Combining organic and paid strategies is not a new thing in marketing. Integrating SEO and ads means you’re covering both bases: reaching users who actively search and those who respond to targeted promotions. It is a great tactic for companies that want to create a cohesive customer journey.
But do you know you can use this combined tactic as a holiday marketing strategy to double your results?
Why Double Your Marketing Efforts During the Holidays?
The holiday season has a unique effect on consumers. The collective emotions surrounding this festivity move people into action, especially when they align with what they’re about to do. For example, brands often evoke nostalgia, happiness, or togetherness in their promotions to trigger consumer’s impulse to purchase. This enables them to drive consumer behavior into a sale.
This image is taken from Byteout.
Moreover, people naturally want to follow the trend. Once they see their peers and families bonding through their holiday wish list or shopping, it triggers an emotion of wanting to share the same experience. Thus, this creates a domino effect of widespread holiday shopping.
According to PwC, despite the effects of inflation, a consumer is projected to spend an average of $1,638 for their holiday shopping this year. No brand and digital marketing company wants to miss this opportunity to benefit from the holiday fever. Boosting marketing efforts by combining organic and paid digital marketing strategies can help companies achieve this goal.
This image is taken from PwC.
Planning for Holiday Marketing 2024
Organic SEO helps ensure a brand shows up in holiday-related searches without direct advertising costs. On the other hand, paid ads give the message an extra push by precisely targeting holiday shoppers who may not find it through organic results alone. Aligning both strategies with the help of a digital marketing agency in the Philippines creates a full customer experience, where users might first encounter the brand through an ad and then find it organically later on, or vice versa.
To leverage both strategies for the holiday of 2024, here are some tips brands can do:
SEO Holiday Strategies
- Target Holiday Keywords
Holiday-specific keywords are essential for capturing the surge in seasonal searches. Holiday online shopping brings in a wave of unique, time-sensitive queries, such as “Christmas gift ideas for dads,” “Black Friday laptop deals,” or “last-minute holiday decorations.” If a business focuses solely on regular keywords, it risks missing out on this surge in holiday-specific search intent.
This image is taken from WriterZen.
Brands can research and analyze holiday-related keywords by using a mix of keyword research tools, trend analysis, and competitor insights. Start with Google Trends to identify trending holiday topics. Enter keywords like “holiday gifts” or “Christmas deals,” and adjust the timeframe to the previous year’s holiday season.
Then, tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Google Keyword Planner can be used to filter keywords by seasonal demand. Look for terms with high search volume in the last quarter of the year to find holiday-specific keywords that attract more searches as the season approaches.
- Update Seasonal Content
While holidays feel unique every single year, they’re actually evergreen from a long-term perspective. Holidays like Black Friday, Christmas, and New Year will consistently be major shopping events for years to come, which means that search intent around them remains relatively the same.
Instead of creating new pages each year, it’s far more effective to build a single, evergreen page that can be updated annually a month or two before the holiday. This approach allows the SEO agency Philippines to preserve link equity and build authority over time.
This image is taken from Rellify.
- Prepare Website for Increased Organic Search Traffic
This image is taken from Netcore Cloud.
Organic web traffic is expected to increase during the holiday season. To prevent downtime during the holiday rush, prepare for traffic spikes by optimizing website speed, improving mobile responsiveness, and securing adequate server capacity.
A fast, mobile-friendly site improves SEO and ensures holiday shoppers have a seamless experience. This reduces the risk of bounce rates due to lag or poor navigation.
Moreover, optimizing meta titles and descriptions helps attract clicks. Test different headlines through search ads or analyze competitor strategies to gather insight into which headlines attract the most holiday traffic. Crafting engaging, festive meta descriptions can also boost CTRs during the holiday season.
Paid Advertising Trends for the Holidays
- Targeted Ad Scheduling
Ad scheduling maximizes ad visibility by ensuring that the ad is displayed during peak shopping hours. During the holiday season, consumers shop more during their free time, such as weekends or after work. By aligning ads with these peak shopping hours, brands can make the most of their ad budget.
Examples of tools that identify top-performing time include Google Analytics, Google Ads, HubSpot, SEMRush, and Kantar.
- Countdown Ads
This image is taken from Canva.
Countdowns on ads increase urgency, which is especially effective as the holidays grow nearer. For example, PPC ads like “Only 3 Days Left for Free Shipping!” can encourage more conversions by prompting shoppers to act quickly.
- Remarketing to Recapture Abandoned Carts
This image is taken from WordStream.
Retargeting visitors who abandoned their carts with incentives like “20% off if you complete your purchase” can effectively recover lost sales. Strategically using remarketing ads allows brands to keep their products top of mind, bringing undecided shoppers back to complete their purchases.
- Highlight Best-Selling Products
Displaying ads for popular or highly rated items, such as “Top Holiday Gifts Under $50,” attracts shoppers looking for popular, vetted options. By showcasing bestsellers in ads, the company builds trust with customers and highlights products that have a proven record of appeal.
- Increase Bids for Last-Minute Shoppers
As the season progresses, increase bids for ads targeting last-minute shoppers. Adjusting budgets in the final days before major holidays like Christmas can capture impulse buyers, as these users are often in a hurry and more likely to make quick purchase decisions.
This image is taken from Think with Google.
Conclusion
With only a few weeks between the start of December and Christmas, the yearend’s condensed shopping period calls for swift and strategic planning. The limited shopping time and earlier shipping cutoffs mean there’s no room for delay. By aligning SEO and paid strategies, brands can capture early planners and last-minute shoppers alike, ensuring a robust presence across all search touchpoints.
Work with trusted professionals to maximize your SEO and PPC marketing strategies this coming 2024 holidays. Partner with Digital Marketing Philippines (DMP) and drive the most organic and paid web traffic to your website with our expert digital marketing campaigns.
Contact us at https://digitalmarketingphilippines.com/contact/ to get in touch with our marketing specialists today.
References:
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/psychology-holiday-spending-understanding-impulse-lnxue
https://searchengineland.com/seo-strategy-holiday-season-431538
https://ahrefs.com/blog/holiday-seo
https://sproutsocial.com/insights/holiday-marketing
Jomer B. Gregorio is a well-rounded expert when it comes digital marketing. Jomer is also known as a semantic SEO evangelist and practitioner. Check out our Digital Marketing Services today and let us help you in achieving positive and profitable results for your business.