PPC
22 Google Ads Automated Rules That Will Make Your Life Easier
The world changes fast—and there are few places that show that change as quickly as the Google SERP. Global events, celebrity gossip, and social trending topics can all dominate our search interests and quickly impact the performance of our PPC campaigns.
Even the top searches from 2022 already feel outdated!
Although the SERP can shift at a minute’s notice, even the most dedicated PPC manager can’t monitor their campaigns 24/7. So how can you keep your ads up to date–even while you sleep?
Luckily, Google Ads allows PPC managers to use automated rules to monitor, change, and optimize their accounts in advance. With some proper planning and foresight, automatic rules can become a powerful tool in your tool belt.
What are Google Ads automated rules?
Automated rules allow advertisers to schedule changes to be made in their Google Ads account. The genius of automated rules is that they’re nearly infinitely flexible in scheduling changes made to your Google Ads account. You can use an automated rule to post one change or thousands–and can schedule them to run just one time or multiple times a day. You can use them to post big changes–such as pausing every campaign in your account, or the smallest changes–such as emailing you the results of your campaign when you return from vacation.
Microsoft Advertising has similar automated rules for their advertisers that can be used in conjunction with Google’s automated rules. Alternatively, advertisers can automate importing changes from their Google Ads accounts directly into Microsoft Advertising to keep their campaigns up in sync with Google and up to date.
How do you create an automated rule in Google Ads?
You can create automated rules directly within Google Ads from the “Tools and settings” menu. Under “Bulk Actions,” select “Rules.”
From here, you can create an automated rule to update any element of your account–campaigns, ad groups, keywords, ads, asset groups, audiences, demographic targets, or display placements.
Alternatively, when viewing any of these elements of your account, you can create an automated rule by selecting the three dots icon “More” at the far right. From there, select “Create an automated rule.” It will open up the framework to automate the element of your account you are viewing.
Every Google Ads automated rule has five main elements in its framework that you can set to automate your campaign to your fitting.
1. Action: This is what you want Google to change in your account. Big or small–you call the shots. Use automated rules to perform actions such as:
- Enable
- Pause
- Change Budgets
- Change Bids
- Change Bid Adjustments
- Change Final URLs
- Change Labels
- Send Email
2. Apply to: Select where you want this action to take place. For instance, do you want it to apply to every campaign (ad, keyword, etc.) in your account? Or do you want to select certain campaigns (ads, keyword, etc.)
3. Conditions: If you like, you can create additional conditions for Google to check before taking this action. These conditions can include any performance metrics (clicks, cost, conversions, CPA, etc) or attribute you can view in Google Ads.
4. Frequency: This is how often you want Google to check this condition and potentially perform this action. You can have these automated rules run:
- Once, at a set time in the future
- Hourly
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
When setting your frequency, you also choose what time window you want Google to consider when evaluating your condition. For instance, if you want Google to review data from earlier that day, month, or year.
5. Email results: Finally, you can optionally choose to have Google email you, your colleague, or your client. Google can send this email either every time it runs or any time it makes takes an action.
Best practices with Google Ads automated rules
Letting Google automatically post changes in your account is a scary thought to many. Google Ads automated rules can morph from a helpful tool to an active saboteur with the wrong guidance, especially if you’re just getting started.
1. Read your rules out loud first
When creating your automated rule, the setup can feel and sound technical–because it is! Like everything in Google Ads, automated rules were written by programmers, not marketers. To make sure your rules are written correctly, be sure to read back what you’re telling Google to do first.
Use the sentence structure:
“At [frequency], check to see if [conditions] are met using data from [date range in set in frequency]. If those conditions are met, then [perform action] in [apply to groups].
See? Technical sounding sentence on its own. Applied to a real rule, this could read:
At 3 p.m. every day, check to see if these campaigns have spent $5,000 so far this month. If that’s the case, then pause these selected campaigns.
2. Always preview results
Before saving your rule, Google allows you to “preview” it in action. This allows Google to check the conditions you’ve set and show you what it would do if that rule ran right now. Google doesn’t post these changes, but it’s a good way to check to see how many changes your new rule could potentially post.
3. Be cautious of frequency
One of the most common mistakes that I see advertisers making is having their rules run too frequently or using data from a different time period than their frequency. For instance, an automated rule that runs hourly using data from the day before will complete that action either 0 or 24 times, but never once. Your rule may be set to only raise your budget by $100, but this small mistake could raise it by $2,400 by the end of the day instead!
4. Start off with small changes
Fortune may favor the bold—but don’t automate your boldness! Small changes add up quickly and you don’t want a rogue automated rule to spend your annual budget over the weekend or change your campaigns beyond recognition without your eyes on it! Start off by having Google post smaller changes in the ballpark of 5% to 10% of a value every time it runs first. Once you see that the automated rules are set up, working properly, and contributing to better performance, then you can give them more power to make bigger changes.
22 Google Ads automated rules every advertiser should know
Automated rules have nearly unlimited potential to make managing your Google Ads account easier. With proper planning, you can use them to launch your new campaigns on time, optimize your current ads, keep you informed of your performance, or set up a failsafe to pull in an emergency. Here are some common examples that I use frequently:
Google automated rules for making campaign management easier
Try these automated rules to make managing Google Ads easier.
1. Pausing your campaigns before a holiday
If you know that your business is going to be closed for a few days in advance, you can use this rule to pause your campaigns on time. It’s one less thing to worry about right before your time off.
- Rule type: Campaign
- Action: Pause campaigns
- Apply to: All campaigns
- Conditions: Campaign status: All enabled
- Frequency: Once, at end of the business day the day before you close.
2. Enabling your campaigns after a holiday
Many of these rules have a “sister rule” that reverses them. Set this rule up alongside the rule to pause your campaigns and to make sure that they resume once your team is back to work.
- Rule type: Campaign
- Action: Enable campaigns
- Apply to: Selected campaigns (all that you are currently running)
- Conditions: None
- Frequency: Once, at the beginning of the day your return from the holiday.
If you’re changing your business’s operating hours during a holiday, be sure to update your local listings as well. The LocaliQ Listings Grader can help!
3. Enabling new ads for a sale or promotion
Want to make sure your new ads go live right in time for a sale or big event? This rule can save you from having to remember to update your ads on the big day. Consider adding labels to your ads for different sales or promotions to make automation easier. You may also want to schedule a similar rule to enable your usual ads again after a sale.
- Rule type: Ads
- Action: Enable ads
- Apply to: All ads (or manually select individual ads)
- Conditions: Ad text includes [your ads’ special offer]
- Frequency: Once, at the time your promotion starts.
4. Pausing your ads after a sale
A sister to the previous rule, use this automated rule to pause your usual ads during the event and then pause your sale ads afterward.
- Rule type: Ads
- Action: Pause ads
- Apply to: All ads (or manually select individual ads)
- Conditions: Ad text includes [your ads’ special offer]
- Frequency: Once, at the time conclusion of your promotion.
5. Run different ads at night
Offers like “24/7 availability” or “Open late” matter to people differently at night. Similarly, if your team doesn’t respond to requests after hours, a more modest call to action may help you guide searches to fill out a form during your off-hours.
- Rule type: Ads
- Action: Enable ads
- Apply to: All ads (or manually select individual ads)
- Conditions: Ad text includes [your ads’ late-night messaging]
- Frequency: Daily, at 5 p.m.
Like most other rules, couple this rule with three sister rules to pause your “daytime” ads daily at 5 p.m., resume your “daytime” ads at 9 a.m., and pause your “nighttime” ads at 9 a.m.
An example of a search ad that could benefit from this rule, since the business closes at 5 p.m.
6. Run different ads on the weekend
Similarly, if you have special rates on weekends or are available when your competitors are closed, those messages may resonate with your weekend searchers. Be sure to pair this rule with sister rules to pause these ads on Monday, resume your weekday ads on Monday, and pause your weekday ads on Friday.
- Rule type: Ads
- Action: Enable ads
- Apply to: All ads (or manually select individual ads)
- Conditions: Ad text includes [your ads’ weekend messaging]
- Frequency: Weekly, Saturday at 12am.
7. Update your final URL
If you’ve got a new landing page for your ads, this rule can spare you from having a late-night session updating your keyword’s final URL.
- Rule type: Ads
- Action: Change keyword final URLs
- Apply to: All ads (or manually select individual ads)
- Conditions: None
- Frequency: Once, at a set time
It’s been proven that having more landing pages generates more leads. So, this Google Ads automated rule can come in handy as you create landing pages optimized for specific PPC keywords.
Rules for making budget management easier
Try these Google Ads automated rules to simplify budget management.
8. Prevent your campaigns from overspending their daily budget
Google infamously can spend up to twice your campaign’s daily budget on any given day. This is a trick to take back control of your campaigns and limit Google’s ability to spend more than a set amount each day.
- Rule type: Campaigns
- Action: Pause campaign
- Apply to: Select campaigns
- Conditions: Spend > $[your daily budget]
- Frequency: Hourly, using data from the same day.
9. Enabling your campaigns after spending their budget the previous day
The sister rule to the previous, this will enable the campaigns you paused the previous day.
- Rule type: Campaigns
- Action: Enable campaign
- Apply to: Select campaigns
- Conditions: Spend > $[your daily budget]
- Frequency: Daily at 12am, using data from the previous day.
10. Keeping your monthly budget constant every month
It’s a silly thing, but marketers know that their set monthly budget doesn’t divide evenly into a daily budget when the months have 28, 30, or 31 days. Manually recalculating budgets every month is a pain and many of us have other priorities on the first day of the month. 10 rules here can save you a year of math.
- Rule type: Campaigns
- Action: Change budgets
Create a different rule for each date, to run once at 12 a.m. on that date and adjust the budget in kind:
- Feb 1 – Increase daily budgets by 10.7%
- Mar 1 – Decrease daily budgets by 9.7%
- Apr 1– Increase daily budgets by 3.3%
- May 1– Decrease daily budgets by 3.2%
- June 1– Increase daily budgets by 3.3%
- July 1– Decrease daily budgets by 3.2%
- Sept 1– Increase daily budgets by 3.3%
- Oct 1– Decrease daily budgets by 3.2%
- Nov 1– Increase daily budgets by 3.3%
- Dec 1– Decrease daily budgets by 3.2%
11. Set a weekly budget for your campaigns
Have a special budget for the holiday week? Or just prefer to manage your campaigns with a weekly budget? This rule has you covered.
- Rule type: Campaigns
- Action: Pause campaign
- Apply to: Select campaigns
- Conditions: Spend > $[your weekly budget]
- Frequency: Hourly, using data from this week.
12. Set a monthly budget for your campaigns
You can set a max spending limit for your entire account within Google Ads, but if you want to control a set monthly budget for some of your campaigns, you can manage that as well with this rule.
- Rule type: Campaigns
- Action: Pause campaign
- Apply to: Select campaigns
- Conditions: Spend > $[your monthly budget]
- Frequency: Hourly, using data from this month.
An example of setting a monthly spend limit for your entire account. However, Google Ads automated rules can make this setting possible at the campaign level.
13. Adjust your budget for the weekend
Depending on your audience, search traffic might peak or drag on the weekend. You can use dayparting to adjust your bids or ad schedule for the weekends, but you can also adjust your budgets throughout the week to make sure that you can afford more traffic when your best customers are searching for you.
- Rule type: Campaigns
- Action: Change budgets
- Apply to: Select campaigns
- Conditions: None
- Frequency: Weekly, on Saturdays at 12am.
Similarly, create a sister rule to this to reverse this change on Mondays at 12 a.m.
Google Ads automated rules for managing campaign performance
Performance in Google Ads can vary from advertiser to advertiser–what’s “good” for a lawyer, might be awful for an ecommerce business. With that in mind, consider your own account performance when creating specific conditions for these rules.
14. Increase bids if your keywords aren’t showing
Keywords that don’t show are hard to optimize for. This rule will catch any keywords that aren’t showing because their bid is too low.
- Rule type: Keywords
- Action: Raise bids to first page CPC
- Apply to: All keywords
- Conditions: Keyword status reason contains any below first-page bid.
- Frequency: Daily
15. Increase budget if performance is good
Search traffic might spike unexpectedly–and this rule can help give your campaigns more marketing budget fuel if they’re performing well. This can be particularly great to implement on big sales events or holidays.
- Rule type: Campaigns
- Action: Increase budget by 5%
- Apply to: Select campaigns
- Conditions: Conversions > 5 and CPA (or ROAS) is hitting your goals
- Frequency: Daily at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m., and 6 p.m.; using data from that day
16. Increase bids when performance is good
Smart bidding can automatically adjust your keyword bids in your account to optimize towards a specific goal, but if you prefer a little bit more control with manual CPC bidding, you can still use automated rules.
- Rule type: Keywords
- Action: Increase bids by 5%
- Apply to: All keywords
- Conditions: Conversions > 5 and CPA (or ROAS) is hitting your goals
- Frequency: Weekly, using data from the previous week.
17. Pause campaigns or decrease budgets if performance is poor
Not all press is good press for your PPC campaigns. You never know when you’re about to be on the receiving end of a lot of poor-quality searches. Treat this rule as your guardrail to prevent a bad day from getting worse.
- Rule type: Campaign
- Action: Pause campaign or decrease budget
- Apply to: Select campaigns
- Conditions: Spend > [70% of your budget] and CPA (or ROAS) is very bad
- Frequency: Daily at 12 p.m., 3 p.m., and 6 p.m., using data from that day.
Bear in mind that it may take a few hours for Google to attribute conversions to your campaigns—so set your benchmarks for “very bad” results low here. You’ll also very likely want to have Google email you anytime this rule runs so that you can bring your attention to what caused such a poor-performing day.
18. Decrease bids if performance is poor
Light bid adjustments can keep your keywords optimized and reduce wasted spend without you even signing into Google Ads.
- Rule type: Keywords
- Action: Decrease bids by 5%
- Apply to: All keywords
- Conditions: Conversions > 5 and CPA (or ROAS) is 20% or more away from your goal.
- Frequency: Weekly, using data from the previous week.
While these Google Ads automated rules are here if you need them, you can stay ahead of these rules by picking the best possible keywords for your account. Use our Free Keyword Tool to get the top keywords for your specific account needs.
19. Pause low-performing keywords
Even well-researched keywords may not lead to the results you hoped for. If you find that a keyword is getting a lot of traffic but no conversions, plan to pause it.
- Rule type: Keywords
- Action: Pause keyword
- Apply to: All keywords
- Conditions: Clicks > 100, Spend is high, and CPA is very poor
- Frequency: Monthly, using data from the previous month.
20. Pause low-performing ads
Ad testing is a vital part of managing your Google Ads campaigns. This rule can help determine the loser of your ad tests and pause poor performing ad in an ad group
- Rule type: Ads
- Action: Pause ad
- Apply to: Ads in selected campaigns (consider only search campaigns, for instance)
- Conditions: Ad Impressions > 1000, Ad CTR < .5%, and Ad Group CTR > 1%
- Frequency: Monthly, using data from the previous month.
Rules for monitoring your campaign activity
These Google Ads automated rules allow Google to help you keep an eye on campaign activity.
21. Receive an email if your campaigns aren’t spending their budget.
If your campaigns aren’t on track to spend their monthly budget, this rule can alert you and let you fix anything before the end of the month.
- Rule type: Campaign
- Action: Send email
- Apply to: All campaigns
- Conditions: Spend < [33% of monthly budget]
- Frequency: Monthly on the 15th, using data from the current month
22. Receive an email if your team isn’t active in your account.
If you trust a teammate or agency to manage your accounts, it can be frustrating to discover that they aren’t actively touching anything. Without having to check their work, this little rule will alert you if a week goes by without any activity. Some accounts may not require daily or even weekly changes to stay healthy–but this rule can help you keep your trust in your trusted partners.
- Rule type: Campaign
- Action: Send email
- Apply to: All campaigns
- Conditions: Change history changes = 0
- Frequency: Weekly, using data from the past week
Want more ways to optimize your Google Ads account? Try our Free Google Ads Grader to get key insights on Quality Score, Impression Share, and more!
A good Google Ads automated rule could be your account management hero
Google Ads automated rules can help make your life managing your PPC campaigns much easier. With a little bit of planning, you can automate several manual tasks to take place—letting you focus on other priorities during your busiest periods or even letting you relax during your break. But remember, Google Ads automated rules are as powerful as you make them—be cautious about how many and how frequently your rules will post changes and check on them frequently until you have them fine-tuned in your account.
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PPC
Facebook Ads Benchmarks for 2024: NEW Data + Insights for Your Industry
With over 2 billion daily active users, Facebook still reigns supreme as the most popular social media platform. And that’s part of the reason that Facebook ads continue to be an extremely popular solution for businesses looking to raise brand awareness, connect with prospects, and get new customers.
So how do you know if your Facebook ads are really working? We’ve got the data to answer your questions!
Just in time to inform your 2024 planning and help you better understand how your Facebook advertising campaigns are performing now, we’re sharing Facebook ads benchmarks across 20 industries, including benchmarks for click-through rate, cost per click, conversion rate, and more for two popular Facebook ads campaign objectives.
Table of contents
Key trends: The big picture
Over the last year, most businesses have seen their Facebook ads results improve, meaning their engagement metrics are going up and their advertising costs are going down. Here’s a deeper look:
- Click-through rate (CTR) increased year over year for 9 out of 19 industries using Facebook Lead Ads. Some of those increases were fairly significant, especially for Arts & Entertainment and Education & Instruction. CTR decreased YOY for 15 out of 23 industries in the traffic objective, but average CTR still remains higher than other available data shows (1.51% vs. 0.9%).
- Cost per click (CPC) largely decreased year over year. 9 industries saw a decrease in CPC YOY for the leads objective, while 14 saw a decrease YOY for the traffic objective. And for each objective, the increases weren’t drastic. This is interesting given the drastic increase in CPC across most (91%) industries for search advertising.
- For the leads objective, 13 out of 19 industries saw conversion rate (CVR) increase year over year. The economy could play a role in the industries that saw decreases YOY. For example, with a volatile housing market, fewer people may have been looking to buy or sell, leading to a decrease in CVR for real estate businesses.
- For the leads objective, cost per lead (CPL) stayed the same or decreased for 12 out of 19 industries. Again, it’s interesting to see this trend given the drastic increase in CPL on the search ads side, where 91% of industries saw increases in CPL in 2023.
The overall key takeaway? Facebook advertising continues to offer complementary advantages to search ads because of lower and more stable costs.
“One of the biggest things I’m always impressed with on Facebook is that, although advertising CPCs generally fluctuate across the board, Facebook ads CPCs differ so much less than what you might see on Google Ads or other search networks,” said Mark Irvine, Director of Paid Media at Search Labs.
Facebook ads benchmarks for traffic campaigns by industry
Facebook advertising allows you to choose specific ad objectives for each campaign. It then optimizes your campaigns against that objective, which helps you reach specific goals with your Facebook ads.
The traffic objective in Facebook ads optimizes your campaign to drive clicks from your ads to your landing page, app, or event. Traffic campaigns are popular among many small business advertisers because they help to drive more visitors (and potential customers!) to your website.
| Business category | Avg. click-through rate | Avg. cost per click |
| Animals & Pets | 1.63% | $0.76 |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | 1.13% | $1.11 |
| Arts & Entertainment | 2.55% | $0.44 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 0.99% | $1.15 |
| Automotive — For Sale | 1.18% | $0.70 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 0.99% | $0.99 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 1.34% | $0.88 |
| Business Services | 1.37% | $0.84 |
| Career & Employment | 1.31% | $0.70 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 0.81% | $1.27 |
| Education & Instruction | 1.20% | $0.79 |
| Finance & Insurance | 0.88% | $1.11 |
| Furniture | 1.15% | $1.19 |
| Health & Fitness | 1.68% | $0.90 |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.23% | $0.95 |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.03% | $0.80 |
| Personal Services | 1.28% | $0.87 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 1.02% | $1.08 |
| Real Estate | 2.45% | $0.65 |
| Restaurants & Food | 2.29% | $0.52 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | 1.82% | $0.65 |
| Sports & Recreation | 1.30% | $0.77 |
| Travel | 2.06% | $0.43 |
Note: Since this campaign objective is specifically designed to drive traffic, cost per lead and conversion rate metrics tend to be on the higher side. It’s important to focus on the metrics that matter most for your ad objective, so we’ve omitted those metrics here.
Average click-through rate in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns
CTR or click-through rate is a measure of how frequently viewers click on your ad. Essentially, your campaign’s CTR indicates how compelling and click-worthy viewers deem your Facebook ads. For this reason, higher CTRs are a sign of strong Facebook ad copy and creative.
The average click-through rate in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns across all industries is 1.51%.
|
Business category |
Avg. click-through rate |
| Animals & Pets | 1.63% |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | 1.13% |
| Arts & Entertainment | 2.55% |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 0.99% |
| Automotive — For Sale | 1.18% |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 0.99% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 1.34% |
| Business Services | 1.37% |
| Career & Employment | 1.31% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 0.81% |
| Education & Instruction | 1.20% |
| Finance & Insurance | 0.88% |
| Furniture | 1.15% |
| Health & Fitness | 1.68% |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.23% |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.03% |
| Personal Services | 1.28% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 1.02% |
| Real Estate | 2.45% |
| Restaurants & Food | 2.29% |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | 1.82% |
| Sports & Recreation | 1.30% |
| Travel | 2.06% |
The industries with the highest CTR were Arts & Entertainment at 2.55%, Real Estate at 2.45%, and Restaurants & Food at 2.29%.
The industries with lower average CTR were Dentists & Dental Services at 0.81%, Finance & Insurance at 0.88%, and Attorneys & Legal Services at 0.99%.
“CTRs differ strongly between different business types across Facebook, even more so than on Google Ads. Successful Facebook Ads require impressive, visual proof to attract attention from the scrolling audience—and that’s why you see some of the best Facebook ads CTRs from those industries that can wow us with the promise of a good time, like Travel, Arts & Entertainment, and Sports,” said Irvine.
“These industries both fit in with the content we’re used to seeing on our feeds from our friends,” he added. “A night out or tropical getaway can be far more attractive than a visual portrayal of an automotive repair or a visit to the dentist. We see those strong divides in the Facebook ads CTR performance in these types of industries.”
Average cost per click in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns
Cost per click or CPC is a calculation of your total spend divided by your total number of clicks. Maintaining a lower average CPC on your traffic campaign means you can catch and convert website visitors at an overall cheaper cost.
For the traffic objective, a click would be a click from your ad to your website or whatever destination you set for your ad.
The average cost per click in Facebook ads for traffic campaigns across all industries is $0.83. This is much lower than the average cost per click in Google Ads of $4.22.
| Business category | Avg. cost per click |
| Animals & Pets | $0.76 |
| Apparel / Fashion & Jewelry | $1.11 |
| Arts & Entertainment | $0.44 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $1.15 |
| Automotive — For Sale | $0.70 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $0.99 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $0.88 |
| Business Services | $0.84 |
| Career & Employment | $0.70 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $1.27 |
| Education & Instruction | $0.79 |
| Finance & Insurance | $1.11 |
| Furniture | $1.19 |
| Health & Fitness | $0.90 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $0.95 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $0.80 |
| Personal Services | $0.87 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $1.08 |
| Real Estate | $0.65 |
| Restaurants & Food | $0.52 |
| Shopping, Collectibles & Gifts | $0.65 |
| Sports & Recreation | $0.77 |
| Travel | $0.43 |
The industries that saw the lowest cost per click were Travel at $0.43, Arts & Entertainment at $0.44, and Restaurants & Food at $0.52.
The industries that saw higher-than-average costs per click were Dentists & Dental Services at $1.27, Furniture at $1.19, and Attorneys & Legal Services at $1.15. Again, these CPCs are still lower than the average CPC for Google Ads at over $4. Plus, these industries have fairly high lifetime average customer costs, so it makes sense that their advertising costs would be higher than a restaurant or entertainment venue.
“The biggest trend I am seeing with this Facebook ads CPC data is that consumer demand remains strong despite the uncertain economy. Cost per click is well within range of what we’ve been quoting advertisers for years now, while click-through rate also remains strong,” said Tyler Mask, Senior Manager of Custom Solutions at LocaliQ.
Facebook ads benchmarks for lead generation campaigns by industry
Facebook ads running with the leads objective are meant to drive leads through form fills, messages, calls, and conversions.
In a leads objective campaign, you’ll be running Facebook Lead Ads, which include prompts directly within the ad to help you collect lead information.
An example of the Facebook Lead Ad form creation process.
We’ve included conversion rate and cost per lead as part of these benchmarks since this objective is optimized to drive leads and conversions.
| Business category | Avg. click-through rate | Avg. cost per click | Avg. conversion rate | Avg. cost per lead |
| Arts & Entertainment | 3.70% | $0.87 | 9.77% | $13.46 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 1.79% | $5.42 | 5.92% | $78.26 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 1.38% | $2.86 | 5.35% | $58.56 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 2.46% | $2.16 | 4.61% | $52.46 |
| Business Services | 2.70% | $1.73 | 7.57% | $22.65 |
| Career & Employment | 2.37% | $1.34 | 7.02% | $18.17 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 1.80% | $3.82 | 11.34% | $29.08 |
| Education & Instruction | 2.44% | $1.80 | 8.05% | $27.94 |
| Finance & Insurance | 1.98% | $2.94 | 5.62% | $30.88 |
| Furniture | 2.55% | $1.58 | 7.29% | $29.08 |
| Health & Fitness | 1.66% | $3.60 | 5.76% | $60.95 |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.80% | $2.08 | 8.90% | $20.49 |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.50% | $2.69 | 10.13% | $37.71 |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | 2.72% | $1.88 | 8.76% | $19.49 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 3.17% | $3.63 | 4.99% | $60.95 |
| Real Estate | 3.69% | $1.22 | 9.58% | $12.43 |
| Restaurants & Food | 1.85% | $2.61 | 5.63% | $45.15 |
| Sports & Recreation | 3.29% | $1.11 | 8.24% | $15.33 |
| Travel | 6.62% | $0.96 | 3.95% | $26.05 |
Average click-through rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Although Facebook lead ads don’t necessarily require users to click to your website, they’ll have to click on the ad to become a lead. Plus, the option to click to your website still exists on the ad. You should prioritize a high click-through rate for your Facebook leads objective campaigns because it signals that your ad is attracting users to take action.
The average click-through rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns across all industries is 2.50%.
| Business category | Avg. click-through rate |
| Arts & Entertainment | 3.70% |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 1.79% |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 1.38% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 2.46% |
| Business Services | 2.70% |
| Career & Employment | 2.37% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 1.80% |
| Education & Instruction | 2.44% |
| Finance & Insurance | 1.98% |
| Furniture | 2.55% |
| Health & Fitness | 1.66% |
| Home & Home Improvement | 1.80% |
| Industrial & Commercial | 1.50% |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | 2.72% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 3.17% |
| Real Estate | 3.69% |
| Restaurants & Food | 1.85% |
| Sports & Recreation | 3.29% |
| Travel | 6.62% |
The industries that saw the best CTRs on their Facebook ads running with the leads objective were Travel at 6.62%, Arts & Entertainment at 3.70%, and Real Estate at 3.69%.
The industries with the lowest CTRs were Automotive – Repair, Service & Parts at 1.38%, Industrial & Commercial at 1.50%, and Health & Fitness at 1.66%.
Average cost per click in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Every time a user clicks on your Facebook lead ads, you get charged—so trying to keep your average CPC as low as possible is a no-brainer. That said, you’ll also want to take your lead quality into consideration when evaluating your CPC. If your priority is to get the highest quality leads possible, then they may be worth the slightly higher CPC.
The average cost per click in Facebook ads for the leads gen campaign across all industries is $1.92.
| Business category | Avg. cost per click |
| Arts & Entertainment | $0.87 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $5.42 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $2.86 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $2.16 |
| Business Services | $1.73 |
| Career & Employment | $1.34 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $3.82 |
| Education & Instruction | $1.80 |
| Finance & Insurance | $2.94 |
| Furniture | $1.58 |
| Health & Fitness | $3.60 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $2.08 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $2.69 |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | $1.88 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $3.63 |
| Real Estate | $1.22 |
| Restaurants & Food | $2.61 |
| Sports & Recreation | $1.11 |
| Travel | $0.96 |
The industries with the lowest CPCs were Arts & Entertainment at $0.87, Travel at $0.96, and Sports & Recreation at $1.11.
The industries that saw the highest CPCs for the leads objective were Attorneys & Legal Services at $5.42, Dentists & Dental Services at $3.82, and Physicians & Surgeons at $3.63. While these were higher compared to the average, they’re still fairly low cost for clicks in these industries.
“The difference in CTR and CPC between the two objectives stands out to me the most. The average CPC is 56% lower for the traffic objective campaigns than that of the leads objective, which, in some ways, makes sense,” said Michelle Morgan, co-founder of Paid Media Pros.
“Facebook is trying to get the lowest cost clicks it can, but I’m a little surprised to see the CTR being 66% higher for the leads objective campaigns. That indicates to me that although they’re more expensive, the users Facebook targets with a leads objective campaign might actually be a better fit for companies (on average) than the traffic objective,” said Morgan.
Average conversion rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Conversion rate measures the rate at which your Facebook ads are driving conversions. It’s calculated by dividing the total number of leads by the total number of clicks. A high conversion rate signals that your Facebook ad is compelling users to take the next step to potentially become your customer. A lower conversion rate signals you may need to adjust your ad targeting, copy, or landing page to drive better results.
The average conversion rate in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns across industries is 8.25%.
| Business category | Avg. conversion rate |
| Arts & Entertainment | 9.77% |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | 5.92% |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | 5.35% |
| Beauty & Personal Care | 4.61% |
| Business Services | 7.57% |
| Career & Employment | 7.02% |
| Dentists & Dental Services | 11.34% |
| Education & Instruction | 8.05% |
| Finance & Insurance | 5.62% |
| Furniture | 7.29% |
| Health & Fitness | 5.76% |
| Home & Home Improvement | 8.90% |
| Industrial & Commercial | 10.13% |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | 8.76% |
| Physicians & Surgeons | 4.99% |
| Real Estate | 9.58% |
| Restaurants & Food | 5.63% |
| Sports & Recreation | 8.24% |
| Travel | 3.95% |
The industries with the highest CVRs for Facebook ads running the leads objective were Dentists & Dental Services at 11.34%, Industrial & Commercial at 10.13%, and Arts & Entertainment at 9.77%.
The industries that saw lower-than-average conversion rates were Travel at 3.95%, Beauty & Personal Care at 4.61%, and Physicians & Surgeons at 4.99%.
Facebook ads conversion rates are usually dependent on the quality of the ads being put in front of users. “All industries can benefit from taking the time to message map in a meaningful way. Honoring the way your consumers want to be spoken to will increase conversion rates as well as mitigate ‘wasted success.’ Wasted success is when the lead is good but not quite ready or doesn’t qualify,” said Navah Hopkins, Evangelist at Optmyzer. “I strongly recommend building in a creative audit, as well as exploring new audience targeting to make sure your campaigns are set up for success,” said Hopkins.
Average cost per lead in Facebook ads for lead gen campaigns
Cost per lead tells you how much you’re paying to secure a new lead. It’s calculated by dividing your total spend by your total conversions.
The average cost per lead in Facebook ads for the leads objective across industries is $23.10.
| Business category | Avg. cost per lead |
| Arts & Entertainment | $13.46 |
| Attorneys & Legal Services | $78.26 |
| Automotive — Repair, Service & Parts | $58.56 |
| Beauty & Personal Care | $52.46 |
| Business Services | $22.65 |
| Career & Employment | $18.17 |
| Dentists & Dental Services | $29.08 |
| Education & Instruction | $27.94 |
| Finance & Insurance | $30.88 |
| Furniture | $29.08 |
| Health & Fitness | $60.95 |
| Home & Home Improvement | $20.49 |
| Industrial & Commercial | $37.71 |
| Personal Services (Weddings, Cleaners, etc.) | $19.49 |
| Physicians & Surgeons | $60.95 |
| Real Estate | $12.43 |
| Restaurants & Food | $45.15 |
| Sports & Recreation | $15.33 |
| Travel | $26.05 |
The industries with the lowest CPLs in the Facebook leads objective were Real Estate at $12.43, Arts & Entertainment at $13.46, and Sports & Recreation at $15.33.
The industries that saw the highest CPLs for the leads objective were Attorneys & Legal Services at $78.26, Health & Fitness at $60.95, and Physicians & Surgeons at $60.95. These industries typically have higher costs for advertising, in general, but also have higher customer values. So a $60 CPL can still have a great return on investment when you look at how much revenue a new customer can bring your business.
While CPL is a critical metric for many Facebook advertisers, there are other factors you’ll want to consider when measuring your Facebook ads progress.
“The most important metric on Facebook for seeing success is…the metric you define as success. If you’re trying to drive engagement, that’s your metric. If you’re trying to drive leads, then some combination of lead volume and CPL is going to be your success metric,” said Morgan.
How to improve your Facebook ads performance
While these benchmarks can serve as a helpful guidepost to compare your results against, they shouldn’t be the end-all-be-all for measuring your Facebook advertising success. Every business is different, and what defines success for your campaigns will be unique to your business needs, budget, and other factors.
However, if you feel like your Facebook ads are not converting or driving traffic as much as they should when compared to industry averages, you’re not alone. There’s always room to improve—especially by following these tips and best practices.
How to use Facebook ads to drive traffic
Here are some tips on how to increase traffic to your website via your Facebook ads:
- Choose the traffic objective. The traffic objective is the clear choice to encourage Facebook’s ad algorithm to strategically show your ad to get the most clicks possible.
- A/B test CTA buttons. A powerful call to action can entice users to click on your Facebook ad—increasing your click-through rate. Luckily, Facebook gives you plenty of options to play around with when it comes to choosing an effective CTA button for your ad. Your best bet is to A/B test a few different CTA buttons to see what works. Additionally, you should include popular call-to-action phrases in your ad copy.
- Use compelling creative. People will form an opinion on your Facebook ad instantly—just a few seconds after seeing it, in fact. Be sure your ads stand out and attract clicks with eye-catching creative. To start, check out these Facebook ad examples and learn why they work.
An example of the CTA button options within Facebook ads.
How to use Facebook ads to drive leads
Follow these Facebook ads tips to get more leads:
- Choose the leads objective. While other Facebook ads campaign objectives may end up capturing leads, it’s best to source your leads directly from Facebook with Facebook lead ads.
- Perfect your form fields. You may need to test to see what form style works best to maximize both lead quality and quantity. For example, this year Meta announced that it added conditional logic to the Facebook lead generation form setup. Leveraging conditional logic in your forms can help you pre-qualify your leads.
- Ensure users know they are clicking on a lead ad. Be clear about the action you want viewers to take. That way, those who click know what to expect and genuinely want to work with your business.
An example of conditional logic settings within a Facebook Lead Ad.
How to improve your Facebook ads CTR
Here are a few ways to improve your Facebook ads CTR:
- Pay attention to the right metrics. CTR may not always be the “end all be all” Facebook ads metric for your business. “Consider CTR a helpful guide, but not the only source of truth for success,” said Mask. “Also, you might find other metrics impact the root causes of poor CTR health. Cost per thousand impressions (CPM) and CPC correlate closely to this metric; sometimes one has to be sacrificed for another.”
- Use power words in your copy. Emotional marketing copy can set your business’s Facebook ads apart from the competition. Focusing on compelling ad copy helps to persuade users to click on your ad—increasing your CTR.
A reporting dashboard like this can help you measure the Facebook ad metrics that matter most to your business.
How to lower your Facebook ads costs
Here are some practical ways to lower your costs in Facebook Ads:
- Get strategic with your audience targeting. You may want to target different Facebook audiences for different objectives. For example, you may target a Facebook lookalike audience with a traffic objective, so you can educate a new crop of potential customers about who you are and what you do. Alternatively, you may target specific email addresses or retarget users while using the leads objective because these audiences are already aware of your business and may be more likely to convert.
- Broaden your audience as needed. A broader audience reach has been found to lower your overall cost per thousand impressions (CPM), since you’re casting a wider net.
- Try ad scheduling with a lifetime budget. Ad scheduling is another option that can help limit your costs, since you’re deciding what days or times your ad will show rather than 24/7 coverage.
- Consider all your campaign objective options. If you have experience with Google Ads, you can think of your Facebook campaign objectives like how you would your Google campaign goals and bidding strategies. “The best part about advertising on Facebook is that Facebook has tons of campaign objectives and further customizations for you to choose from to ensure your campaigns are optimizing for exactly the success metric you want to focus on,” said Morgan.
Here’s a breakdown of the Facebook ad objectives you can choose from:
-
- Leads
- Traffic
- Awareness
- Engagement
- App promotion
- Sales
How to increase your Facebook ads conversion rate
Use these tips to optimize your Facebook ads for more conversions and a higher CVR:
- Iron out your tracking with Facebook pixel. Your Facebook ads conversion tracking relies on your Facebook pixel—which connects to your website. Get clear on the conversion actions you want to track to stop conversion data from slipping through the cracks.
- Optimize your landing page. A high conversion rate starts with an optimized landing page. Check that your Facebook ads landing page provides a seamless experience for users.
- Complement your strategy with other channels. Your Facebook ads should play a role in a larger marketing and advertising strategy for your business. Be sure to regularly share organic posts to Facebook to fill any gaps in your paid Facebook ad performance. You’ll likely want to also leverage other social media platforms, as well as channels like SEO and search ads, to supplement your Facebook Ads. For example, your audience members are probably using TikTok and Snapchat in addition to Facebook or Instagram. You could promote your business across these platforms to grow your overall social following. In fact, many marketing channels provide similar benefits to businesses, so it’s best to use as many as possible in tandem for a holistic marketing approach.
A cross-channel marketing campaign that includes social ads, search, and other channels helps you reach your audience no matter where they’re spending time online. But it can be a very manual and challenging process to truly optimize across those channels to yield the desired results and lowest cost,” said Stephanie Asrymbetov, Director of Product at LocaliQ. “LocaliQ’s cross-media optimization (XMO) technology simplifies this approach by leveraging AI and automation to optimize your campaigns across channels based on what’s driving the best performance to your business’s goals—and your budget.”
Put these Facebook ads benchmarks to work in 2024
Tracking your Facebook ad performance against these industry benchmarks can help you gauge how your business is pacing compared to the competition. This can be especially helpful when you don’t have a ton of data or you’re unsure of how to best measure your Facebook ads ROI.
However, every business is unique, and no two Facebook ad accounts are the same. So, be sure to align your advertising expectations with what’s achievable for your business. That said, if you tried our suggested tips above and still find your business’s performance isn’t up to the industry standards outlined here, that’s okay! See how our solutions can help you improve your Facebook ads strategy.
PPC
60 Perfectly-Worded Christmas & Holiday Greetings
You see and hear happy holiday messages everywhere during this time of year, and yet when it comes time to write your own greetings, whether for friends, family, customers, or coworkers…your brain conks out and things just aren’t coming out like you expected…
Don’t worry. We’ve got almost 60 perfectly-worded holiday greetings and messages that you can use for your emails, cards, social posts, texts, and more. Plus, holiday email headers you can use!
Table of contents
All of these greetings are pretty versatile and interchangeable, but I’ve grouped them so that you aren’t bombarded with an endless list, and also because, you know, SEO.
Jump to holiday greeting messages for:
Friendly holiday greetings & messages
Let’s start off with some general holiday greetings and messages that you can use for any crowd. These are pretty standard, but if you’re looking to spice things up a big, check out my guide to cliche-free holiday copywriting.
- Holiday greetings to you and the ones you spend it with! May this time of year shine light on your blessings and bring new ones in the year to come.
- Happy holidays! We hope this year’s season fills you up with the things that mean most to you and energizes you for a happy and healthy new year.
- Seasons greetings! Wishing you all the joy, peace, and love that this time of year brings.
- Happy holidays! Sending you love, light, and laughter for good memories and a bright and healthy 2023.
- Happy holiday greetings to you and yours! Here’s to a cheerful present, a well-remembered past, and a prosperous year ahead.
- Greetings to you during this bright time of year! May you experience the light of laughter, the warmth of love, and the joy of gratitude this season and beyond.
Short Christmas wishes & messages
These short Christmas wishes and messages can be a nice addition to your email signatures or holiday Instagram captions.
- Yes, it’s been said, many times, many ways, but we still mean it just as much! Merry Christmas!
- A silent night, a star above, a blessed gift of hope and love. Merry Christmas.
- Wishing you all the blessings and joys of Christmas and a bright year ahead.
- Peace, youth, and happiness for you this Christmas and every other!
- Wishing you a fabulous Christmas filled with good cheer, good beer, and memories of a wonderful year.
- A little more sparkle, a little less stress, may that be your motto this Christmas!
Inspirational Christmas messages
If you’re feeling more of the core values vibe, try out these inspirational Christmas messages:
- This Christmas, may your blessings be many, your worries few, and days spent with those who mean the most to you.
- The best Christmas gifts are the ones we’ve had all year: a roof over our heads, food in the fridge, and family to enjoy it with. May the richness of gratitude be yours this Christmas!
- Merry Christmas! Enjoy the presents under the tree, the people that put them there, and the extra spark of gratitude the season brings.
- Christmas is a time to believe in something greater than yourself—even for just one night.
- May the peace and joy of Christmas live in your heart all year long.
- “Christmas is forever—not just for one day. For loving, sharing, and giving are not to put away.” – Norman Wesley Brooks
Business Christmas & holiday card messages
Sending out a holiday email, postcard, Christmas card, or social post? Look no further than these holiday greetings for business:
- No updates, announcements, flyers, or brochures; simply warmth, joy, and peace from our crew to yours!
- To our coworkers, customers, partners and pals: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Kwanzaa to all!
- Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone in the [business name] family! You make us shine bright and we can’t wait to serve you next year.
- Happy holidays from all of us here at [business name]. We appreciate your business and look forward to being your [service] provider in the new year!
- This time of year, our thoughts turn gratefully to our customers, partners, and suppliers who make our success possible. We thank you for all that you do, and wish you all the best this holiday season and beyond.
- The end of the year brings no greater joy than the opportunity to express how grateful we are for our customers and partners. Happy holidays to all of you, and may your new year be filled with happiness and success.
- In warm appreciation of your loyalty during the past year, we extend our very best holiday wishes to you and your loved ones. Enjoy this time of year, and we’ll see you in the next one!
- Dear [name]: Without your loyalty and support this year, we wouldn’t be where we are. We are so grateful for that! Thank you, happy holidays to you, and a happy new year too!
- From everyone at [name of business], happy holidays! Thank you for your loyalty to us. Put your feet up and have a well-deserved rest this season. We’ll see you again next year!
- From all of us here at [business name]: Thank you for all the great business this year. Let’s sit back, relax, and celebrate, and then get ready to do it all again! Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Christmas & holiday card messages for clients
Your client relationships are the lifeblood of your business. If you’re sending something specific to them this season, try out these holiday card messages for clients and customers.
- During the holiday season, as we reflect on the good things we have, we think of partners like you. We appreciate what a pleasure it is to work with you, and hope that the holidays and the coming year will bring you happiness and success.
- Dear [client], we know that finding a [service] provider is not easy, and we’re so glad you’ve placed your trust in us. We wish you the very best this holiday season and look forward to working with you in the new year!
- As the year draws to a close, we look back with appreciation for your loyalty and look forward with excitement to a new year of more great work together. Have a wonderful holiday, we wish you all the best!
- Dear [client name]. The holidays are filled with good will and cheer, but you bring that to our office year-round. We are so appreciative of that, and we can’t wait to see you again next year. May your season be merry and bright, and your new year filled with delight!
- At this special time of year, we give thanks for clients like you who make our jobs enjoyable and our lives more fulfilling. Thank you for being you. From all of us at [company name]
- Season’s greetings from the very merry team at [company name]. You keep us glowing and bright all year round, and we look forward to meeting your [industry] needs you in the coming year! Thanks for being you. Happy holidays and new year too!
- Happy holidays to all of our clients! It is truly a privilege to work with you all year. Wishing you a season of joy and another year of success together!
- Oh what fun it is…to work with clients like you! From the [business name] team, we send our deepest thanks and warmest wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy new year.
- As we celebrate and give thanks, what better time to tell you, our clients, how grateful we are for your confidence in our business. Working with you year-round is an honor and a privilege, and we look forward to continuing our partnership next year. Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
- Seasons greetings to you, our awesome clients! It’s been an absolute pleasure working with every single one of you during these past 12 months. Let’s make [new year] even better. Until then, rest up, celebrate your blessings, and enjoy your season!
- Dear [client]: There is no way other businesses have it this good. How do we know? Because they don’t have you as their client! Working with you is such a pleasure. Thanks for making it so. Have a Merry Christmas and happy holiday season!
Happy holiday wishes to clients
Too late to send a card? Share these happy holiday wishes to clients in a holiday social post or email:
- Tis’ the season for us to tell you how much you mean to us. (Spoiler: It’s a lot.)
- During this season of giving, we’d like to give a big thanks to you for being such a loyal client. You make our days merry and bright all year round! Wishing you a peaceful, joyful holiday season and an even better year than the last!
- Happy holidays everyone! Whatever this season brings for you, may it be filled with all the love and light you deserve. We’ll see you soon!
- To all our clients: We are so grateful for your hard work, your loyalty, and your faith in our business. We have accomplished so much together this year, and we can’t wait to do it again! Until then, have a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday season!
- In the brightest of seasons, may you find many reasons for happiness. Happy holidays to all of our clients, and cheers to an even better year to come!
- Happy holidays to all of our clients! Without you, our success would not be possible. Thank you for your loyalty and your hard work. Looking forward to another great year together!
Holiday wishes for staff
All this talk about thanking your customers, don’t forget about your employees! Here are some warm holiday wishes for staff:
- Happy holidays to an incredible team! Without your talent, teamwork, and tenacity, we wouldn’t be looking back on such a successful year. Take some well-deserved rest, enjoy some hard-earned fun, and get ready for round 2[023]!
- Seasons greetings to each and every one of you! Working with you this year has been a privilege in more ways than one, and I am so grateful for all of your hard work. Enjoy your time with family and friends, and we’ll rendezvous soon!
- Wishing you all a happy, healthy holiday season and some well-deserved rest and relaxation! Thank you for your daily dedication to our mission and for making every day in this office bright. Looking forward to seeing what exciting adventures await us next year!
- Happy holidays to you and your families. May the season be one of joy, celebration, and warmth and the year to come filled with health and new blessings.
- May this Christmas end the year on a cheerful note, and make way for a fresh and bright New Year. Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
- Merry Christmas to a team that makes this office merry and bright!
Holiday wishes for coworkers
And last but not least, here are some Christmas and holiday wishes you can put in your cards and messages to coworkers:
- Working with you is a gift every day of the year! Thanks for being you, enjoy your holiday season, and see you again next year!
- Merry Christmas and happy holidays, [name]. May the closeness of friends and the comfort of home renew your spirits this season.
- Happy holidays to my favorite coworker! I don’t know where I’d be without you. I’m so grateful for all you’ve taught me this year. I hope this season is filled with bright blessings and new memories that will stay with you for years to come.
- Happiest of holidays to the happiest of coworkers. Your positive energy inspires me every day. May your holiday season be as bright as you are!
- Wishing you a happy holiday season and a new year filled with blessings! Working with you this year has been a joy and a privilege. Excited to see what we can achieve together next year!
Want more than these Merry Christmas wishes?
If you’re looking for even more ways to incorporate the Christmas and holiday season into your marketing copy, check out these resources:
if you’re greetings for other holidays in the year, check out these:
PPC
8 Ways to Use AI for Holiday Marketing (+15 Prompts to Get Started!)
To say AI has grown in recent years would be the understatement of the century. A few years back, AI was largely a buzzword, with its use cases predominately limited to predictive analytics and chatbots. (This is grossly simplifying things, but you get the point.) Now, we’ve reached a point where you can ask, “Are there ways to use AI for holiday marketing?” And, voila—this question warrants an entire article. Written by a human, of course.
If you’re looking to answer said question and snag a few generative AI prompts while you’re at it, you’ve come to the right place.
Table of contents
How AI is used in marketing
Before we dive into the ways you can use AI for holiday marketing, it’s important to understand the basics of how AI is used in marketing. (Although if you’d like to skip right to the ideas, feel free to do so here!).
AI for analytics
Marketing analytics and AI have gone hand in hand for some time now. In the past, AI played a smaller role in analytics, helping with segmentation and even suggesting keywords to target.
Today, AI powers real-time insights for social posts and ads, allowing marketers to pivot ad spend or ad copy on the fly.
Current AI also allows for more improved targeting. Using AI-powered platforms, you can analyze your current audience groups and demographics, and weigh them against your competitors, past campaign performance, and more.
These emergent uses of AI in analytics, coupled with good old-fashioned historical analytics data, can result in more refined decision-making and the ability to pivot on a dime.
🤖 Get practical tips to use AI the right way >> The Emergency Guide to AI in Marketing
AI for chatbots
Using AI, chatbots can deliver more advanced responses to site visitors. This enables more timely, helpful support, as the chatbot can either resolve the issue or route the person to the correct department.
Advanced AI-powered chatbots can take support even further, answering product questions and making recommendations. This opens up the door to more cross or upselling opportunities.
Personalized recommendations with AI
For years now, online stores have used machine learning algorithms to recommend products and services to shoppers. Now, modern AI can pull from browsing data to serve recommendations in real time.
Coupled with historical shopping habits, this allows for a more personalized, tailored shopping experience.
Generative AI
Generative AI is all the rage right now, with companies like ChatGPT and Jasper becoming borderline household names. Generative AI is a form of machine learning that uses natural language processing (NLP) to learn from large sets of structured data and then create a deliverable to the best of its predictive ability.
Generative AI is largely thought of as a way to generate blogs and school papers, but it’s capable of much more. Generative AI can help you brainstorm marketing campaigns, email copy, social media posts, and virtually any other campaign asset.
8 ways to use AI for holiday marketing
Now that you’re an AI expert, it’s time to use this impressive and terrifying power for some holiday good.
1. Tailor holiday ad copy
There’s nothing wrong with handling your ad ideation and copy by hand. But, if AI is available, why not squeeze a little juice out of it?
There are a number of AI tools that allow you to utilize your current data to improve segmentation. Coupled with your funnel and customer journey knowledge, you can use AI to help you create holiday ad copy that’s ready to meet your customers wherever they’re at.
For example, you could use AI to help you create several variations of ads for the same holiday-themed campaign, each one targeting those at different stages and from different audience segments. You can then take things a step further and use AI to help you reshape some of these ads to offer product recommendations in line with the shopper’s previous habits.
🎁 Want ideas for your holiday campaigns? Get the guide >> Holiday Promotions, Campaigns & Social Posts to Unwrap
2. Personalize product recommendations
The holidays are a time of joy and cheer–and a ton of shopping. Using AI you can help streamline shopping for your customers, delivering more accurate and timely product recommendations based on their browsing of your store.
Amazon is a prime example of using AI to make accurate product recommendations. Not only do they suggest products on a product page, they also have a “Top picks” section where they offer even more suggestions.
If you’re not already using it, implement AI-powered product recommendations before the holidays and help your customers find gifts they didn’t even know they were looking for.
3. Optimize cross-channel holiday campaigns
The holidays are a sales-packed, hectic time for many shoppers. During this time of year, it’s not uncommon for customer journeys to be condensed or expedited, as many people are in crunch mode and skimping on research. With the right AI-powered tools, you can keep up with the wildest of holiday journeys.
- Use advanced analytics to monitor campaign and ad performance in near real-time.
- Make tweaks to landing pages, emails, ads, etc. on the fly to counter bounce rates.
- Pair AI with any number of AI personalization tools to deliver customized page experiences for shoppers based on their behavior.
- Leverage AI-powered chatbots to support customers during hectic holiday campaigns.
With all the above efforts combined, you can quickly alter your campaigns during the holiday season. If people aren’t resonating with a certain piece of your campaign or a particular discounted holiday special isn’t performing as planned, course correct on the go!
4. Improve customer support routing
Customers are bound to need help during the holiday hustle and bustle. With the right AI chatbot and routing systems, you can help customers get the help they need during what should be a fun, not stressful, time of the year.
- Set up chatbots to not only offer help with sales but also offer product recommendations.
- Make sure your chatbot can direct people to the right department and that someone is available when they’re redirected.
- Utilize AI-powered call routing that looks at previous call history and sentiment to ensure people get in touch with the right person at the right time.
- For bonus points, set your chatbot to include fun holiday greetings or language in the introductory chat.
There are a number of AI chatbots and call routing systems, so shop around and find the one that fits your budget and needs.
Most importantly: test any chatbots and call systems you put in place. The last thing you want is an AI-powered chatbot that’s sending people to a 404 page.
5. Simpler sales forecasting
The days of manually poring over historical data are over. Well, not over, but hopefully simpler, thanks to AI.
The last thing you want is for products to go out of stock during the holidays. Before the holiday rush, couple your noggin with one of the many AI-powered sales forecasting platforms. Then, use the tool to examine your previous sales and predict which products are most likely to go out of stock, which are less popular, and so on.
If you don’t have previous holiday data on a particular product, or your company is new, don’t fret! Many AI tools are capable of looking at any available historical data, as well as market data and trends, to help you get an idea of how a product might perform in the future.
6. Real-time ad placement
People are bound to hop around during the holidays, going from one site to another. Fortunately, there are a number of AI-powered ad platforms that are capable of serving up your ads where they make the most sense.
Pair this real-time ad placement tech with your many holiday campaign optimization tricks from earlier, and you can collectively pivot all your holiday assets with ease and maximize your ROI.
This holiday ad showed up perfectly within a post about holiday gift ideas.
7. Streamline hashtags for social
The right hashtags go a long way, increasing the chances your posts are seen by users exploring various trends. The wrong hashtags, on the other hand, can result in your content getting lost in a sea of unrelated posts.
There are a number of AI platforms made just for this task. With one of these tools, you can enter your audience and campaign information, then generate swaths of hashtag suggestions based on the market.
While you should still manually investigate each hashtag before posting anything, these tools can save you precious time—time you can spend monitoring and altering your campaigns.
8. Campaign brainstorming
Generative AI is great for brainstorming individual marketing assets or even entire campaigns, including upcoming holiday efforts. In a few quick steps, you can find the right generative AI platform and start crafting holiday campaign content today.
Find the right platform
There are a number of generative AI platforms, so do your due diligence and see which ones fit your budget and use cases the best. Some platforms charge based on use, while others offer tiered pricing based on the number of seats.
Many platforms will perform similarly, typically using OpenAI to power their generative wizardry. But, take note of any templates or niche features the tools offer. Some platforms are focused more on expediting blogs, while others are focused on content as a whole and offer a number of useful templates.
Feed your generative AI
Once you’ve landed on an AI platform, give the AI thorough brand and audience information to ensure the results are as accurate and tailored as possible.
Some platforms give you the option to submit any links or blog posts you’re comfortable sharing, giving the AI the chance to learn your brand’s voice. This feature can be especially valuable, saving you the time of having to train the AI and resulting in more on-brand results sooner.
Collaborate on campaign ideas
Finally, come up with some high-level campaign ideas, input them into the AI, and watch the magic happen. Some platforms will give you the option to generate ideas for every element of a campaign—blog topics, emails, social posts, and more—while others will simply generate themes for your campaign.
Keep in mind you should always treat AI-generated content as a jumping-off point, not the final copy. You, the person, should always oversee the AI. You know your brand better than any AI or machine learning ever could. Use whatever it gives you as inspiration and write something original that will wow your audience!
20 holiday AI prompts for marketing
Generative AI can help you whether you’re in a creative rut or looking to produce marketing content more quickly. But you need effective prompts, otherwise, you’ll get generic results that don’t even function as jumping-off points or inspiration.
Put holiday cheer into your generative AI journey with these prompts, broken down by content type. Also, be sure to tweak these prompts with any modifiers you want. (Much like generative AI results, these are just jumping-off points.)
Email marketing holiday prompts
- Generate a holiday themed subject line promoting _____ for our company ____ that has a sense of urgency
- Construct a catchy holiday themed subject line that invites users to shop our new line of _____
- Generate a holiday themed subject line that’s funny/inviting/intriguing and promotes an upcoming sale
- Write a warm subject line that invites users to reflect on their year and check out holiday sale
- Generate a holiday themed subject line pitching X% off our entire line of _____ that includes emojis
Get more holiday marketing email ideas here, including templates, subject lines, and examples!
Social media holiday prompts
- Design a fun and festive holiday sale announcement for our ____ company
- Write an inviting holiday themed social media post about our new _____ product
- Generate a 100-word post that invites users to do their holiday shopping this year at COMPANY NAME, which sells _____ products
- Write a compelling pitch for the header of a social media post promoting a holiday sale of _____
- Write a social media post that targets ____ audience and ____ industry and promotes sale/product launch/holiday shopping
Get more ideas for holiday social media posts here!
Content marketing holiday AI prompts
- Write five blog titles that invoke the holidays and pitch ____ audience on our new product _______
- Outline X points for a blog article that’s holiday-themed and targets ____ audience with information about _____
- Write a blog pitch in ____ tone that’s holiday-themed and includes information on ____ for ___ audience
- Write a paragraph on _____ topic that targets ____ audience and includes holiday themes
- Generate X marketing blog topics that focus on the holidays and inform ____ audience on ____
Real success with artificial intelligence
AI can be a helpful asset for your marketing strategy throughout the year, but it can be especially helpful as you’re trying to close out the year strong during the holidays!
Here are 8 ways to use AI for holiday marketing:
- Tailor ad copy
- Personalize product recommendations
- Optimize cross-channel holiday campaigns
- Improve customer support routing
- Simpler sales forecasting
- Real-time ad placement
- Streamline hashtags for social
- Holiday campaign brainstorming
Looking for more holiday inspiration?
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