eBayAdCommerce Blog

Whether it’s your body or your business, staying healthy is always a top priority. Fortunately, with just a few smart moves you can polish up your AdCommerce account now and get results that last all year.  We’d like to share our top 10 tips to improve the ROI of your ad campaigns and make your eBay business more profitable:

1)      Be Specific in Your Advertisements & List USPs

AdCommerce works best when you let shoppers know exactly what you sell. Intentionally trying to mislead shoppers just to gain more traffic won’t generate the regular sales you need to build your business.  Give some thought to why a customer might have clicked on your ad and then not completed a purchase from your store.  For example, if you only sell an item in one color (i.e.: black pens), make that clear in your copy so that shoppers looking specifically for a blue pen don’t click, even if their search for ‘pens’ brings up your ad. Also, be sure to list anything that sets you apart from your competition. Do you offer free shipping? Do you have a wider range of products? Are your products better quality?

2)      Customize Your Landing Pages

You’ll get better results if you don’t just send all your traffic to your store landing page.  Use the relevant categories in your store or send the traffic to a search results page.  This will help shoppers find what they want quickly, and will improve your conversion rate.

3)      Take the AdCommerce Video Tour

It only takes a few minutes and really shows you what AdCommerce can do, allowing you to make the most out of your advertising on eBay. Check it out here.

4)      Use Category Advertisements

Nearly a quarter of eBay shoppers use the categories to navigate the site, rather than the search box.  Ensure that you have advertisements on all the relevant categories and subcategories for your products.  These areas are often less competitive than the corresponding keywords, meaning you can acquire highly targeted traffic for lower cost per click.  If you’re only using category ads, try out a keyword ad to build a well-rounded campaign.

5)      Add Broad Match Keyword

If you have some keywords performing well as ‘Exact’ matches, chances are you’ll also see a good return from the same keywords as a ‘Broad’ match.  Broad match keywords will gain a lot more impressions, and therefore will generate more clicks.  As long as your advertisement is specific to the products you sell, the traffic you receive should still be very relevant and should convert at the same rate.

6)      Add Niche Keywords

The cost of traffic on general keywords such as ‘television’ or ‘shoes’ is always going to be higher than more specific terms such as ‘42 HD Plasma’ or ‘women’s red sandals.’  The niche terms should also convert a lot better, as long as they relate to what you sell.

7)      Use the AdWizard

The AdWizard uses dynamic content to make your advertisement look as relevant as possible, improving click-through rates.  Based on the keyword searched for, the AdWizard customizes the image used, the ad title and/or copy (providing you use the keyword insertion tool) and the landing page.  The AdWizard also suggests relevant keywords based on the products you stock and can be updated at the touch of a button, after you’ve updated your store inventory.  You can use the AdWizard to cover all your products, or you can narrow it down by category to create a more specific ad.

8)      Check your Advertisements on eBay

After your ads have been approved, check them out on eBay by searching for your keywords or navigating to your categories. Are they appearing exactly as you thought they would?  Do they stand out from your competitors’ listings and ads?

9)      Use the Smart Tag Wisely

The Smart Tag inserts the keyword that triggered the ad into the copy or title of the ad, making your advertisement appear more relevant to shoppers.  It looks something like {Keyword:#####} and is inserted using the blue Keyword button.  It’s a very useful tool, but use it with caution. If used incorrectly it can be counterproductive. A few tips to that end:

• We recommend using the Smart Tag just once, in the title where it will have the most impact. Don’t include it in every line of your ad.
• Consider how your ad will read once the keyword is inserted (see point 8). Make sure it makes sense and identifies what you actually sell.
• The word you choose within the brackets i.e. {Keyword: example} is purely a backup that will be displayed if the keyword triggered is too long to fit in your ad.  Don’t include text that you always want to display in this space because it will rarely be seen.
• Make room for the Smart Tag to fit into your ad.  Leave some spare characters on the line for keywords that are longer than your backup keyword.

10)   Learn, Adjust & Monitor

While some advertisers do get lucky and get everything working just right the first time, most people have to spend a little time looking at what’s working and what isn’t.  If the results aren’t there, take the time to consider why.  Are you bidding too much to be profitable? Is your copy misleading? Are the keywords no longer relevant?  Make adjustments based on your thoughts and monitor the outcomes. Don’t give up if something doesn’t work immediately; a little tinkering can go a long way.  Also remember, AdCommerce is a dynamic environment. Competitors can come and go, and search terms can spike and dip in popularity overnight.  Just because something doesn’t work now doesn’t mean it won’t in the future.  Likewise, if something is going well, keep an eye on it to ensure that it stays profitable.

AdCommerce has something to offer all of our eBay merchants, no matter how big or small you may be. If you feel like it’s not working and you’d like additional help or advice, please feel free to contact us. We want to make sure you get the most out of your advertising investment!

Happy Selling!

eBay AdCommerce team

Problem solved! We’re glad to report that we’ve fixed the bug that may have caused a drop in ad impressions for some AdCommerce users. We’ll continue to monitor the results to ensure there are no further issues.  As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

eBay AdCommerce Team

We are experiencing an issue in which ad impression counts have dropped since June 2.  You may experience a decrease in the number of impressions and clicks at this time. 

We’re working hard to resolve this issue and will post an update as soon as we can. We apologize for the inconvenience.  Please don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.

eBay AdCommerce team