Microsoft Advertising adCenter Optimization Timelines for the 2011 Holiday Season

When I lived in Europe, I loved watching the Tour de France – at least until the doping scandals hit. I was always fascinated by how the sprinters lined up to be in the best position of winning when the entire peloton was only a mile away from the finish line. Finally 300 yards away, they would break out and race at speeds of 60 miles an hour or more and the slightest strategic advantage would decide who wins the stage.

As an advertiser, you are in a very similar situation when you think about the upcoming Holiday season. The finish line may still be months away, but the time you spend now to get in the right position will strongly impact where you land. This is why I believe that a solid Holiday optimization starts in September.

September: Test, Learn & Tweak

Before all the madness happens, September is the month where you have time to test and learn. There are already early bird shoppers out there and studying their behavior will give you valid insights for the days ahead. By testing various ad copies, landing pages and how different discounts impact your ROI, you can apply the results to your campaigns before it gets crazy busy and you won’t have time anymore. And of course, any meaningful data you have from your 2010 Holiday campaign should help as well. The things you did right last year will most likely work again this year.

Not convinced yet? Please take another look at the chart above. Conversions grew month over month by 32% in October already. This data is from a large set of retail advertisers all across adCenter and they confirm a trend most experts identified already: each year the season starts a bit earlier.

October: Analyze, Expand & Refine

October is the time to dig deep into your data. Most essentially it is the month where you should build out a comprehensive Holiday keyword list. Launching these keywords early will not only give you a sense of the market place, but also help to solve any editorial issues that may occur. Understanding which match types work best and which bid you need to be in a competitive spot again will prepare you for the days when sleep becomes rare.

November: Maintain Your Competitive Advantage

By November everyone will be in the game and the peak season starts. Here’s a look at last year’s click volume from a typical retailer.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday stick out as the main online shopping days. In a just released study, eMarketer compared sales data from the last two years and recorded a 9% growth for Black Friday and 16% for Cyber Monday. Even Thanksgiving is not all about the turkeys anymore; growth rate that day was at 28%! (1)

So November is all about keeping your competitive advantage. Catching enough traffic and having your ad copy in the right position is key to a successful Holiday season. To do so, running a lot of reports and keeping an eye on your competitors’ offerings are required. But your hard work should pay off as predictions are that “online sales growth will reach double digits for the second consecutive year, even though the economy remains shaky and consumers are keeping tight budgets”. (1)

December: Discounts, Offers & Optimize Keywords

Eventually the finish line is near. December is the month with most conversions and, like the sprinters at the Tour de France, you now need to throw in all the reserves you have left on the last final meters. In terms of search engine marketing, this means that you should at least match or trump the competitions’ offerings. Increase your discounts as much as you can, add free shipping which has become a must-have and keep your best performing keywords in top positions as others will increase their bids. Being able to attract last-minute shoppers (like myself) can decide over the success of your campaign.

Just when you think it’s over, it is not as “the week following Christmas has become a peak shopping period. Some 45% of consumers shopped after Christmas in 2010, up from 41% in 2009", according to the January 2011 “Post- Holiday Shopping Intentions Study” produced by Google and Ipsos OTX. The study found that 42% of post-Holiday shoppers waited for last-minute deals on items that were marked for clearance.” (1) So hang in for a few more days and then hopefully you can celebrate a very successful Holiday campaign.

 Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for more Holiday blog posts to come in the following weeks with detailed insights how to make the most out of your campaign.

Peter Haubold, Vertical Specialist

(1) eMarketer Online Holiday Shopping Preview, Sep 2011