The New Year's in, the Christmas Holidays are behind us, and many retailers are preparing for their next important peak season: Valentine's Day.

Searching for Love

Following the January Sales, Valentine's Day is the second major event in the 2008 calendar, with businesses, especially in the Flowers and Gifts sector, expecting to gain a post-Christmas boost in qualified traffic from people who are searching for the ideal valentines gift.

Online Valentine's Spending Rose 22%

ComScore Networks, the leader in the use of the Internet to measure consumer behaviour, has revealed that a growing number of shoppers are turning to the Internet to buy their token of love.

In their press release, titled Online Sales Rise in key Gift Categories Leading up to Valentine's Day, it was revealed that online spending in the Flowers & Gifts, Health & Beauty and Jewellery & Watches categories rose 22%, versus the corresponding period the previous year.

In this issue we would therefore like to give you some tips to help you capitalize on this trend with your adwords campaigns.

Of course, if you're a client, get in touch with your account manager to discuss your goals... and let Sayu optimise your account for this important period.

Tip # 1 - A New Campaign Dedicated to that Special Day

Create New Campaigns Just For Valentine's Day-Related Keywords and Ads

This way, you can set aside a dedicated budget, and have better control over your daily spend and maximum cost-per-click (CPC). What's more, if a new campaign is set up separately, you can simply 'pause' the whole campaign when the period is over, and just like that artificial Christmas tree, you can dig it out again next year!

Tip # 2 - Console Panicked Shoppers

Offer free delivery? Next day delivery? Shout about it!

If you're in the flower sector, can you guarantee a timely delivery? Do you have chocolates or gifts sitting in your warehouse ready to be dispatched as soon as they're ordered? Let those last minute shoppers know either in your text ad or on the landing page.

Tip # 3 - Give Your Customers Confidence

Reassure shoppers that their loved one will love their gift 

For us indecisive shoppers, it's always reassuring to read "Perfect Valentines Gifts", "Popular Men's Valentines Gifts", "Unique Valentine's Gifts" and so on. Entice the indecisive shoppers to your website by using such messages in your text ad's.

Tip # 4 - It's Not All About Flowers, Chocolates and Teddy Bears...

At one time St Valentine's Day became a date for exchanging love messages and simple gifts such as a bunch of Roses, not anymore....

While searches for love poems gained the highest online market share last year, with the search term 'love poems' growing 83% [Hitwise], today, couples are showered with all kinds of gifts, from Jewellery, MP3 players and handbags, to winter holidays and spa breaks. Ask yourself; do I sell potential valentines gifts?

Tip # 5 - Make the Shopping Experience as Painless as Possible...

According to the British Retail Consortium, last year, men were more inclined to buy online  than women were. So, given that we all know how much men hate shopping, we should make their shopping experience as painless as possible.

Entice the shopper with a targeted text ad

Valentines Flower Bouquets
High quality Valentines bouquets.
Free delivery.
www.valentineexample.com

Hand pick the ideal landing page

In an ideal world, when the user clicks on the advert above they would be taken to the "Valentines Flower Bouquets" product page, with the words "Valentines Flower Bouquets" clearly written in large type at the top of the page. This will show the visitor at every stage that you are taking them in the right direction that they want to go.

Make the landing page as usable as possible

When a user arrives at your website for the first time they will begin to make immediate evaluations about your website and whether you are a trustworthy company to do business with. Therefore, small adjustments to your landing pages can have a dramatic effects.

Usability is a massive topic in itself but a handful of pointers might be:

• Are the products you are advertising visible above the fold?
• Is the price prominent?
• Do you have a clear strap line that will tell the user what the purpose is of your website?
• Is the buy button clearly visible?

Getting the most out of adwords is especially important when seasonality is on your side, so it's time to begin preparation! Get in touch with your account manager today to discuss your valentine's goals.

* comscore Network's full press release: Online Sales Rise in Key Gift Categories Leading up to Valentine's Day