Let’s face it: the lowest search volumes for most businesses occur in the months between October and December.
Good news: you’re almost through it. Bad news: there’s still the ENTIRE month of December.
Don’t be discouraged. There are options available to help you promote your business during these potentially bleak months. Here at Citywide SEO, we work to make sure that a dip in search volume doesn’t mean a drop in revenue.
Shift Your Approach to Catch Holiday Shoppers
While searches for services drop significantly during the holiday season, search volume for products skyrockets. A huge majority of your customers are now putting off their non-essential services and shifting their focus toward what they’re getting loved ones for gifts.
As such, a small business can increase its visibility by catching customers while they shop. Sites like Amazon, Target and eBay do this all the time. Use the same strategies in your digital marketing.
For example, instead of exclusively focusing on Search Engine Optimization (SEO), include some retargeting or display ads. Running those in conjunction with your SEO program will help direct customers back to your website even when they’re not focusing on your specific service.
Additionally, try running more holiday-themed social media campaigns. Ads on Facebook or Instagram are typically inexpensive and can help reach a wide range of potential customers. While your customers may not be performing the typical volume of searches for “ac repair” or “carpet cleaning” or “windshield replacement” during the holidays, they are still logging into social media on a daily basis and can be captured that way.
Just because the search volume does decrease doesn’t mean that there’s no online traffic to grab. Putting more of your digital marketing budget toward programs that catch customers when they’re not searching for you directly (such as Display PPC, Retargeting or Social Media ads) will help you grab attention from shoppers while they’re browsing online.
Focus on Specific Services
Typically, a good rule of thumb is to promote a majority of the services that your business offers. If you’re an HVAC contractor but also perform indoor air quality inspections, it’s probably a good idea to include that as part of your focus with your digital marketing.
However, when the search volume drops, it may be a good time to look more closely at where you’re focusing your marketing. There is such a thing as being spread too thin in digital advertising.
For example, if you’re a landscaper and you also do holiday lighting installation, pull a little bit of your marketing budget away from focusing on landscaping and focus instead on the light installation. You’ll get more traffic, see a better return, and catch clients during a time when they’re still looking for a specific service.
But what happens if your business doesn’t have a seasonal or holiday-month specific service? Let’s say you’ve instead got a concrete paving business. The same rule can still apply. Because the search volume in general decreases during these months, you can be more effective by putting more of your focus into your main two or three keywords and services versus spreading your budget thin.
Think Like Your Customers
Ultimately, the biggest digital marketing tip to consider when trying to generate revenue during the slower months is to think like your customers think. You’re probably stressing a little right now thinking about all of the expectations and challenges that come with the holiday season. Your customers are the exact same way!
Offer incentives that would catch your eye. Run programs that cater to holiday shoppers or their seasonal interests. Reach your customers where they are and you’ll make a significantly higher return on investment.
The winter months do come with some digital marketing challenges, but there are ways to spin your campaigns to maximize your efforts and keep your revenue high. There is still money to made, it just requires businesses to think a little bit outside of the box. For additional help, reach out to the experts here at Citywide and we’ll be more than happy to provide some additional information and feedback to help.
