Dads & Grads: How to Capitalize on Two of the Biggest Holidays of the Summer!

The months of May and June are prime time for PPC campaigns as we celebrate a flurry of holidays and big events. Last month our team discussed making the most of Mother’s Day ads and this month we focus on the double whammy of Father’s Day and Graduation season! This year, Father’s Day falls on June 17^th and will be celebrated on this day in the U.S, Canada, the U.K and France, opening up a vast opportunity for advertisers who wish to reach a wider audience and can ship internationally.

With over 70% of adults shopping online, and men’s online shopping surpassing women’s, it’s time that advertisers begin capitalizing on the potential for huge sales during holidays like Father’s Day. In 2011, the average spend for Father’s Day gifts was $106.49, up from $94.32 in 2010, and this number is expected to rise once more this year. Last year, about $1.4 billion was spent on gift cards, $653 million on sporting goods, $593 million on car accessories, $1.3 billion on electronics, and $1.4 billion on clothing – this year’s numbers are expected to increase. Now consider that 20% of all father’s day purchases are completed online – that’s a huge chunk of the pie that advertisers could miss out on without developing targeted Father’s Day ads and sales.

As for Graduation season, late May through early June is typically the peak of high school and college graduations with parents and family members trying to find the perfect gift for their grad. If you’re planning on developing a sale with lowered prices, why not get two for the price of 1 and target both dads and grads? With slight tweaks and targeting, you can focus on two popular seasonal markets.

Here are some tips to consider when optimizing your ad campaign for the Dads & Grads season:

Perform keyword research to accurately target your market with the most effective keywords.
Consider which of your products and services are most relevant to the holiday (i.e. home goods may be best targeted to high school grads going off to college or new college grads moving out on their own while sporting goods may be best for dads!).
Look at match types for your keywords. For the most popular electronic terms, the highest volume of impressions and clicks are coming from exact match.
Broad match can help you catch searches on variations of your keywords, thereby casting a wider net of possible visitors.
If offering a promotion, include the promo code directly in the ad copy or in a clearly marked space on the landing page.
Create seasonal ads with targeted, enticing copy for your Father’s Day/Grad sales.
Establish a time period: Ideally, having ads up by the last week in May would be best but there are plenty of shoppers looking for last minute deals. Be sure to have your end date established which can also help entice shoppers to act immediately rather than continuing to shop around.
Develop a great landing page: clear calls to action, identifiable sales and deals, easy to maneuver. Make sure visitors don’t fall off at this point by having an enticing landing page!

Sources:

https://community.microsoftadvertising.com/en/small-business/adcenter/b/advertiser/archive/2012/05/30/father-s-day-2012-tips-and-trends-for-adcenter-advertisers.aspx

https://switchedonmedia.com.au/blog/ppc-holiday-campaigns-set-up-tips/

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/03/men-online-shopping_n_1475576.html

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/infographic-world-online-shopping/