A 2022 PYMNTS analysis revealed that Amazon and Walmart combined account for about half of the U.S. ecommerce markets. Amazon accounts for 45% of all U.S. digital retail revenue. Walmart is responsible for 5%. Wayfair (1.5%), another big name, plays a significant role in U.S. Ecommerce.
Image source: PYMNTS
Independent ecommerce businesses spend a lot time thinking about how they can remain relevant in an industry dominated largely by giants like Amazon and eBay. You are also constantly looking for new product niches and avoiding direct competition with strong brands and better marketing.
Amazon is not the place to be.
Ecommerce businesses have found ways to adapt to the difficult environment by investing heavily in Amazon's seller network, effectively becoming captives to North America's largest online retailer.
Although this may seem like a safe bet for Amazon sellers, the competition is more fierce among them than between Amazon's paid and organic search traffic. Amazon's internal algorithms can be more opaque than Google's. Sellers who use Fulfillment by Amazon logistics services lose nearly half of their sales revenue.
It's safer to work with prospects outside of Amazon, even though it isn't easy.
Amazon is not the only channel you can use to sell your products, nor the most important. Instead of doubling down on Amazon you should develop an all-of the-above approach for ecommerce marketing that covers every aspect of your digital sales. This starts with flexible, sharp PPC strategies.
PPC Strategies Effective for Ecommerce Campaigns
These five PPC strategies can be used to increase visibility of your ecommerce assets, drive prospects to them, and boost conversions over the long-term.
1. Make smarter choices about campaign budget allocation
A typical SME spends between $9,000 and $10,000 per month on PPC campaigns. This is $108,000 to $120,000 annually. Although smaller ecommerce companies might spend less per month in absolute terms, their PPC intensity will likely be higher because they heavily rely on targeted searches to drive traffic towards product listings.
Optmyzr, a PPC automation platform, recommends third-party budget allocation software that helps advertisers manage their campaign spending. Optmyzr’s Optimize Budgets tool allocates and reallocates budgets based upon campaign goals. It also creates accurate performance projections based in campaign budget changes.
After your campaign has been completed, you can use a third party app or a spreadsheet-based program to monitor spend and evaluate it daily. Set up real-time alerts so you can monitor rare, but potentially fatal cost spirals and take immediate action if they occur. This will require a third-party app, but it is a small price to be able to keep your budget within reach.
2. Segment product keywords by intent, brandedness and query efficiency
This context defines "branded" as being associated with a particular label or manufacturer, while "unbranded" or non-branded means being associated with a brand neutral product type.
Search intent is measured in high-level terms by query efficiency. In spite of brandness, efficient queries are specific and descriptive. This suggests a higher stage in the buyer's journey. Inefficient queries can be generic or open-ended. This suggests that the prospect is still collecting information and isn't ready to convert. These queries are sometimes called "catch all" questions.
This is the general hierarchy of segmentation:
- Catch-all terms with low spend and priority
- Brand terms with high priority and low spend
- High priority and medium spend for unbranded terms
Budget control is the main reason why brands terms are not given high priority (since they have the highest intent and therefore the highest potential ROI). Google assigns high-priority terms to first so setting them as medium priority will avoid bidding wars against better-capitalized sellers.
3. To reduce wasteful spending, you can specify negative keywords
In the rush to make ads live, this is a common oversight in PPC campaigns. This can be costly.
It's best to review the specifications for each product and listing that you intend to add to your campaign. Then, compile a complete list of negative terms you would like to eliminate from your search results. Even if this takes you longer than you would like, be thorough. You should exclude "V-neck" or "low cut" from a crew neck T-shirt. Also, "long-sleeved" and "dress shirt" are not acceptable terms.
4. Get your PPC and organic content marketing campaigns synchronized
Why should PPC ecommerce marketers consider content marketing?
Organic content's potential is too great to ignore, even if ecommerce businesses are rightly focused on driving high-intent visitors to product pages or category listings. Marketing Insider Group research shows that organic SEO content generates eight-times the traffic as paid media and organic social networks combined.
You can improve the product listings. You can make them more descriptive and appealing, without being too salesy, and more focused on longtail keywords that are of high interest to your prospects. Google Keyword Planner is a great tool, despite its decreasing utility.
Source: Image Source
A high-quality off-listing article can provide a greater indirect boost to your PPC ROI but could also drive more long-term benefits.
Particularly, you should focus on creating detailed product, category and decision guides to build your credibility with prospects. To get ideas, prioritize topics and create content outlines, you can use recent campaign performance data and general keyword and traffic data. To drive traffic to these assets, run lower-priority PPC campaign to increase traffic. However, don't let them take too much budget share as their target audience is usually low-to-medium in intent.
5. Make your CTAs short and direct
PPC advertising space is limited and high-intent buyers do not need convincing. Your PPC ad copy must contain the most important, decision-driven information regarding the product. This information should be presented clearly and logically to enable buyers to read, absorb, and incorporate it into their decision-making process before they scroll past it.
Let the product speak for itself. It doesn't matter if you have a long or creative call to actions; in most cases, "Buy Now" or variations thereof will suffice.
PPC will be relevant in the future
PPC is one the most popular ecommerce marketing channels. Many savvy marketers see PPC as obsolete, despite all the disruptions in ecommerce and digital advertising more generally.
Although this is understandable, it misses the current state and potential roles of PPC in marketing going forward. Even though there are important innovations such as Google's featured Snippets, the increasingly crowded organic search results pages (SERPs) are becoming less useful for today’s e-commerce prospects. These prospects are also more familiar with digital commerce than they were ten or fifteen years ago. They are more sophisticated overall.
PPC content that is effective solves the SERP degrading issue and provides relevant, high-quality solutions to savvy users.
This may be less important for advertisers in ecommerce in the medium-term depending on how Bing and Google integrate AI into search interfaces. PPC is the best way to break through the noise. Your competitors will use it as much as you do if you don't make the most of it.
Marketing Insider Group published the post 5 Effective PPC Strategies to Ecommerce Campaigns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are some indirect marketing examples you can think of?
There are many indirect marketing strategies that you can use to promote and grow your business. You might launch a social media campaign asking people to post pictures of themselves using your product. This would spread awareness about your brand.
If you own an auto repair shop, you could post advertisements in local papers encouraging readers to take their cars to your garage instead of going to other shops.
Other examples include sending coupons to customers' e-mail inboxes or posting ads on bulletin boards in public places.
Because it isn't expensive, indirect marketing works well.
Building trust takes time, so patience is a must when promoting your company.
It is also important to track how effective your campaigns have been. Track the number leads generated by each method.
This will let you know which methods are best for you.
What are the most effective digital marketing strategies I can use from my home?
Digital marketing allows you to reach customers who spend most their time online. You can also generate leads through digital marketing.
Your brand can be promoted using social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. You can also use email marketing tools to send emails to potential clients and prospects.
You can also market your product and service in digital media in many other ways.
As long as you know how to effectively use these channels, getting started should be no problem.
What are the best social media strategies?
Social Media Marketing is a great way to promote your business online. It's an excellent tool for spreading brand awareness and generating leads and sales. Here are five methods to leverage social media marketing to increase your business.
- Create a Facebook Fan Page – This allows you to interact directly with customers on Facebook. You can upload photos, videos and other files.
- Twitter: Promote your business – Twitter is another great place for information sharing and connecting with people. Use hashtags to increase visibility.
- Post Videos on YouTube. Many people enjoy watching these videos. If someone likes what they see, they may click to visit your website.
- Host live events – Live events allow potential clients to meet you face-to–face. They can ask any questions about your services and products.
- Respond to Customer Reviews – Positive reviews help build trust with your clients and encourage repeat purchases. React quickly to negative comments.
Statistics
- A poll earlier this year found that 14% of older Gen Z's had bought an item in the previous six months based on an influencer's recommendation. (influencermarketinghub.com)
- Many experts recommend you share 20% of your promotional content and 80% of other valuable content you find. (marketinginsidergroup.com)
- From 2020 to 2022, eMarketer predicts that digital marketing will grow by 36% and take up 54% of marketing budgets! (marketinginsidergroup.com)
- This allows us to deliver CPCs that are 80% less than average and CTRs 4-5 times higher than average. (marketinginsidergroup.com)
- Companies that use personalization are seeing revenue increases ranging from 6-10%. (blog.hubspot.com)
External Links
moz.com
- SEO Learning Center, Moz
- [Case Study] How We Ranked #1 for a High-Volume Keyword in Under 3 Months – Moz
hubspot.com
influencermarketinghub.com
blog.hubspot.com
How To
How do I know whether or not my branding efforts are working?
The best way to measure your success is to ask your customers directly. Ask them to rate your brand. What are they most impressed with about your company? What do they hate? What are you doing to improve your business?
Surveys are also possible on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. You can simply ask your followers how they rate your brand. Next, analyze the results to find out which aspects of your brand have been most successful.
Customer reviews are also available. When people are happy with a business, they love to let their opinion be known. Take the time to read these comments and understand what they think about your brand.
Here are some tips for improving your brand:
- Be consistent. Don't change your marketing materials every time you release a new product. Keep the message consistent across all channels.
- Multichannel marketing is a good idea. Use email, websites and social media to promote your brand.
- Make sure you're giving your customers what they want. Make sure that you honor your promise of free shipping if you make it available. Otherwise, you might lose customers who expect no-hassle delivery.
- Your brand is not just a logo. Your company's brand is everything. You should take the time and create a comprehensive image.
- Get feedback from your customers. The sooner you get feedback from your customers, the better.
- Test different messages. You might find that one message is more effective than the others. Maybe you have two messages very similar but one gets more replies. Whatever the reason, it's important to track your stats to see which message performs best.
- Look for ways to improve your brand. Do you think there are areas that could use improvement? Perhaps you could add more videos on your website. Maybe you could add customer testimonials into your blog posts.
- Create a plan. Once you have determined your goals and objectives you need to create a strategy for achieving them. This includes creating a timeline for reaching each objective. You should also set milestones so that you can keep track of your progress.
- Take note of your results. As soon as you reach your goal, stop measuring. Instead, you should set up a system which will allow you to track your progress over time. By doing this, you will always be able to see if you are moving towards your ultimate goal.
- Repeat! Now that you've established a solid foundation for your brand, you'll want to continue to build upon it. You might consider hiring someone to assist you if you have trouble keeping up with current marketing efforts.
- Keep your eyes open for the positive. Negative feedback should be taken seriously, but not ignored. Focus instead on how you can use this information to improve your brand.
- Take advantage of technology. Technology has given us many tools we didn't even dream of before. You can use these tools to your advantage. You could, for example, create a mobile application for your brand.
- You can think outside of the box. It's okay to try something new. Do it with thought.
- Have fun. Marketing isn’t meant to be stressful. Marketing can be described as “fun marketing.” It's important to enjoy your work.
- Know when to quit. You can quit when you feel like you've done everything. Do not give up too soon. Sometimes you have to persevere until you achieve your goals.
- Keep your consistency in mind. Consistency and consistency are key to success. Make sure you have a plan in place for your brand.
- Be patient. It takes time to build your brand. It won't happen overnight.
- Keep learning. Marketing is constantly evolving. You can stay up to date by reading blogs, or even attending webinars.
- Never stop improving. Even after you achieve your goal, you can still learn new skills.
- Enjoy the journey. Marketing is fun. So, don't let it become a chore.
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By: Guest Author
Title: 5 Effective PPC Strategies for Ecommerce Campaigns
Sourced From: marketinginsidergroup.com/content-marketing/5-effective-ppc-strategies-for-ecommerce-campaigns/
Published Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2023 09:30:49 +0000