According to APACS, the UK payments association, today will be the busiest online shopping day in the UK this year.

How did they predict that it would be today? Well, Mondays and Tuesdays are considered the busiest online shopping days in general. And today is roughly three weeks before Christmas, meaning there is enough time to get presents delivered before everyone goes on holiday. Historically it’s usually the second last Monday before Christmas (that's the 10th this year) so we will have to wait and see which Monday takes the Christmas cake in 2007!

Whichever Monday wins, the important thing to note is that this month is going to be a bumper month if you are running a retail PPC campaign. Over the whole of December, Christmas shoppers in the UK are expected to spend over £5 billion online - and we all want a piece of that mince pie!

(Ok, ok, no more cheesy Christmas idioms)

If you haven’t started optimising your campaigns for the Christmas retail rush, I suggest you do it today. PPC traffic at this time of the year in the retail sector is higher than ever, and you don’t want to use up your valuable PPC budget attracting the wrong kind of clicks. Here are three tips to help you get the most out of your PPC campaign this Christmas:

1). Target people in the “buying” part of the buying cycle:
Although generic terms like “Christmas gifts” are likely to get a lot of impressions, every Tom, Dick and Harriet is also going to be bidding on those keywords. More competition means higher bids for a decent advert position so those clicks are going to cost you a small fortune.
Plus, people searching for generic terms might still be in the initial investigative stage of the buying cycle and simply looking for gift ideas. And those are not the kind of shoppers you want to waste your precious budget on. Therefore make sure you are also bidding on specific product keywords. These won’t get as many impressions, but at least you know that someone typing in “Lego Castle Set” knows exactly what they are looking for and are far more likely to convert.

2). Put prices and promotions in your ad text:
If your prices are lower than competitors, listing them in your advert text will ensure your advert is the one people click on. Listing product prices will also save people from having to click on the advert just to find out that its more money than they wanted to spend.
Specials like “free delivery”, “buy one get one free” and Christmas competitions are also likely to make you advert more enticing than the usual “Fantastic selection of Christmas gifts, click here to buy online”.

3). Make note of delivery deadlines:
List your delivery deadline on your landing pages so people are aware of time constraints. Once the deadline has passed, either pause your campaign until Christmas or indicate in your advert text that anything bought on this date will not be delivered in time for Christmas. This will save you spending your PPC budget on panicking procrastinators desperate to get a last minute present.

Those are just three tips to help you on your merry way. If you have any other Christmas tips, feel free to share.
Christmas, after all, is the time for giving.