My mothers keeper

On Mother’s Day this year (May 8! Get on it!), we’ll celebrate more than 85 million moms in the U.S. If you’re a digital marketer, you’re already fine-tuning your plans to take advantage of this enormous market with its $21.2 billion in anticipated spending. Mother’s Day is the third-biggest retail holiday, commanding attention that’s fitting for its revered celebrant. We love our moms! The research team at Bing Ads wanted to dig into some of the specifics about Mother’s Day searching and clicking. Three key things stand out in this research: Mother’s Day shopping starts early – as long as a month early. This is in huge contrast to Valentine’s Day shopping, which is a last-minute lunge Mother’s Day shoppers are brand-aware. They search for specific brand names PPC advertisers aren’t even close to taking advantage of the best sitelink extensions to reach shoppers Let’s break this down: Mother’s Day … [Read more...] about Mother’s Day Insights for Digital Marketers

In 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday. A century later, the holiday has become much more than a celebration of more than 85.4 million mothers. Mother’s Day is now the third-largest retail holiday in the US, with total spending at $21.2 billion, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF). No one likes to skimp on Mom. The NRF reports that the average shopper plans to spend $173 on their mother this year, with gifts ranging from consumer electronics to jewelry to flowers. And a new favorite gift is on the rise: the gift card. The NRF estimates that 44.2 percent of shoppers plan to buy Mom a gift card, with total spending expected to reach $2.2 billion. How do you make sure your ad campaigns are working as hard as possible for you this Mother’s Day? Here are Bing Ads’ top tips for Mother’s Day success. Timing is everything Mother’s Day searchers begin a month in advance and are most active the week … [Read more...] about smart ad strategies for the mother of all holidays

When Google launched the OfficialGoogle Blog back in 2004, it started as sort of a ho-hum event. There wasn'tanything particularly gripping, and some wondered if the company should be moreedgy with its posts. Since then, Google has launched more than 70 additionalofficial blogs over the years. Some have gotten edgy; a few even have comments, but mostimportant, they've turned into an essential communications vehicle for thecompany. A few weeks ago, I sat down with Karen Wickre, who aside from herformal title at Google of senior manager, global communications & publicaffairs, is who I'd best describe as "mother of the blogs." Karen is ultimatelyresponsible for how they all work, and she shared some insight on how Google makes use of blogging.Will the big three of Google - Larry, Sergey and Eric - ever blog? Will comments come to the main Google blog? Will Google's blogging replace press releases? Read on…. Danny: How would you characterize your role in relation to the blogs? Karen: … [Read more...] about Mother Of The Google Blog On Google’s Official Blogging

Weather Underground has launched what may be the first of its kind — a tool that lets marketers track sales against local weather conditions. It’s called “Sales Tracker,” and it’s part of a new (and still in beta) Business Center that aims to help marketers and business owners understand — and take advantage of — changes in temperature, precipitation and so forth. The Sales Tracker tool requires only a location and a date range. With that information, marketers can create a downloadable Excel spreadsheet that already has the weather information installed — just manually add sales data and the spreadsheet generates a summary that shows how sales have corresponded to local weather conditions. It also generates charts showing daily sales compared to temperatures, precipitation and dew point. A separate Temperature Maps tool shows a half-dozen U.S. weather maps comparing the current five-day forecast with historical temperatures, which may … [Read more...] about Is Mother Nature Causing Stormy Sales? Weather Underground Shows How Weather Impacts Your Bottom Line

This Mother’s Day, the moms we celebrate are as diverse as our American families. So why stick to the same old marketing tactics you’ve always used? Let’s make this year even more special (and successful) with some lesser-known tips and advice based on research compiled by my data scientist colleagues at Bing Ads. Did you know that 87 percent of Americans participate in Mother’s Day? And regardless of age, gender or relationship, people are looking for ways to celebrate and thank the “mom” in their life. For marketers, be sure you’re there for all the moms, with appropriate audience targeting and messaging. When you think of Mother’s Day messaging from brands, you may remember those wonderfully emotional ads, such as this one from P&G that can bring a tear to even the most cynical eye: But you don’t have to send people reaching for the tissue box to draw attention. Humor and authenticity can be just as powerfully … [Read more...] about Listen to your mother: Win Mother’s Day with humor and timing