A Holiday Sales Checklist for Paid SearchImproving ad positions or creating new ads is only part of what you need to consider during holiday sales periods. A review of the following elements can help prevent problems and maximize sales potential:1) Budgets. Seasonal upswings may hit spending limits and result in a slowing or stopping of ad distribution. Review your campaign budgets/spending limits. Make sure your credit card limit will cover expected increases (Google may allow you to add a backup card, as well). If you are on invoice, review your credit limit. Check again afterwards: sales may be even higher than you anticipated.2) Ad Delivery. If you set ad delivery to prorate to a budget, the system may not be able to adjust quickly to significant traffic increases and ads may stop running early. Make sure to monitor it.3) Campaign end dates. Make sure the end dates do not fall during holiday sales periods. Old campaigns may have originally been set with an end date thought to be enough, but isn’t. December 31 is a popular end date, but still within a good sales period. 4) "Amount in inventory.” Shopping sites may require a quantity for each item. Set the amount to cover both inventory and the higher demand. Refresh the uploads to reset the inventory count so you don’t “run out” of an item in stock.5) Disapproved ads. You may miss or not get a warning when an ad goes offline. Check ad status often, especially for high potential terms.6) Seasonal products. Use previous year’s sales history. Make sure to protect best sellers. Adwords has a search term tool that shows seasonal trends.7) Competitive offers. Your best sellers may also be your competitors’ and they may have a better offer. Check the ads around yours and compete accordingly.8) Landing page problems. Look for high click, low/no sale terms: It may be “page not found” errors, site malfunctioning, “try later” messages, or out of stock situations. If not, check the offer (see #6). 9) Capacities. Holiday traffic may be higher than anticipated, especially if running new or expanded campaigns. Consider if the following might choke under load: server capacity, internal search engine, credit card processing, and anything else that may get a lot of use or peak hard.10) Content ads. You may not be running content site ads for some terms, but during holidays the potential may be higher and worth adding.11) Change approvals. Be aware of ad approval processes and call customer service and ask them to expedite the review if you have a time sensitive ad.
1) Budgets. Seasonal upswings may hit spending limits and result in a slowing or stopping of ad distribution. Review your campaign budgets/spending limits. Make sure your credit card limit will cover expected increases (Google may allow you to add a backup card, as well). If you are on invoice, review your credit limit. Check again afterwards: sales may be even higher than you anticipated.2) Ad Delivery. If you set ad delivery to prorate to a budget, the system may not be able to adjust quickly to significant traffic increases and ads may stop running early. Make sure to monitor it.3) Campaign end dates. Make sure the end dates do not fall during holiday sales periods. Old campaigns may have originally been set with an end date thought to be enough, but isn’t. December 31 is a popular end date, but still within a good sales period. 4) "Amount in inventory.” Shopping sites may require a quantity for each item. Set the amount to cover both inventory and the higher demand. Refresh the uploads to reset the inventory count so you don’t “run out” of an item in stock.5) Disapproved ads. You may miss or not get a warning when an ad goes offline. Check ad status often, especially for high potential terms.6) Seasonal products. Use previous year’s sales history. Make sure to protect best sellers. Adwords has a search term tool that shows seasonal trends.7) Competitive offers. Your best sellers may also be your competitors’ and they may have a better offer. Check the ads around yours and compete accordingly.8) Landing page problems. Look for high click, low/no sale terms: It may be “page not found” errors, site malfunctioning, “try later” messages, or out of stock situations. If not, check the offer (see #6). 9) Capacities. Holiday traffic may be higher than anticipated, especially if running new or expanded campaigns. Consider if the following might choke under load: server capacity, internal search engine, credit card processing, and anything else that may get a lot of use or peak hard.10) Content ads. You may not be running content site ads for some terms, but during holidays the potential may be higher and worth adding.11) Change approvals. Be aware of ad approval processes and call customer service and ask them to expedite the review if you have a time sensitive ad.
Sorry, the Search Engine Marketing Trends section is no longer being updated, but I will add an occassional article I find interesting.
Future looks bright for Internet adsJMP Securities on Tuesday raised its global advertising forecast for not only this year but for next year and beyond. The firm now expects the global online ad market to grow at a 25 percent clip annually for the next five years, up from a previous forecast in the low 20 percent range.In the next year the Wall Street firm expects the online ad market to grow to $26.4 billion worldwide and to $33.2 billion in 2007.JMP now expects online advertising at $13.2 billion in the United States this year, or 4.7 percent of total advertising revenue, to soar to $35.9 billion in 2010, when the Internet will command 11.1 percent of all ad dollars spent."We expect large-budget advertisers to continue shifting an increasing percentage of their traditional ad budgets to the Internet," JMP analyst William Morrison said.Read full article here.Date: December 21, 2006Source: News.com
Study: E-tailers to grab $330 billion in 2010U.S. online retail sales will almost double from $172 billion in 2005 to $329 billion in 2010, according to a new report from Forrester Research. The 14 percent compound annual growth will be fueled by a shift in businesses' approach toward the Web. Retailers now view the Net as a tool to improve customer service and retention rather than as a low-cost sales channel, Forrester said. "Businesses are debating their online strategy. Many believe they became too focused on sales. Now they're looking at their Web sites as a way to drive in-store traffic and increase their engagement with customers," Forrester researcher Carrie Johnson said in a statement. Travel will continue to remain the top category, with revenue climbing to $119 billion in 2010, almost a 90 percent increase over $63 billion grossed in 2005. Revenue from online sales of general merchandise in 2005 will cross $100 billion, the data researcher said. Categories expected to see a gain in the coming years include health and beauty products, predicted to grow at annual rate of 22 percent, and small appliances. That category should see 29 percent of its sales move online by the end of the decade, as today's Internet-saturated youth begin to get married and attend weddings, Forrester predicted.Date: Sept.19,2005Source: News.Com.com
Big Growth in Store for Online AdvertisingThe next five years will witness steady growth in online advertising, with sales more than doubling from their 2004 levels, according to a new study from Jupiter Research. Sales will reach $18.9 billion by 2010, the company said Monday, up from $9.3 billion at the end of 2004.Leading the surge will be search engine marketing, which is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate of 12 percent, the research company said.Other research has also pointed to strong online-advertising revenue. In the first quarter of 2005, Web ad sales climbed to $2.8 billion, a 26 percent boost from same period in 2004, according to an earlier report from Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers.Further, Forrester Research predicted recently that online advertising would jump to $14.7 billion in 2005--which would be an increase of 23 percent over 2004.Read full article here.Date: August 8, 2005Source: CNet.com
