• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 15, 2006

PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.--Seasonal search campaigns shouldn't be so, well, seasonal, a panel of search executives said Tuesday at MediaPost's Search Insider Summit in Palm Springs, California.

While a campaign's execution will always be somewhat time-dependent, search marketers need to begin planning for individual seasons much earlier, and implementing some measures on a year-round basis, the panelists said.

Anton Konikoff, founder and CEO of Acronym Media, said Sirius Satellite Radio, a client, began its holiday campaign in September. "It takes a few visits to the site to actually get comfortable with buying satellite radio," Konikoff said. "We see what they actually buy after Thanksgiving, but we can start tracking them very early."

James Colborn, group marketing manager of the adCenter communications group at Microsoft, added that an early start allows search marketers to rotate keywords and ad creative to determine which are most effective going into the peak season.

While agreeing about the need for an early start, Cam Balzer, vice president of customer insights at Performics, a division of DoubleClick, noted that the goals of searchers shift over time. Balzer said that the early season is the time to build general brand awareness, or "line up your search message with your offline messaging." Later in the cycle, he said, marketers should shift their focus to direct efforts such as online gift certificates.

He and Konikoff added that some elements of search marketing should be truly year-round. Konikoff advised creating special landing pages and mini-sites devoted to a particular client's seasonal services and products to build traffic on key search terms during off-season lulls. Balzer agreed, adding: "Don't shut down those holiday sites when the holiday is over."