Here in Boston, we finally had a day that one could call “Spring-like.” It was warm (a whole 52 degrees!), people were walking around without jackets, and there was a general feeling of “I really hope we are done with the snow” filling the air.
Ah, spring!
Along with this, a number of my clients are cleaning up their Google Ads accounts and getting ready for the spring and summer months ahead. For some industries, nothing really changes when the temperatures go up, but for a lot of seasonal businesses and merchants, there is plenty of updating to do within their accounts.
So here are my top five ways to make sure your Google Ads account is ready for spring!
Out with the Warm and In With the … Skimpy?
A few of my clients sell different types and styles of clothing. In the fall and winter, we primarily target items like sweaters, coats, scarves, hats, mittens, etc. But now we’re focusing on typical spring and summer clothing – dresses, skirts, shorts, and bathing suits. You want to make sure that more of your budget and time are going towards the items that people need for these seasons.
This may seem like common sense, but you’d be surprised how often I see people spending money on terms like “winter coats” in July. People might be searching these items, but the likelihood of them purchasing these types of items are low – they’re probably looking for post-season clearances, so unless your jackets are heavily reduced, they’re probably just browsing. Pull back budgets and bids (or even completely pause) your fall and winter items or services and use those resources to boost up items relevant to spring and summer.
Think Bright & Beautiful
Quick, what type of colors do you think of when you hear “Fall”? I think of oranges, reds, browns, and maybe even yellow. What about “Winter”? Maybe gray and white? I’m guessing that the colors are quite different than what you think of for “Summer” and “Spring.” And same goes for those who look at your banner ads! Make sure you update your display ads to include seasonally appropriate colors so your clients are in the right frame of mind.
For example, compare these two ads from the same advertiser:
Client’s Fall/Winter ads
Same client’s Summer/Spring ads
Update PLAs & Other Ads with Sunnier Terms
While you’re utilizing spring and summer colors for your banner ads, use terms that invoke warmer weather, brighter days, and the general joy of summer. During colder months, you might use terms like “warm,” “cozy,” and “toasty.” In the warmer months, terms like “fresh,” “vibrant,” and “light.”
Do Some Spring Cleaning (And Summer Cleaning…)
Clear out keywords, ad groups, and even campaigns that aren’t performing up to the account average. Sometimes just clearing out keywords that haven’t received any impressions, clicks, or conversions can improve the performance of an ad group overall. This isn’t actually a seasonality thing – you should probably do this every few months. But a little reminder never hurts!
Be Ahead of the Trends
You may think it’s a tad early to get your account ready for summer in March, but remember, people tend to buy their clothes prior to the season they will actually wear them. Items like bathing suits and sunglasses are already doubling in traffic in March compared to in January. Being one step ahead will allow you to capture these early season shoppers.
The popularity of the search term “bathing suits” from Jan 1 through March 21
These quick and easy steps will help your account get ready for Spring! You can also check out our own Lisa Wilkinson in this Spring cleaning webinar for more account clean-up tips.
Top image via Moyan Brenn
For more seasonal marketing ideas, check out these posts (with more to come!):
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