Top Advertisers in Google During Diwali 2016 & 2017

Diwali is a long-awaited media event in various circles – among marketers, e-Commerce or any other business that wants to benefit from India’s catchall festive spirit. Armed with data, businesses can really leverage the momentum to bring in some extra revenue and visibility. But this is only possible when you are really aware of the overall digital picture, surrounding Diwali.

So here are some interesting insights from a joint study by SEMrush and Razorpay.

Diwali is a very popular search query across English-speaking countries, with India, USA and UK being the most interested parties. But, of course, the biggest “weight” of Diwali falls on the shoulders of companies, operating in India. And here’s who benefits the most –  ECommerce is leading the way (22% of the total sales), while travel and home items companies are trying to catch up (18% and 14% accordingly). Amazon.in, Shopclues, Snapdeal, Safariindia, and Flipkart were the biggest Diwali-related advertisers in the previous year, and not much has changed since then – they still preserve their top spots in 2017.

Overall, about 174 million pages on Google contain the keyword “Diwali”. You will be able to create a cost-efficient and a highly rewarding Diwali campaign, only when you know:

Whom To Target:

During the Diwali season, the overall number of transactions in India almost doubles (+91% growth). And you better be appealing to young males. Women only contribute to 30% of the expenditures. And the audience of  25-34 years old accounts for 55% of overall sales during the celebration, while a younger audience of 18-24-year-olds is less likely to make unnecessary purchases, triggered by the festive ambience.

What To Target:

If you’re trying to compete for Diwali in the digital space, note that “Diwali”, as a keyword, is relatively expensive (CPC = Rs 23.62) – it exceeds the average cost-per-click for India. Don’t get discouraged, though. Diwali paves the way to many possibilities and is worth the costs. Diwali’s search volume is projected to grow up to 2x just in one year (2016 vs. 2017).

And keep in mind that “diwali lights online” has the most keyword difficulty. And try to guess, which long-tail keyword has the highest volume –  right, “diwali crackers online”. Food always beats everything else!

When To Target:

The peak month is, of course, October with projected 2 million searches per month. Imagine a wave line that goes all the way up in October and reaches its lowest position in April: thus, from August to September the “Diwali” keyword volume has some steady growth, and then gradually declines after October.