One of the greatest additions Google gave us this year was the addition of Smart Shopping, allowing us to utilise Google’s AI technology to create more efficient and successful shopping campaigns.
With some early adopters achieving 57% increases in revenue, and 61% higher return on ad spend, Smart Shopping has established itself as an e-commerce champion.
However, with Christmas drawing closer we are about to experience our first holiday season with this new innovation, so it is important to understand how you can maximise your return over this period.
Here are some tips from our Klypsters:
Understand Your Goals & Revise Budget
In 2017, Google reported an average 30% increase in traffic over the Christmas period. In order to make the most of this increase, we need to re-evaluate our goals and adjust our budget accordingly. Increase your budget by the percentage you want to see sales increase by.
For example, if the traffic increases by 30% over Christmas, at minimum you should be planning for a 30% increase in budget to capture these new potential buyers. With the increased opportunity and high sales volumes, there is no better time than now to put a few more dollars in to increase your revenue.
Stay Competitive & Revise Bidding Strategies
The biggest hurdle Google Advertisers are going to face this holiday season, is other advertisers.
Due to this time of year being the highest sales period for e-commerce, you will be fighting with more advertisers than usual for sales. This means it is important to put in the ground work to remain competitive.
The first thing you need to do is reduce your ROAS percentage by 5-10% for your bidding strategy. While we want our ROAS to be as high as possible for your business, a higher percentage bidding strategy can be a detriment.
A higher percentage can put a limit on the amount of times you show and decrease your opportunity. Therefore, competitors with more competitive bidding strategies are going to profit off of the traffic volume increase, while you might find that you achieve less than usual.
Quality Control
Nothing is going to dampen Christmas cheer more than a mass product disapproval mid-December. So, in order to keep the Grinch from stealing this Christmas, you need to do some quality control on your data feed & product data.
Check the Diagnostics page on your Google Merchant Centre account to ensure there are no red flags that have occurred or may occur in the future. Once you have identified the issue, ensure that it is actioned immediately.
Beyond this, make sure that you have as much relevant and quality information in your product information as possible. This will help encourage good quality searches, and open you up to more qualified leads, meaning less wasted spend & higher profit.
Last Minute (Smart) Shopping
By putting in the extra effort to remain competitive, and investing in your own success, you’re positioning yourself above thousands of other advertisers. If you're looking for a bit of extra help online, Google's Academy On Air have some great tips and tricks to get the ball rolling!
While everyone else is rushing to buy presents and scrambling to deal with rising cost-per-clicks, you will have the sales rolling in, and be setting your business up for a successful 2019.
Keen to find out how powerful Google Smart Shopping can be for you and your business? Drop us a line or shoot our Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne team a message!
