After breaking snow records in Boston this winter, we locals couldn't be happier at the first signs of spring on the way. Yes, we still had a few snowfalls and days with shaky windchills, but these scattered 60 degree days are finally giving us hope! We Image Masking won't die in this rumored snow apocalypse after all! Home renovation advertising cartoon With these subtle signs of spring, it got me thinking about the huge opportunity of PPC for the home improvement and gardening industry. After all, with the flowers blooming and the sun shining, homeowners are ready to tackle their damaged lawns and bring their tulips back to life after being hit by blizzard after blizzard. As you can see from the graph below, there is Image Masking an increase in searches for gardening needs at this time of year (think spring cleaning needs, gardening goals, garden preparation, etc.). opening of the swimming pool). Home improvement advertising image showing garden ideas to increase Image Masking search volume in the spring To get a clearer idea of the strategy and challenges faced by industry players, I spoke with several industry WordStream clients who work for companies with varying business models.
Even with a variety of offerings, I found some overriding themes that home and garden marketers should consider. Let's dive into the specific paid search tips home and garden marketers should implement in their paid search strategies this spring and beyond. Tip 1: Customize the paid search experience based on seasonality and weather Image Masking When working in the home improvement and gardening industry, the entire paid search experience should be built around fluctuations in seasonal demand. But if you're not careful when setting up your account, and if you don't keep an active eye out for changes that need to be made with seasonal and weather fluctuations, you risk losing a huge chunk of potential customers. WordStream customer O'Connor Lawn and Image Masking Garden is a third-generation company that sells lawn equipment and enjoys strong local brand recognition in its home state of Oklahoma. They decided to branch Image Masking out online six years ago when they launched their site, but getting involved in paid search proved more difficult than expected: “When we took our PPC in-house this year, we realized that a lot of things were completely wrong. We were paying a lot of money, ads weren't set up correctly, we weren't using negative keywords, conversion tracking wasn't set up correctly,” says Bridgett Davis,
Internet Manager O'Connor Lawn and Garden. Along with the major issues Bridgett had to deal with when taking over her paid search account from the previous company she outsourced to, she found the weather to be a primary factor in Image Masking determining her PPC management strategies. “During the winter months, people won't be buying lawn mowers. With 14 feet of snow in Boston, people don't really think about their lawns,” she says. “We tailor our campaigns to seasonality – turning them off in November, December and January. We're shifting our budget to the months when people really buy more. But Image Masking that's not the case with all the places Bridgett advertises: “Florida, Louisiana and Texas are green 11 to 12 months a year, so we have a tremendous amount of customers there. Being in the industry, I know when it's green in which states.