google webinar pt. 3: testing for the holidays

Part 3: Testing for the Holidays

December 2015Confidential and Proprietary. © Boost Media Inc. All Rights

We’ll Cover

We’ll Cover

I. Importance of the Holiday Season

We’ll Cover


II. Holidays vs. Promotions

We’ll Cover



III.How to Test During The Holidays

We’ll Cover




IV.Examples & Best Practices

We’ll Cover




IV.Examples & Best Practices

V. Q&A

Here’s What You’ve Learned

Here’s What You’ve Learned Part I: Hypothesis Testing

● SEM is a great place to test; it is fast, cheap, and easy

● Create a culture of testing in your organization

● Follow a well-defined process

Here’s What You’ve Learned Part I: Hypothesis Testing Part II: Lexical Analysis

● SEM is a great place to test; it is fast, cheap, and easy

● Create a culture of testing in your organization

● Follow a well-defined process

● Text analytics is the process of analyzing text and transforming it into useful business intelligence

● Quality of lexical analysis depends on diversity of language

● Look for themes in positive and negative words

Holidays Matter In SEM


1. Days from Black Friday to Christmas pull in 50-100% more revenue compared to

sopping days throughout rest of year

Sources: RJ Metrics, Ipsos MediaCT Google Post Holiday Shopping Intentions Study January 2015




2. 78% of consumers used the internet for holiday research last year





2. 78% of consumers used the internet for holiday research last year

3. 40% of holiday shopping occurred online


Holidays vs. Promotions


Promotional Messaging

● Messaging that offers sales or discounts

● Limited time offers● Can be very short


Promotional Messaging Holiday Messaging

● Messaging that offers sales or discounts

● Limited time offers● Can be very short

● Can last for an entire season

● Can include promotional messaging

5 Questions To Guide Your Testing Strategy

5 Questions To Guide Your Testing Strategy1. Why test ad copy for your holiday marketing?


2. What to test in your ad copy?



3. Where to test in your account?




4. When should you test in an ad group?




4. When should you test in an ad group?

5. How should you create a testing strategy?

Why Should You Test?


1. Improve performance



2. Stay ahead of the competition




3. Use learnings to improve other areas of your SEM accounts




3. Use learnings to improve other areas of your SEM accounts

4. Use learnings to improve overall marketing direction

Why It’s Extra Important To Test During The Holidays


1. Very few chances to get your messaging right



2. Consumer mindset changes during the holidays




3. Broader consumer audience than non-holiday periods




3. Broader consumer audience than non-holiday periods

4. Capitalize on high volume

What To Test

What To Test

1. General ad copy writing tips

● Talk about benefits over features

● Consider what actions you want consumers to take

What To Test

1. General ad copy writing tips

● Talk about benefits over features

● Consider what actions you want consumers to take

2. Best practices for the holidays

● Examine what type of copy resonated last year or when

you last offered a similar deal

● Look at competitor’s language

Example Ad Variations

Where To Test

1. General approach for selecting where to test

● Test where ad copy is outdated

● Test where ad copy is underperforming

● Test in ad groups that have enough volume to give results

Where To Test

1. General approach for selecting where to test

● Test where ad copy is outdated

● Test where ad copy is underperforming

● Test in ad groups that have enough volume to give results

2. Best practices for the holidays

● Prioritize ad groups that have holiday spikes

● Try to test in the same ad groups every year to gather historical data

Where To Test

When To TestIn Seasonal & High-Volume Ad Groups


1. Test as volume is ramping up


1. Test as volume is ramping up

2. Understand the volume curve for each ad group to create an

optimal testing schedule

When To Start Testing In A Seasonal Ad Group

Quick reminder: Live Q&A Ask your questions in the Q&A Hangout app or

post them on the event page.

How To Test General SEM Testing Method

See our Part I Hangout: ‘Understanding Hypothesis Testing’



1. Generate ideas



1. Generate ideas

2. Form a hypothesis



1. Generate ideas


3. Construct an experiment



1. Generate ideas



4. Interpret results



1. Generate ideas



4. Interpret results

5. Apply learnings


Specific Testing Strategies For High-Volume and Seasonal Ad Groups


1. Wait a set amount of time to gather results



2. Know how to handle evergreen ads



2. Know how to handle evergreen ads

3. Learn from last year and set yourself up for next year

Wait To Gather Results For High-Volume Ad Groups


1. Even if you get lots of data quickly, wait to enact changes

● Different audiences are searching at different times


1. Even if you get lots of data quickly, wait to enact changes

● Different audiences are searching at different times

2. Decide upfront how much data you need and minimum days to wait

● We recommend 90% confidence using a significance test

● We recommend a minimum of 14 days

Strategies for Handling ‘Evergreen’ AdsDuring the Holiday Season


1. Pause evergreen ad copy, don’t delete it

● Deleting an ad means that Google loses all of its Quality Score and

other historical info

● Making a change to an ad also deletes it - Just create a new ad!


1. Pause evergreen ad copy, don’t delete it

● Deleting an ad means that Google loses all of its Quality Score and

other historical info

● Making a change to an ad also deletes it - Just create a new ad!

2. Consider leaving your evergreen ads running

Learn From Last YearTo Set Yourself Up For Next Year


1. Look at last year’s copy - or other similar holidays - as a reference

point for what ad copy does and doesn’t work

● Don’t just look at recent or evergreen ad copy


1. Look at last year’s copy - or other similar holidays - as a reference

point for what ad copy does and doesn’t work

● Don’t just look at recent or evergreen ad copy

2. Watch for changing trends

● Look at top competitors for same keywords

Summary

Summary

1. Know the difference between holidays and promos, and have strategies to

deal with each

Summary


deal with each

2. Holidays are a great time to test your creative copy

Summary


deal with each


3. Use historical data to determine the best places and times to test

Summary


deal with each


3. Use historical data to determine the best places and times to test

4. Use learnings from last year and set yourself up for next year

Boost Media150 Columbus Ave. San Francisco, CA 94133BoostMedia.com1.800.777.9415@boostctr

Thank You! Questions?

Bill [email protected]

Richard [email protected]

Ask your questions in the Q&A Hangout app or post them on the event page.

google webinar pt. 3: testing for the holidays

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