If you have yet to make any PPC plans for this Valentines Day then fear not, as there are millions of men, and even women, out there who are equally as unprepared. Although this may seem like a lot of effort at this late stage, Google have predicted that Valentine’s Day sales will reach a whopping $18.6 billion and a fair amount of this will be spent over the next few days. Therefore it is time to act and develop your last minute PPC campaign! One of the biggest differences between this Valentine’s Day and previous years is the popularity of smartphones and tablet devices, which will play a huge part in this year’s celebrations. Google also predict that 40% of smartphone owners will research their purchases via their mobile, whilst 46% of tablet users will do the same. Therefore it is vital that you incorporate these devices into your strategy and you should certainly consider when your potential customers will be conducting this research, selecting your ad delivery accordingly.
You might be thinking that your products are not appropriate Valentine’s gifts, but it is worth remembering that many women will not appreciate clichés and convention and this will force men to think outside the box. In fact you may even be able to use this to your advantage, by incorporating criticism of these ‘boring’ gifts into your ad text. For example your first description line could read “what’s better than flowers?” or “better Valentine’s gifts than Chocolate” and this may make your offerings more appealing than the usual suspects.
Another consideration for your ads should be to make converting as convenient as possible for a potential customer and this should include the use of appropriate sitelinks, the most relevant landing page and making it clear that the gift can still be ordered in time for Valentine’s Day. But it is also worth considering how many people will be purchasing their gifts for the weekend, when many are likely to be seeing their dates and extending your Valentine’s campaign could be an excellent opportunity.
Prior to this you should also undertake thorough keyword research, ensuring that you do not make presumptions when creating your keyword list. For example it would probably surprise you to find out that “whens valentines day” is in the top 10 keywords searched during the build up, so you should certainly do your homework. Finally, you should consider bidding more competitively as we approach the 14th and this could be particularly important for those selling services. This is due to the fact that the products do not need to be delivered and can therefore be ordered up until the very last minute, with many even choosing to purchase such gifts on the day itself.
