• by Laurie Sullivan  @lauriesullivan, September 7, 2010

Cooler weather temperatures should have paid-search marketers hopping, as many quickly adjust ads to changing patterns and trends. Don't wait around to see if sales rise before making a change. By that time it's too late, according to Suzy Sandberg, PM Digital president.

"You have to push bids higher to catch as many clicks as you can," Sandberg explains, because online bids are impulsive. "Rain is a little trickier than snow. We have clients that market in Japan during the June rainy season that do incredibly well with paid-search ads."

PM Digital will create a weather model by collecting and indexing a year's worth of weather data through the company's auto-bid management system. In the Northeast last year, it snowed during the most important retail shopping weekend of the year, but the search company's clients experienced a 30% increase in sales. Sandberg attributes it, in part, to following weather patterns and bringing the information to "landlocked consumers."

Offline sales typically prompt longer lead times for seasonal merchandise, but people tend to log online to buy or order it as they think of it and events unfold. Google Site Links on trademarked terms also provided a boost for PM Digital's clients. The company rolled out the Google tool in October 2009, and clicks rapidly rose 30%. In some cases, conversions rose and CPCs declined.

It's been a bit of a rollercoaster ride for the past year, but in August 2010, paid-search metrics for PM Digital's online retail clients rose. In fact, the PM Digital Rewind Index, which measures paid-search performance for online retail marketers during the prior month, shows that paid-search revenue rose 57% in August compared with the prior year, signaling three consecutive months of growth.

PM Digital plans to release findings from August on Tuesday. It estimates marketers spent about 68% more on paid-search advertising in August 2010 compared with the same month the prior year. Clicks and conversions also rose. Companies spent more because CPCs continue to rise and more clicks are being generated. Revenue rose because of increased clicks and slightly improved conversions, Sandberg explains.

Following a 1% dip in June and 2% dip in July, the average order size remained nearly flat in August, with growth of less than one-half percent. CPCs continue to trend upward.

The sales metrics of order volume and revenue were generally higher in the latter half of August, with the peak date falling on Monday, Aug. 16. While the first half of the month had several days with above-average sales, all three of the top sales days came later in the month. Mondays tend to skew higher. Vacation time continued its uptick. And some retailers ran extreme promotions in the month because of back-to-school.

Paid-search spend for August rose early in the week, and dropped lower late in the week. All three top days for paid-search spend fell on Monday, and all had very similar indexes. The highest peak in clicks for August fell on Monday, Aug. 2.

Only about a week into September, Sandberg notes the weather has begun to raise the needle for some women's clothing lines.