Every eCommerce business owner asks the same question:
“How can I drive more traffic and sales to my store?”
What it really comes down to, however, is the importance of driving relevant, targeted traffic according to how consumers are actually searching for products online. At the same time though, things such as cost-control and effective reach are the common limitations to many marketing and advertising platforms including social media and marketplaces such as Amazon.
Enter Google Shopping and Product Listing Ads. An advertising campaign type in Google Ads, Google Shopping is exclusive to eCommerce businesses and allows merchants and advertisers to create very distinct product ads which display in two areas on the Google search engine when a possible consumer searches online.
Not only does Google Shopping put your products in front of the eyes of the largest population of online consumers in the world, it also is one of the most cost-effective marketing solutions for eCommerce businesses. Here are the top 5 reasons why you should be selling on Google Shopping.
- Search Market Share
This statistic measures the amount of control search engines such as Google and Bing have over all internet searches made. Presently, searches on Google account for nearly 70% of all searches performed online with over 1 trillion searches performed each year. Recent Google studies have revealed that close to 40% of clicks on search results are actually coming from consumers with intent to purchase products online. That’s billions of searches a year, all from potential customers who could make their next purchase on your website.
- Cost-Effective Marketing
Google Shopping is a “Pay-to-Play” type of system where merchants bid on product ads to enhance their ability to rank online, however unlike websites such as Amazon.com, all cost control is in the palms of your hands. Marketplaces generally charge a percentage (upwards of 15% or more) which is on top of your pre-existing Profit Margin and Cost of Goods sold. Though many businesses combine multiple forms of product marketing and advertising, Google Shopping is the only system where merchants have total control of how much they need to spend to secure a sale.
- Store Enhancements & Promotions
Creating a better online experience for both merchants and consumers is a major initiative that Google has worked very hard to accomplish. With add-ons to a store such as Google Customer Reviews as well as Google Shopping campaign enhancements like Merchant Promotions, store owners have more unique ways to give customers what they are looking for most: Reliability, Loyalty, & Specialized Discounts.
- Residual Search Engine Optimization
Google Shopping emphasizes the importance quality product data and information and how it is crucial in boosting the potential to secure a sale. An often unrealized benefit to selling on Google Shopping is the effect its policies and guidelines have on optimizing product data and product landing pages. To be able to list products on Google Shopping, merchants must adhere to the standard set forth by Google’s Product Feed Specifications. With enough time, effort, and hard work, merchants can use these specifications to boost the ability of their products to rank organically among the search results and not just paid listings.
- Advanced Targeting Features
Although Google Shopping does allow you to put your products in front of the general population (an entire country for example) it also opens up access to even more specific targeting options. Over time, analyzing the relationship between your Google Shopping ads and the traffic coming to your website can yield vital details on consumer search behavior including Geographic Location and Mobile Device use. Utilizing Shopping campaigns, local businesses with brick and mortar operations can set their ads to appear in close proximity to their store, thus bridging the gap between online sales and in-store foot traffic. Additionally, Product Listing Ads appear at the very top of search results on mobile devices such as smart phones. A reported 88% of consumer searches on Google are made on a mobile device. With mobile device targeting options, merchants can reach consumers beyond the desktop computer and display their products to searchers at multiple points along the purchase funnel.
Google Shopping plays an incredibly influential role in E-Commerce marketing and advertising. By adding it to the varying other methods of promotion such as Social Media and Email Marketing, merchants creating an online store can add an entirely different layer to their marketing initiative as a whole. Getting the most out of Google Shopping requires a tremendous amount of effort and dedication, but the value is exponentially more powerful in growing E-Commerce sales.