UK Summer Trends for PPC and Seasonal Planning Tips

Sometimes I believe shoppers and shops live in a parallel universe. The other day I had to find something decidedly summery to wear so I set out to shop after work. We’re talking early June, the evening air felt balmy, the streets were buzzing with people socializing, summer was just around the corner. Imagine being outside in these nice, pre-summer conditions looking for summer clothes and finding woolly dark depressing autumn outfits instead in not one but two stores!

Find out what your customers truly looking for at the moment and how to plan ahead using search data. 

There are a few areas in particular that will be doing well now and in the months to come.

Trends for Retailers – Garden Furniture, Trampolines, BBQs, Dresses and More

Warm weather means an increased demand in garden furniture, BBQs, paddling pools, trampolines, outdoor home DIY (try replacing a window in winter) summer (not autumn!) clothing & wedding wear.

Find out what keywords your customers are searching for and when these keywords peak with the free excel add-in Microsoft Advertising Intelligence. When you research keywords ensure you include generic keywords (‘dress’) as well as brands + keyword (‘Ted Baker dresses’) if you sell the brand. Irrelevant results can be good negative matches. Make sure at least one ad per ad group is seasonal reflecting that the popular product or service can be obtained, adding any unique selling points or competitive price points.

Source: Microsoft Advertising Intelligence

Source: Microsoft Advertising Intelligence

Finance – Car and Travel Insurance

It may not come as a surprise but travel and car insurance are doing well currently with travel insurance sometimes peaking as late as August.

You make the best of these trends by putting top keywords for each in separate ad groups for example ‘holiday insurance quotes’ so that you can write super targeted ad copy tailored to that product. Ad copy needs to be focused on price, rates, discounts and security. Having these tailored ad groups will also allow you to use negative keywords from other kinds of insurance so a travel insurance ad group may have ‘pet’, ‘home’ & ‘car’ as a negative match.

Source: Microsoft Advertising Intelligence

Travel – Accommodation & Current Popular Destinations

Searches on holiday accommodation, hotels and bed and breakfasts on Bing were rising much earlier this year compared to last. According to research by Hitwise UK destinations were popular in the first quarter of the year as of the unseasonably nice weather. ‘New York Flights’ was the top flight related search term. New York, Tenerife, Malaga and Dublin being the top rank destinations. Spain is increasing its dominance in the rankings thanks to increased searches for Madrid and Barcelona. Greek destinations are also on the up as well as Montenegro. London was popular as it attracted a lot of visitors as of the Royal Wedding.

When optimizing your travel PPC accounts for success ensure that you are able to target destinations with ad copy by ensuring you separate destination keywords in separate ad groups. This way you can make sure you can show those still planning holidays and breaks that you offer something in the region of their choice. This separation also ensures that you will be able to add negative keywords to each ad group which will aid your click through rate (CTR) and likely save costs.

Source: Microsoft Advertising Intelligence

What’s Next?

Make the best of the current opportunities and ensure that your potential customers are finding what they are looking for now. Of course businesses have to think ahead but that doesn’t mean your ‘autumn fashion’ has to trump the search results just yet. Just know when the searches will peak and ensure that you are in a good position by then. How do you find out when that is? Read here how you can get seasonal insights from Microsoft Advertising Intelligence and you’ll always be spot on!

Thanks for reading,

Simone Schuurer, EMEA Community Site Manager

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