As e-commerce adoption increases, online businesses face rising competitive pressures, which they can only overcome by increasing sales and getting a larger proportion of the market. While some online marketplaces offer minimal advertising assistance in-app, others, such as Alibaba.com, have built-in advertising tools to help their sellers.
Alibaba.com offers a platform for your small business to thrive and also equips you with affordable advertising tools — keyword advertising and Premium Sponsored Ads — to increase your visibility on the platform.
In this article, we'll show you how to use keyword advertising and Premium Sponsored Ads to boost your sales on Alibaba.com.
Table of Contents
Advertising tools are suites, techniques, or configurations that help business owners and sales agents boost their sales. The aim of using advertising tools is to promote products and services, making them more visible to a wider target audience. There are lots of different advertising tools, each of which works differently from others. However, the best advertising tools for businesses depend on convenience, pricing, and effectiveness. For e-commerce businesses, keyword advertising and sponsored ads are the top two.
Advertising tools are important in marketing because they give brands the chance to be seen by their target audience, which promotes brand growth in terms of customer base, revenue, and profits. Here are some specific reasons why we have deemed advertising tools as important for e-commerce businesses.
Advertising tools help you position your business better as they are customized to reach your precise target market. This distinctive positioning makes it simple for customers to find you and use your services or buy your products. Advertising tools also improve the effectiveness of marketing initiatives by positioning you ahead of competitors, bringing you closer to customers, and enhancing the reputation of your business.
One of the most important benefits that advertising tools provide for businesses is an increase in visibility. Your business would be hard to find if your marketing strategy didn't include the appropriate advertising tools. According to studies, internet visitors rarely browse the second page. Therefore, it's critical to ensure that your product ranks as highly as possible across all product categories, which advertising tools do.
By using advertising tools, you will experience steady business growth over time. This growth will come from a variety of sources, including the number of leads you attract, sales you make, positive reviews you receive, and the number of business relationships you can establish.
The purpose of advertising is to make you more accessible to people. By bringing in high-quality customers, advertising tools assist you in expanding your marketing reach and increasing lead generation.
Advertising tools target consumers who are prepared to make a purchase and position your company so that consumers view you as the best option or the top seller. This increases customer traffic and, thus, total sales.
Because advertising tools are frequently offered for free or at a low cost (freemium), they help firms boost their profit margins. Businesses would have more money available to them even after making significant sales as a result of the reduced cost of advertising, increasing their profit margins.
The fantastic thing about Alibaba.com’s advertising tools is that they are simple to use and have a long-term positive impact on businesses. These advertising tools are keyword advertising and Premium Sponsored Ads.
Keyword advertising is the smart way to advertise on Alibaba.com. Advertised products are displayed alongside organic search results that are most relevant to buyers. Let’s take a look at what KWA is in more detail.
Keyword advertising is a competitive advertising strategy based on product keywords. Here, sellers select and then optimize the product keywords to fit their products. For a better match, these keywords are also included in the product titles. When buyers use the Alibaba.com search tab to look for a certain product, products containing the keyword they entered show up. Sellers using keyword advertising are ranked based on their keyword star rating.
Premium Sponsored Ads are a powerful tool in e-commerce advertising. They have a very high click-through and conversion rate.
Premium Sponsored Ads provide an excellent return on investment. Recently, Alibaba.com Global Gold Suppliers received access to this wonderful feature. When a user enters a search term, Premium Sponsored Ads appear as the first search result. Premium Sponsored Ads showcase the product as the finest option for buyers.
Both KWA and Premium Sponsored Ads are based on keywords. However, while KWA is a performance-based advertising tool on Alibaba.com, Premium Sponsored Ads seek to optimize your brand image and give you a more competitive edge. Also, Premium Sponsored Ads are only available to Alibaba.com’s Global Gold Suppliers(GGS) and China Gold Suppliers.
When a customer searches for a product, KWA displays products at strategic positions, depending on whether the mobile application or the web application is used for the search. On the other hand, Premium Sponsored Ads always dominate the search result page and stand out ahead of competitors. Premium Sponsored Ads also have a “crown icon” displayed right beside the title of the products which also helps with catching buyers’ attention. On PC, Alibaba.com offers more recommendations to buyers for them to explore other product options from your store.
KWA typically adopts a standard product format akin to organic search because the focus is typically on the positioning of the product rather than the actual product itself. The product is simply ranked high enough by KWA. On the other hand, Premium Sponsored Ads have an improved display format — the crown icon beside the product title and further recommendations.
KWA is performance-driven ads, focusing on achieving specified business objectives in a short time. To boost a product's popularity within a given product category, keyword advertising ranks products according to a specific keyword. On the other hand, premium sponsored advertising concentrates on building your brand image so that you can outsell your competitors.
Advertising tools have immense benefits for businesses. Our tips for using advertising tools will help you get the best out of your chosen advertising tool.
KWA is very user-friendly. The seller focuses on optimizing the product features while KWA manages the exposure of the product. Here are some useful expert tips for using keyword advertising:
Ensure that the cover image for your product is of very high resolution and that the product is clear. Avoid distracting backgrounds that may hide the quality of the products. This would encourage buyers to click on your product rather than scroll past it.
The product title should be clear and concise and should include the product name, brand, specification, feature, the benefit of the product, and keyword. This helps increase your ranking and doesn’t leave the buyer in doubt.
Buyers want to get the maximum quality product for a competitive price. Your product pricing should acknowledge that.
Promotion scores determine where your product ranks in search results. Promotion scores of less than 3 will not be accepted for KWA. To optimize your promotions score, ensure that your product is properly described, is in the right product category, and is associated with the right keywords.
Determine the competitiveness and click-through rate of your desired keyword(s). Also, ensure your keyword star rating is high. Keyword star ratings determine how your product will rank for your keywords.
Analyzing your advertising data will help you spot potential issues and adapt your plan accordingly. These issues may include low impressions with high click-through rates, high impressions with low click-through rates, high clicks with few inquiries, or high inquiries with few orders.
Premium Sponsored Ads appeal to a buyer’s psychology. Your focus should then be on compelling marketing content. Here are 3 tips to increase the effectiveness of your Premium Sponsored Ads.
Premium sponsored advertising presents your product or product category as the most well-liked or popular choice. Your product description should be appropriate with that positioning in mind.
Be sure to highlight all of the product's benefits in the product description. Place your product near items that will normally make the buyer joyful to appeal to their emotions.
Premium sponsored advertising boosts click-through rates and impressions, but if you have a slow response time, it could result in dead leads. Don't let a lead become cold; buyers often anticipate a response within the first several hours. In a state of marketing report, Drift disclosed that 82% of consumers expect a response within 5 minutes via live chat.1
Alibaba.com provides sellers with a range of advertising tools to help them gain more exposure and hit their sales expectations. It distinguishes itself from its rivals because of this. Built-in marketing and advertising solutions on Alibaba.com have seen tremendous success over time and have been updated to reflect developments in the e-commerce industry. For instance, product showcases serve as showrooms where sellers can showcase their best goods to gain more visibility. Additionally, Alibaba.com offers smart recommendations to sellers on which products to showcase.
Pay-per-click keyword advertising is based on the buyer’s geography, click history, and additional analytical data to increase the chances of clicks converting to leads. Additionally, sellers have the option to participate in sponsored campaigns to benefit from increased traffic. Why are you holding out? Open a seller account to access these benefits and many more.
Reference:
1. https://www.drift.com/blog/state-of-conversational-marketing/
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