Search Results for “shopping” – White Shark Media https://www.whitesharkmedia.com Specialized PPC Management Services for Agencies and Advertisers Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:22:13 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.3 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/cropped-favicon-32x32.png Search Results for “shopping” – White Shark Media https://www.whitesharkmedia.com 32 32 Connecting the Dots: Why Omnichannel Marketing is Crucial in 2024 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/digital-marketing/omnichannel-digital-marketing-strategy/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/digital-marketing/omnichannel-digital-marketing-strategy/#respond Tue, 23 Apr 2024 20:22:07 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=257445

In an increasingly connected world, seamless experiences are not just appreciated but expected, especially in the digital world. Adopting an omnichannel digital marketing strategy is necessary for businesses looking to stay competitive in 2024. 

Suppose you are a business owner, marketing coordinator, or digital marketing agency trying to dive into multiple digital marketing channels to boost your business or client’s revenue. In that case, you are in the right article! This comprehensive guide will help you understand why omnichannel marketing is essential, what it entails, and how to maximize its potential for your business.

What Exactly is Omnichannel Digital Marketing?

At its core, omnichannel digital marketing is a cross-digital-channel strategy to improve user experience and drive better relationships across all contact points. Unlike traditional marketing methods, an omnichannel approach considers each channel and device a user will interact with as part of a unified experience.

How to Use Omnichannel Communication for Digital Marketing

To understand it better, let’s see what a common digital customer journey could look like: 

Navigating the Digital Customer Journey

Digital Customer Journey

The digital customer journey maps out potential customers' path from discovering your brand to purchasing and beyond. It's divided into three critical stages, often referred to by their acronyms:

  1. TOFU (Top of the Funnel)
  2. MOFU (Middle of the Funnel)
  3. BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel)

Understanding these stages is key to crafting targeted strategies that guide prospects through conversion. See below an explanation for each one:

TOFU (Top of the Funnel)

This initial stage is all about awareness. Prospects are encountering your brand for the first time. They might have stumbled upon your blog, social media post, or ad. The goal at this stage is to grab their attention and provide value, typically through informative and engaging content that addresses their pain points or sparks curiosity.

MOFU (Middle of the Funnel)

Here, potential customers are evaluating their options. They recognize their need and are considering how best to fulfill it. At this point, your marketing efforts should demonstrate your product or service's value and how it stands out from competitors. Case studies, product demonstrations, and expert guides are particularly effective at nurturing leads through this phase.

BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel)

This is the final leg of the customer’s journey, and it is when decision-making occurs. Leads at this point are ready to convert into paying customers. The marketing content here is geared towards sealing the deal—think offers, free trials, or consultations—and addressing any last-minute objections or questions that might prevent a purchase.

Businesses can significantly improve their conversion rates and build lasting relationships with customers by understanding and strategically targeting each stage of the digital customer journey with appropriate channels. Now it’s time to talk more about them!

Maximize Reach and Impact Through Digital Marketing Channels

The beauty of omnichannel marketing lies in the diversity of channels it encompasses, each offering a unique touchpoint:

Website 

Creating a responsive and well-designed website is crucial for establishing a strong online presence. Website services encompass various aspects strategically positioned throughout the customer journey, including web design and development. 

It all works together to attract and engage customers from their initial interaction with your brand online. The design aspect focuses on creating an aesthetically pleasing layout that aligns with your brand identity, while development ensures functionality and responsiveness across different devices. 

Organic Searches (SEO)

SEO helps websites rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) by optimizing various aspects such as content, keywords, and website structure. User Experience (UX) plays a significant role in SEO by ensuring visitors have a positive experience on the website. Factors like page load speed, mobile responsiveness, and easy navigation contribute to a good user experience, which can impact a website's SEO performance.

Content is another key element of SEO. High-quality, relevant content not only attracts visitors but also helps search engines understand the website's purpose and relevance to users' search queries. Websites can improve their SEO rankings by creating valuable content that aligns with user intent.

In the customer journey, SEO can be present at different stages:

  • Top of the Funnel (TOFU): At this stage, SEO can create awareness by targeting informational keywords that address users' needs and questions. Content like blog posts, guides, and infographics can help attract users who are in the early research phase.
  • Middle of the Funnel (MOFU): SEO can target keywords that indicate user interest and intent in the consideration stage. Content such as product comparisons, case studies, and testimonials can help users evaluate their options and move closer to making a decision.
  • Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU): SEO can target keywords related to specific products or services at the decision-making stage. Optimizing product pages, pricing information, and customer reviews can help users make a final purchase decision.

Paid Ads

Leveraging the power of paid ads, such as Google Ads, Microsoft Ads, and Facebook Ads, plays a crucial role across the customer journey stages.

  • At TOFU, these ads can raise awareness by targeting relevant keywords to reach a broader audience. Example: Display and YouTube ads.
  • Moving to MOFU they help nurture leads by providing more specific information to those showing interest in your offerings. Example: Search Ads.
  • Finally, at BOFU, paid search ads can drive conversions by strategically targeting potential customers who are ready to purchase. Example: RLSA.

Pro-Tip: Choosing which channels to focus on depends on the business goals. While all channels can be useful in some cases, they might not be the same for all. Always do the exercise of studying your target audience and exploring what channels they are constantly using.

1194% Conversion Growth Using an Omnichannel Marketing Approach

Benefits of Using an Omnichannel Marketing Strategy

If, with everything stated so far, you are still wondering if this complete strategy is worth it, let’s take a look at some of its major benefits:

  1. Enhances customer experience through consistent messaging and seamless transitions between channels.
  2. Builds brand recognition by maintaining a uniform presence across all platforms.
  3. Increases customer engagement by meeting them on their preferred channels.
  4. Facilitates better data collection, helping to understand customer behaviors and refine marketing strategies.
  5. Ultimately, it leads to higher conversion rates and customer retention by personalizing the customer’s shopping experiences.

Example of an Omnichannel Strategy and How It Helped the Client

The Area of Opportunity

This client focuses on asbestos abatement and a strategy focused on paid ads to generate leads (calls and contact forms). However, we reached a point where it generated no conversions despite changes in bidding strategies, campaigns, ad copies, etc.

Omnichannel Strategy - Results

The clicks were there. However, what happens with the users once they go to the site? This is the question that led us to see that things were missing:

  • Specific pages for services
  • Content that describes the services and generates trust (for example, reviews)
  • Descriptive headings and a proper hierarchy

The Omnichannel Strategy Used

Therefore, we worked on an SEO strategy that complemented the paid ads. It included:

  • Keyword strategy
  • Keyword placements and word count
  • Page additions
  • Readability check
  • Headings hierarchy
  • EEAT content addition
  • Clear why us section

The Results

After implementing all the changes, we experimented with an increase in conversions:

Omnichannel Strategy Results: increase in conversions

Time to Get Started!

Commencing with an omnichannel approach requires a commitment to understanding your customer base and the various marketing channels they frequent. Initially, an audit of current channels and customer data is vital. The next steps involve setting clear goals, mapping the customer journey, and integrating channels to deliver consistent brand experiences. After that, continually collect data, measure outcomes, and adapt your strategy to optimize omnichannel experiences.

Starting an omnichannel marketing strategy may feel overwhelming, but its efficacy in creating connected and seamless customer experiences cannot be overstated. Whether you want to enhance your existing single channels or develop a robust omnichannel approach, now is the time to make that leap. After all, in 2024, it’s not just about being present across various platforms—it’s about creating a harmonious symphony of interactions that keep your audience engaged and loyal.

Finally, if you need assistance working on these strategies, do not hesitate to contact our expert strategists. 

Grow Your Business Online With White Shark Media

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/digital-marketing/omnichannel-digital-marketing-strategy/feed/ 0
How We Achieved a 3200% Increase in Conversions for Our White Label PPC Client https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/white-label-ppc/case-study-white-label-ppc/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/white-label-ppc/case-study-white-label-ppc/#respond Mon, 22 Apr 2024 12:54:43 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=257430

What if you could reach millions of users who match your ideal customer? Great news, you can with PPC.

Before we discuss how we did this for our client, let’s quickly dive into the basics of PPC and how it can impact your business. 

PPC is a form of online marketing that allows businesses to strategically place ads in search engine results for specific keywords. Businesses pay each time a user clicks one of their ads. 

It can impact your business because, if done well, it can lead to immediate visibility and traffic.


Initial Assessment of Our Client’s PPC Goals

Before planning out a campaign, it’s important to determine objectives. This is the first step to creating a PPC strategy as a digital marketing agency.

Our client’s business specializes in a weight loss program that allows people to regain control over their body weight.

When this client first onboarded with us, they wanted a solid strategy to build a robust digital presence for their business. They serve various areas in San Antonio, Teaneck, Oklahoma City, Portland, Bradenton, Paducah, Draper, and Scottsbluff.

In our conversations, they also added the desire to increase their leads through clicks and impressions.

This led us to prioritize two goals:

  • Increase traffic by incrementing clicks
  • Drive more conversion actions on their website

Crafting a Winning PPC Strategy

As we craft a strategy, there are many things to consider. We run through all the marketing channels, budgets, and guidelines to ensure an overview of a client’s standing and interest. 

With this client’s goals and operating areas in mind, our team created a campaign segmentation focused on target locations.

  • Keyword expansion based on targeted locations to reach more users searching those areas. Keyword expansion helps by broadening the list of terms for the keyword list and campaigns to help boost traffic.
  • Search campaign to drive more conversions related to ‘bariatric surgery’ search queries. Search campaigns allow users to create sets of ads destined for Google's search results pages.
  • Bidding strategy set to Maximize Clicks to increase traffic. A bidding strategy allows the advertiser to set price range they are willing to pay for a click on their ad. 
  • Conversion tracking installation to push contact forms from website visits. Conversion tracking helps track user’s actions on a website after clicking on an ad. This helps reveal the effectiveness of a campaign.

Results

Within a quarter, the results were monumental—a 3200% increase in conversions. We exceeded our client’s expectations in increasing traffic and conversions across campaigns. 

  • Impressions increased by 141%
  • Clicks increased by 100%
  • CPC decreased by 41%
  • Boosted Conversions by 3200%
  • Reduced CPA by 96%
Landing Page Case Study

White Label PPC

To put simply, we work with digital marketing agencies to expand books of business. We do this by offering tailored white-label PPC services. 

The benefits of outsourcing white label PPC services extends passed achieving stellar campaign performance. Working with our team also allows agencies to:

  • Experience increased flexibility and customization for your brand
  • Access to insightful resources and tools
  • Rely on expertise and certification with Google and Microsoft Ads
  • Work with upfront white-label PPC pricing 

Our team manages campaigns, sets up accounts, and tracks results while your team focuses on client relationships and rapport. Our roster of white label services can allow agencies to offer more to their clients. Products and services include:


Conclusion

Achieving a 3200% increase in conversions can seem daunting, but with the right strategy and tools, it is well within reach. Our client's success story is proof of the effectiveness of setting goals and relying on experts to execute PPC campaigns that lead to excellent results. 

As our work displays, PPC advertising offers a number of benefits to businesses, helping them grow brand awareness and boost sales. Learn more about white label PPC with White Shark Media.

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/white-label-ppc/case-study-white-label-ppc/feed/ 0
Digital Marketing Decoded: Your Burning Questions Answered by Leading Agencies https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/digital-marketing/top-digital-marketing-faqs/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/digital-marketing/top-digital-marketing-faqs/#respond Tue, 12 Mar 2024 21:23:42 +0000 https://whitesharkmedia.com/?p=257029

We relish answering questions because it builds trust with our clients. At the beginning of a white-label partnership, marketing leaders want to know as much as possible about what they can expect and get them excited.

If you want to add white-label services to your business, this post answers digital marketing FAQs. Share this post with your team as a friendly resource when addressing client concerns.


When will you first see results with Pay-Per-Click services?

The short answer is 90 days. Below is a breakdown of why:

  • Month 1: The primary focus for the first 30 days is gathering data.
  • Month 2: With a better understanding of your campaigns, strategists and account managers can start filtering out what isn’t working and making tweaks to boost performance. 
  • Month 3: Changes from Month 2 will be reflected in Month 3. Quality results such as conversions or transactions begin to surface. Additionally, your campaigns will start to see an increase in qualified leads.

How does my Pay-Per-Click budget impact my performance?

Considering the previous timeline, it’s essential to note that your budget can delay the course. Here are two examples to help you understand why this is so.

Example 1: Businesses with a Budget of $1,000

Let’s consider you have a new client interested in PPC campaigns to create brand awareness for their new jewelry line. 

They want to invest $1,000 in paid ads and don’t have previous campaign data to work with. Our team will have to start from scratch, and it will look much like the 3-month process we shared in the last example.

Your client wants to conquer the US, but our strategist will recommend focusing on a small city like St. Augustine, FL, which better uses their budget. Bigger cities are more expensive, resulting in less impact. Small wins will benefit your account and show progress.

Once the return is there and data provides new opportunities, it’s an excellent time to expand into other locations.

Example 2: Businesses with a Budget of $5,000 or More

Businesses with larger budgets can launch more aggressive campaigns. 

Here's an example from our portfolio. SVP Worldwide is one of the world's largest consumer sewing machine companies, serving over 190 countries. They struggled with big competition from other retailers and hoped to reach consistent weekly sales through PPC campaigns.

Their budget permitted a more aggressive and detailed approach to their PPC strategy, which included the following:

  • Starting branded strategy to prioritize conversion rate traffic and boost conversions.
  • Adding a seasonal campaign approach to increase the budget during the holiday season.
  • Leveraging Performance Max campaigns to take advantage of Google's algorithm.
  • Implementing a Shopping & Search strategy blend to maximize campaign performance.
  • Structuring and segmenting campaigns by product groups in different categories to improve budget management and prevent overlap in traffic.

In just a few months, our team was able to achieve a vast improvement across SVP campaigns: 

  • Impressions grew by 103%
  •  Maximized Conversions by 516%
  • Lowered CPA by 74%
  •  Incremented Conversion rate by 426%
SVP campaigns Results

Does SEO work? 

Yes, SEO works, and it will surprise you!

A recent Forbes article states that organic clicks accounted for 45.1% of all search results, proving users rely on organic search results.

Comprehensive strategies, including keyword research, on-page optimization, and link building, boost your client’s online presence and drive sustainable long-term growth. 

At White Shark Media, our process includes the following steps to ensure success:

SEO methodology

We often see business owners cut SEO because they need to understand the results. Communicating to clients that SEO is a long-term strategy and setting expectations is critical to preventing misunderstandings. 

Furthermore, SEO is a great sidekick to other efforts. Pairing organic (SEO) with paid (PPC) increases results, boosting lead quality and volume.

Improving your SEO will increase visibility, but it will only get you far with quality content and a proper marketing strategy. 


Why don’t white-label agencies provide quotes over email?

Everyone is eager to determine pricing and packages, but discovery calls are essential to quoting.

Digital marketing agency clients often come to us for one kind of support and leave with another. This pivoting happens because discovery calls allow our strategists to (1) clarify the benefits of tools and services and (2) hear out the challenges that they are facing.

Only after do we assemble a package (and quote) that works for you.


Conclusion

In today’s market, a white-label partnership offers a broad range of services and tools that can accelerate performance. However, the key to reaping the benefits of a white-label partnership is understanding the services and how you can benefit from them. 

Click here to request a conversation with one of our strategists. We’ll match your objectives and needs with the right services. 

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/digital-marketing/top-digital-marketing-faqs/feed/ 0
7 Pain Points You’ve Probably Gone Through with Your White-Label Marketing Provider https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/white-label-marketing-provider/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/white-label-marketing-provider/#respond Wed, 06 Mar 2024 16:05:04 +0000 https://whitesharkmedia.com/?p=256972

Running a successful digital marketing agency can be both challenging and rewarding. Finding a way to streamline processes and provide the best online marketing for clients is the ultimate goal, and don’t get me wrong; it can be achieved. However, even the most seasoned agencies face pain points when working with white-label marketing providers, and we figured we would put them out here so you can recognize them when shopping around.

white label marketing benefits

White-Label Marketing Partnership Challenges

No one solution is perfect, but you can checklist what’s important for your business, especially if you’re investing in a white-label digital marketing solution.

Here are the pain points you’ve probably encountered and what to do about it:

1. Limited Expertise in Digital Marketing

Challenge: Many agencies struggle with limited expertise in certain areas of digital marketing. Whether it's SEO, content creation, or social media management, having a partner who lacks expertise can hinder your agency's growth.

Solution: When choosing a white-label marketing provider, prioritize expertise. Look for partners with a strong track record and deep knowledge of the services you want to offer. A reputable white-label partner can fill the gaps in your agency's skill set.

2. Transparency with Pricing

Challenge: When working with white-label agencies, maintaining transparency in pricing can be challenging. Clients expect clear and predictable costs, but hidden fees or ambiguous pricing structures can erode trust.

Solution: Commit to a no-hidden-fees policy. Ensure you are clear about any third-party costs (e.g., ad spend, software subscriptions) and ensure they are included in the pricing breakdown.

3. Lack of Communication

Challenge: Effective communication is the cornerstone of successful white-label partnerships, insufficient or unclear communication can lead to misunderstandings, delays, and frustration.

Solution: Clearly define your expectations regarding communication frequency, channels (email, calls, meetings), and response times. Regular check-ins and project management tools should be agreed upon to enhance collaboration and keep both parties aligned. 

White Label PPC Partner Program & Tools

4. Failing to Deliver on Time

Challenge: Timeliness is crucial in digital marketing. Delays can harm client relationships and impact campaign effectiveness.

Solution: Communication is key. Ensure your white-label marketing provider offers clear communication channels and adheres to deadlines. Regular updates and transparency can prevent delays.

5. A Dip In Sales

Challenge: If your white-label services aren't selling well, it affects your revenue stream.

Solution: Understand your target audience thoroughly. Research their pain points and tailor your offerings accordingly. A white-label partner can help you identify market gaps and create compelling solutions.

6. Poor Client Retention

Challenge:Losing clients due to service dissatisfaction reflects poorly on your agency.

Solution: Choose a white-label marketing provider that delivers consistent quality. Regularly assess client satisfaction and address any issues promptly.

7. Customization to Your Needs

Challenge: Generic solutions won't set your agency apart from competitors.

Solution: Work closely with your white-label partner to customize services for each client. Tailor strategies based on individual needs, industry nuances, and specific pain points.

Choosing The Right White-Label Marketing Provider

How did these pain points resonate with you? You want to work with a partner that understands your goals, delivers high-quality services, and helps you grow your business. 

white label marketing use cases

You can also expand your service offerings, increase revenue, and scale your agency. If you want to learn more about our white-label marketing services, contact us; we’re excited to see how our solution can work for you.

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/white-label-marketing-provider/feed/ 0
How to Use Google’s PMax and Demand Gen to Make the Most Out of Your Advertising Budget https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/google-ads/google-pmax-and-demand-gen/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/google-ads/google-pmax-and-demand-gen/#respond Mon, 05 Feb 2024 14:12:52 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=256796

If you use PPC marketing, then you‘ve probably already heard of Google’s latest campaign type roll-outs, Performance Max (PMax) and Demand Gen, but how do they apply to your business? And what makes them a better choice? As a new way to help advertisers reach target audiences and achieve marketing goals, Google PMax and Demand Gen are designed to leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and its vast network of platforms and properties to stretch your marketing dollar even further.

More Efficient and Effective PPC Marketing

A new way to optimize your advertising budget and reach more customers, you might want to prioritize phasing into Google PMax or Demand Gen campaigns. These powerful campaign types can help you create and manage effective PPC marketing across different channels and platforms. Read on to learn more about how to:

What is PMax?

How Demand Gen Works

The Difference Between Them

What’s Right For Your Business?

How Does a PMax (Performance Max) Campaign Work?

Google’s PMax uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to find the best ad assets for your target audience based on factors like location, device, behavior, and context. You can also measure and optimize your campaign performance using data and insights from Google Analytics, Google Ads, and other sources.

As a new campaign type, Google’s PMax allows you to access all of Google's inventory across Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Discover Feed, and more through a single campaign. To top it off, optimizing just got enhanced through AI assistance that automatically optimizes your bids, creatives, and targeting based on your campaign goals and performance signals.

PMax is ideal for businesses who want to

  • Reach new and existing customers across the entire Google network without managing multiple campaigns and creatives.
  • Drive conversions, sales, leads, or brand awareness with flexible and customizable goal options.
  • Test and learn from different creatives, audiences, and strategies with real-time insights and recommendations.

What is a Demand Gen Campaign?

Demand Gen has come to replace Discovery campaigns with a marketing strategy focusing on generating demand for your products or services rather than just awareness. It involves creating and distributing valuable content that educates, engages, and nurtures your customers through the buyer's journey. You can use a Demand Gen campaign to build trust and credibility with your audience and generate qualified leads already at the bottom of the sales funnel.

This new campaign has features that allow you to serve visually appealing, multi-format ads on Google's most impactful placements, such as YouTube, Discover, and Gmail.

Demand Gen campaigns are perfect if you want to:

  • Generate demand and purchase consideration for products or services by showcasing your brand or offerings in an engaging way.
  • Reach potential customers who are in the later stages of their purchase journey, and influence their preferences and decisions.
  • Use a product feed to show relevant and personalized ads to customers, based on their interests and behaviors.
 pmax vs demand gen placements

So, What’s the Difference Between PMax and Demand Gen? And What Makes Them the Better Option?

AI powers Google’s PMax and Demand Gen campaigns and uses the same ad formats and assets, such as images, headlines, descriptions, and logos. However, they have some key differences in reach, inventory, and optimization.

google’s pmax and demand gen campaigns

What Is Right For Your Business, PMax or Demand Gen?

There’s no right answer here because both PMax and Demand Gen campaigns can complement each other and other campaign types to help you reach your online marketing objectives. It’s all about trying them out and seeing which mix gives you better performance.

  • PMax: Reach the widest possible audience across the entire Google network and drive conversions, sales, leads, or brand awareness, depending on your goal. Google’s PMax campaigns help you find new customers and re-engage existing ones.
  • Demand Gen: Generate demand and purchase consideration for your products or services by showcasing your brand or offerings visually appealing and engagingly. Google’s Demand Gen campaigns can help you influence potential customers who are deciding to purchase and persuade them to choose your brand over others.
  • Other campaign types (Search, Shopping, Video, or Display): Complement your PMax and Demand Gen campaigns and target specific keywords, products, audiences, or placements with more granular control and customization. Capture the intent and interest of users actively searching for or browsing your products or services and drive them to act.

Tips on using them effectively:

  • Define your goals and KPIs. 
    • What do you want to achieve, and how will you measure it? 
    • Do you want to increase traffic, conversions, sales, or retention? 
    • What are the metrics that matter most for your business?
  • Segment your audience. 
    • Who are you targeting, and what do they need? 

Pro-tip:Use Google’s PMax to create custom audiences based on various criteria, such as demographics, interests, behaviors, and intents. You can also find similar audiences that share characteristics with your existing customers.

  • Create relevant content. 
    • Provide value to your audience and address their pain points and challenges.

Pro-tip: With Demand Gen, you can create content that educates, entertains, or inspires your prospects, such as blog posts, ebooks, webinars, videos, podcasts, or infographics. Creating landing pages that capture leads and offer incentives, such as free trials, discounts, or demos, is also another option

  • Choose the right channels and formats. 
    • Reach your audience where they are and how they prefer. 
  • Test and optimize. 
    • Monitor and analyze campaign performance and make adjustments as needed.

Just In Time For The Holidays, 95% More Traffic With PMax Campaign

Put Google’s PMax and Demand Gen to Work in Your Current PPC Strategy

Google’s PMax and Demand Gen campaigns are two of the newest and most beneficial campaign types it offers your business for PPC marketing. By leveraging the power of AI and Google's vast network of platforms and properties, you can optimize your online marketing strategy and reach your target audiences and goals more effectively and efficiently.

Learn more about how to use Google’s PMax and Demand Gen by reaching out to our dedicated team!

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/google-ads/google-pmax-and-demand-gen/feed/ 0
What’s the Future of SEO for 2024? https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/seo/future-seo-2024/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/seo/future-seo-2024/#respond Mon, 18 Dec 2023 21:35:04 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=256624

With search engines becoming increasingly sophisticated, your business must start preparing for the future of SEO. That way, you can be sure your site can be found whenever your target audience searches for your products or services.

The Rise of AI on Search

As everyone has seen so far, artificial intelligence has dominated the conversation regarding digital marketing. With models such as ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, it’s clear that they’re here to revolutionize our experience when it comes to search.

However, while it has become big news starting this year, it’s essential to know that it has been Google’s goal. Since its beginning, Google has wanted to become an AI answer assistant by giving users exactly what they need

All of Google’s algorithm updates have been towards this goal. For instance, Google’s Panda update in 2011 aided the search engine in better understanding which sites are trustworthy enough to show to their users. We later had the Hummingbird update, revolutionizing its algorithm by helping it understand users' queries semantically. Finally, the Rankbrain update in 2015, the first AI system implemented in their algorithm, further Google by understanding the connection between words and concepts.

All of these changes led to Google becoming AI-first in 2016.

As of right now, we should expect AI-generated results to be fully rolled out on Google by 2024. These would work using a technique called Retrieval-Augmented Generation, which streamlines the research process by gathering all information through a search engine’s knowledge base. 

As such, users will save much more time using Google as they won’t need to go through multiple pages looking for information, as all of it will be synthesized through one AI-generated result. This could cause users to make more and more detailed searches over time. As a result, businesses should prepare accordingly to ensure they’re found at the right time. 

Evolution of SERPs So Far

Google’s algorithm has become more and more sophisticated throughout its multiple core updates. 

According to Moz, we have seen a constant increase in Google Search changes being reflected year over year, with the most drastic changes starting from 2016 on, similar to when Google became AI-first:

Google Search Changes per Year

With so many changes, seeing these reflected in SERPs is natural when it comes to trends in SEO. 

Among these changes, we have been able to see results such as:

  • Featured snippets
  • Local Pack
  • People Also Ask Section
  • Knowledge Panels
  • Continuous scrolling
  • And more.

And, as you might expect, the next big change in SERPs now is AI-generated results. 

Currently, you can see how results might show in 2024 by using Google’s experimental Search Generative Experience, or SGE in short. From what we have seen so far with Google’s SGE first suggested prompt, “great gifts for home cooks who love pasta,” SERPs push the AI-generated result first:

Google SGE Overall Result

When clicking on the option to show more, results become more diverse, offering elements such as:

  • A list of some potential gifts and a description of why they might be a good option
  • Guides found online about the topic
  • And additional prompts, such as asking follow-up questions and related searches.
Future of SEO - Google SGE AI Results

This demonstrates how Google and overall search engines are trying to merge many elements we have seen previously into one result. 

However, these results are primarily shown when making informational types of organic searches. Whenever you’re trying to make a more commercial or transactional search, we see a more diversified SERP that isn’t too dominated by AI.

Search Generative Experience Transactional Keyword

Instead, we have a more familiar SERP with elements such as Google Ads results, the Local Pack, and the option to generate an AI-powered overview. When clicking on this last option, we see a result that summarizes major results found in the SERP, including things like the Local Pack and multiple review sites.

Google SGE AI Result with Transactional Keyword

As you can see, AI-generated results are not meant to hide your business to be shown to potential customers but rather can help bring exposure to your brand. For this reason, business owners must adapt to Google’s changes appropriately, as it’s a technology that’s here to stay.

How to Prepare for the Future of SEO

Preparing for the future of SEO is essential if you want to use AI for lead generation. Here are some important things you should start doing to prepare for 2024:

Use Google SGE Often

Getting to test SGE, even though it’s in its early stages, is a must to help understand how you can still appear for searches in 2024. 

Google’s Search Generative Experience aims to address around 75% of search queries, potentially impacting many sites and losing 44-75% of their organic traffic. In other words, it’s to be expected that competition will sharply rise as more and more businesses will want to be featured in these new results.

Hence, to stay on top of your SEO game, you must continually monitor what’s showing up to your potential customers. That includes analyzing any competitor names, content types, and related prompts provided.

Experimenting with SGE will require you to log in through your personal Google account and use Google Chrome as your browser. 

Optimize Your Content

Next, you want to ensure your site has high-quality content through content optimization or creation. By doing so, you can raise your site’s topical authority

Quality content is often among the most important ranking factors for any website. From blog posts to landing pages, your site’s content must be in-depth and helpful to demonstrate experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T). 

Along with creating content, your site’s old content must be updated periodically to ensure it’s still relevant. And, if necessary, remove any content that doesn’t bring any value to your target audience, as it might hurt your site.

Prioritize Keywords That Really Matter

To guide your content marketing strategy, you must also ensure that you’re working with the right keywords and focusing on their respective search intent.

Some predictions SEO professionals are making regarding Google’s SGE is that search queries might become more and more specific. For this reason, to address these particular queries, you must choose long-tail keyword variants and focus on making your content as exhaustive and relevant as possible.

Likewise, as shown previously in this article, transactional and commercial don’t automatically show AI-generated content unless a user directly chooses for the result to show up. As a result, you can still have great visibility by ranking with keywords related to your products or services. 

By focusing on the right keywords, your business can show up to potential searches performed by your target audience.

Don’t Neglect SEO Fundamentals 

While we might be seeing major changes in Google’s SERPs, it doesn’t mean that the foundation of your SEO strategy should change. Elements such as optimizing your core web vitals and applying the right schema markup are still essential as they play a big role in enhancing user experience on your site and helping search engines understand your site better.

Likewise, other ranking factors such as citations and link building also help raise your brand’s and site’s authority in search engines.

Focus on an Omni-Channel Approach

Lastly, consider having an omnichannel plan to take your marketing strategy to the next level. 

From social media to shopping campaigns and even brand marketing, counting on an omnichannel marketing strategy helps create a unique and favorable experience for your target audience, ensuring that you are found at multiple touchpoints to your potential clients and their experience is as consistent as possible.

Likewise, emphasize gathering reviews among multiple touchpoints available for your target audience. As we reviewed previously, reviews will significantly determine your visibility for transactional queries and gain your potential client’s trust.

Start Mapping Your 2024 SEO Strategy

With the future of SEO looking a bit uncertain with the rise of AI, it’s completely normal to feel overwhelmed. However, with the tips mentioned above, you should be able to receive this upcoming year with a solid SEO strategy.

If you wish to prepare your business for this holiday season and get more sales, we encourage you to check out our video below, in which we go over the latest tips on PPC, SEO, and Facebook:

Get 63% More in Sales This Season Using Our Tips on PPC, SEO & Facebook

Take your marketing strategy to the next level in 2024 with White Shark Media. Our team of experts ensures you get the right leads and increase your ROI through our wide range of digital marketing services, including putting together a marketing plan with all the right strategies.

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/seo/future-seo-2024/feed/ 0
Top 10 Landing Page Optimization Tips for Higher Holiday Conversions https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ecommerce/holiday-landing-page-optimization-tips-ecommerce/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ecommerce/holiday-landing-page-optimization-tips-ecommerce/#respond Fri, 01 Dec 2023 23:45:47 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=256465

The holidays are coming, which means one thing: Now is the moment to enhance your ecommerce website and make it perfect for all those shoppers looking for gifts. But before you dive into the preparations, there's one important task you must complete and it is optimize your landing pages.

By implementing effective landing page optimization, you can create a shopping experience that entices visitors to return again and again. Here are some landing page optimization tips to help you make the most out of your landing pages this holiday season. But first, let's define what landing page optimization is.

What Is Landing Page Optimization?

According to Hotjar, landing page optimization (LPO) involves enhancing the design and layout of web pages to boost conversions, improve user experience (UX), and convert more visitors into loyal customers. 

LPO, a subset of conversion rate optimization (CRO), focuses on making landing pages more targeted and engaging to enhance their effectiveness. By presenting relevant information to bring the right balance between design and functionality, an optimized landing page persuades visitors to take action.

The Top 6 Must-Have Components for High-Converting Landing Pages

Getting Creative With Your Landing Pages

Ready to make your landing pages stand out this holiday season? Here are some landing page optimization tips on how you can optimize them for maximum results:

Keep it Festive

Incorporate festive elements into your landing page design, such as seasonal colors, graphics, and images. This will make your page visually appealing and create a sense of excitement and urgency among visitors. Also, consider adding holiday-themed offers and seasonal promotions to entice customers to purchase.

Make it Simple

Don't overwhelm your visitors with too much information. Just give them the key info they need to decide, like your holiday deals and how they can take advantage of them.

The easier visitors find what they're looking for, the more likely they are to complete their purchase. Ensure your landing page has clear and concise navigation so customers can easily navigate your products or services. 

Pro Tip: You can also add a search bar to help customers find specific items quickly, and a section of "you might also like" product suggestions.

product suggestion for ecommerce

Image Quality is Influencial

When it comes to landing pages, especially for ecommerce, images take a big part in the final decision for the purchase. High-quality images are necessary to showcase your products and attract your customers, display their features, colors, and characteristic.

best practices for landing page image

Optimize for Mobile Devices

More and more people are shopping on their phones, so make sure your landing pages are mobile-friendly. This means using large fonts, plenty of white space, and easy-to-tap buttons that are easily viewable and clickable on smaller screens. Some landing page optimization best practices for mobile include using vertical scrolling, reducing image sizes, and simplifying the checkout process.

mobile friendly landing page

Decrease Page Load Time

Continuing the previous tip, mobile users constantly search, and faster page loading is the magical wand that keeps them spellbound. The swifter your page loads, the lesser the likelihood of visitors vanishing into the depths. Bid farewell to high bounce rates and effortlessly dispel abandonment concerns.

landing page bounce rate statistics

Use Strong Call-To-Actions

Tell your visitors what you want them to do: shop now, sign up for your email list, or enter a contest. Make your CTAs big, bold, and easy to find. You can also use festive language and imagery to make them stand out even more.

Pro Tip: Use action-oriented language, such as "Shop Now" or "Limited Time Offer," to create a sense of urgency and encourage visitors to take immediate action.

Sprinkle Trust and Credibility 

People want to know they can trust you before buying anything. So, add logos of your partners and testimonials from happy customers. You can also add a phone number or a badge to show you're a legitimate business. Remember, credibility is key to building trust and converting visitors into customers.

customer reviews for landing page optimization

Make Sure Search Engines Love Your Page

Search engines like Google and Bing want to show users the best results possible. So, make sure your page is designed for search engines. This means using relevant keywords and phrases in your page title, headings, and content. Also, make sure your page is easy to navigate and has a lot of great content.

Gifts That Keep on Giving—Content! 

Use content that resonates with the season and your audience! Gift guides, holiday tips, or heartwarming stories make your landing page merry and bright. Plus, they provide additional value to customers and can help drive conversions. Good content can resonate with your audience and make them decide on your brand.

Expert Facts: Content can increase returns by up to 40%, build confidence in your brand, and help attract repeat customers. According to the study conducted by Semrush, it was found that users' confidence in a brand can be significantly undermined by content that is deemed poor, scarce, or unattractive. In fact, up to 87% of users are affected by such content.

Test, Test, Test

Don't be afraid to test different versions of your landing pages to see which ones perform better. You can use A/B testing to compare two versions of the same page and determine which leads to more conversions. This will help you determine what works best for your audience, make necessary changes for maximum impact, and make the final sale.

landing page A/B testing

Case Study

A study made by HubSpot found that optimized landing pages can convert 52% more leads than unoptimized landing pages. The study also found that factors like clarity of messages, relevance of content, and compelling CTAs can significantly impact conversion rates. So, make sure you follow these best practices to create high-performing landing pages that will help your business thrive and spread holiday cheer!

Unleashing the Full Potential of Your Landing Pages

Optimizing your landing pages is crucial for your holiday sales if you are an ecommerce business. Following these landing page optimization best practices can create user-friendly, and effective landing pages that drive conversions. 

If you don't know where to start, White Shark Media has the expertise to boost your ecommerce business this season. Our team of experts can guide you through process and help you design,create and optimize landing pages for your business success. Also, our variety of digital marketing services can help you improve your sales. Get in touch!

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ecommerce/holiday-landing-page-optimization-tips-ecommerce/feed/ 0
Holiday Ecommerce Advertising: Strategies to Drive Sales and Boost Profits https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ecommerce/holiday-ecommerce-advertising/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ecommerce/holiday-ecommerce-advertising/#respond Fri, 24 Nov 2023 21:13:36 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=256428

As the holiday season approaches, the digital marketplace transforms into a hub of eager shoppers, presenting a unique opportunity for e-commerce businesses. Did you know that, on average, e-commerce spending during the holiday season has been witnessing an annual increase of 14%, with projections soaring even higher this year?

For e-commerce owners, the holiday season is an ideal time to employ paid advertising strategies to maximize profits. However, it is not as simple as turning on a few advertisements and crossing your fingers—acting with intention and strategy is essential to make the most of this season’s digital opportunities.

That’s why we’ve put together this guide to help you understand how to effectively execute paid advertising for e-commerce during the upcoming holiday season.

Get 63% More in Sales This Season Using Our Tips on PPC, SEO & Facebook

Why Paid Advertising Strategies Matter During the Holidays?

The holiday season witnesses a surge in online shopping, and paid advertising is your ticket to stand out in the crowded digital marketplace. As the competition intensifies, relying on organic reach alone may not be sufficient.

Paid ad platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Microsoft (or Bing) Ads offer an opportunity to power up targeted ad campaigns that drive real results and increase brand visibility. This increases the chances of converting prospects into loyal customers—especially during the holidays when people seek ways to purchase gifts quickly and conveniently.

holiday-ecommerce-advertising

As if that’s not enough, here are other perks of incorporating paid advertising into your strategy:

1. Instant Visibility

Paid ads offer the power to instantly put your products front and center, capturing the attention of potential customers who are actively searching for and ready to buy. Unlike traditional SEO strategies that require time to build and take effect, paid ads allow you to tap into a vast pool of engaged shoppers immediately, maximizing your chances of converting them into loyal customers.

2. Targeted Reach

With precise targeting options, you can tailor your ads to reach the audience most likely to convert, increasing the efficiency of your marketing budget.

3. Seasonal Promotions

Highlight your holiday ecommerce advertising with promotions through visually appealing ad creatives, attracting shoppers looking for the best deals during this festive season.

4. Make Data-Driven Decisions

Paid advertising offers a wealth of data to inform your marketing strategy, helping you decide where to focus your efforts and budget. 

Types of Paid Advertising for E-commerce

Before diving into the how-tos, let's explore the different types of paid advertising options available for e-commerce businesses:

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

PPC ads allow you to bid on keywords relevant to your products and display your ad at the top of search engine results pages or on websites that have opted for ad placements. You only pay when a user clicks on your ad, making it an efficient and cost-effective option.

For retail businesses, there are several types of PPC campaigns that can be particularly effective. These include:

  • Shopping campaigns: These campaigns are designed to promote specific products and appear alongside organic search results and on Google Shopping and partner websites. They are particularly well-suited for showcasing product images, pricing, and availability.
  • Performance Max campaigns: These campaigns utilize automated machine learning to optimize ad placements across a variety of Google channels, including Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Discover. They are ideal for reaching a wider audience and driving conversions.
  • Display remarketing campaigns: These campaigns target users who have previously visited your website or interacted with your brand, displaying your ads to them as they browse other websites that have partnered with Google. They effectively remind potential customers of your brand and encourage them to return to your site.
  • Remarketing campaigns: These campaigns target users who have previously visited your website or shown interest in your products or services, delivering tailored ads to them on the Google Display Network. They are great for staying top of mind and increasing conversions.

Get a Free PPC Audit From Us

Social Media Ads

With over 2.7 billion monthly active users on Facebook alone, social media platforms offer a vast audience to showcase your products. 

Display Advertising

Display ads appear on websites that have agreed to show them, typically as banners or pop-ups. These ads can be targeted based on the website's audience demographics or previous online behavior.

Retargeting Ads

Retargeting ads are a powerful tool for e-commerce stores, as they allow you to target users who have previously visited your website or added products to their cart but did not make a purchase. This type of advertising helps convert window shoppers into paying customers.

Tips for Making the Most From Your Paid Ads

Now that we've covered the types of paid advertising available, it's time to dive into actionable tips for implementing them effectively. These are the tips we can share based on our experience as a leading digital marketing agency:

1. Start Early and Plan Ahead

Be sure to start your paid advertising campaign before the holiday season is in full swing. Begin planning and creating ads well in advance so you can launch them at the optimal time.

2. Leverage Seasonal Keywords and Visuals

Incorporate holiday-specific keywords into your PPC ads and SEO strategy to capture the attention of shoppers actively searching for holiday deals. Perhaps you can take this opportunity to create holiday category pages with the right SEO approach.

Additionally, make sure your visuals evoke the holiday spirit. Seasonal banners, ad creatives, and product images can significantly boost click-through rates and conversions.

holiday-ecommerce-ads

3. Optimize for Mobile Shoppers

With more and more shoppers making purchases on their mobile devices, ensuring your ads are optimized for mobile is crucial. Responsive design, streamlined navigation, and fast page loading speeds will provide a better user experience and increase the likelihood of conversions.

4. Create Urgency with Limited-Time Offers

Consumers often procrastinate on holiday shopping. Encourage immediate purchases by running limited-time offers. Display countdown timers in your ads to create a sense of urgency and stimulate quick decision-making.

5. Use Retargeting to Re-Engage Shoppers

Many visitors will browse your store without purchasing. Utilize retargeting ads to re-engage these shoppers. These ads remind customers of items they viewed or left in their carts, nudging them to complete their purchases.

6. Track, Test, and Optimize Your Ad Campaigns

If ecommerce tracking can do wonders during regular dates, can you imagine what tracking can do during holidays? For this, here is our most insightful tip:

  • Monitor your ad performance throughout the holiday season.
  • Analyze key metrics like click-through rates, conversion rates, and return on ad spend. Use these insights to optimize your ad campaigns, shift your budget to high-performing ads, and improve overall performance.

Remember, successful advertising involves continual testing and tweaking based on data-driven insights.

Speaking of keeping track of your campaigns and using the data to inform decisions, Adclicks is a great tool that provides custom, data-driven, and real-time reports.

ads-reporting-platform

Case Study: How One Ecommerce Store Increased Sales by 156% with Our Paid Advertising Service

And since we like to provide backed-up information, we’d like to share this case study made for one of our ecommerce partners that got amazing results after getting paid advertising done by our team.

Norwal PowerSystems, an emergency backup power generator and equipment company, needed help increasing qualified traffic, re-engaging previous visitors, and ultimately increasing sales and revenue. White Shark Media was able to help them achieve these goals by implementing several paid advertising strategies, including

  • Splitting the accounts into more specific target audiences
  • Modifying the attribution model
  • Testing different automated bidding strategies
  • Using ad customizers, if-functions, and new ad variations
  • Implementing new remarketing audiences
  • Upgrading tracking tools

The results? We helped Norwal PowerSystems increase sales by 156%, exceed all of its goals, and achieve an exponential return on its investment.

Get to know all the details about this case study here.

Partner With a Proven Agency for Holiday E-commerce Advertising

In conclusion, the holiday season is a crucial time for e-commerce businesses to make a lasting impact. Partnering with an experienced advertising agency like White Shark Media can help you optimize your campaigns for increased sales and revenue.

With our expertise in PPC management, social media paid management, SEO, and sales enablement solutions, we'll help you maximize your holiday season budget and ensure you get the best return on your investment.

Drive Holiday Sales with Strategic Ecommerce Advertising Campaigns by White Shark Media

We understand that the holidays are a busy time for businesses, so we've made it easy to get in touch with us. Simply fill out our contact form, and we'll happily answer any questions you have.

We'll get you started on a winning holiday advertising strategy that will help you achieve your goals.

We wish you a successful holiday season!

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ecommerce/holiday-ecommerce-advertising/feed/ 0
How to Leverage Seasonal Landing Pages & Creatives This Holiday Season https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/seo/seasonal-landing-pages/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/seo/seasonal-landing-pages/#respond Fri, 03 Nov 2023 22:10:27 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=256338

Did you know that in July, more than 25% of Americans kick off holiday shopping? By October’s end, 50% are shopping, and 28% are done. With 87% relying on Google properties, 65% on social media, and 59% on online marketplaces, is your business ready for the season ahead? 

The holiday season is a golden opportunity to engage potential customers with targeted messaging and creative content. It’s time to leverage all the resources at your disposal, like seasonal landing pages, video ads, and banner ads, to reach your target audience and drive conversions.

Landing Pages

Landing pages are excellent tools for driving sales anytime but can be particularly effective during the holidays. All-year-round landing pages are okay if your site stocks products or offers services people buy throughout the year. However, cyclical products or services require a different strategy, with demand increasing during seasonal periods like the holidays.

A landing page about just one product, seasonal discount, or gift package can be a good way to focus a customer’s attention and nudge them to make a purchase. 

Holiday-targeted PPC campaigns must incorporate contextually aligned holiday landing pages that support shoppers' expectations to click on your paid ads. Seasonal landing pages offer a good message match for your customers because they are designed to accurately reflect the promotions of your seasonal ad copy that got them there in the first place. This message match could also help reduce bounce rates.

Still not sure if this strategy is for you? Here are some benefits of implementing holiday landing pages into your holiday marketing campaign strategies:

  • Drive more conversions: Remove distractions while providing all the information shoppers need to decide. 
  • Increase opportunities for personalization and segmentation: Personalized and segmented assets work to build customer trust and loyalty long term. 
  • Track results: Tracking promotions with seasonal landing pages makes it easier to attribute behaviors and metrics. This might include clicks, purchases, time spent on the page, and bounce rate.
holiday landing page

Video Creatives 

Have you been influenced to make a purchase by a video you watched online over the past 3 months? If the answer is yes, there is a reason why. People turn to YouTube when shopping every day; in fact, YouTube is the #1 platform used to research a product/brand or decide about a purchase. During the holiday season, online video is a major source of discovery and inspiration for consumers. 

Implementing Holiday YouTube ad campaigns can help you reach key audiences where they are consuming content and drive conversions.

Video Ads Holiday Season

Capture customers' attention along the conversion funnel by:

  • Creating compelling video campaigns with various video ad formats to engage customers in different ways on YouTube and across video partner sites.
  • Common early-season activities for shoppers include searching for gift ideas and turning to YouTube creators for reviews and inspiration. Now is the time to strategically share gift guides, promotions, discounts, etc, and create video content to spark ideas and gift lists.

6 Ways to Improve Google Ads Ad Relevance & Quality Score

Banner Creatives 

According to Google, about a third of consumers in surveyed markets are spending more time making decisions (30%), considering more brands (30%), and considering more stores/retailers (29%).

Creating display and remarketing PPC Banner Ads is a great way to reinforce holiday campaign messages and create brand recognition among audiences during the discovery and decision stage.

Invest in visually striking banners that grab attention and communicate your key messages effectively.

YouTube Ads Research

Extra Tips and Best Practices

Expanding your digital marketing efforts during the season takes research and planning for success. So make sure to:

  • Define your business objectives and target KPIs to develop a strong holiday marketing strategy. Whether you want to promote a new holiday product line or drive traffic to new locations, get clear on and prioritize your holiday goals. 
  • Use data to build your strategy, analyze your top-selling products, brands, and pricing benchmarks, explore the competitive landscape, and get ideas for even better performance. 
  • Attract deal-seekers by adding promotions, local promotions, and sale prices. In fact, 48% of consumers say they buy from new brands offering better deals/prices more often.
  • Consider sustaining your holiday advertising throughout the week and past Dec 25th. Last holiday season, consumers spent on average $4.2 billion on weekdays and $4.4 billion on weekend days, according to a Mastercard credit card analysis conducted by BCG.

Accelerate Your Holiday Marketing This Season

The holiday season is not a time to slow down on your digital marketing efforts, if you’re not in front of shoppers early, you’re leaving sales on the table. Seasonal landing pages are a key tool to gain traction for your new e-commerce winter lines, Black Friday, or Christmas promotions, they offer a good message to match for your customers because they are designed to accurately reflect the promotions of your seasonal ad copy that got them there in the first place.

Navigating the holiday marketing landscape can be challenging. Our team is ready to guide you every step of the way to build a winning holiday marketing strategy. Whether it’s selecting the right channel to start your holiday advertising efforts or creating seasonal landing pages, videos, or banner ads, don’t hesitate to reach out.

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/seo/seasonal-landing-pages/feed/ 0
Tap Into High-Buying Intent for Holiday Performance on Google Search Engines https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ppc/holiday-performance-on-google/ https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ppc/holiday-performance-on-google/#respond Wed, 25 Oct 2023 21:17:50 +0000 https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/?p=256298

As a digital marketing agency, we are always striving to gain knowledge on the latest trends, strategies and consumer behavior online to sharpen our products and services.

So this time around, our CEO, Daniel Alvarado, and I had the pleasure to attend the Google Think Retail Event in New York City at the end of August, allowing us to participate in several workshops on how to improve holiday performance on Google by implementing a consumer-first approach using four different shopper mindsets in the strategy.

Google Think retail event

Before diving into key takeaways from the event, it is important to debunk the myth that businesses should turn off their lights after Christmas and pause their paid advertising efforts or drastically reduce their marketing budgets because potential clients “do” all their shopping before Christmas day. 

“US consumers spent over $47 billion in retail (excluding auto, grocery, and restaurant) in the two weeks post Christmas day in 2022, and this year, the industry is expecting a 4.5% growth in retail sales YoY. -Mastercard analysis by BCG.

Unless you or your client offers a product or a service that targets only businesses that close their operations for Christmas/New Year holidays, we recommend continuing to invest in paid advertising to maximize your exposure and your chances of generating conversions and sales. 

Holiday Buying-Intent Mindset by Shopper & Moment

Now, let's take a closer look at the shopper’s mindset and behavior in Q4 of the year. Here is how Google labels and segments shopper mindset and suggests considering a consumer-first approach to the season.

Meet consumers as the season progresses and their behavior shifts from deliberate to deal-seeking, determined to devoted. Optimizing your marketing efforts earlier in the year (beginning of Q3) will give you a headstart to tapping into these shopping audiences to maximize sales for your business during the holiday season.

→ Deliberate | October - November

Shoppers want to get a jumpstart on planning their gift list, looking for reviews, and researching price, availability, and promotions.

Behavior Marketing Optimization
74% of holiday purchases were planned ahead of time. Use Customer Match, New & Returning Users, Offline Data and more to your advantage by targeting priority and prospective customers.
On average, 10 touchpoints to inform and evaluate purchases that are inspired by an influencer. Scale AB testing, and use AI-powered Budget & Scenario planning tools like Performance planner to plan for demand.
87% of holiday shoppers reported using a Google property like Search, Maps or YouTube. Leverage account level AI powered insights to make real-time modifications, and be present during discovery with YouTube.
End of October, 50% Americans are shopping for holiday over any two-day period and an average of 28% of their holiday shopping is complete.

Source: Google shopping study 2022-2023

→ Deal-Seeking | Black Friday - Cyber Monday

Shoppers are ready to buy, but on their own terms. They have already done their homework - researching, comparing products, watching videos and now they’re ready to get the best bang for their buck.

Behavior Marketing Optimization
Shopping-related searches for “deals” grew by 2,300% during the week of Black Friday/Cyber Monday. Capture sustained demand & remain competitive with Performance Max + Broad Match, while providing accurate information via Pricing and Promotions Feed annotations.
70% of “Black Friday” shopping-related searches happen the day before. Be present when shoppers are deal seeking by enabling Curbside / Pickup annotations, and Video Action Campaigns with Shoppable Product Feeds.
Consumers spent as much in the 3 days post-Cyber Monday as spent on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. Be there when it matters most with high impact creative and formats across search and YouTube.

Source: Google shopping study 2022-2023

→ Determined | December

It’s crunch time to get last minute gifts. These shoppers have the highest of intent and are ready to purchase now, wherever and however they can before shipping cut off dates.

Behavior Marketing Optimization
Shoppers have 50% of their shopping complete by the beginning of December. Accelerate purchasing by reaching more audiences with Broad Match + Value Based Bidding, and providing accurate & informative shopping feed annotations.
More than 1/2 of shoppers used five or more channels to shop over a two-day period. Highlight your stores with Local Inventory Ads, Omni goals for Video Action Campaigns, and Curbside/Pickup Annotations.
Online search was used before 95% of in-store holiday shopping occasions. Performance Max for eComm and Store Goals, and Omnichannel bidding will help you stay on top of potential sales.
US consumer spending on weekdays during the holidays continues to increase annually. Last holiday season, spend was ~$4.2B on weekdays and ~$4.4B on weekends.

Source: Google shopping study 2022-2023

→ Devoted | Post-Season

There is a significant bump in the number of self-gifting shopping occasions, which opens up new chances to connect with loyal shoppers and build momentum into the new year.

Behavior Marketing Optimization
US consumers spent $47 billion dollars in retail in the two weeks post-December 25th. Strengthen logistics with Merchant Center Reporting & Insights, accurate Shopping Feed Annotations, and Local Inventory Ads to help clear off the post-holiday shelves.
57% of holiday shopping occasions were self-gifting between December 26th and January 4th, which is significantly higher than the year before. Reach your most loyal customers with Customer Match, Video Reach and Action Campaigns, Shoppable Video and App Promotions.
Scale your real-time learnings from holiday while leaning back into AI-powered planning tools like Performance & Reach Planner.

Source: Google shopping study 2022-2023

Connecting Your Ecommerce to Ready-to-Shop Audiences

To maximize opportunities during this holiday season, closely monitoring campaign holiday performance on Google and taking advantage of first-party data (customer match, new & returning users, offline data, etc.) while keeping industry, market, and competitors in check, specifically what will make your business stand out. Don’t forget to utilize Merchant Center Insights to understand customers and the competitive landscape better. Also, remember to align your budgets based on business seasonality and demand, considering specific campaign goals when using a shared budget.

During this holiday season, you must ensure your shopping feed is as healthy as possible, meaning no disapproved items or limited products due to missing information. Also, double-check that you have the most updated information on your site and Merchant Center regarding availability, pricing, promotions, and shipping & return policy.

Finally, considering that shopping behavior is no longer linear and potential shoppers go through a multitouch journey before acquiring a product, you must implement an omnichannel marketing strategy. 

“More than 50% of shoppers used five or more channels, like social media and video, to shop over a 2-day period, and online search was used before 95% of in-store holiday shopping occasions.” -Google

If you have a physical store, make sure to track Store visits and import offline conversions to have a better understanding of how your pay per click campaigns are impacting your overall business.

5 Tips To Build a Successful Digital Marketing Campaign For The Holidays

Is Your Business Prepared to Attract the Right Holiday Shoppers?

Stand out from the crowd and reach your target audience with Google. Our digital marketing agency specializes in helping businesses like yours optimize their online presence through paid advertising and grow their sales with Google. Whether you need help with Google Ads, Google Analytics, Google Business Profile, or any other Google product, we have the expertise and experience to help your business thrive online. Prepare for holiday shoppers on Google with one of our experts!

]]>
https://www.whitesharkmedia.com/blog/ppc/holiday-performance-on-google/feed/ 0