How to increase sales on Alibaba.com with advertising tools

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.

What are advertising tools?

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.

Why are advertising tools important?

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.

1. Better positioning

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.

2. Increased visibility

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.

3. Steady growth

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.

4. Wider customer base

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.

5. Increased sales

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.

6. Increased profit margins

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.

Advertising tools on Alibaba.com

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.

1. Keyword advertising (KWA)

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.

What is keyword advertising?

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.

Benefits of keyword advertising:

• Better positioning: Keyword advertising gives you strategic positioning on Alibaba.com, both on the website and on the mobile application. Your products will be ranked next, after the sponsored product.
• Effective targeting: In addition to strategic positioning, keyword advertising also offers effective targeting. Businesses are only ranked based on search queries relating to their product category. As a result, the advertising will be more effective because it will only target customers who are actively seeking your items or products in your product category.
• Pay per click: Another fantastic advantage of using keyword advertising on Alibaba.com is that you only pay when a buyer clicks on your product. As a result, you won't be required to pay for a service that you didn't use. Additionally, it would give you more freedom to experiment with different product categories and keywords to see which ones work best for you without having to worry about the cost of doing so.
• Budget control: The keyword advertising tool on Alibaba.com enables you to meet your advertising needs within your set spending limit. This implies that you have a choice over how much money you spend on advertising. This is fantastic since it allows you to adjust your advertising spending depending on whether you want to reach more consumers or not. Additionally, you have complete discretion over how you direct your ad spending.

2. Premium Sponsored Ads

Premium Sponsored Ads are a powerful tool in e-commerce advertising. They have a very high click-through and conversion rate.

What are Premium Sponsored Ads?

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.

Key benefits of Premium Sponsored Ads:

• Exclusive resource: Only one supplier may buy a keyword at a time for Premium Sponsored Ads. As a result, Premium Sponsored Ads give you the assurance that your product will be shown first whenever the keyword is searched.
• Guaranteed first search result display: In addition to appearing on the first page of search results, your products will also be shown as the first search result. This ensures that your product will appear first for every customer that searches for products using your keyword.
• Diverse ad elements: The goal of Premium Sponsored Ads is to highlight top-selling goods while boosting suppliers' capacity for production.

KWA vs. Premium Sponsored Ads

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.

1. Display position

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.

2. Ad format

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.

3. The role of the ad

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.

Tips for using advertising tools — KWA & Premium Sponsored Ads on Alibaba.com to grow your business and increase sales

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.

How to Use Keyword Advertising

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:

1. Use a great image

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.

2. Use clear product titles

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.

3. Set a competitive price

Buyers want to get the maximum quality product for a competitive price. Your product pricing should acknowledge that.

4. Optimize promotion scores

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.

5. Keyword research and analysis

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.

6. Analyze your advertising data

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.

How to use Premium Sponsored Ads

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.

1. Enhance the product’s description

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.

2. Showcase product benefits

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.

3. Boost your reaction time

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

Sell on Alibaba.com

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.