPC ads //


As the holidays are approaching, I’ve always found this time of year a bit anticlimactic, having worked primarily in lead generation accounts throughout my career. My ecommerce colleagues have been preparing for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They’ve also been stressing about shipping dates and other things. Although I had a bit of FOMO at times, I have to admit that it is nice not to worry about sales numbers every single day.


You know that feeling when you are not advertising your ecommerce business but the holidays are just around the corner.


Just because lead generation campaigns do not have the same characteristics as holiday campaigns (see what I’ve done there?) There are still ways to maximize your holiday season. This post will discuss the pros and cons to advertising as a lead-generation business during the holiday season, before reviewing some best practices to make the most of your campaigns.

This article will cover businesses that generate leads that aren’t associated with gift giving. If your business generates leads that are well suited to gift-giving, you might want to check out the holiday marketing trends to get some ideas for your gift offerings.

Table of Contents


Why holiday PPC advertising is important for lead generation businesses

Here are some benefits you should be aware of when deciding whether or not holiday PPC ads will benefit your lead-driven company.


Lower Competition


You can bet that your competitors think the same way.


It’s important to listen to your “spidey-senses” if they tell you that advertising during this period is a bad decision. However, there are also benefits to being the sole voice in the group. Filling a gap left by a competitor is almost always a good idea. If they’re thinking of pausing or are planning to, you can take advantage of their lower competition to win incremental business.

Our latest benchmark report will show you how your competitors are approaching advertising throughout the year.


Holidays are usually a time when people are active


Whether you like it or not, spending time with your family during the holidays usually means more time scrolling on your phone. You can only listen to so much about your extended family’s road trip in the Southwest, or your nieces and nephews’ karate progress before you need some decompression time.

You can make a big impression during this period, as users are often hard to reach. If you don’t advertise, you will not reach your targeted market and you may lose the chance to influence decision makers when they are looking for a way out and there is little competition.

The majority of consumers were planning to browse the web last year, and at a higher rate than previous years.



Source


Budgets “Use It or Lose It”


Many companies also have to balance their books as we approach the end the year. Although I may not agree, I have been in a number of partnerships where we had to increase the budget to make sure they got the same budget next year.


You may find yourself in the same situation if you are advertising your business or that of a company you work for. Increasing your holiday advertising will help you to avoid any budget issues.

If you are a PPC company with clients who have similar accounting principles, you can also help them spend their budget before the end of the year. This will allow you both to finish the year in a positive way.

Do you want to have a positive impact this holiday season on your clients’ accounts? Our new 2023 State of the Digital Marketing Agency Industry Report will show you how your agency compares to others.


Machine Learning isn’t Good for Large Shifts


The best way to scale budgets for Facebook is by increasing or decreasing the daily budget. Let that change marinate a few days, and then make a second 20% change.


It is crucial to have a strategy in place because Facebook, as well as most other major advertising platforms, rely heavily on machine learning. Large changes can cause these algorithms to become out of sync. This is also true if you paused campaigns or reduced budgets during the holidays. You should be discouraged from making major changes to your account during this holiday season. If you need to reduce your account, do so gradually and avoid making any sudden changes.


Why you might not want to promote your lead generation business during the holiday season

Here are some drawbacks you should be aware of if you’re not sure about your holiday PPC marketing.


Mindset changes and business slowdowns

Holidays are a chance to relax, enjoy quality time with friends and family, and get away from the daily grind. This is something that many people are very focused on.


They may be so absorbed in their social media apps that they do not pay attention to any of your ads. Your ads may be less effective because they avoid topics related to work or work at all costs.

What makes a business? Individuals. You may want to prepare for the New Year by slowing down. This will depend on the culture and mindset of your business and its employees, especially the personas.

This study shows that most people view the holidays as a time for relaxation.


Holiday budgets for Ecommerce can increase costs

The holidays can be expensive for those who advertise on social platforms or display (i.e. not in search, where you are answering demand), as ecommerce companies try to finish their year within the last 2.5 calendar months.

As budgets grow and more companies enter the marketplace, prices for impressions will increase. Depending on how much your target audiences overlap with theirs (which is impossible to know), you could find yourself paying <a href="https://liquidcreativestudio.com/how-the-holidays-affect-your-digital-campaigns/#:~:text=Companies%20that%20benefit%20from%20holiday,placing%20digital%20ads%20also%20increases." You could pay 2-3 times more for CPMs during Q1 and Q3 (or even higher).


The term “disposable income” is most likely used for


You may be competing for budget dollars during the holidays if you are a B2C company. If your product is often seen as a gift (and you want to remain in the game), potential customers might see your ads and be interested. However, they may decide to buy gifts instead of making a non-gift.


4 ways you can maximize your lead generation campaigns during the holiday season


You’ve probably decided by now whether you want to do any advertising during the holidays. If you’re going to take the holidays off and skip the advertising, please feel free to leave through the gift shop.

I have some tips for those who plan to use the holiday season to run campaigns for lead generation. It is a different time, for better or for worse.

Use our free Ads Grader to find out how you can improve your holiday advertising strategy!


1. Adapt your message to holiday expectations

Almost all PPC lead generation involves some sort of follow-up. calls to action may be to request a quote or callback. All of these things take time.


In the US Thanksgiving is on a Thursday. You may have a message that says “Custom Quote within 24 Hours”. If someone fills out a form at 5 pm on Wednesday, will you be able to provide a quote by 5 pm on Thursday?


Consider the expectations that you have for your customer. Be sure to block off any holidays or days that you will be away from the office on your calendar link. This ensures everyone is on the exact same page.


2. Get into the holiday spirit


How can you present your company’s products or services in a festive light? You can still share your message with customers by sharing holiday-themed content.

What about promotions? You can offer a small discount since the holidays are approaching and people will be looking for bargains. You can throw in a little extra. What can you do to make more appealing during the holiday season?

This example shows a business that is lead-driven doing exactly that:


3. Consider softer calls to action

Some businesses, as mentioned above, use the slow time of the holidays to begin researching a project they will be working on in the months ahead. Instead of asking them to buy, give content that is useful for where they are at in the research process. Instead of selling, provide information and educate.

For example, This business has created a free holiday safety guide that can be downloaded to drive leads all through the season.


4. Push back the deadline

This is an extrapolation of the tip above. It works well, especially if your holiday sales cycle is longer. Can you extend the deadline for follow-ups if you do not have any softer calls to actions?

You may have set up your Calendly link so that it only shows openings in January. Your copy might say to contact us now to secure your place in the new calendar year. You could be the only person who is not pushing people to do something right away, as they are busy with the end-of-year rush at work and holidays at home.


Make holiday PPC ads your gift to lead generation that keeps giving


As a lead generation firm, the decision to advertise over the holidays is completely individual. It depends on the business, the products/services you offer, and the mindset of your customers at the end of the year. This overview should have given you an idea of the pros and cons to advertising during the holiday season, as well as expectations and ideas on how to maximize the season, if you decide to keep twinkling lights on.

Here are my four top holiday advertising tips to help businesses generate leads during the holiday season.

  1. Adapt your message to holiday expectations
  2. Get into the holiday spirit
  3. Calls to Action: Soften them up
  4. Do not push back your deadline

The post How to drive leads from your holiday PPC ads appeared initially on WordStream.

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