Weighing Your Online Retailing Promo Options: eCommerce Advertising Tips

For online businesses first engaging in ecommerce advertising, the options may seem daunting.
eCommerce advertising on the web implements a variety of marketing techniques including
email campaigns, pay-per-click ads, affiliate programs, YouTube channels, and an established
social presence. But in this space, things change constantly. So perhaps it's time to examine the
most popular ecommerce advertising approaches to determine the best fit to spawn traffic to your
online shopping cart.

AdCast is an example of an alternative pay per click display network that creates a new
ecommerce advertising experience. These ads are powerful, yet minimally intrusive and appear
either in the body of the website or in a dedicated area around the margin to decrease "banner ad
blindness" in which readers routinely ignore the advertisements.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) And Pay-Per-Impression (PPI Or CPM) eCommerce

Advertising

Most online merchants at least try Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, which allows you to post
your ad on websites or among search results. In this format, the online advertiser is only charged
when a visitor clicks on their ad and is directed to their website. PPC fees vary and are largely
customizable based on a company's budget. Bids are given for search terms related to the goods
or services provided. Generally, the higher the bid, the higher the positioning of the advertiser's
ad on the search results page. (There is an intervening variable in that the search engine generally
will reward ads that result in more clicks by offsetting their bids, so it is possible for an ad with a
lower bid to actually rank higher than an ad with a higher bid.).

Pay-per-impression (PPI) is sometimes referred to as cost per mille (CPM). Under this
ecommerce advertising model, ads do not require visitors to click them for payment to be
charged, but are still displayed. Typically companies pay per 1,000 impressions (or times the ad
is viewed), thus the cost per mille (thousand) nickname. Since this type of advertising is not
based on a "pay per action" model, it is often used to create awareness or build brands, or
introduce a new concept. (Facebook is the current darling of this approach which is often now
termed "interruptive" advertising since ads appear without a particular want, need or desire being
expressed as is the case in search-based advertising. There are other forms of pay per action or
pay per response advertising. One of them is pay per call, where the advertiser is only charged
when a call is made. Another is of course commission based advertising where payment is
rendered only if a sale is made.)

Your PPC and CPM ecommerce advertising platform options are vast. Some popular programs
are:

 Google AdSense Google AdSense allows website owners to earn revenue by displaying
relevant ads on their site's custom search engine results, displaying ads aligned with
advertiser's audience's interests. The program is free for companies accommodating these
ads. Advertisers follow a PPC or CPM payment design. Ads can be either text (as is the
 case with Google Adwords in the search environment) or rich media including images,
flash, video and sound.
 Google Adwords Google AdWords ecommerce advertising PPC program allows your
ads to appear on Google search result pages. You choose keywords related to your
business that will trigger your ad when users enter them on Google's search engine, or
one of Google's "search partners" like AOL. Your ads can integrate text, images, and
video. (The ads can sport a number of add ons or "extensions" including showing photos
of products directly from an online retailer's catalog including current pricing.)
 Microsoft adCenter Microsoft Advertising connects PPC ecommerce advertising to
Bing and Yahoo search engines. Microsoft claims that these search engines attract 30%
of the U.S. online buying market (not just the browsers). They also offer the Microsoft
Media Network which helps you build a custom advertising campaign around multiple
media platforms. So these ads encompass both search results advertising like Google's
Adwords, and display formats, like Google's Adsense products. Stated "networks" span
the PC, mobile, gaming and digital TV realms. They include Micorsoft owned and
operated properties such as MSN, Windows Live, Office Live and XBOX Live, as well
as third party sites like Viacom, CNBC, Dow Jones and more.
 Adknowledge Adknowledge claims to be "the fourth largest advertiser marketplace"
which implies it's the next display network behind Google, MSN/Yahoo and maybe one
like Double Click (also a Google property). It's claim is that it caters to "long tail"
advertising strategies, meaning that it allows advertisers to place ads in response to more
specific searches. This implies a more qualified customer. They say they employ search,
mobile, specific website domains, and social networks and have over 10,000 advertisers
using their network.
 eZanga eZanga is an alternative search engine (much like internet oldie Altavista.com or
newbie Blekko) and claims to reach searchers not covered by major search engines. It
also says it's cost per click is lower, which is probably due to the lower competition
levels. Other claimed advantages include an easier to use back end, advanced targeting
features and a more open API in case you wish to integrate its controls with your own
systems. It also says it offers it's own keyword suggestions tools, which might be worth
opening up an account in and of itself since finding keywords on Google's keyword tool
means that's the same tool your competitors are using and you'll not see any low
competition high volume term potentials.
 7Search.com 7Search has been around a while, since 1999 and as such still has the flavor
of older, simpler days. Case in point is their bid structure which still appears to be
unbiased, meaning they don't leverage winners to go even higher than their bids would
allow like MSN and Google. You even get to see what the past bids were for each
position for a particular keyword (see their keyword suggestion tool for examples). Don't
expect to go long tail on this one, however. They're search inventory is small, so that
means they don't have a lot of searches for any type of longer tail keyword. Still there's
no minimum bid and it seems like if you're bidding on a reasonably high volume word
(which could only be a few thousand searches per month), then you'd have a good chance
of high rankings and click throughs at some very low prices. Like other alternative search
engines they claim better ROI, lower cost per sale, more responsive support and cheaper
keywords than than either Google or Yahoo/Bing.
  Adblade Adblade offers a unique ecommerce advertising tool called AdCast. AdCast
allows you to create ads on the perimeter of a screen without overlapping a webpage's
content. These ads are non-scrollable and time-controlled. They remain on the webpages
similar to background wallpaper. Adblade offers these ads, among others in both PPC
and CPM models.

If you choose a PPC ecommerce advertising plan, carefully evaluate your program to maximize
its success. Learn about the nuances of several different plans and then track several small-scale
advertising campaigns to determine what will work best for your company. Test your landing
pages and follow up with customers you've gained through PPC. Use analytics software to
measure revenue related to specific keywords, average time visitors spend on your site, and click
trails related to your keywords. Regularly assess your campaign and make necessary
adjustments. What worked for you at start-up may not generate adequate revenue in five years.

eCommerce Advertising on Facebook Vs. Paid Search Engine Ads

eCommerce businesses also have the option of advertising on social media sites, like Facebook.
Facebook allows you to create both PPC and CPM ads that target individuals based on data they
have provided about themselves. With Facebook ads, there is less guesswork involved. Search
engines group ads with keyword searches connected to businesses, assuming information about
an individual's interests based on the search terms they use. Facebook users' interests are
explicitly stated, creating a more targeting advertising environment. The social interface also
makes the ads more personal. When Facebook users notice their friends like an ad, they are
enticed to click on it themselves.

However, paid search ads have sophisticated capabilities to pair traffic with relevant ads. These
matches occur when people are more likely to be in the buying mood, whereas Facebook ads
may seem a little more intrusive since they most often appear in the midst of social engagement.
Paid search ads also have clearer analytics programs, making it easier to calculate your returns.
Recently, the Financial Times reported that Facebook was investigating another ecommerce
advertising option: mobile ads.

Mobile ads require unique considerations to meet the short attention spans of users, but with 50%
of Facebook access occurring through mobile devices, the social media site has decided it is an
option worth pursuing. Some industry observers feel that Facebook is less of a threat to Google
on mobile, but it will continue to become a competitive player. In 2011, Google claimed 40.8%
of online ad revenues, while Facebook had only 6.45. Yahoo snuck in between with 11%.
Facebook reports that they have reached 425 million mobile users, a tempting pool for any
ecommerce business. The company recently agreed to get consumers' approval before changing
how it shares data. With the mobile media boom of recent years, businesses should explore this
ecommerce advertising option.

YouTube
YouTube is the second-largest search engine (owned by the first-largest: Google). It would be a
mistake to ignore this site in your ecommerce advertising plan. There are three different ways
businesses can advertise on YouTube:

 Branded Video Channel With your own branded video channel, you can post content
that engages consumers and directs traffic to your website. You have the option of
posting your own ads, stories, video blogs, or any content related to your business. But
you can also feature video from other channels that may receive more traffic. This way
you don't have to contract professional videographers on a regular basis. Branded videos
are available at both the free and premium levels.
 YouTube Promoted Videos These videos can be played through branded video
channels, making it YouTube's version of PPC Google AdWords. These ads sit in the
right-hand column alongside relevant videos that appear after YouTube search results.
Just like paid search ads, you choose relevant keywords and can set your daily budget.
You can also track your ad's performance with YouTube Insight, a free analytics
program.
 YouTube InVideo Ads In this ecommerce advertising venue, advertisers choose specific
videos in which their ads will appear. The ads (containing both text and/or images) cover
the video at the bottom frame or may emerge as a banner on the side. You can be charged
by the PPC or CPM method.

Not only are the different ecommerce advertising domains abundant, but so are the options
within these programs. The variables necessitate consistent documentation and evaluation. While
it's important to research your competition, what works best for them might not work for you.
Ultracart's advertising source tracking feature helps you organize your ad outlets and determine
which are most beneficial to your business. Stay committed and active in your advertising
campaign and enlist the help of others to help analyze your data.

Build Your Perfect Store With UltraCart

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You’ve bought your domain. You’ve set up your website. You’ve even created some social media accounts. And you’ve
set up your online store.

It’s time to start selling!

But there’s one problem … nobody’s coming to your website. Nobody’s buying your product. As a matter of fact, nobody
even knows you exist!

That sucks, right?

 But don’t worry. Every eCommerce business owner runs into this problem. Fortunately, there are ways you can attract
more web traffic and get your eCommerce business started.

For most eCommerce businesses, online advertising is the best way to get more people to your website. In this post, I’m
going to give you some helpful tips to maximize your online advertising efforts. When you use these tips, you will see
how much easier it can be to get more traffic to your website and earn more business.

You’re welcome.

Google Adwords
Google Adwords is one of the most common online advertising platforms. It’s also one of the most effective. If you’re
going to use paid advertising, you should try out Google’s platform.

Here are some of the benefits of using Adwords:

 It’s highly flexible. You can target many different types of customers
 It’s a huge source of traffic. Google is the most popular search engine. 67.5 percent of search engine users use Google
to find the information they need.
 You get transparent results. You can easily see how your ad campaign is doing at any time.

Google is one of the most popular online advertising platforms. If you use it the right way, you can get tons of traffic to
your website.

Know Who You Want To Target

Yes, I know this sounds obvious, but it’s really not. Many business owners fail to target their ads effectively. Their ads end
up targeting people that aren’t interested in what they have to offer.

It’s important to know what your prospects are searching for online. Google’s Keyword Planner is a great tool that can
help you figure this out. And it’s free!

When you’re writing your ads, you need to make sure you’re addressing the actual needs of your prospects. Don’t just tell
your prospects what you offer. Tell them what problems you will solve. That’s what they’re looking for.

Make sure you have a clear call to action. Let them know what you want them to do, and why. This is the best way to
make sure you get more click-throughs.

Use Negative Keywords

So what are negative keywords? It’s simple. These are keywords that you don’t want your ad to show up for. It keeps you
from wasting time and money showing your ad to people who aren’t a good fit for your offer.

Here’s an example.

Let’s say you’re an attorney who specializes in estate planning law. Your ads cater to prospects that need to draft a last
will and testament. In this case, you don’t want your ad showing up for people who are looking for a personal injury
attorney. So “personal injury” would be a negative keyword for you.
 You need to create a list of keywords that you don’t want your ads to show up for. This is how you maximize the
effectiveness of your ads. You can make sure your ads aren’t showing to people who wouldn’t be interested in what you’re
offering. If you learn how to use negative keywords, you will get more of the right traffic.

Facebook Advertising
Facebook is a great advertising platform if you want to gain more exposure for your business. It’s the most popular social
media platform, which means that you have a higher likelihood of reaching your target audience. It’s the best online
advertising platform for eCommerce businesses.

Here are some of the benefits to using Facebook ads:

 You can target your ads more effectively. Facebook allows you to use demographics to target your prospects. You
can be pretty precise in the type of person you want to see your ad.
 There’s a HUGE pool of people to target. Facebook has 1.28 billion users. Over 800 million of these users are active
on a daily basis.
 Using it gives you an edge over your competitors. Many businesses are not taking advantage of the benefits that
Facebook offers.

If you use Facebook ads correctly, you can greatly increase the amount of visitors to your website.

Rotate Your Ads

Don’t just use the same ad over and over again, even if it seems to be working. You want to rotate your ads on a regular
basis.

Why?

Because you don’t want people to get tired of seeing your ad. If you use the same ad over and over again, people will stop
clicking on it. If you get less clicks, your cost per click (CPC) will go up and your campaign will become more expensive.

Don’t make that mistake.

Develop an ad schedule for your campaign. Create a few different types of ads. Use different pictures. Change the ad copy.
You need as much variety as possible. Not only will this keep people from becoming tired of your ads, it gives you a
chance to see which types of ads work the best.

Use Landing Pages

This may sound counterintuitive, but you don’t want to send your visitors straight to your website when they click on an
ad. You want to send them to a landing page first.

Landing pages allow you to make the most of the visitors who click on your ads. With a landing page, you can educate
your customers before trying to pitch your product. You can give them more direction on what you want them to do.

If you connect your ad to your home page or a product page, your visitor won’t know what to do once they get to your
website. That’s why it’s best for them to see a landing page first.
 Your landing page will give your visitor a clear idea of what you want them to do, and why they should do it. If you’re
paying for the ad, you might as well make sure that you increase the odds of getting actual customers from it, right?

LinkedIn Ads
Using LinkedIn for advertising is one of the best decisions you can make for your eCommerce business. This is especially
true if you have a B2B company.

Here are some of the benefits to using LinkedIn ads:

 It allows you to target actual professionals in any industry.

 You get more variety in the type of ads you want to create.
 LinkedIn ads offer a higher conversion rate.

LinkedIn gives you access to tons of professionals around the world. It’s one of the best ways to reach major decision
makers in the companies you target.

Choose The Right Ad Format

LinkedIn offers two different types of ad formats:

 Sponsored Content.
 Text and Image Ads

Both of these types have their own pros and cons. You’ll need to figure out which type works best for your business.

Sponsored content is an update that appears on your company LinkedIn page. These posts are targeted to a specific type of
audience. They will show on your homepage feed. It’s best for advertising promotions that are happening for a short
period of time.

Text and image ads include a headline, description and image. These types of ads are meant to be more long-term. You
can target these ads to a specific type of prospect. You can target many different types of professionals in many different
types of industries.

Make Them Valuable

Make sure you’re emphasizing the value of what you’re offering. You need to communicate what your prospect will get
when they click on your ad.

On LinkedIn, the best way to create an ad is to speak to a specific problem or goal that your prospect might have. You
want to show them how you can help. It’s about making their lives easier.

Final Thoughts
Using online advertising isn’t easy. It takes time to master. Creating the right types of ads requires a lot of trial and error.
But, if you keep at it, you will earn a lot more traffic and get more customers. When you use the tips given in this article, it
will become easier to get more people to buy your product.
4 Essential Ecommerce Marketing Tactics

Today’s post comes from Gracelyn Tan, Volusion.

When it comes to your ecommerce marketing strategy, you know it takes more than just a couple
of emails and word of mouth to get your brand out there. You remember that it takes time and
patience, but the results are well worth it. You’re also probably leveraging pay-per-click
advertising in your arsenal, and its highly effective retargeting component. But what else should
you have at your disposal?

Here are 4 essential marketing tactics to get started on your ecommerce marketing strategy:

1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the implementation of tactics to help search engines
easily find your website, determine it to be valuable, and move it up search engine results pages.
The closer you get to the top of the rankings for certain search terms, the more likely you are to
increase site traffic and sales. This is especially true in today’s fast-moving world of instant
gratification, where people want their questions answered as soon as possible.

Here are a few SEO tips to keep in mind when putting together your marketing strategy:

 Keep researching keywords: Make sure you’re targeting the right keywords by checking search
volumes with Google’s keywords tool. Also keep on the lookout for keywords that are becoming
popular and you could produce new content for.
 Utilize web analytics: Once you start your SEO efforts, ensure that you have some sort of web
analytics program in place so you can see which campaigns are working. Once you have enough
analytics data to know your average page rank, start setting goals to surpass it.
 Don’t forget about video: Videos are becoming increasingly important for ecommerce websites
in general, but especially for SEO. Since not everyone’s caught on to ranking for videos, it’s
comparatively easier to rank highly for a video than for a webpage.
 Diversify your traffic sources: If you’re like most, a large majority of your traffic comes from
Google. But what if an algorithm changes suddenly? You may find yourself unceremoniously
dropped onto pages 10 and 11, with a long climb back to the top. To strengthen your SEO
stronghold, diversify your traffic sources in addition to your search engine efforts. Try sources
like forums, YouTube, blogs and so on.

2. Content marketing

Content marketing is an approach where, instead of simply using marketing channels to push
messages onto customers, businesses use them to provide meaningful and useful content. This
particular marketing tactic is perfect for a business looking to establish itself as a thought leader
in its industry, as well as build customer loyalty and brand trust.

Here are a few content marketing tips to keep in mind when putting together your marketing
strategy:

 Write content for others and let them write for you: By producing quality content for others,
you increase awareness of your brand. By letting others write for you, you’re strengthening a
partnership while also leveraging their expertise and brand name as third-party validation.
 Try a variety of content types: Don’t be afraid to repackage your content into different forms to
see which kinds work best for your business. If you typically write blog posts, for example, why
not try a whitepaper, ebook or webinar?
 Be consistent with your timing: You want your readers to get into the habit of checking your
website for new content. Whether it’s once a week or once a day, you want them to keep your
business in their thoughts, know your pattern and visit accordingly.
 Make sure you have a strategy: Think about the purpose of your content and your target
audience, and define your goals. Once you have your content goals, prioritize them and take
action.

3. Email marketing

Tried and true, email marketing is one of the original forms of online marketing. In simple terms,
this type of marketing involves using email to develop relationships with potential and current
consumers, and it’s one of the furthest-reaching ways to get your message out there. Since it’s
been around for so long, it’s typically more affordable than other forms of online marketing, and
there are already a number of tools out there to help you track your successes.

Here are a few email marketing tips to keep in mind when putting together your marketing
strategy:

 Don’t forget about mobile: Make sure your emails are readable from mobile devices as well as
from a typical computer. With smartphones and tablets increasing in popularity, you want to
make sure your message still gets seen.
 ALWAYS send a test email first: No matter how confident you may be in the newsletter you’re
about to send out, send a version to yourself firs, or another pair of eyes that can catch any last-
minute errors.
 Keep your email lists updated and optimized: People change email addresses and unsubscribe,
and to keep sending them emails is waste of resources. So comb through and keep your lists
updated and properly segmented.
 Content is king: Your recipients are receiving more and more emails, and they’re opening only
about 20% of them. If your content isn’t information-rich and relevant, you can bet that you’re
going to get filtered out.

4. Social media marketing

With social media becoming an increasingly important part of our lives, it’s no surprise that
social media marketing makes our list. Defined as the utilization of social media channels to
make brand connections with current and prospective users, it’s by far the most interactive of our
list. Whether a business is using Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn or countless others,
there’s a lot to be gained by connecting with your users where they’re already spending their
time.

Here are a few social media marketing tips to keep in mind when putting together your
marketing strategy:

 Utilize contests: Social media channels are the perfect platform for contests. Whether it’s a
recipe contest on Pinterest or a simple comment-based contest on Facebook, contests both
increase your social community’s engagement and membership.
 Don’t let your Google+ collect dust: With new features on the horizon and G+ now netting 105
million unique visitors a month, it’d be a mistake to neglect your G+ presence when it’s finally
getting its footing.
 Have a distinctive voice: People may use social media to connect with your business, but they
still want to feel like they’re talking to a person on the other end. Find the balance between
being personable, while still representing your brand and its personality.
 Stay relevant: Because so much of social media interactions happens in real-time, if your
content isn’t valuable or practical, it’s going to get hidden and your unsubscribe rates could go
up.

Although each of these marketing tactics is important, the role they’ll play in your business is
entirely up to you. Every business calls for different ratios, so be sure to tailor your marketing
plan to find the right mix for your business and your customers.

Happy selling!