Seasonal Creatives.

It’s an SEM best practice: everyone should be adding new creatives all the time.


We all preach this, but in reality there are hurdles: Client’s want (often need) approval, and a legal team can hold up a fresh idea; a typical agency has an Account Manager on 5 accounts, and they focus on the biggest revenue-drivers, ignoring the potential in more specialized accounts; Some of the engines’ interfaces are klugy enough to make bulk ad copy changes nearly impossible, especially on ecommerce accounts with thousands of adgroups; it’s often more “fun” to tweak the display units than plain ole’ titles and descriptions.

At our shop, we make it an iron-clad rule to try new creatives on an ongoing basis.  There’s two reasons for this.  First, it gives you something to talk about. Trying a new creative and watching it fail isn’t a bad thing if you learn something from it.  Second, it *usually* pays dividends above-and-beyond the learnings.


Case Study Brief | Impact of Seasonal Ad copies on a Demographically-Targeted Registration Flow Site.

The Client…
Runs a well-trafficked site catering to a specific demographic.  The demo is self-replenishing, but limited; there is a ceiling on how many people can use the goods offered.

The Objective…
Is to drive more qualified users through the site’s flow so they can take advantage of the offers therein.

The Challenge…
Is that their offer isn’t seasonal.  There is no greater need for the services around Christmas than at July 4th.

The Solution…
Was to capture people with Holiday-specific copy, without promising anything the website can’t deliver on.  So a typical ever-green creative is:

Save on Gifts for Xxx.
Free Xxxx Xxxxx, Samples & Coupons.
Everyday Savings xxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxxx.

www.XxxxXxXxx.comWhere a new seasonal copy is:

Save on Holiday Gifts.
Free Xxxx Xxxxx, Samples & Coupons.
Free Holiday xxxxx xxx xxxxxx xxxx.
www.XxxxXxXxx.com
The Results…
Were fast and easy to see.  The evergreen converts at 16%; the Holiday-specific one converts at 20%.  That’s about a 25% increase in efficiency (Assuming a static $1.00 Cost Per Click, the evergreen costs $6.25 a conversion, while the Holiday-specific converts at $5 per.)

Analysis.
Our client was happy with this data, and it made our Account Manager shine when he presented it. In this case, adding a seasonal creative made us look better (buying credit with the client) and saved money for the customer.