Relevant, targeted PPC ads 'good for school-related sales'

11th August 2008

Retailers hoping to capture part of the back-to-school shopping market would do well to make their pay-per-click (PPC) ad copy as relevant and targeted as possible, Yahoo! content quality analyst Noah Belson has said.

Writing in a post on the Yahoo! Search Marketing blog, the expert noted that shopping sales are expected to rise over the coming weeks as parents and students look to stock up on school essentials.

Textbook sellers may be able to benefit from this by avoiding campaigns focused on deep discounts and emphasising their stocks of traditional books, while electronics retailers should concentrate on the potential offered by pushing certain brands, Mr Belson stated.

He went on to add: "Student loan sites should focus primarily on student loans in their ads, no matter how many other types of loans they offer.

"It's a more relevant message for someone looking just for student loans."

The International Council of Shopping Centres recently released a report predicting that chain store sales in the US will rise by two per cent in August as a result of back-to-school shopping.