‘Tis the season to shop! This means that many of us are finding ourselves searching for that perfect gift on our smartphones in countless micro-moments throughout the day. These shopping micro-moments have replaced shopping marathons. In fact, shoppers now spend 7% less time on each mobile session, yet online shopping purchases on smartphones have gone up 64% over the last year, and 30% of all online shopping purchases now happen on mobile phones1. That’s why it’s crucial that your business show up when people turn to their mobile devices this holiday season to find products and services like yours.
Here are tips to help your business connect with potential customers during these shopping micro-moments.
1) Update your AdWords campaign for the holidays
Over half of holiday shoppers say they plan to shop on their smartphones in moments throughout the day while walking and commuting2. Reach shoppers on the go with ads on their mobile devices. If you haven’t checked the text on your ads in a while, take a look and create copy highlighting your seasonal hours, discounts or promotions. This could lead to more traffic to your website and more phone calls and sales.
2) Drive traffic to your place of business
With location extensions in AdWords, you can create mobile ads with your address, phone number, and a link with directions to your physical location.
Evergreen Lodge, for example, uses location extensions and seasonal campaigns to drive customers to their winter package deals at Yosemite. From September until now, their ads have seen a 54% increase in click-through rates compared to ads without an address.
For businesses looking to drive holiday shoppers to their store this holiday, simply updating your ads with location extensions not only helps people find you online, but can drive foot traffic to your business. Roughly 95% of retail sales still take place in physical stores3. In addition, 82% of smartphone users say they use search to find a local business4, and 3 in 4 shoppers report being more likely to visit physical stores as a result5.
3) Adjust your budget for the busy holiday season
It’s a busy time of year with holiday shopping traffic increasing for many businesses. Make sure you’re not losing potential traffic. Take a few minutes to see if you’re hitting your CPC (cost-per-click) or CPA (cost-per-acquisition) targets. And glance through your AdWords budget report to make sure your business is showing up when people are looking for you especially during your peak hours. There might be an opportunity to up your budget to maximize reaching that increased traffic while still driving ROI.
4) Consider creating a gift guide for shoppers
We could all use a little help in our hunt for the perfect gift, and shoppers are now searching online for gift guides more than ever. If you sell products that are especially helpful for holiday shoppers, think about putting together a list or gift guide to help your customers make choices faster. Kansas City Steaks provides suggestions to shoppers looking for deals on their freshly packaged choice cut meats. They place the gift guide at the top of their website and offer price tiering as well as free shipping deals to increase holiday sales from their website.
If redesigning your website isn’t a possibility, tap into the 1 in 4 shoppers who say online videos are their go-to source for gift ideas6 by creating a YouTube video highlighting your top holiday items.
5) Spruce up your business listing with photos
Google business listings with photos get 42% more requests for directions and 35% more clicks than those without7. That means window shopping is happening online, too. Captivate shoppers before they even click on your website or driving directions by uploading photos on Google My Business. The average user looks at 12+ photos before making a decision, so create the perfect depiction of your business using this shot list or visit www.gybo.com/holidays for more details on how to create great holiday photos on Google My Business.
We hope these simple tips provide you with easy ways to show up in front of mobile shoppers throughout the yuletide blitz. From our team at Google to your business, we’re wishing you the most fruitful holiday season yet.
Posted by Claire Mudd, Head of SMB Marketing
1. Google Analytics, Account Data in United States, Sept 2014/2015
2. Google/Ipsos MediaCT, Consumer Holiday Intentions Study, 2015
3. eMarketer, Total US Retail Sales Top $4.5 Trillion in 2013, Outpace GDP Growth, April 2014
4. Think with Google, Extra Space Storage Creates and Tests Ads in Real Time, Increases CTR by 113%, December 2014
5. Google, Ipsos MediaCT and Sterling Brands Research Study, March to May 2014
6. Google/Ipsos MediaCT, Consumer Holiday Intentions Study, 2015
7. Google/Oxera, The Benefits of Complete
Business Listings, December 2014