If you’ve been keeping up with all the advances in Walmart advertising in recent years, you know the Walmart Connect team has been working overtime. Among their most impactful updates was the recent shift to an advanced second-price auction, which brought with it some highly valuable insights for advertisers.
In this article, we’ll explore the new Top Search Trends Report. Currently exclusively available to Walmart Advertising API partners like Tinuiti, this report provides fresh and reliable insights on top performing keywords, and top-selling items, to aid in optimizing your listings and advertising efforts.
What is the Top Search Trends Report?
The Top Search Trends Report provides advertisers with readily-accessible organic search insights across Walmart.com, and their other digital properties. A fresh report is provided daily for the most current, actionable information.
The report includes:
- A list of the most frequently-searched keywords (organic searches) over the previous 7-day period; up to 300K keywords, ranked high to low by search volume
- Lists of the three best-selling items for each of those keywords
- Share of clicks and share of conversions data for your listings
The Top Search Trends Report is privacy-compliant, and beneficial for Walmart advertisers across all industries. The aggregated organic search data considers all categories and sub-categories.
How should advertisers use the Top Search Trends Report?
Insights alone aren’t going to move the needle; you have to act on the data at your disposal to unlock its benefits through product listing and campaign optimization.
Find the Most Relevant Keywords for Your Campaigns
The first step to making effective and efficient use of the report is essential: ignore what doesn’t apply to you. There are a lot of keyword insights to digest, and you don’t need to worry about what’s going on with socks if you sell deodorant.
Hone in on which keywords relevant to your product lineup are performing best, and review your own listings to see if you’ve accounted for those keywords. If you find your Walmart SEO is lacking during your review, you’ll want to spruce up your product listings to better align with shopper search behavior, user expectations, and what’s working for the competition.
Optimize Bids for Top Keywords and Bestsellers
Once you’ve identified the top keywords and optimized your product listings, you’re ready to beef up your Walmart advertising campaigns.
- Ensure that you’re bidding on the most highly-searched keywords relevant to items in your catalog
- Review any items in your catalog that you aren’t currently advertising to see if they should be added to campaigns (based on consumer trends and demand)
Don’t Forget the Trends Part
I know we just told you to ignore socks if you sell deodorant, but there is one exception: it can be helpful to scan for general trends.
Because the report considers organic search activity across all Walmart digital properties, and all of those sites’ categories and sub-categories, it paints a comprehensive picture that can be ideal for spotting general retail trends.
Make time to occasionally review the report more intensely to see if any trends that might apply to your products in some way present themselves.
Ask yourself questions like:
Are people shopping for a particular color more frequently?
Color trends tend to transcend categories; if the ‘hot color of the season’ is coral, for example, you might find shoppers looking for a wide variety of items in that shade, from candles to tee-shirts to home decor. If you’re advertising any products that align with a color trend, consider adding related keywords to your campaigns.
Are people starting their holiday shopping yet?
Look for keywords that indicate a holiday shopper mindset, such as: stocking stuffers, good gifts for teens, gifts for him, Valentine’s gifts, Easter candy, etc. If you haven’t started bidding on terms related to the next holiday yet, this serves as an indicator it’s time to get your plan formulated and activated.
What’s everyone up to?
For this question, think beyond the products themselves, and more about how and when those products are used.
For example, if you notice that some of the top searches this week include keywords related to swimsuits, beach towels, coolers, and sunscreen, you know folks are in the vacation and poolside relaxation mindset, and you might benefit from putting more ad spend behind related items.
When those top searches start to be replaced by binders, pencils, and fluffy throw pillows, you know students are headed back to school and college, and it’s time to shift your attention and spend in that direction.
Are certain brands dominating in their space?
Are you noticing the same name coming up time and again across a variety of products in the same category? Get your study cap on!
Start by looking closely at the brands that appear most often for top-selling items and high-performing keywords in your own space. It can also be helpful to look beyond your space to see if certain qualities start to stand out across niches.
Carefully review several of the top brands’ product listings to see what makes them special. Consider the whole package, including: the keywords they use, product information, tips and tricks / infographics, the quality and quantity of supporting images and videos, etc. Now look at your own listings, and ensure that your operational and advertising activities are maximized to gain competitive share.
Relevancy Influences Bid Prices and Ad Positioning
In addition to reviewing the product listing details for top-performing brands, also consider how much advertising they’re engaging in. Relevancy plays a huge role in visibility on Walmart, from both an organic and paid perspective, with recent search-relevancy enhancements opening the advertising door to more brands than ever.
Thanks to Walmart’s Advanced Second-Price Auction, bidding on keywords that are highly relevant to the item you’re advertising may come at a lower cost than you’d expect. This is a perfect example of how well Walmart’s recent updates work together to help you grow your campaigns with the insights and tools to do so efficiently.
Want to learn more about advertising on Walmart? Reach out today to connect with an expert!