The end of the year is finally in sight, and most of us are looking forward to taking some well-deserved time off. 

While there’s no teacher to wheel out the TV set, we are slowly slipping into our coats and creeping out the door. 

The problem is, our PPC campaigns don’t get this memo, and we need to leave them with some instructions as to what to do in our absence. And there’s no one-size-fits-all master plan that works for everyone – some ads are so needy they keep their managers prisoner all holiday long. 

We asked some top marketers their tactics for ensuring their ads stay hot over the holiday season, without burning themselves out. Here’s what they had to say.

“I’ll Deal With That In January”

As everyone begins to wind down, there’s a temptation that we all feel to leave things until January. 

Perhaps it’s blind optimism that the “new year, new you” will be better equipped, or more likely that you’ve entered sloth mode and want to focus on more things like researching why Celebrations removed the Galaxy truffle. 

If you fall into this category, and your industry does experience less traffic around this time of year, then automation is your best friend. 

Back-Up Firefighters

If you can’t leave things to their own devices, making sure you’re not the only one on-hand to deal with last minute changes will make things run more smoothly. 

Plan carefully and then hopefully this won’t be you when you return in the new year. 

Keeping Clients Happy

When you’re managing campaigns for others, what you get to leave until January and what you have to do in a chocolate-fueled haze is out of your control.

We spoke to PPCers at agency level about their approach for their clients and how they ensure everyone stays happy over this quieter period. 

The Grinch View

While there’s all the automation in the world, if the Christmas period is a big time for your business, then there’s no way you’ll be leaving your campaigns alone – so set a place for your laptop at the dinner table!

If you are having to work, then make your life easier by going back to basics. Take a look at the tips PPC marketers shared on Black Friday about how to ramp up those big wins. 

Team Take A Break

And last, but not least, there are those of us who are looking forward to kicking back and relaxing. Well, half-relaxing as we can never seem to stop ourselves from “just checking our email.” 

If you’re guilty of this, make sure you’ve got the right notifications turned on so you have a genuine excuse for getting out of those awkward family conversations. 

Take A Step Back

Finally, there are benefits in taking a step back from your campaigns as it allows you to see the bigger picture. As you dial down your budgets, things may behave differently than you expect.

For instance, when Uber cut their marketing spend by $100 million and saw no change in their conversion rates, it led them to discover that all that had been previously wasted on invalid activity.

If you come back in January and your PPC data is doing wacky things, give us a call and we’ll be able to show you what’s been going on with a free Traffic Audit.