For those of you who are unfamiliar with Adwords scripts, they are effectively mini software programs that are written in Javascript that allow you to make programmatic changes within Google Ads.

For example changing your bids based on the weather where the user is searching or increasing bids when your TV ads are running.

Don’t worry if you can’t code, all four scripts below can simply be copied and pasted into your account without any coding experience, how great is that?

1. Countdown timer script

When browsing through Google, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an advertiser using countdown timers to increase conversion rates and generate urgency. But they are incredibly effective at doing just that.

google ad countdown

Matt Umbro from PPC Hero recently ran a split test to determine the effect of using countdown timers on CTR and conversion rate. They saw CTR increase from 2.87% to 4.02% for adverts with a countdown timer and a $3.66 decrease in cost per conversion.

When they looked at how countdown timers effect conversion rates they saw a significant increase in conversion rate towards the end of the sale. The graph below shows that as the sale neared the end, conversion rate increased from 8.24% to 10.80% at its peak.

conversion vs conversion rate by days left

2. Weather based bidding script

Weather can significantly affect conversion rates in retail, especially in the fashion sector as we have observed.

Womens fashion brand Bravissimo saw an uplift in conversion rate of 103% when targeting only sunny areas when selling Lingerie and swimwear in the UK.

Retailers can look at historical weather data for the locations that they are showing ads in and then plot this data against their sales data on the same day like the example below where we have plotted conversion rate data against temperature.

cr and temp

You can also do this to determine the best converting weather condition, for some retailers sunny weather will be best and for others cloudy or rainy weather which will keep people indoors will convert better.

Once you have your data you can then program the script with a set of rules. For example if the weather condition outside in the location the user is searching in is sunny, then increase bids by 15%. Or if the temperature in the location the user is searching in is below 15 degrees then decrease bids by 10%.

3. Pause out-of-stock product scripts

A sure fire way to waste money in the sale season is to run ads to products that are out of stock, which is easy to do in the sales when things are moving quickly and stock won’t be replaced.

This script scans the URLs that adverts point towards and then searches for a configurable string that lets it know when it is out of stock.

If the product is out of stock then all of the ads that point towards that URL will be paused automatically, cutting out any wasted spend.

When Base Fashion implemented out of stock ad pausing they saw an increase in conversion rate of 12% and a decrease in bounce rate of 22%.

4. TV schedule co-ordinator

People in the UK watch 455bn hours of TV a year, with ‘second screening’ having a major impact on online activity, which significantly increases in the first few minutes after a TV ad airs according to data from Econsultancy

As you can see from the analysis below of Argos’s PPC sales compared to their ad slots there is a strong correlation between TV ads running and PPC sales increasing.

traffic vs sales mapped to show impact of tv ad

This script allows you to input the slots that your TV ads will run and then make modifications to your bids within Google Ads to make your search ads more visible, allowing you to capitalise on the wave of traffic that will come from your TV ads promoting your sale.

You can even take this another step further and set your ad schedule to run when your competitors sale ads are running which is likely to also prompt an increase in searchers for your brand.

Conclusion

Adwords scripts are incredibly powerful tools for helping you have your best sales season yet.

Whether that be by allowing you to add countdown timers to your ads to create urgency and drive up conversion rates or bidding based on the weather conditions in the locations that a user is searching in.

Pausing products as they go out of stock to reduce wasted spend or to allow you to perfectly sync your online and offline media buying so you maximise online visibility when your offline TV ads are being shown.

paid search best practice guide