Coronavirus has accelerated the use of online shopping ads for retailers
Since the spread of Coronavirus, the global economy has drastically changed. We probably won’t live like before. Some costumes will never return to stores in the same way and new customer have emerged online.
No matter which country you live in, you probably had a quarantine stage when you couldn’t go out and go shopping normally. One case or another, you know the experience. You spend more time at home. You still have a computer or a phone, and access to the Internet. It’s probable that having time and resources, you shopped through the Internet. If so, you’re not alone! The increase in online shopping has been exponential. As an example, in the U.S the e-commerce grew 35% And if you still don’t think that’s much, we’re talking about an increase of 50 billion in two quarters.
People that weren’t buying on the Internet before, changed their costumes, and adapted to the “new normal”. Shoppers who didn’t use to buy on the Internet because they didn’t trust this system, now do, and this is a costume that will remain.
Supply and demand. With such a big increase in demand, retailers have a better chance than ever to sell more online.
What is the best tool to sell products?
Google Shopping. And I’ll tell you why.
When you think about online shopping, you might probably think of Amazon first, and I know why. From the buyer’s point of view, you can access thousands of products and receive them fast. Amazon is great for generic products but Google specific search continues to grow and very fast.
It is a system provided by Google (obviously) that recommends products when you search for a certain thing. Here are a few reasons to use Google Shopping:
- Google Shopping is proven to have a 34% higher conversion rates than text ads.
- It allows you to show up multiple times in Google search engine results pages (as a text-only, website results, and Shopping results).
- Google Shopping adds a visual touch to an otherwise text-only searching and shopping experience.
This proces is interesting and helps the research phase because you have all the information about the product at a glance. You have the price, the image, a title, and a brief description.
So if someone is looking for a specific product, and your product is ranked at the top of the list, there are huge chances of your product ads being clicked. The ad link redirects the possible customer to your website or e-commerce site.
Tips once people click on your ad
Once they enter your web site, they are “playing under your rules”. You can personalize the experience. It’s not the same as an anonymous row on Amazon. You can add the brand factor to the equation. For someone that is looking for a product different and special, with great designs or special value, this is ideal.
So in addition to the ads that appear when you look for a product, you also have the marketplace. Google Shopping has a marketplace. And this is were branded products triumph.
What do you need to start with Google Shopping?
First, you need to create a Google AdWords account. This is a simple and easy process that can be done using a Google login. After that, you’ll need to set up a Google Merchant Center account. You will need to enter information about your business and verify your website. The next step will be to upload all the products information. This will contain a list of the products you sell with its characteristics including descriptions (like color, brand, price). This is one of the many parts that an optimization of the text will be useful, to rank in the searches. If you need help with this, please contact us. At ShoppingIQ, you can create advance feeds in seconds.
One of the last steps is to create a Google Shopping campaign. This can be done through your Google Adwords account or through ShoppingIQ itself.
You can set the campaign name, country of sale, and daily budget. Once that is done, your campaign is created, and you can administer it on your Google AdWords account or via ShoppingIQ for additional insight and features.
There are a couple of factors that you need to think about before investing in your products campaign. You need to think about the goal of the campaign. Do you want to increase your sales? Or increase your website traffic? Or Leads (focused on conversions)?
Sales campaigns drive sales online. Leads campaigns, as I said before, gather leads and other conversions by encouraging shoppers to complete an action.
Website traffic campaigns bring the right people to your website. Google and artificial intelligence designs each campaign to align with your goal, so be sure to pick whichever one is best for your company or brand.
After choosing a campaign goal, you have to designate the campaign type as Shopping.
Lastly, choose a campaign subtype. It can be a Smart Shopping campaign or standard camping.
In your Google Shopping settings, you’ll be asked to select your bidding strategy and set your campaign budget.
Bidding is how you spend for people to view, click on, and engage with your ads. According to Google, “a sufficient bid and high-quality product data will earn your ad a higher rank.”
The Growth of Google Shopping:
In the past few years, since its launch in 2012, Google Shopping has been growing exponentially. And if you’re asking: What is Google Shopping? You’re in the right place.
Google Shopping is the system that Google provides when you look for a certain product. Let’s say that you look for a T-Shirt with a specific keyword. You look for a red T-Shirt. The first part of the Google search shows a list of different t-shirts that are related to your search. It gives you all the information that you need, with an image and the price. It’s a clear search, and you just need to enter the product to buy. You don’t need to look for a product on Amazon. A search away you have all the necessary information.
From the seller’s point of view, it’s also an excellent way of promoting your products. You pay, like in any type of ads, and you can appear when someone searches for your product (or something similar).
If you are familiarized with the text ads, this is something similar. Instead of plain boring text, you can show data about your product. And the good thing is that your product can appear in different ways and show up multiple times.
Why is Google Shopping so important?
Because it is the best solution for local stores and sellers who don’t want to be an undifferentiated row on Amazon. They are gaining valuable clicks and clients through Google’s platform.
Also, the customer has all the information about the product actualized. They receive the best deals you can offer, and products that are new, or for limited time.
And I want to give you some statistics. First, 85% of all searches start on Amazon or Google. More than 8 out of 10 people who want to buy something start looking for that product on one of these two platforms.
Most of them search for products on Amazon (49%). The next place is Google and that is 36% of the total search. Selling on Amazon is okay, but the main problem is the difficulty to establish loyalty or a group of people that are going to be your customers for life. And these types of connections might be really important for small companies and new entrepreneurs. In the end, if you have a small group of customers, and they buy frequently, your company is going to grow and maintain a certain level of sales.
That gives you space and money to invest in new campaign ads, create your cool website or hire designers to make your product really nice. You know what is useful for your company, but for that, you need to sell with constancy.
So, if you want to have more interaction with buyers, Google Shopping is your place.
But how do you become the first search?
The only way is through Shopping ads (also called Product Listing Ads, PLAs). They show your product information, in a Google search result. They show your offers to possible customers before they reach your website.
Also, Google Shopping has a system to rank your product according to the potential client and his/her personal preferences.
You can add to your product some keyword targeting, to reach the client that is willing to buy your merchandise.
One thing that I love about Google Shopping is that once the shopper looks for your product, it denotes their intention. They are thinking about it, and it’s probable that they have money to buy it.
Your shopping campaigns have to be created within the Google Merchant Center, which is the standard Google search ads.
So, as I mentioned before, clients that click on your product are more interested, because they clicked knowing all the information. It’s not just a text ad. Once they clicked knowing all the information, it is much more probable that they convert.
One of the keys of Google Shopping is the engagement (the technical term for the initial interaction, that can result in a connection with the customer).
The best place for advertising engagement is Google Shopping. Shopping ads drive most of the retail search ad spend and produce 90% of all clicks on Google Shopping campaigns or Google Ads.
One of the many conclusions is that text ads with no brand are dying, so all the companies need to adapt to this new way of advertising.
And in addition to the product ad when you search for a specific thing, there’s also a product marketplace, that is exclusive for Google Shopping products. And that provides you with new clients.
Also, when the client clicks in the item of Google Shopping, it redirects them to the web page where your product is listed. They can buy your product really fast, and also see your web page.
This system creates more connection with the customer, as I mentioned before, and also shows something extra to the client.
When someone uses Amazon, they just see the basic information of an article, and if you’re a brand, and your goal is to sell products that are different from the rest, this is a good option.
You can show the “soul” of your company through your website, and create a unique experience. It is not just the purchase of an item, it’s a different and personalized experience.
Conclusion:
Shopping will continue to be the biggest Google paid search growth opportunity for most online retailers. As such, companies and entrepreneurs need to be investing time and money into feed administration and established campaign optimization tactics like query mapping. Publicists also need to be taking benefit of new Shopping format modifications to guarantee they appear for as many important queries as possible.
The importance of including Google Shopping to promote your company, and more importantly, your brand, can’t be described with words.
Try it and tell me about your experience! I assure you that it is not going to be negative.