58.4% of consumers make a purchase online each week. That’s a lot!
With Google Shopping taking up 89% of non-brand retail search clicks, it’s more important than ever that your brand stands out from the competition. One way companies aim to do this is with discounts and sales, however, a lot of the time, these are misaligned with their paid media strategy.
More often than not, this means they don’t reap the rewards Google Shopping’s powerful systems during key sale periods.
A connected approach should always be driven from both sides if you want to maximise your performance, and there are several ways in which you can ensure you’re getting the most from your strategy.
CONSIDER YOUR PRODUCT IN THE SERP
One important thing to consider is how your sale will be shown in the SERP itself. When you have a price discount, this is evident in the results, but with some offers, such as a 3 for 2 or a price with a discount code, this isn’t always as clear.
Finding a way to clearly display these discounted prices in your results can really make your product stand out, though this can be tricky if you have a deal live on site that applies at checkout as this won’t be quite as evident and you won’t be able get that instant advantage over your competitors.
With shopping, the only way to really shout about sales is with an actual price reduction, due to any image overlays potentially causing disapproval. This can be countered by a connected PPC strategy and utilising search to promote key messaging. However, within shopping Itself, it’s worth considering tweaking the approach to maximise CTR.
PREPARATION IS KEY TO OVERCOME THE LEARNING PERIOD
Around 1/3 of buyers will purchase from a retailer they’ve never bought from before, so it’s vital that your strategy is strong.
This makes preparation incredibly important. One major factor many brands don’t consider is the buildup to the sale itself, and the unpredictably of Google automation in the early stages.
Pushing a flash sale live with little notice can be a nightmare for PPC when being asked to launch new campaigns at the drop of a hat, because by the time the sale is over, Google tends to STILL be in a learning period.
Shopping activity needs time to learn, so if you want to run effective shopping campaigns, you should start slowly, ramping up your activity a few weeks before the sale.
Utilise seasonal bid adjustments and tweaking of bidding strategies to maximise your sales performance, rather than simply setting activity live for the duration of the sale and being done with it.
ENSURE YOUR FIRST PARTY DATA IS IN PLACE EARLY
Finally, you should make sure you have your first party data in place early. Ideally you’ll be updating this regularly so that when a sale does go live, you have lists and audiences in place where you can really push hard.
These consumers will be some of the most relevant possible, so to have a strong collection of customers available will be hugely beneficial, not only for the sale period but also on a day to day basis.
If you don’t align your overall strategy with your marketing, you won’t get the most out of your sales and will therefore miss out on valuable revenue. A good Google Shopping strategy can be hugely beneficial, but even more so when properly connected.
If you have any further questions on how to maximise your Google Shopping performance please get in touch to speak to our team or head over to our blog for more paid media insights.
