Using Search Engine Marketing to Boost Holiday Sales

Since the upcoming holiday season will be a challenge for online retailers, it is vital they develop tactics to create effective marketing campaigns. In our previous article, we discussed how consumers will be using the internet to shop around to find the best deals on holiday gifts they can. One of the best ways to catch a consumer’s eye is through Search Engine Marketing. This time tested customer acquisition channel helps to establish a company’s online presence and drive traffic to its site. The traffic is highly qualified because those who click on links to these e-retailers’ sites are actively searching instead of simply clicking on a banner ad, and the conversion rates are also about six to seven times higher for those using SEM. Because of this conversion rate, SEM has the lowest cost per customer acquisition and allows users to compare acquisition costs across marketing mediums.

Using SEM to prepare for the holiday season will be one of the most effective forms of marketing this year, notes CEO of NetElixir Udayan Bose. Pay-per-click or PPC ads can be targeted to audiences in a number of ways, including geographically. This is beneficial for companies selling products that can only be used in certain areas, like surfboards, and also for companies that know where most of their products are purchased.

So far this year, online retail sales have been completely flat (comScore). Retailers need to do everything to turbo charge their marketing campaigns, and using SEM is one of the ways companies can achieve this. For 10 practical tips on how to run your paid search advertising campaign, download a copy of NetElixir’s “Fresh Ideas” workbook. With fill in the blank charts and performance indicators, the e-book is a great guide for companies seeking to lay the groundwork for their campaigns for the 2009 holidays. Check back here for our next article elaborating on the tip in the book about building an objectives-investment scorecard.