How does PPC advertising function for eCommerce businesses?
The whole point of PPC advertising in eCommerce is to get products/services in front of an audience you think would be interested in them. You only pay a fee when a user clicks through, meaning that your segmentation must be as specific as possible. Moreover, you should identify which platforms your target audience is active on – before advertising in those places.
When running PPC ads, you’ll typically follow a similar process to others. It looks something like this:
- Pesquisa de palavras-chave: Identify what your target audience is searching for when they look for products like yours. Use these keywords in your advertising copy to determine which search results you target.
- Ad creation: Besides knowing what language you’ll use in your ads, you also need to think about the visuals that accompany them (if applicable). Use pictures/graphics that align with your product and brand, and be strategic with your colors.
- Budgeting: Determine the budget you’re willing to spend on ads for your eCommerce store. You’ll ideally allocate a reasonable amount each day, but make sure that it fits within your business’s current financial reality. Assess and reallocate if you later feel it’s necessary.
- Otimização: Measure your ad results. Make changes to your segmentation and the creative elements if needed.
Understand how PPC works on different platforms as there are key nuances to consider. For example, social media is typically more visual than search engines. A/B testing ads and studying how people interact with each of them is one way to do this.
Exemplo:
An eCommerce store with eco-friendly products might be looking to sell vegan-certified soap. The business will target its products toward people who’ve already demonstrated their interest in sustainability via keywords or other content. They might also choose to advertise on blogs/websites about environmentalism and sustainability.
What are the various types of PPC ads available for eCommerce, and how are they used?
eCommerce businesses might leverage different types of PPC ads in their strategy. The ones you choose will depend on how your customers tend to buy products and services.
Here are some to consider:
- Display ads: These ads appear on websites and social media.
- Anúncios em vídeo: Showcase a product in action so that users can decide if they want to use it themselves.
- Search engine ads: Use written content to drive users to a landing page; state the most important information straight away.
Understand how each of these works, and note that PPC rates can vary depending on your choices. Your campaign goals and the resources you can allocate are just as important as knowing your target audience.
How do I optimize my PPC campaigns for eCommerce?
PPC campaign optimization is an ongoing process for all businesses, and eCommerce is no different in this respect.
Here’s a rough outline to consider following:
- Análise de dados: Assess your campaign data (clickthrough/conversion rates, keyword performance, etc.). Outline what you think is working and where you have room for improvement.
- Keyword bidding: Spend more on keywords you find are driving results, while bidding less or removing poorly-performing ones.
- Segmentação: Tweak your audience targeting if needed. Besides refining demographics, consider adding negative keywords so that you automatically remove pointless searches.
What are the key PPC metrics that eCommerce businesses should track?
Important metrics to track are:
- Taxa de cliques (CTR): The percentage of users who click on your ads after viewing them.
- Cost-per-click (CPC): The amount you spend each time a user clicks on your ads.
- Ad impressions: The number of times your ads have been seen. Note that this differs from pageviews.
- Quality score: How good or bad your ad is perceived to be according to guidelines.
- Taxa de conversão: The percentage of users who buy your products compared to those that don’t.
Use all of these metrics to determine the effectiveness of your ad visibility and whether or not you’re engaging your audience. Profitability is also key to understand, here, as is your overall cost efficiency.
What are the common challenges that eCommerce businesses face with PPC?
There are pros and cons to everything, and eCommerce PPC is no different. Address issues like viewer fatigue, ad space saturation, and competition before running campaigns.
Adopt a multi-pronged strategy to address these issues.
- Cart abandonment rates: Implementing strategies like reminders and exclusive offers could potentially impact the rate of abandono do carrinho.
- Ad spaces: Consider how you’ll make your ads stand out among the noise.
- Concorrência: Assess your competitors and find gaps in their offerings/messaging. Also, allocate your budgets according to reality.
Is PPC the Right Choice for My eCommerce Business?
Though PPC can be an incredibly powerful marketing tool, it’s not for everyone. Before running campaigns, assess your needs to determine whether you should use this or seek alternative marketing methods. Compare these needs to the overall benefits and drawbacks of using PPC in eCommerce.
- Tráfego: Specifically target your traffic if you already know the types of people who buy your products/services. Use the information you already have from your website.
- Result-tracking: Leverage the data from your PPC advertising campaigns to determine overall performance. Then, go back to your strategy and make adjustments; remove what isn’t working and double down on the things that are.
- Visibilidade: Consider where you place your PPC ads and whether these will help you meet your brand awareness goals.
- Result timing: PPC can result in faster traffic and leads, but you should use these with longer-term growth methods like organic SEO. Though you could reach your goals sooner, you want to ensure that they’re still sustainable.
- Control/flexibility: Decide exactly how much you’re going to spend and who you want to target. You might need to make adjustments later when you get new data.
- Custos: Factor in all the aspects you’ll need to spend money on; the amount you spend on PPC advertising depends on your industry and the season you’re in (Q1 might cost less than Q4, for example).
- Expertise: Develop the skills needed to optimize your PPC campaigns and run them in the first place. Seek help from your team to determine whether anyone can contribute to your tasks. If necessary, evaluate hiring a new team member or outsourcing to an agency.
- Concorrência: Consider the competition in your industry. High competition isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you will need to find a way to demonstrate your unique voice.
How can PPC be used in eCommerce for retargeting, promoting new products, and enhancing brand awareness?
In addition to targeting new customers, PPC can sometimes be used for retargeting and brand awareness. Knowing the intentions behind each of these, and how you change your strategy, is essential.
- Retargeting campaigns: Use PPC to target users who have already shown some kind of interest in your brand. This could be through visiting your website or adding items to a cart; make sure you comply with privacy laws when doing so. Balance your retargeting efforts and use them as a gentle reminder.
- Consciência da marca: Leverage PPC to get your name in front of new people. You should especially consider this if you’re a new brand without the household name status of other eCommerce businesses in your niche.
- Promoting new products: Factor PPC ad spend into your budget when you release a new product/service.
Conclusão
PPC advertising is a key aspect to think about as an eCommerce brand. It’s vital for acquiring new customers who haven’t interacted with your brand before, but you might also want to retarget for those that have.
Before running campaigns, knowing how PPC works – and the different ways to use it – is vital. You need to know how to find keywords and reallocate your budget according to the results you get, too. Measure your metrics to determine what is and is not working.
PPC is used on search engines, social media, and sites. Different versions, such as display ads and text-only listing, exist. Balance them with long-term growth strategies like organic SEO.
