Elevate Your Q4 PPC Strategy: The Power of Conversion Journey Optimisation

(This is an guest article written by Salesfire) Every Q4 eCommerce becomes a hive of activity, with an influx of shoppers all looking for the best deals. As competition grows between eCommerce stores over the seasonal period, retailers face the challenge of making the most out of their ad spend and setting out a robust strategy for success.

In this article we’ll delve into the synergy between PPC and customer journey optimisation and why it’s especially important for Q4 to help convert the traffic your ads are driving. 

We’ll also look at how adopting a strategic blend of PPC and on-site customer journey solutions can propel your brand to new heights during this season when customers are primed and ready to purchase.

The Q4 opportunity

The surge in online activity over this period provides a prime opportunity for businesses to make the most of the increase in consumer demand through targeted PPC campaigns. 

Creating holiday-themed ad copy, promotions and discounts can help you attract seasonal shoppers who have a high intent to purchase and are actively looking for gifts and deals.

It’s an ideal time to implement remarketing and retargeting strategies, with many users browsing websites on the lookout for anything from gift inspiration to the best deal on an item. Retargeting these browsers with PPC campaigns can re-engage customers and drive them back to your site. 

But despite the seemingly abundant opportunities offered this time of year, it also presents some unique challenges that retailers need to consider, including:

• Increased competition: With an estimated 12-24 million online stores worldwide there are lots of eCommerce stores all competing for the same customers. This leads to oversaturation within the digital space and a struggle for brands to maintain customer engagement all the way through to a purchase.
• Advertising overwhelm: With retailers all trying to get the most out of this pivotal time period, some shoppers may become overwhelmed with the amount of promotions and deals on offer.
• Volatile browsing behaviour: Customer habits and behaviours during this time can become hard to predict. When faced with so many different options it’s commonplace for shoppers to leave your site, leading to high bounce rates and wasted ad spend. 
• Budget constraints: The increase in the number of storefronts leads to tougher competition for ad space and increasing prices, meaning the on-site experience following an ad click is crucial at this time of year to secure a ROAS. 

Website abandonment and increased bounce rates are commonplace over this period, so online retailers need to ensure that they’re maximising the value of each shopper that lands on their site and not wasting ad spend by creating an engaging journey.

The marriage of PPC and customer journey optimisation 

Your PPC strategy shouldn’t be created and executed in isolation. Failing to consider how you can optimise the rest of the user journey may lead to wasted ad spend and a low conversion rate. 

Retailers need to step back and look at things from a broader perspective, addressing the full customer experience your brand is providing. 

This is especially crucial in today’s environment where customer behaviour is increasingly volatile and it becomes harder to keep them engaged. The marriage of customer journey optimisation solutions with your PPC strategy can ensure a seamless journey from your campaigns all the way to your on-site marketing. 

The implementation of these tools will ensure that the traffic driven to your site from your PPC campaigns can move effortlessly towards their purchase.

This is why you should consider both PPC and customer journey optimisation as a comprehensive approach to your Q4 marketing.

Why customer journey optimisation matters in Q4

Customer behaviour changes massively throughout Q4. With an abundance of high-intent shoppers looking for the best deals and increased search volumes, optimisation is more important than ever to ensure you extract the most value from these new browsers and maximise success. 

Consider this, you’re optimising your PPC strategy to include the most relevant campaigns and quality high-performing ads to increase your brand’s visibility. 

By setting aside the right budget, researching the right keywords, and meticulous planning you can cut through the noise and find the right customers, attracting a lot of new browsers who are prepped and ready to make a purchase.

But can you guarantee that your site is optimised for your newfound traffic? You will now need to address the user experience you’re providing them once they find their way to your site. 

Think of customer journey optimisation as a sales assistant situated at key touchpoints to guide your shoppers through the funnel and support them through their purchase. Your intelligent on-site tools and carefully crafted campaigns can do exactly that. 

Customer journey optimisation does all the hard work in guiding your shopper through the site journey and increases the likelihood of a conversion.

When it comes to Q4, you need to consider the complete customer journey you’re providing, from your PPC campaigns all the way through to your on-site solutions and towards that all-important conversion.

Strategies for maximum impact

There are actionable tips and tricks you can adopt this Q4 to ensure the customer journeys from your PPC campaigns are optimised for maximum impact. 

You’ve worked hard and spent a lot to attract these audiences to your site within your campaigns. You now need to look at how you will encourage your shoppers to explore more of your website, keep them from dropping off, and prevent wasted ad spend. 

Looking at what you can do to maximise engagement and reduce bounce rates during this period is essential when shopping behaviour is so unpredictable.

Some of the strategies you can adopt include:

• Personalisation based on traffic source: With the traffic source condition integrated within Salesfire tools, you can deliver personalised messaging and campaigns based on where your shopper has come from. 
• Cohesive landing pages: Landing pages are a great way to curate your seasonal gift offerings, but you need to ensure that the content on your landing page marries up with the content within your PPC campaigns to ensure a consistent experience. 
• Mobile optimisation: Ensure your campaigns and website are optimised for mobile users so it’s easy for them to navigate through the customer journey. This may include adapting your landing page content, your CTAs, and links. 
• Exit intent campaigns: You might want to make use of exit intent on-site campaigns to showcase discounts or relevant messaging to your shoppers who are about to drop off. A timely discount may be the incentive your shoppers need to stay on-site.

There’s no room for error when it comes to this busy time of year. After you’ve poured time and budget into preparing your Q4 PPC campaigns, you need to ensure you’re doing everything you can to keep your shopper on site.

Some of the customer journey optimisation solutions you might consider integrating on your site to help your secure sales during Black Friday include:

• Recommendations: Offer your shoppers personalised, dynamic product suggestions to encourage them to add more to their basket and increase order values this Q4. 
• Overlays: Deploy on-site campaigns powered by customer data. Show the most relevant messaging at exactly the right time, to encourage your Q4 shopper to complete their purchase.
• Search: Don’t let slow and inaccurate search results lose you sales this Q4. Integrate AI-powered Search to ensure your shoppers can find the products they want to find. 

With the help of intelligent on-site solutions and tools, you can maximise the value of each shopper that lands on your site for this busy time of year.

Choosing customer journey optimisation solutions to empower your PPC strategy 

There’s so much value within the Q4 period to boost sales and attract new audiences, if you’re utilising a PPC strategy, you should also to place priority on customer journey optimisation. 

To set yourself up for success this Q4 you need to consider the complete customer journey and optimise multiple touchpoints alongside your PPC campaigns. Have you found any challenges within your strategy over the busy Q4 period? Leave a comment below for our experts. 

To learn more about how customer journey optimisation solutions can sit alongside your PPC strategy to maximise your eCommerce success, get in touch with the team at enquiries@salesfire.com or book a free demo.