With Labor Day officially behind us, retailers can begin planning for the next busy shopping holiday: Halloween. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), Americans spent roughly $7.4 billion on Halloween candy, costumes, party favors and decorative accessories — a number that’s expected to be even higher this year. In an effort to help retailers maximize their sales, the folks at Bing Ads have published a presentation titled “Scare Up Sales This Halloween.”
Consumers Buy Halloween Products Early and Late
The Bing Team found that nearly one third of Halloween shoppers begin shopping in September, while 25% wait until 2 weeks or sooner before they begin shopping. Here’s a breakdown of when consumers begin shopping for Halloween products:
- 5% before September
- 27% during September
- 43% during the first 2 weeks of October
- 25% during the last 2 weeks of October
Think Beyond Candy
It’s a common assumption that candy accounts for the majority of Halloween-related sales. Whether it’s candy corn, Reese’s Cups, Snickers, etc., children young and old are sure to consume plenty of candy on Halloween. However, the Bing Team notes that only a third of Halloween sales involve candy. So when preparing your marketing campaigns, be sure to cover other products such as costumes, cards, decorations, etc.
“Two thirds of grown-up Americans celebrated this ancient holiday last year, spending a total of $7.4 billion. That would be a whole lot of candy corn, but candy actually accounts for only about a third of the average of $78 spent by shoppers,” wrote the Bing Team in its presentation.
Use Dynamic Keyword Insertion
What in the world is dynamic keyword insertion and why should you use it? Simply put, it’s a way to automatically include keywords in your Bing Ads ads. For instance, you can set up your ads to automatically include the “Halloween” prefix before certain product words. If you are selling a Frozen costume, using dynamic keyword insertion will allow you to create ad copy such as Halloween Frozen Costume. The Bing Team emphasized the use of dynamic keyword insertion for Halloween-related ad campaigns, so don’t overlook this marketing tactic.
Go Mobile
According to the Bing Team, searches on mobile devices increased 1,052% on Bing Ads during 2014, attesting to the need for greater compatibility. Regardless of what your business sells, make sure you are catering to mobile users this Halloween.
Use Extensions
Are you using Extensions with your Bing Ads campaigns? If not, you should be. Ad Extensions can be used to enhance your PPC ads for the upcoming Halloween holidays, increasing the visibility of your ads while boosting sales in the process. The Call Extension, for instance, will place a convenient click-to-call button within your ad. If a potential customer wants to contact to you to learn more about your business and what it offers, he or she can simply click the call button. Other Bing Ads Extensions include Site links, Locations, Enhances Site links, and Product Ads.
Click here to learn more about Bing Ads Extensions.
Do you plan on expanding your online marketing campaigns for Halloween? Contact us Today.
Image attribution: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kkimpel/
