As the holidays hit their full swing, it’s easy to get caught up in the rush and let small details slide by. We’re here to remind you to stay focused and on task! Don’t let your marketing efforts fall to the wayside at such an important time of the year.
For many online marketers, this is a very important and busy time as far as increasing sales and driving conversions. Oftentimes, it can be easy to forget about small details, such as the various ad extensions that are available within our accounts. However, this often-overlooked fine print could increase conversions and sales significantly by providing additional business information such as an address, phone number, or more links to the various pages on your site for users to see and click on.
Although there are a number of different ad extensions out there to explore and utilize, the three that we would like to focus on this holiday season are what we like to refer to as the Three Wise Men of PPC: sitelinks, callouts, and call extensions.
The First Wise Man of PPC: Sitelink Extensions
Among the three wise men, sitelinks are by far the wisest. This can be attributed to the fact that they can boost the average click-through rate of an ad by 10%-20%, by providing up to six links to specific pages on your site according to an article posted by Google Inside AdWords.
In addition, sitelink extensions are also a perfect way to feature holiday sales and specials with the ability to schedule a start and end date for your links.
However, do keep in mind that sitelinks are not a set-it-and-forget-it type of feature. As with most aspects of your PPC campaigns, they should be checked on a regular basis to ensure relevancy, performance, and workability. There is nothing worse than having a sitelink that lands a user on a 404 page or are simply not relevant to the time of year or situation.
The Second Wise Man of PPC: Callout Extensions
Next up is the newest of the proverbial wise men, the callout extension. These can work in tandem with existing sitelink extensions, strengthening your ad by pointing out unique features or services your business may offer. It’s best to use callout extensions as support, as they are text-only, rather than expecting them to do the heavy lifting of actual ad copy. If your business has any special offers or benefits which you think might affect a customer’s decision to convert, callouts are the place to include them.
As callout extensions are available at account, campaign, and ad group levels, they provide lots of flexibility – a callout of “free shipping” may be relevant to your entire website but if you only have one campaign that sells consignment books, it’s better to include a callout like “20% off all used books” at the campaign level.
Needless to say, callout extensions are a great way to inform customers of specific sales and offers happening during the holidays. With their ability to convey the value in your services, they can help turn the advertising tide in your favor.
The Third Wise Man of PPC: Call Extensions
Finally, while it may seem counter-intuitive in a digital-first world, call extensions are a must-have for any business this holiday season. Call extensions provide an easy way for customers to contact your business to ask questions, check hours of operation, or make last-minute orders. Depending on your business, call extensions may be a friendly alternative to ordering online on the go or assurance that customers can reach your customer service team for support.
If you have separate lines for support and sales, this may be the right time to break out brand campaigns with an ad group focused on support calls. Helping your customers find the right line to call to reduce handling time for your team will pay dividends with happy customers.
Ultimately, if your business responds to customer calls over the phone, take the time to assess when your customers might choose to call you this holiday season and make sure you are using call extensions on the campaigns and ad groups that matter. The goal of any paid search campaign should be to make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for and call extensions can make sure every avenue is available so you don’t miss out on valuable interactions.
Subscribe via RSS
