Lifehacks For Your Christmas Campaign
Management Summary
With the right know-how, powerful campaigns can now be set up and optimized and benefits can be gained from existing data. Katia Meleady and Lukas Capek – our experts for successful data-driven campaigns – share their best life hacks for successful (last minute) data-driven Christmas campaigns 2021.
Last minute tips for display & Paid social campaigns for Christmas business 2021
1) Personalization with user-centricity & Targeting
Lokalität hat für 36% der User beim Einkaufen – auch online – hohe Priorität. The personalization of ads and targeting of the user location or the branch near them puts the customer at the focus of the campaign (user centricity).
The demands on the shopping experience when shopping online are changing. The feeling of community, which is experienced when shopping in a store, can be activated through sales events or local sales campaigns (e.g. Black Friday, Christmas special days).
More than ever in the run-up to Christmas, optimal targeting of ads and campaigns is crucial for the success of the measure. Only when it is clear who is intended to be reached with the advertisement can this group be targeted.
Data-driven targeting helps to correctly interpret the behavior of the target group. The most important thing here is to differentiate your targeting well! Especially when looking for gifts, products outside of your own user interests become relevant. So address target groups with specific purchasing intentions rather than just focusing on affinities.
2) Check Setup: Product Catalog & Tracking
The basis for successful campaigns is data. Before the collection of user data becomes relevant, your own assets must be checked and updated. The product catalog must be up-to-date and complete, especially for dynamically designed and displayed advertisements. Marketers should invest time in this regard. Andernfalls wird die Ausspielung von falschen oder fehlerhaften Botschaften den Erfolg der Kampagne einschränken. Product remarketing in particular relies on this data in order to address users with messages that are relevant to them.
Now the user data comes into play. In order to recognize users and address them with relevant content, properly installed tracking is crucial. It must be ensured that all relevant actions are recorded. Taking offline data into account can also optimize the customer journey. The correctly tracked user data is included in the audience selection before the start of the Christmas campaign. That’s why the same applies here: start on time!
3) Personalize creatives and display them dynamically
Personalized advertising subjectsand campaigns are essential to attract the attention of users in this hotly contested time. This can be achieved if ads respond to the needs and wishes of users. The best way to do this isDynamic Ads, in which individual elements such as images, videos, text, headlines, descriptions or calls to action are individually combined. Marketers can maximize the personalization opportunities on the platforms with the support of partner tools. This way you can ensure that your advertising messages are not lost.
Lukas Capek also recommendsMoving imageto remain more visible in the flood of messages in Q4 and to generate attention. Video content to present products or services is preferred by two thirds of users. Customer journey analyzes show that video ads are now the most common touchpoint before conversion for users. Especially for social: it doesn’t always have to be a perfect “glossy video”, what’s important is that it catches the user’s eye and stays in their memory.
The same applies to images and videos – the user wants to be inspired and discover new products on social media. Then the conversion rate when the purchase is completed is also high. That’s why hard sales messages are the wrong way, but win over the user with relevant stories tailored to the season.
New technologies or methods can make the difference, especially at this time. AR filters make it possible, for example, to try out the sunglasses you are looking for or your preferred pair of shoes.
3 tips for optimized SEA campaigns that will really heat up the last minute Christmas business
1) A look into the past helps in finding a strategy
Analyzes from Google Ads and Analytics provide insights into which products have sold particularly well in recent years. This data is your treasure of gold if the following measures are controlled and implemented based on it. Then it is important to check whether all top-selling keywords have been activated and enough budget has been allocated so that no impressions are lost during the high-sales Christmas period. Were there certain promotions or discounts that boosted sales? For which keywords were the costs too high? A look into the past helps to find out which strategies can be used profitably this year.
2) The right users at the right time – Conversion tracking provides the data
Properly set up conversion tracking is the basis for making the success of a campaign or marketing measure measurable. Only if all relevant actions are recorded correctly can this data be made usable, e.g. to create appropriate audiences for the Christmas campaign. The Christmas campaign is therefore aimed specifically at users who have already interacted with your content, products or topics.
Katia Meleady also recommends not setting the attribution model to last or first click so that the performance of the keywords is not distorted.
3) Be dynamic – align the advertising message with the search query
The advantages of dynamic search ads should now be used for campaigns. These use content from the website’s landing pages to tailor ads to the specific search query. This ensures that no relevant Christmas shoppers slip away. Therefore, descriptions and ad extensions need to be updated to create a Christmas atmosphere. Then the Christmas campaign will work too.
