Halloween Insights for digital marketers

•

Pooja Madaan, Insights Manager

 Halloween Market Research Trends

 Bing Ads Audience

 Bing Ads Marketplace Insights

• Halloween Market

Research

• Trends

2/3

$74

Of American adults celebrated Halloween in 2015.

Average spent by shoppers.

$6.9 billion Total spent on Halloween in 2015.

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SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

Shoppers begin early…or late

When people will begin shopping for Halloween: 41%

28%

25%

6% Before September

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SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

September

First 2 weeks of October

•

Last 2 weeks of October

The spookiest shopping list of the year

$43

Costumes

$31

Candy

$25 $11

•

Decorations

Cards

28%

23%

10%

SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

39%

TIP

• Ensure your Halloween items are easy to find and buy— consider adding Sitelink ad extensions to make it easy for Halloween shoppers to go straight to your Halloween items on your site. Product Ads via Bing Shopping Campaigns are also an effective way to showcase your Halloween products in an engaging ad format.

$2.1 billion will be spent on Halloween candy.1

70% of people say chocolate is their favorite Halloween treat, followed by candy corn (13%), chewy candy (6%), and gummy candy (5%).2

• •

SOURCE: 1. National Confectioners Association, September 2015. 2. National Confectioners Association, Americans Stay Sweet on Halloween by Embracing Moderation, September 2015.

Passing out candy is the sweetest way to celebrate

Hand out candy

68%

Decorate your home/yard

45%

Dress in costume

43%

Carve a pumpkin

41%

Throw or attend a party

31% 28%

Take children trick-or-treating

18%

Visit a haunted house Dress your pet in a costume

13%

• •

SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

In search of a killer costume Halloween shoppers choose search as a top tool.

TIP

• Shoppers search online and visit brickand-mortar stores, likely participating in webrooming and showrooming, or checking out costumes online and buying in store or viceversa. Ensure it’s easy to find your online items via Sitelink ad extensions location extensions. 0 •

SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4 •

The most popular costumes are timeless classics Star Wars costumes

Top 10 costumes Adults 1. Witch 2. Animal 3. Batman Character 4. Zombie 5. Star Wars Character

TIP

Kids 1. Princess 2. Batman Character 3. Action/Super Hero 4. Animal 5. Disney's Frozen Characters 6. Star Wars Characters 7. Zombie 8. Witch 9. Pumpkin

• Include top costumes as part of your Halloween ad copy and keywords if you offer costumes and décor around these themes.

6. Pirate 7. Vampire 8. Action/Super Hero 9. Doctor/Nurse 10. Slasher Mobie 10. Minion Character/Political/Wentch

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SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Halloween Consumer Spending Survey, September 2015.

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Even pets celebrate “Howl”oween

Top pet costumes in 2015

TIP

• Consider Sitelink ad extensions to make it easy for Halloween shoppers to go straight to your webpages for pet costumes and other Halloween items.

1. Pumpkin 2. Hot Dog 3. Batman Character 4. Devil 5. Bumble Bee

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SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Halloween Consumer Spending Survey, September 2015.

TIP

• You have half the time to get the same information to mobile visitors as PC visitors. Design and organize your Halloween webpages accordingly.

A rule of thumb:

• Try navigating your mobile site with just your thumb, and put your most important content in the middle of the screen for maximum engagement.

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Halloween fun facts

•

157M

31%

$6.9B

1/3

$350M

162 million people celebrated Halloween in 2015.

About 1/3 of shoppers will search online for costume inspiration.

$6.9 billion spent on Halloween products in 2015.

1/3 of people start their Halloween shopping before October.

$350 million will be spent on pets costumes.

SOURCE: National Retail Federation, Halloween Overview, Monthly Consumer Survey, September 2015.

Bing Ads Audience

More likely to spend on gum & candy

Compared to Google, the Bing Ads audience is:

5%

34%

more likely to have spent $25-$49 on gum or candy in the last 30 days.

more likely to have spent $50–$99 on gum or candy in the last 30 days.

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SOURCE: comScore Plan Metrix, US, September 2015, custom measure created using comScore indices and duplication. September data was used to reflect the month before Halloween.

5% more likely to have been the first among friends to own/buy/use party decoration materials.

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SOURCE: comScore Plan Metrix, US, September 2015, custom measure created using comScore indices and duplication. September data was used to reflect the month before Halloween.

Bing Ads Search Trends

Halloween searches grow steadily until the big day HALLOWEEN WEEK

Halloween

Search Volume

5-SEP

12-SEP

19-SEP

26-SEP

3-OCT

10-OCT

17-OCT

24-OCT

31-OCT

WEEK ENDING

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SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, PC/Tablet, 8/31/15 to 10/31/15.

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

Halloween Costume Searches on PC/ Tablet start picking up Mid-Sep and Peak at Halloween Week PC/ Tablet

CTR vs CPC

Search Volume

Search Volume CTR CPC

6%

$0.45 $0.40

5%

$0.35

4%

$0.30 $0.25

3%

$0.20

2%

$0.15 $0.10

1%

$0.05

0%

5-SEP

12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP

3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

$5-SEP

12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP

3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

WEEK ENDING

WEEK ENDING

TIP

Leverage higher CTR and lower CPCs early before competition intensifies by Early Oct. •

SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, PC/Tablet, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

Halloween Costume Searches on Mobile start picking up Early Sep and Peak at Halloween Mobile

Search Volume CTR CPC

Search Volume

5-SEP

12-SEP

19-SEP

26-SEP

3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

WEEK ENDING

5-SEP

12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP

3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

WEEK ENDING

TIP

Leverage steadily rising Click Volumes and low CPCs in Sep/ Early Oct before competition intensifies driving up CPCs. Research Intent on Mobile causes higher CTRs in Sep. •

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SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, Mobile, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

Halloween Decoration Searches on PC/ Tablet start picking up Early Sep and hit a last minute peak during Halloween Week PC/ Tablet

Search Volume

CTR vs CPC 4%

Search Volume CTR CPC $0.90 $0.80 $0.70

3%

$0.60 $0.50

2%

$0.40 $0.30

1%

$0.20 $0.10

0% 5-SEP

12-SEP

19-SEP

26-SEP

3-OCT

WEEK ENDING

10-OCT

17-OCT

24-OCT

31-OCT

$5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP

3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

WEEK ENDING

TIP

Leverage higher Click Volumes and low CPCs in Sep before competition intensifies driving up CPCs. Decoration purchases for families happen early driving up CTRs from Mid Sep- Early Oct. • •

SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, PC/Tablet, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

Halloween Decoration Searches on Mobile start picking up Early Sep and hit a last minute peak during Halloween Week Mobile

Search Volume CTR CPC

Search Volume

5-SEP

12-SEP

19-SEP

26-SEP

3-OCT

WEEK ENDING

10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

5-SEP

12-SEP

19-SEP

26-SEP

3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

WEEK ENDING

TIP

Leverage higher Click Volumes and low CPCs in Sep before competition intensifies driving up CPCs. Last minute searches for Halloween Parties drives up CTR and CPC during Halloween Week. •

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SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, Mobile, 8/30/15 to 10/31/15.

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

Pumpkin Searches on all devices start trending up steadily and grow until the big day; PC/ Tablet + Mobile

PC + Tablet Search Volume

29-AUG 5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP

Mobile Search Volume

3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

29-AUG 5-SEP 12-SEP 19-SEP 26-SEP 3-OCT 10-OCT 17-OCT 24-OCT 31-OCT

WEEK ENDING

WEEK ENDING

TIP

Prepare early for ‘Pumpkin’ related searches for both PC/ Tablet and Mobile since they keep trending up till Halloween day. • •

SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, All Devices, 8/23/15 to 10/31/15.

*Data is for Bing O&O core only and representative of Bing network, to normalize for categorization changes for syndication network.

Top searches during the Halloween season 2015 Searches // across all devices halloween costumes halloween spirit halloween party city halloween costumes halloween decorations halloween costumes women pumpkin carving patterns costumes halloween costume ideas pumpkin baby costumes halloween city halloween express pumpkin carving ideas headless horseman day dead harley quinn costume halloween pictures halloween costumes girls halloween coloring pages

• • •

*Brand indicates a brand term was used, represented by multiple brand names in this category SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, all devices, 8/23/15 to 10/31/15.

Top 25 Halloween costume searches of 2015 halloween costumes party city halloween costumes halloween costumes women costumes halloween costume ideas baby costumes harley quinn costume halloween costumes girls couples halloween costumes cosplay halloween costumes kids boys costumes adult halloween costumes toddler halloween costumes minion costume sexy halloween costumes women infant halloween costumes homemade halloween costumes halloween store couples costumes halloween costume wonder woman costume halloween costumes men womens halloween costumes kids halloween costumes SOURCE: Microsoft internal data, 8/31/15 to 10/31/15.

Thank You

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