Although Halloween is next week, ghosts and goblins might not be the only things worrying you.
That’s right, peak trade season is upon us, which for some, could bring on Peak Trade Panic. You might have heard of this in our recent preventing peak trade panic email updates on how to prepare for this busy time.
We’ve been bringing you tips and tricks to help guide you through and prepare your store for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Our first two blogs within this series covered two important aspects of peak trade: managing inventory and search engine optimisation (SEO). This week, we are covering advertising and what options you have to get the most out of boosting listings on eBay.
Remember, not everyone needs paid for advertising to be successful on eBay. But if you’re feeling that little bit nervous, or want to boost your sales in the midst of a busy buying time, read up on how eBay advertising can help.
Promoted Listings
eBay offers an advertising solution called Promoted Listings, which is essentially a self-service marketing tool that helps boost your visibility within eBay search results. This advertising tool is a simple and cost-effective way to get your listings to the top. eBay offers 3 campaign types:
1. Promoted Listings Standard
2. Promoted Listings Advanced
3. Promoted Listings Express
Promoted Listings Standard
With Promoted listings Standard, you can place your listings in sponsored places throughout eBay, boosting visibility and giving higher probability of conversions. You don’t even get charged unless someone who clicked on your ad buys your product within 30 days.
Promoted Listings Advanced
This type of campaign works slightly different to that of standard. With advanced, you bid for preferred access to the top slots of search results. You also receive access to advanced controls, including keyword, budget, and bidding options to target your ads. You do, however, get charged even if your listing does not convertand you will be charged when your listings are clicked.
Promoted Listings Express
Promoted Listings Express is for auction-style listings. With this option, you only pay a one-time flat fee from a tiered pricing structure. This provides the opportunity for your listings to appear on sponsored ads on similar listings’ pages. According to eBay’s data, auctions that used Promoted Listings Express got an average of 47% more views when promoted.
New to eBay Promoted Listings?
If you’re new to using eBay Promoted Listings, here’s some essential information and tips to help get you started.
First of all, not all eBay sellers can use Promoted Listings.
Who is Eligible?
With all three campaign options, you must be Above Standard or a Top Rated seller with enough account activity. Which means you need to make sure your listing standards are top notch. Discover how to create the perfect eBay listing with effective SEO with How to sell more using eBay SEO.
Where to start?
The best place to start is with Recommended listings, as these are more likely to benefit from being promoted. Choose listings that are high-quality, already perform well and are in-demand, for instance, your seasonal stock. Another tip is to start with suggested ad rates, this will provide the perfect balance between cost and your promoted listing’s performance. This method considers past performance as well as current competition, along with seasonality and item attributes.
Bottom line
It might not be necessary to use eBay Promoted Listings all the time, but one of the best times you could be taking advantage of it, is during peak trade season. Start off with a few of your top performing or seasonally targeted products, monitor and review the progress and before you know it, you’ll not only have fine-tuned your eBay advertising skills, you’ll be that bit more prepared to take on Peak Trade Panic.
Take a look back at the previous Preparing for Peak Trade series blogs for more preparation tips and look out for the next one on shipping coming soon:
Inventory
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
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