PPC campaigns can be a tricky business at the best of times, but when you throw seasonality into the mix, things can get even more unpredictable. Whether it’s the weather, holidays, or even big events like sports matches, seasonality can either boost your campaigns or bring them crashing down. So, let’s talk about how you can manage the ups and downs of seasonality and stop it from ruining your PPC efforts.
What is Seasonality in PPC?
Let’s start with the basics. Seasonality is all about those predictable shifts in consumer behaviour throughout the year. Think of how everyone rushes to buy Christmas presents in December or how winter coats start flying off the shelves in November. That’s seasonality at work.
In PPC (pay-per-click), this means that the demand for certain products or services fluctuates based on the time of year. Search volume can spike one month and drop like a stone the next. For businesses, this is critical because you need to adjust your PPC campaigns to maximise peaks in interest and avoid wasting spend during periods of low demand.
The Impact of Seasonality on PPC Campaigns
Holiday Seasons and Sales
Some of the most obvious examples of seasonality in PPC are around big holidays like Christmas, Easter, or Black Friday. During these times, everyone’s in shopping mode, which is great for e-commerce businesses, but it also means competition gets fierce. Cost-per-click (CPC) goes up, and you might need to spend more to get those valuable conversions.
Weather Impacts
Weather can have a significant impact on your campaigns too. For example, if you’re running a PPC campaign for golf gear, warm and sunny weather will likely drive interest in golfing and related products. On the flip side, if it’s raining or snowing, consumers aren’t going to be as eager to hit the green.
In this case, weather-based targeting can be a game changer. By using tools that automatically trigger or pause your ads based on real-time weather data, you can ensure your ads are only shown when the conditions are just right – saving money and improving relevance.
Cultural or Event-Based Seasonality
In addition to holidays, significant cultural events or major sports matches can affect consumer behaviour and PPC performance. Events like the concerts, the World Cup, or even seasonal festivals like Oktoberfest can shift demand for specific products. Planning around these events and targeting ads accordingly can help you stay relevant and capture timely demand spikes.
The Importance of Planning and Forecasting for Seasonality
To stay ahead of the game, you’ve got to predict these seasonal changes and plan accordingly. Here’s how you do it:
Analysing Historical Data
Looking at your past campaigns and spotting trends is crucial. Maybe your PPC campaigns performed amazingly last summer but dipped significantly in the winter – that’s valuable info you can use to prepare for the next seasonal shift. Tools like Google Trends are great for showing you search volume patterns over time.
Budgeting for Seasonality
This one’s key. Don’t just throw the same amount of budget at your campaigns every month. You’ve got to know when to ramp up the spend (like during peak seasons) and when to scale it back (during the slow periods). Wasting budget during off-seasons can burn through your resources with very little return.
Got rain jackets and umbrellas to sell? Maybe think about reducing spend in summer and increasing spend in rainier months. Or selling swimwear and sunglasses? It makes sense to upweight your spend when people are more likely to go on sunny holidays or during the lead-up to summer. This way, you’re aligning your budget with when your audience is most likely to need and search for your products.
Seasonal Ad Scheduling
Luckily, most PPC platforms let you schedule your ads to run at specific times. Maybe you want your ads to run only during a particular month or on certain days when demand is likely to be higher. You can also pause your ads during off-seasons to avoid wasted spend.
How to Avoid Negative Impacts of Seasonality on PPC
If you want to avoid negative impacts, here are some strategies to keep in mind:
Optimise Bidding Strategies
Use automated bidding strategies like Google’s Smart Bidding to adjust your bids based on performance. This is super helpful during peak seasons when competition can cause CPC to skyrocket. Let the algorithm do the heavy lifting and adjust your bids based on real-time data. However, be mindful that Google doesn’t know your business as well as you, so make sure to manually check performance and optimisations that Google is making.
Geo-Targeting and Weather Adjustments
Geography plays a massive role in seasonality too. If you’re advertising products that are relevant to specific regions or climates, like winter gear in cold areas or beach accessories in warm regions, you can refine your geo-targeting to focus on those areas.
Adjust Ad Copy and Creative
As seasons change, so do consumer preferences. Make sure your ad copy and creative reflect seasonal themes and trends. This could include using seasonal imagery, time-sensitive promotions, or even holiday-specific messaging to make your ads more relevant to what’s currently on customers’ minds.
Monitor Performance Regularly
Don’t just set your campaigns and forget them. During high-demand seasons, check your performance regularly. If you notice your ads are underperforming, it’s a sign you need to make adjustments – either by tweaking your bids, changing your targeting, or even refreshing your ad copy.
Leveraging Opportunities from Seasonal Trends
Seasonality isn’t just about avoiding negative impacts – it’s also a chance to boost your PPC campaigns if you play your cards right. Here’s how:
Limited-Time Offers
Running a sale or promoting a time-sensitive offer is a great way to create urgency, especially during seasonal peaks. Everyone loves a deal, and if it’s only available for a short period, people are more likely to convert. Including price-points and savings in the ad messaging itself is a great way to increase engagement.
Seasonal Keywords
Make sure you’re using keywords that match the time of year. For instance, if you’re selling outdoor sports gear, consider targeting phrases like “best running shoes for winter” or “summer hiking essentials.” This helps align your ads with what customers are actively searching for in that specific season.
Similarly, if you manage a hotel, think about what keywords travellers might use based on seasonal breaks or holidays. For example, during the October half-term, you could target phrases like “family-friendly October half-term getaways” or “romantic October break deals” to attract families or couples looking to travel. Updating your keyword strategy to reflect these trends ensures you capture the right audience during each season.
Remarketing During Off-Seasons
Don’t just ignore your audience during the off-season. Remarketing campaigns are great for keeping your brand top-of-mind. You can target past visitors to your site with ads that remind them to come back when the peak season hits again.
Tools to Help Manage Seasonality in PPC
There are some pretty cool tools that can help you manage seasonality more effectively:
Weather-Based Targeting Tools
Tools like WeatherAds allow you to automatically adjust your campaigns based on local weather conditions. You set the rules, and the tool will increase, decrease, or even pause your campaigns based on what’s happening in real-time. This type of targeting ensures that your ads are only displayed when the weather conditions align with the products you’re promoting, maximising relevance and spend efficiency.
Google Trends
This free tool from Google is a goldmine for discovering seasonal search trends. You can see how search volumes change over time, which helps you know when to start and stop your campaigns.
Google Trends can also help you identify emerging trends or topics gaining popularity, giving you the chance to refine your campaigns with timely and relevant keywords.
Automation Platforms
Platforms like Google Smart Bidding or Optmyzr can automate parts of your campaign, helping you adjust bids and budgets without constantly having to make manual changes. Perfect for dealing with those seasonal spikes, these platforms use AI to optimize bids based on set goals like conversions or ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
Additionally, automation can help you schedule seasonal ad variations, manage budgets during peak times, and automatically pause or adjust low-performing ads.
Competitor Analysis Tools
Platforms like SEMrush or Ahrefs can help you monitor competitor campaigns, allowing you to gain insights into their seasonality strategies. This can be valuable for benchmarking and adjusting your seasonal approach based on competitor activity, especially when demand peaks or new trends emerge.
So, What’s Next?
At the end of the day, seasonality is something you can’t ignore in PPC. If you don’t plan for it, you’re probably going to see dips in performance, or worse, end up wasting a bunch of money. But if you use the right tools, keep an eye on performance, and adjust your strategy based on seasonal trends, you can actually use seasonality to your advantage.
So, be proactive, pay attention to seasonal shifts, and make sure your PPC campaigns are always in tune with your audience’s needs – not caught off guard by changing trends.
