Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice: Fall Preparations for Holiday Shopping Season

The kids are back in school, the leaves are changing colors, and there’s pumpkin spice in the air. This can only mean that it’s time to start thinking about the holiday shopping season. Yes, the season gets earlier and earlier each year. And while I’d love to talk about my favorite holiday, Halloween, Q4 is the big season for digital marketers.

We all know that the holiday season is a crucial time for businesses of all sizes. That goes without say. The two big things that we’ve got to consider in 2024 is that online shopping is becoming bigger and more competitive each year, and that consumer buying habits have changed. It’s not just as simple as search > click > buy any more! You’ve got to have your house in order, and your campaigns all working together. So grab your Pumpkin Spice Latte (or my personal favorite: a Pumpkin Spice Cold Foam Cold Brew) and let’s dive into the top 6 things that you can do to prepare for holiday shopping season.

What Are You Tracking (And Is It Accurate?)

I’ll say it again: Consumer buying habits have changed. No more search for the thing, click on an ad, and then buy the thing. (Okay, sometimes, but it’s not that simple.) 

Did you first see the thing on an Instagram reel? Did you then do a Google search after seeing the thing on Instagram? Did you do a voice search for the thing and a Performance Max ad showed you the thing was available at a store near you? And then did you type the store’s URL into your browser and order the thing for curbside pickup?

The scenario that I mapped out above is something that I did last month when buying a waterproof backpack for a recent kayaking trip. Sure, the product was specific to my needs, but the steps from impression to purchase are not unique.

What does this have to do with tracking? I’m glad you asked. If you’re solely tracking last click conversions, or even worse, relying solely on in-platform tracking, you’re not going to see the whole story. Customer behaviors will still be lost in the ether. In addition, your reporting won’t be accurate! And that’s never a fun conversation to have with your C Suite, explaining that you thought you had X sales for the year, but you actually only had X minus 50%. GA4 is your friend. I said it. And Yes, if you spoke to me when it first rolled out, initially, I was hesitant. But not any more! I have chugged the Pumpkin Spice Kool Aid and there’s no going back.

So audit your conversions. Dig into your data. Look at what’s driving direct Sales, look at what’s driving soft conversions (Store Visits, Phone Calls, Email Sign Ups), and look at what is influencing conversions, whether specific platforms are driving demand generation, or it’s a specific campaign that’s getting people to your site, and it’s another campaign that drives the actual sale.

Who Is Your Audience?

Is Google Ads’ demographic reporting actionable? Yes. Is Meta’s demographic reporting actionable? Also Yes. Is your CRM data actionable? 1000% YES!

Use the free customer data that you have to guide your campaigns, both in terms of how you build them, and how you target. Google has a ton of great in-market and affinity audiences available in the ads UI, and while a lot of audiences have disappeared in Meta, there are still some great audiences available, you just have to look for them.

For those of you struggling to reach new customers, consider testing lookalike audiences in Meta, as well as Advantage+ Audiences. Both of these formats tap into Meta’s AI and eliminate the guesswork in reaching new audiences, and target users who have similar behaviors, interests, and buying habits as your current customers.

How Are Site Visitors (and Customers) Finding You?

Are you getting most of your traffic Paid traffic from Google Search? If so, what keywords drive Clicks vs Sales? Are New Users coming from Meta Lookalike Audiences? Do your YouTube videos drive a ton of Impressions, and then users come back to purchase through Google Display Network (GDN) Retargeting?

As I said before, GA4 is a wealth of information, and when properly set up to track your Paid Media campaigns, it will show you where users come into the funnel, as well as if they make it to the bottom of the funnel to purchase, or if they bounce somewhere in the middle. Looking at user behavior on your site, as well as the demographic data from Point #2 above, you can determine your campaign strategies, as well as budgets, across all of your Paid Media channels.

In addition to looking at GA4 to determine how users are finding you and converting, be sure to look at your SEO keywords as well! Paid and SEO can work together, whether for building out new keywords, or for increasing your efficiency and cutting costs on your current keywords.

What Is Your Timeline?

Whether DHL, FedEx, UPS, or USPS, everyone has shipping deadlines. Deadlines that mean the difference between getting gifts to your customers on time, and your customers looking at you like you’re Ebenezer Scrooge. 

Doing a quick Google Search for holiday shipping deadlines, Google’s Generative AI tells me:

• DHL: DHL Express Worldwide should be shipped by EOD December 21, 2024. DHL Domestic Express packages should be shipped in the early morning on December 22, 2024. DHL Ground (Select Regions Only) needs to ship by EOD December 18, 2024.
• FedEx: FedEx Ground packages should be shipped by December 15, 2024 to arrive by December 24. FedEx Express Saver packages should be shipped by December 19, 2024. FedEx Express domestic shipping deadlines are between December 19 and 22.
• UPS: UPS Ground packages should be shipped by December 15, 2024 to arrive by December 24. UPS 3 Day Select packages should be shipped by December 19, 2024 to arrive by December 24. UPS 2nd Day Air packages should be shipped by December 21, 2024.
• USPS: USPS Retail Ground packages should be shipped by December 14, 2024 to arrive by December 24. First-Class Mail packages should be shipped by December 19, 2024. Priority Mail packages should be shipped by December 16, 2024. Priority Mail Express packages should be shipped by December 20, 2024.

While we’re talking about Shipping, let's also talk about Ad Copy. Got a great shipping offer? Then you should absolutely include it in your ad copy! Don’t have a great shipping offer, but want to set expectations with customers? Then toss it in your ad copy. Something as simple as “Order by 12.21 to Get It Before Christmas” or “Same Day In Store Pickup on Christmas Eve” will set expectations with customers, and give you an advantage over your competitors.

Who wants to hear an advertising win? Great! And to those of you who don’t want to hear it, too bad. This is my blog :) 

True Story: There’s a small specialty clothing store near me that offers free US shipping on all of their orders. How do they do it without losing money? Simple: Everything they sell is over $100 and their profit margin covers standard UPS Ground shipping. When they used to run ads that said “Free Shipping on $100 Orders” their CTRs weren’t the best. Switching their ad copy to “Free Shipping on All Orders,” increased their CTRs and Sales exponentially! This isn’t so much a tale of winning due to a shipping policy, more so it’s a tale of using effective language in your copy. So be creative. Think of ways to say something a little differently so that your ads stand out!

Now timing for your ads, whether you’re launching ads for Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Travel Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Thirsty Thursday, Thank God It’s Friday, Super Saver Saturday, or Sunday Funday, is pretty straightforward: For Google and Meta Ads plan on 48 hours for your ads to be approved once uploaded to the UI. Should you get a disapproved ad, we’ve seen it take 7 days for contested ads to be approved. In addition, Meta can (and has) disapproved active ads after they’d previously been approved. So for this reason, always run more than one ad per Ad Group or Ad Set. (But you knew that already, because this isn’t your first rodeo.)

Do You Have a Landing Page or Do You Have a Website?

Landing Pages get you as close to conversion as possible. They are stripped down and free from distraction. This means that when someone searches for “Men’s Running Shoes” you don’t land them on the “Men’s Footwear Page” that includes boots and flip flops. As a refreshers Keyword > Ad > Landing Page.

Now what about those pages on your website that aren’t landing pages? Or the pages that cover off on similarly themed products? Create gift guides!

Many businesses have tons of products stretched across multiple categories. Creating gift guide pages is a great way to help customers find the items they’re looking for ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. With a gift guide, you can show off your products, give shoppers ideas, and stay in people’s minds throughout the holiday season. In addition, this is a great way to speak to shoppers who know who they’re shopping for, but don’t necessarily know what they’re shopping for. Just remember that when creating gift guides to segment users by age, gender, and price. That makes customers search for items within their comfort zones, getting them further down that purchase path to making a purchase.

Are You Using AI?

Audience targeting, ad creation, algorithmic bidding, copy and content creation. The list of ways that AI can help with and improve upon your Paid Media campaigns goes on and on. Don’t fear the robots, they’re here to help! 

Stale copy? Toss it into ChatGPT and ask it to “Please Rewrite this Ad Copy.” Or if you’re unsure of where to start, plug your URL into ChatGPT and ask it to give you copy ideas.

In a pinch for some images? While it won’t work for brands with strict guidelines, Canva is great at cranking out images to accompany your ad copy. Just keep an eye out for conjoined guinea pigs.

Video creative too time consuming to create? Google has a free Video Creation Tool that creates video ads for you with as little as 1 Image 1 Logo and 2 Pieces of Text Copy. We tested these out for BFO against some traditional YouTube ads and saw great efficiency and reach with the Google-generated ads, as well as lower CPCs.

Want to reach new audiences? Unsure of who to target? Plug your product into Gemini. (Keep in mind, AI can be biased. I say this as someone who does not fit the Pumpkin Spice Latte demographic generalizations.)

Conclusion

With the holiday shopping season fast approaching, it's crucial to be prepared. By understanding consumer buying habits, leveraging AI tools, and optimizing your campaigns across various channels, you can effectively reach your target audience and drive sales. Remember, the key to success lies in a well-planned and executed strategy that combines data-driven insights with creative execution. So, grab your Pumpkin Spice Latte and start planning for a successful holiday season!

Questions? You can reach me at curtiss@befoundonline.com or reach out to the team below. Until next time!

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