Using PPC To Drive Father's Day Gift Sales: Three Strategies For SME E-Commerce Retailers

Father’s Day 2024 falls on Sunday 16^th June, and marks an important day in the calendar, not just for dads around the country, but for many e-commerce retailers engaged in the gift market. From ‘Red Letter’ experience vendors to whisky, cosmetics, and sports merchandise retailers, Father’s Day rivals Christmas and Mother’s Day in terms of sales potential. One of the most effective strategies for driving sales and converting new customers at this time of year is pay per click advertising (PPC). PPC is a versatile tool that, when executed with precision, can amplify your sales from people browsing online for presents for their dad. Here are three tips to set up your PPC campaigns for success this Father’s Day.

1. Optimise for high intent keywords

Customers searching for Father’s Day gift ideas are often ready to buy straightaway, especially in the days and weeks leading up to the event. Therefore, target high intent keywords related to Father’s Day gift in your PPC campaigns. A high intent keyword is a search phrase that indicates a strong likelihood of the user taking a specific action, and are often categorised into two types: ‘transactional’ keywords, which indicate an intention to make a purchase (e.g. deal, buy, discount), and ‘commercial’ keywords, which suggest a readiness to make a purchase in the near term (e.g. best, review, top). In general, you use transactional keywords for your decision level customers, and commercial keywords for consideration level. Examples related to Father’s Day include ‘best Father’s Day gifts 2024’, ‘unusual Father’s Day presents’, ‘gifts for dads under £50’, and ‘top Father’s Day gift ideas. Longer tail keywords include ‘what should I buy my dad for Father’s Day this year?’, and other natural language search phrases. Segment your keywords by product category for more targeted ad groups.

2. Inject your content with emotion and urgency

Father’s Day content should tug at the heartstrings, evoking the emotional connection people feel for their dads and the relationship they enjoy. Don’t overplay it, but landing page and advertising copy that evokes certain emotional connections or instils a sense of urgency could motivate faster purchasing decisions. For instance, incorporating terms that trigger an emotional response, such as ‘make your dad’s day special’, or ‘show your dad you care this Father’s Day’, are often enough to make people stop scrolling and take a second look, even if they don’t normally go for this type of content. Emotional content often works well when coupled with nostalgic imagery and messages that evoke positive memories of childhood. In the 7 to 10 days before Father’s Day, time sensitive deadlines can also be effective, such as ‘last chance to order for Father’s Day delivery’.

3. Adjust your bids to maximise visibility

The competition for high intent keywords increases significantly in the run-up to Father’s Day, so adjusting your bids can help your ads sustain the visibility you need to draw traffic. Monitor your ongoing campaigns closely in the weeks leading up to Father’s Day and be ready to increase bids at short notice for high performing keywords and ad groups. You could also consider using dayparting/scheduling to adjust your bids for times that your target audience is most active online, such as lunchtimes, evenings, and weekends for gift shoppers.

What next?

To find out more about boosting your e-commerce sales this Father’s Day and beyond, please get in touch with one of the digital marketing specialists at JDR today by clicking here.

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