Market Research is an extremely important element of the seller cycle that many of you will have implemented into your selling strategy already. But if you are new to selling, or looking to refresh your approach, then #GetToKnowYourCustomerDay is the day to start!
Market Research is essential to understanding the best way to list your products on the marketplace. In order to attract buyers, you need to ensure your target audience will find your listings.
Above and beyond this, see what your competitors are doing and if you are up to the same standard. Is your title as long as theirs? Should you be including some promotions or offers such as multibuy?
There are a range of elements you can implement into your market research which will do wonders for your eBay SEO. It doesn’t have to be complicated, let us break the process down for you…
Get to know the marketplace
Understanding the marketplace is step one. Knowing what buyers expect from sellers and ultimately what makes a positive shopping experience will shape the way you list your products. Get on the marketplace and look at listings from a buyer’s perspective. What listings make you want to buy, and which would you avoid? The chances are that the average customer feels the same as you.
Read reviews, what are customers giving praise for, and what are they complaining about? This way you will see what aspects are most important first and foremost, the rest can fall into place once you have the basics right.
What is being mentioned most? Shipping options? Descriptions? Lack of images? Reviews are a window into the perspective of potential customers. Make sure you use them!
Keyword research
Using a software that can give you insight into what customers are searching for and how they are filtering is the best way to ensure that you aren’t falling from search. Take a look at your title and decide if there are terms that fit your product that you haven’t considered using. Item specifics are a great way to boost rankings and avoid being filtered out of relevant searches. Get to know what item specifics are bringing the most traffic and implement them where applicable.
Product placement
Half the battle is seeing where buyers are looking. There is no point listing in the wrong category and attracting unqualified traffic. Find the most relevant categories, it may surprise you where buyers are actually looking for products. For example, customers looking for a water bottle could be looking in Camping & Hiking, Bike Accessories and Equipment & Accessories. Ensure you know where is most appropriate and even list in a second category, but only if relevant. If you list where your product won’t see any interest, you will increase traffic but lower your conversion rate.
Competitor research
Are you missing a trick? Check out what your close competitors are doing. This way you will see where the gaps lie, and understand the standard you need to match, if not exceed, in order to compete. This is a simple and an easy exercise that will boost the overall quality of your listings and put you on a level playing field with other sellers in your niche. Giving that extra boost will increase the likelihood of a customer buying from you over a competitor.
Now you know your customers...
There are plenty of other activities you can be doing to optimise your store now that you have the market knowledge to build on. But you have made the right steps to bridge the gap between what you offer and what your customers expect.
Sign up to the plan of your choice for a free 7 day trial of the tools to help you optimise your store for success.
For more seller tips, check out the other stages in the seller cycle here.
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