2021 Publisher Holiday Trends: Microsoft Advertising

Welcome, Marketers! Every year around this time, each of our publisher partners provides internal research with helpful data & tips that can shed some light on some of the forces and factors that might come into play during the all-important fourth quarter. This post is part of a Skai 2021 holidays series that shares these publisher insights to help you make any last-minute adjustments to your holiday shopping season advertising plans. Click the links within the content below to visit the publisher sources to get even more information.

The holiday shopping season is just about to kick off—and for some of you, it’s already started. We have some great content from our partners over at Microsoft Advertising for you to review and incorporate into your end-of-the-year marketing strategy.

The content in this blog is taken directly from the Microsoft Advertising 2021 Retail Holiday Insights report which you can download for free. And make sure to visit the Microsoft Advertising Blog for more great tips, tricks, and data for marketers to reach their customers and engage them better. 

Happy Holidays from Microsoft Advertising and Skai!

Shopping may start early so reach shoppers as they research

32% of consumers, bolstered by e-commerce, say they plan to start their holiday shopping in early fall.

And not only is holiday shopping season starting earlier, the way consumers research purchases is moving more online than ever in 2021:

• 76% of consumers worldwide bought a product due to researching online.
• 48% of consumers worldwide used search for products.
• 25% of all global online orders came from shoppers who used the search bar

Microsoft Advertising’s tips for marketers:

• “Enhance the opportunity to be found during early product research with Shopping Campaigns.
• Consider a multi-touch approach. Adding native ads with search can result in 7x higher conversions”

Ways shoppers are buying this year

25% of shoppers said they would buy gift cards, to make sure they have them on hand as gifts if needed. 

Shoppers tend to buy locally when possible and prioritize stores that offer:

• a large inventory
• fast delivery speed
• convenient ways to get their purchases
  • Buy online, pick up in-store (BOPIS) options grew 555% over the last 12months
  • Buy now, pay later (BNPL) options have grown over 150% during the same period

Microsoft Advertising’s tips for marketers:

• “Set up Local Inventory Ads and include curbside pick-up details.
• Use Sitelink Extensions in ads to highlight gift cards, BOPIS, and BNPL options.”

Shoppers are living the holiday spirit

Now, more than ever, consumers want to buy from brands that align with their beliefs. According to a study reported by eMarketer, two-thirds of U.S. adult consumers consider a company’s purpose when making purchase decisions.

Microsoft Adverting’s research shows that the “average search volume for sustainability and sustainable products has grown 37% annually since 2019.”  So, if you are a business involved in sustainable initiatives, make sure to emphasize that for holiday shoppers in your creative imagery, copy, and extension callouts.

Microsoft Advertising’s tips for marketers:

• Use Callout Extensions to tell customers about sustainable options.
• Use In-market Audiences to deliver ads to specific groups, focusing on those most likely to convert.

Get your free holiday marketing checklist—and check it twice!

For even more tactical recommendations, download Microsoft Advertising’s Holiday Checklist 2021 with:

…tips for optimizing last year’s campaigns, allocating budgets, implementing features like In-market Audiences, Dynamic Remarketing and Similar Audiences to reach your target customers, and automating part of your product offerings with Smart Shopping Campaigns (new) to target customers who are more likely to convert at higher revenue values.

Get your complimentary copy of Microsoft Advertising’s Holiday Checklist 2021

Make the most of your Microsoft Advertising this holidays season with Skai

For the last 15+ years, Skai search has been a platform leader offering best-in-class automation, workflow efficiencies, and bid optimization. In the next era of search engine marketing, we believe that the competitive edge search marketers need will be centered on intelligence to fuel insight-driven decision-making for performance gains.

Contact us today to schedule a brief demo to learn more about how Skai Search can enhance your Microsoft Advertising campaign management approach and arm your team with data, insights, and other best-in-class features.

For more information, visit Skai search marketing solutions.

You can also reach out to schedule a quick demo to see all of these great features in action.

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