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November 4, 2020 - By Hawke Media

Why Hawke Media and Google Celebrated the Holidays in August

With October around the corner, we’re just starting to see holiday displays out at our local convenience stores, but most people would say that August is a little too early to start the commercial holiday madness. Why then would Hawke Media put up a Christmas tree for a Hawke-Google tag team event in August? We wanted to get people talking, and more specifically talking about developing a marketing plan for the holiday season, because, in the marketing world, August is almost a little too late.

On Aug. 22, Hawke Media and partner Google hosted a panel at Hawke HQ discussing the current and future Google advertising trends and how to make a marketing plan that will help you stay ahead of the curve. Hawke’s own Daniel Chen, Head of Media Buying, and Tyler Prone, Search Engine Marketing Practice Lead, spoke on SMART bidding, YouTube Video, and holiday planning that will help you win big in Q4. Here are three key industry trend observations and three key holiday activations from the event that you can take back to your marketing plan. 

Industry Trend: The Future Is Speed

The 5G wireless technology being rolled out right now is at least 20 times faster than current speeds of 4G. We will be able to quickly download and process heaps of data instantly.

That speed allows for endless possibilities. From having the ability to consume more media, to fully utilizing formats like augmented and virtual reality, to devices sharing information, to new formats not even invented, we will be able to create endless experiences for customers.

Predictions aside, it’s really about the present. Today, speed also applies to consumer behavior. Not only are attention spans are getting shorter and consumers are making decisions more quickly, but also people are consuming more media in a greater variety of formats: channels, outlets, platforms, and apps.

Industry Trend: Competition is Tough

There are more brands and competition out there than ever before. It’s fairly easy today to build a website and sell a product or service online. Today’s consumer demands relevant and custom experiences now, so how can brands whether the storm?

The answer lies in creating personalized experiences to connect them with your product. In order to do so, you have to know who your customers and potential customers are. We have access to so much data not only from research, customer reviews, and feedback but also from the campaigns we run on Google platforms. 

Industry Trend: Google as an Information Resource

When people search, a lot of contextual signals get passed along, such as the time of day of their search, their location, the device they’re on, and the language they searched in—to name a few. All of these contextual signals come together and make each search unique.

To reach each user, then, you want to be sure you can understand and target these contextual signals to get the greatest return from your advertising. Through Machine Learning and Automation, Google can help you gather and action rich insight about your customer base at scale to drive performance.

Holiday Activation: Shopping

You can achieve your holiday marketing campaign goals with advanced machine learning, like Google’s Smart Shopping, which helps you choose the right bid for every user and each auction. Smart Shopping campaigns continuously analyze Google’s insights on user queries, intent signals, and your insights on audiences, brands, products, and basket size to determine patterns that correlate with online conversion value.

Local inventory ads are now available, so you can let shoppers know you have the item they want in your local store. You’ll see that a bubble shows up with an “In-Store” annotation or the distance to your closest store when a shopper is near your store. 

Holiday Activation: Search

For simple use, flexibility, and control over your ads, leverage Google Machine Learning to boost the performance of your Search ads. Machine Learning allows you to create one ad with multiple headlines and description options, adapt to device widths, show specific headlines or descriptions with pinning, and group with Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) to see up to 10 percent more clicks and conversions.

With a limited-time sale, your message is critical in winning attention. RSAs give advertisers the opportunity to provide multiple headlines and descriptions to create one ad that adapts to show the right message to your customers. Ensure your ads include messaging around deals, discounts, and other promotional offers.

Holiday Activation: Display

Tuned to drive strong ROI and scale on Google and Google Partner Inventory, Responsive Display Ads (RDAs) allow for scale and performance while customized assets match a brand’s look and feel. In addition to RDAs, look into Discovery ads, as Google Discover is your personalized window into the web and the world. Per Google, 800 million people globally use Discover every month to stay updated on what they care about the most. 

Easy Campaign Management During the Holidays 

Although you want to be ahead of your holiday marketing strategy, it’s not too TOO late—yet. Whether you need to capture an increase in demand or you don’t, you want to capture demand but you’re not sure about what increase to expect, or you’re simply looking for more holiday campaign management insights, Hawke Media experts are here to help. Just fill out a free consultation form below. 

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