The ho-ho-holidays are upon us, and there is no escaping the madness of shoppers, decorations, lights, food, and holiday madness for the remainder of 2017. You might be rolling your eyes at the fact that you started hearing Christmas tunes blast through your radio as early as October; not to mention that every store in the mall has been decorated in red, green, silver, and gold since September!
If you are not a holiday lover, do not worry, you have ALMOST made it to the finish line. On the other hand, if you are a marketer, this is fabulous news! You have a few more weeks to capitalize on this time of increased online shopping, researching, and spending via your digital advertising campaigns.
Google recently provided us with some fascinating statistics that should help inform your holiday strategy. Check out the top 10 holiday marketing stats below.
#1: 8 in 10 holiday shoppers are influenced by the internet before making a purchase (with search engines being the most influential).
Impressive, right? Basically 80% of shoppers are influenced by something online before making a purchase. This typically starts by typing a keyword into a search engine, like Google or Bing.
To be honest, this statistic was not very shocking to me. I can say that almost anything I buy, whether in the store or online, starts with a Google search or visit to a website. Google also reported that this was 13% increase since 2015.
#2: 76% of mobile shoppers change their mind about which retailer/brand to buy from after searching online.
As all of us are walking around with a mini computer (aka a phone!) in our pockets nowadays, making it easier then ever to research a product on the fly. If you are not guilty of looking up reviews on a product before buying it then I’m impressed! I have found myself in the aisle of Target many times reading review after review before making a purchase.
This can often lead a shopper to change their mind if they find a more competitive product while searching on their device. Google found this to be true, with 76% of shoppers changing their mind after researching online. Moral of the story: bid on competitive keywords, and outshine your competition with more compelling ads and better offers to turn their leads into your customers.
#3: 64% of smartphone shoppers turn to mobile search before heading to the store.
This statistic again reinforces the importance of mobile search has during the holidays, as well as how closely it ties to in-store shopping. Whether it is ensuring the items on sale at a store are in line with what a shopper is looking for or even discovering new stores to get their holiday shopping done, smartphone shoppers are searching before hopping in their cars to drive to the nearest storefronts. This goes to show how important it is to have an online presence that is easy for searchers to discover, especially during the holiday season.
#4: 68% of shoppers visit YouTube on their smartphones to determine what to buy.
This one surprised me a bit! While it is undeniable that video has become a critical part of a modern day marketer’s strategy, who knew that YouTube is used so often to shop?
Since videos are much easier to process than text, this does make sense. For instance, if you’re looking to buy either a MacBook or a Dell, would you rather read an e-book comparing and contrasting the two or watch a two-minute video review?
So marketers, don’t forget about having a YouTube presence, and more importantly having a robust mobile video strategy for the holidays.
#5: More than half of shopping-related searches happened on mobile in Q4 of 2016.
Clearly, your mobile search strategy cannot be ignored this holiday season! With over half of the shopping-related searches occurring on mobile devices in Q4 of 2016, this holiday shopping season is likely to have even more mobile searches.
We’re all addicted to our phones, and it shows. Therefore, your business needs to be there to capture these on-the-go shoppers and compel them through their mini-computers. Take some steps to ensure your ads are mobile-ready with ad extensions (like call and location extensions), mobile-responsive websites and landing pages, and clear and concise ad copy for smaller screens.
#6: Bid prices can increase by 140% over their yearly average during the holidays!
Yikes! A 140% increase in bid prices might sound like a lot, but unfortunately, with more people shopping comes more competition, therefore higher prices.
This probably is not super-shocking to you, but it does mean that in order to be competitive it may be smart to increase your budget and bids for this time of year, especially on top-selling seasonal products. Don’t let an uncompetitive budget ruin your holiday season.
#7: One-third of shoppers report holiday weekend purchases were driven by promotions.
Why would you put items on sale during peak selling times (i.e. the holidays)? While it might seem counterintuitive to run a promotion or discount during the holiday season, it can greatly benefit sales in the long run by increasing the chances of a higher pool of leads clicking and converting on your ads.
If someone is comparing your product to another, they will clearly choose yours if it’s being sold at 25% off. While it’s probably not realistic to run crazy promotions on all of your offerings, do take advantage of the ones that you do put on sale by highlighting them in your ad copy. Utilize ad extensions, visual display ads, and discount language in your ad copy, and watch the sales come in!
#8: Conversions fall by up to 20% for every second delay of mobile page load time.
You probably understand by now that mobile is critical to achieving holiday marketing success, but nailing down a killer mobile ad strategy while ignoring some of the fundamentals of mobile performance can really hurt your holiday sales.
For instance, as this statistic shows, ignoring your mobile page load time can lead to a 20% drop in conversions! If your mobile landing pages aren’t quite cutting it in terms of load times, take a step back, and fix this before focusing on your ad strategy; this is critical to achieving mobile holiday sales success.
#9: Retail ecommerce sales are predicted to increase by 15.8% during the 2017 holiday season.
If you run an ecommerce business, this data is for you. The olden days of driving to a shopping mall or a strip of stores in the city to turn into Santa for the night are long gone. Why bother when you can do all of your shopping without taking your slippers off?
While of course many people still shop in store, ecommerce holiday shopping continues to grow at a rapid right. This just proves that the chances to capitalize on advertising during this season are tremendous.
You should be advertising on the search and display networks, remarketing, taking advantage of social ad platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and ensuring that you maximize this opportunity to bring in as many holiday sales as possible.
#10: Mcommerce sales are predicted to increase by 35% during the 2017 holiday season.
Again, mobile is the star of the show this holiday season. Ecommerce businesses need to ensure their mobile strategies are in top shape because more and more people are opting to purchase on their devices. Google predicts that mobile ecommerce (or mcommerce) will take over in 2017 by a whopping 35% increase in sales in 2017!
While there are only a few fast weeks left of holiday madness, it is never to late to capitalize on the potential sales that will likely fly in. Take advantage of this time, and get working on some impactful holiday marketing campaigns.
About the Author:
Margot is a Content Marketing Specialist at WordStream and nutrition graduate student at Framingham State. She loves all things digital, learning about nutrition, running, traveling, and cooking. Follow her on:
Twitter: @margotshealthub
Instagram: @margotshealthhub
Blog: http://www.margotshealthhub.com/