How do you manage bids for seasonal keywords that fluctuate in performance?

Managing bids for seasonal keywords that fluctuate in performance can be tricky, but it's crucial for optimizing campaign budgets and maximizing ROI during peak periods. Seasonal keywords tend to have variable performance depending on the time of year, trends, or events, and you need to adapt your bidding strategies accordingly.

Here's how you can effectively manage bids for seasonal keywords:

1. Identify Seasonal Keywords Early
The first step is to identify which keywords are seasonal. Seasonal keywords typically have performance fluctuations during certain times of year, such as:

Holidays (e.g., Christmas, Black Friday)

Events (e.g., back-to-school, summer sales, or sports seasons)

Seasonal product demand (e.g., winter coats, swimsuits)

Action:

Use historical data to identify keywords that have shown seasonal trends in previous years. You can analyze search volume, click-through rates, and conversion rates over time.

Google Trends and Bing Keyword Planner can also help identify trending seasonal searches.

Example: If your business sells swimwear, you'll want to bid higher on keywords related to swimsuits during the summer months and reduce bids during the off-season.

2. Use Bid Modifiers for Seasonal Adjustments
Once you've identified your seasonal keywords, you can use bid modifiers to adjust your bids dynamically as the season approaches.

Increase Bids Before Peak Season: If you anticipate that the demand for a seasonal product or service will increase (e.g., holiday sales, summer products), increase your bid ahead of time. This ensures your ads are competitive as search volumes rise.

Decrease Bids After Peak Season: After the peak season ends, you should decrease bids for those keywords to prevent over-spending when demand drops.

Action:

Use seasonal bid adjustments in Bing Ads (or any bid management platform) to automatically adjust bids based on certain timeframes or conditions.

For example, you could set a +30% bid modifier for a specific period before Black Friday, and then reduce it by -20% after the event ends.

Example: If the keyword "summer sandals" sees higher conversion rates in May and June, increase your bids in the months leading up to summer to capture more traffic.

3. Leverage Automated Rules and Scripts
Bing Ads offers automated rules and scripts to help manage bid adjustments for seasonal keywords. These tools allow you to set up triggers that automatically adjust your bids based on predefined criteria.

Automated Rules: Set up rules to increase or decrease bids for seasonal keywords based on performance metrics or calendar dates. For example, increase the bid by 20% on all keywords related to winter clothing starting from October 1st, and reduce it by 15% after January 15th.

Scripts: Use custom scripts to create more advanced bidding strategies, such as adjusting bids based on weather (if you sell weather-dependent products) or real-time search trends.

Example: Set a rule to automatically raise bids for "Christmas decorations" starting November 1st and lower them on January 5th after the holiday season.

4. Monitor Keyword Performance in Real-Time
Seasonal keywords can experience fluctuations not just due to the time of year, but also based on external factors like weather, market trends, or competitor actions.

Action:

Monitor performance in real-time during the peak season and adjust bids as necessary. For example, if a particular keyword is performing exceptionally well, you might choose to increase the bid temporarily to capture additional traffic.

Keep an eye on your cost per acquisition (CPA) and return on ad spend (ROAS) to ensure that the increased bids during peak periods still align with your ROI goals.

Example: If you are running ads for fall jackets and the weather changes earlier than expected, leading to increased interest, you might adjust your bids quickly to capture the spike in demand.

5. Plan for Seasonality with Historical Data and Forecasting
Use historical data to forecast trends for future seasons. By analyzing past performance, you can predict when demand will rise and plan your bids accordingly. Tools like Microsoft Advertising's forecasting and historical trend analysis can help you predict changes in keyword performance based on previous seasons.

Seasonal Trend Analysis: Analyze how certain keywords performed during past years' holiday seasons or peak months and use that data to adjust your bids for upcoming seasons.

Forecast Future Trends: Use forecasting tools to estimate future performance and plan budget allocation for seasonal keywords.

Example: If your keywords related to holiday gifts have historically performed well starting mid-November, you can forecast and increase your bids at the same time for the upcoming year.

6. Adjust for Seasonal Competition
During peak seasons, your competitors are likely to increase their bids as well, leading to more competition. This can drive up CPCs, meaning you'll need to carefully monitor your bids to remain competitive without overspending.

Action:

Use auction insights to understand your competitors' activity and adjust your bids accordingly. If you're facing increased competition for certain seasonal keywords, you might need to increase your bids to maintain visibility.

Consider dynamic bidding strategies to automatically adjust bids for competitive keywords during peak periods.

Example: During Cyber Monday, you may notice that competition for "discount electronics" increases. To stay competitive, you may need to increase your bids or refine your targeting.

7. Create Seasonal Ad Copy and Landing Pages
Bid adjustments alone won't fully optimize your seasonal campaigns. You should also adjust your ad copy and landing pages to reflect seasonal relevance. High-quality, tailored ads can improve your click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate, making your bids more effective.

Action:

Tailor your ad copy to highlight seasonal offers or promotions (e.g., "50% off winter coats!" or "Shop our Summer Collection!").

Ensure your landing pages align with the seasonal offer, providing a seamless and relevant experience for visitors.

Example: If you're running campaigns for summer vacations, ensure your ads focus on time-sensitive deals and your landing page highlights specific summer destination packages.

8. Utilize A/B Testing to Optimize Seasonal Campaigns
A/B testing can help refine how your seasonal campaigns are structured, including bids, ad copy, and landing page elements. Testing can help you determine which combinations perform best for seasonal keywords.

Action:

Conduct A/B tests on different ad copy versions, targeting strategies, and bidding approaches during the seasonal period. This helps you identify the best-performing setups and adjust accordingly.

Test bidding strategies (e.g., manual bidding vs. automated bidding) to see which method works best for your seasonal keywords.

Example: If you're selling winter gear, test different promotional ad copy variations and bid strategies for the keyword "buy winter jackets online" to determine which combination yields the highest conversion rate.

9. Review and Optimize Post-Season Performance
After the seasonal period ends, don't forget to review the results of your seasonal campaigns. Evaluate ROI, conversion rates, and CPC trends to understand what worked well and what needs improvement for the next season.

Action:

After the season, run a post-mortem analysis to assess how effectively your bid adjustments performed. This helps refine strategies for future seasonal campaigns.

Use insights from seasonal campaigns to inform strategies for the next season, including whether certain keywords should be bid more aggressively or paused.

Example: After Christmas sales, review keyword performance for terms like "Christmas tree decorations" and decide whether to optimize those keywords for the next holiday season.

Conclusion
Effectively managing bids for seasonal keywords requires careful planning, monitoring, and adjustment. By identifying seasonal trends, using bid modifiers and automated tools, leveraging real-time performance data, and making seasonal adjustments to ad copy and landing pages, you can ensure your campaigns stay relevant and cost-effective during high-demand periods. Always review post-season performance to inform your strategies for future seasonal opportunities.