Tag: Ecommerce

An Introduction to Yelp Ads for Local and e-Commerce Businesses

If you own a business, you know word of mouth is vital to your success.

A glowing review from a handful of customers, or even just one influential somebody, can put your business on the map. And a bad review? Well, that can ruin your reputation. Or at least put a good dent in it.

Before you worry about good or bad, you first need a place to get those reviews.

Here are a few questions to ponder:

  • How can you, as a local business, stand out among your competitors?
  • How can you attract the customer base you want, while also collecting reviews and ratings in one place?
  • Most importantly, how can you interact with consumer reviews to put your business in the best possible light?

Let’s take a closer look at Yelp Ads, Yelp’s various other services, and how they may help.

What is Yelp?

A crowd-sourced business review platform for consumers, Yelp is also an excellent place for businesses to be found online.

Yelp prides itself on being the leading social network for consumer ratings and reviews. 

In its earlier days, the platform was solely consumer-focused. It was a place for customers to leave their reviews without any expectation of a business’s response. 

Yelp has expanded its platform in recent years with Yelp for Business, which gives business owners like you greater control over your listings and consumer interactions. These features go beyond the free page listing that any business can claim.

Yelp for Business Options

Yelp for Business offers two options: self-service and a contract plan.

Self-service is an à la carte offering that allows you to choose from Yelp’s premium business tools. These include:

  • Yelp Ads
  • Yelp Deals
  • Yelp Reservations
  • Business Highlights
  • Profile upgrades

If you choose the contract plan, you’ll work with a Yelp sales representative to create an advertising program that fits your business’s needs. You pay a monthly fee for all the services included in your plan.

Why Yelp for Business May Be Right for Your Business

There’s no doubt that Yelp’s higher-than-average cost per click (CPC) and cost per mille (CPM) have garnered some negative press.

So why might you consider Yelp as part of your overall marketing strategy? 

Yelp users are at a later stage in the buying cycle than those on Google or Bing. Consumers on Yelp are no longer looking for information about a service or product; they’re narrowing their focus to local businesses to make a purchase.

According to a Nielsen study, a whopping 82 percent of Yelp users intend to buy a service or product. So even if only a few hundred consumers per month see your ad, the likelihood of your ad being displayed to a potential customer is high.

Let’s look more closely at one of Yelp for Business’s key offerings: Yelp Ads.

What is Yelp Ads?

An advertising service exclusively targeting Yelp users, this feature displays advertisements to consumers on the platform’s search results pages and business pages, via desktop and mobile. 

How Does Yelp Ads Work?

You can create standard or custom ads linked to your business listing.

The standard ad looks like any search result on Yelp. The difference is it will appear at the top of search page results and on competitors’ profiles:

Yelp Ads SERP review

With custom ads, you can add text snippets, choose a photo, and select the customer review you’d like to feature:

Yelp business listing ad

You can also add value propositions to the bottom of your advertisements, such as sale and deal details or average response time. These are called Business Highlights, and they may be included in your Yelp for Business package or purchased separately.

Yelp local ad

Don’t forget your call to action (CTA). With this add-on feature, you can customize the CTA buttons on your listing page and at the bottom of your search result listings. This allows you to link directly to a relevant page or form on your website.

Like Google or Bing, your ads will display based on search terms, location, and other parameters determined by Yelp’s ranking algorithm.

Your ads can appear on relevant search result pages or competitor business pages across all Yelp platforms. These include the desktop site, the mobile site, and the mobile application (available on iOS and Android).

How to Get Started with Yelp Ads

Do you think Yelp Ads might be right for your business? Here’s how to get started.

Step 1: Claim Your Free Business Listing

If your business is well established, the odds are good that a listing already exists. To claim an existing listing, follow Yelp’s step-by-step instructions.

If your business doesn’t have a listing, it’s easy to register. 

Step 2: Improve Your Profile

Your profile, also known as a Business Page, is your way to provide accurate information about your business to local consumers. Available fields include business hours, address, phone number, and a list of services and products.

The more accurate your profile is, the greater your chances of converting consumers who find your listing. 

Step 3: Moderate Ratings and Reviews

As a verified business owner, you can respond to ratings and reviews publicly or privately. While you may be tempted to ignore a negative review, this can have a detrimental effect on how consumers view your business.

If you want to keep your business’s online reputation positive, promptly respond to reviews—both positive and negative. 

With 71 percent of consumers saying they’re more likely to do business with a company that has responded to reviews, you can’t afford to miss out on this opportunity.

Step 4: Reach Out to a Yelp Sales Representative

When you choose the self-service option, you can immediately begin using Yelp Ads and other premium features. If you’d prefer a customized plan, you’ll need to work with a sales representative.

How to Optimize Yelp Ads for Your Local e-Commerce Business

In its early years, Yelp gained popularity in the restaurant industry. But as of June 2020, restaurants make up just 18 percent of businesses on the platform. Shopping isn’t too far behind, with 16 percent of companies categorized as such.

As a local e-commerce business, you, too, can benefit from Yelp’s various features. 

Run Location-Targeted Advertisements

If you’re not reaching the right audience, what’s the point?

With Yelp Ads, you can run targeted ads based on consumer location.

As a local business, why might you want to target non-local as well as local consumers? I’m glad you asked!

Let’s say you own a hybrid business, online and in-store. Your physical storefront is in Connecticut, but your dropship warehouse is in Texas. 

Instead of mentioning delivery times, a local Connecticut ad might focus on customers’ ability to purchase online and pick up in-store:

Order online. Pick up in-store today.

But a local Texas ad aimed at customers within a few hundred miles of your warehouse location may read:

Delivery within two business days. Guaranteed.

The same can apply to local businesses like florists and bookstores. Even if you don’t ship to locations outside your local area, you can still appeal to non-local consumers with services you do offer.

Let’s say you’re a florist who offers local delivery services in Albany, NY. Your ads to non-local consumers may look something like this:

Call now for free, next-day delivery within Albany, NY.

But how can you advertise to the right audience?

Target larger metropolitan areas around your locale, or use existing customer data to determine the most likely locations for your non-local consumers. 

Keep Your Business Page Updated

With full control over your business page,  include as much relevant information as possible. 

What does this look like?

Did your business hours change? Or maybe you’re running a sale over the next week. This insight is the kind of information potential customers want to know.

yelp business highlights

Don’t have a physical storefront? You still have plenty of opportunities to flesh out your profile. For example, you can update your business’s:

  • customer service hours
  • refund and replacement policy
  • quality guarantee; or
  • shipping and handling timeframes.

Your customers will appreciate the transparency.

Tweak Your Strategy As Needed

Whether your business is brick-and-mortar or online, adaptability is crucial to success. How are you adapting to the results from your latest Yelp Ads campaign?

You may already use analytics software such as Google Analytics on your website. As a Yelp Ads user, you also have insight into campaign metrics, including:

  • user views
  • customer leads
  • mobile calls
  • CTA clicks
  • directions and map views
  • clicks to your website.

Keep track of campaign metrics, and use that data to adjust your ads and overall strategy. The key is to take a solutions-based approach to your advertising campaign. Here are a few examples.

Low Conversion Rate

You’ve started a new targeted campaign for a nearby metropolitan area. The CTA clicks are the highest you’ve ever seen on a campaign, but the conversion rate is abysmal.

The good news? Your campaign is sending people to your website. The bad news? The likely culprit is the landing page itself. You have three options:

  1. tweak the CTA text to reflect the information on your landing page more accurately
  2. link to a more relevant landing page on your website
  3. rewrite the copy on your landing page to encourage more conversions

Remember that Yelp Ads is just one step on your journey toward conversions. 

Targeted ads can help drive relevant traffic to your website, but if your website is lacking, you’re more likely to lose the conversion.

Low Customer Lead Rate

Now let’s say user views are high, but customer leads are low. What’s the deal? 

First, rule out the usual suspects such as out-of-date profile information and poor ratings or reviews.

Next, consider that your potential customers may be drawn away by sponsored ads on your business profile.

One way to combat this is to purchase a package that enables you to remove sponsored ads from your business page. You may also want to place additional value propositions and CTAs higher on your page, so users are more likely to interact with your website before they even see the sponsored ads below.

Conclusion

For many consumers, Yelp is more than just a ratings and reviews platform. It’s the search engine of choice when it comes to finding a local business for their needs.

You may be thinking, “It’s too late in the game to rank anywhere near the first page in Yelp local results. What’s the point?”

But that’s the beauty of Yelp Ads!

You can ensure your listing is at the top of the search page results every time. And you can experiment with the content in custom ads to see how leads respond. And if you need help setting up paid ad campaigns, set up an initial consulting call.

Even if you don’t intend to use Yelp’s premium services, you can get control of your business page and interact with consumers just by claiming your free business listing.

That leaves me with just one question: 

Have you taken advantage of your free Yelp business listing yet?

The post An Introduction to Yelp Ads for Local and e-Commerce Businesses appeared first on Neil Patel.

Best Ecommerce Platforms

Disclosure: This content is reader-supported, which means if you click on some of our links that we may earn a commission.

What would you do with an extra $1,500 a day? 

With a bit of work and the right platform behind you, you can create an online store that generates that kind of revenue (and more). 

Shilpi Yadav is an excellent example. She quit her job to start an online clothing store based around her Indian heritage. Despite all the risks, the brand now makes more than half a million dollars a year (averaging around $1,500 per day). 

She built her online store using Shopify, one of the best ecommerce platforms on the market. However, there are a ton of different options to choose from depending on what you need.

And the most significant thing standing in the way of your own $500k success story is deciding which ecommerce platform is right for your new store. 

So to help you out, I reviewed seven of the best options in the industry, depending on your current situation.

The top 7 options for the best ecommerce platforms:

  1. Wix – Best for flexibility and customization
  2. Shopify – Best all-in-one ecommerce platform
  3. BigCommerce – Best for medium to large stores
  4. Squarespace – Best ecommerce platform for creatives
  5. WooCommerce – Best for WordPress websites
  6. OpenCart – Best for selling digital products 
  7. Ecwid – Best for integrating with your current platform

How to choose the best ecommerce platform for you

The best ecommerce platform for your business depends on several factors like your experience level, your customization requirements, and the type of products you want to sell. 

But choosing the right platform can feel overwhelming because there are countless options to choose from. 

To make things easier, I created a list of things to consider as you go through the process. 

It may help to start with a list of requirements and the features you need. From there, you can narrow down your choices based on the following criteria. 

Physical vs digital products

Digital products are a booming market. But selling and delivering digital products isn’t the same as delivering a physical product to someone’s doorstep. 

Different ecommerce platforms handle each type of product differently. And some may not support digital products at all. So it’s important to understand which type you plan to sell before you make a decision. 

Deployment options

If you already have a website, the best deployment option is integrating an online store rather than building a brand new website on a new platform. 

Furthermore, if you use WordPress, you can add ecommerce functionality via a plugin. 

Unless, of course, you want to start with a clean slate.

On the other hand, if you don’t have a website, you probably need a website builder with the capability to create something from scratch. So, think about the route you want to take and choose a platform that offers the right capabilities. 

Day-to-day management

Order management, product creation, tracking orders, and dashboard navigation are important factors of day-to-day ecommerce management. 

And it’s important to choose a platform that’s easy to use and manage on a daily basis. It shouldn’t feel like a struggle to create new products, check the status of an order, or update the pages of your website. 

Furthermore, it’s important to find the right ratio of flexibility and customization to ease of use. And keep in mind, the more customizable the platform, the harder it is to manage. Why? 

Because flexible platforms offer more settings and options to configure. 

You can simplify your workload by choosing a platform that offers just enough flexibility without going overboard for your specific needs. 

Design and flexibility

Some ecommerce website builders (like Wix) are truly drag and drop, meaning the customization options are endless. If you can imagine it, you can build it. But, that freedom also makes the platform more difficult to use. 

Other platforms integrate into your current site, taking the look and feel of your existing website with very few customization options. For some users, this is perfect. 

But others may want more control. 

If you’re just starting out, simple designs and ease of use are more important than design flexibility. 

However, if you already own a physical store or an established brand, design is more important so you can create a cohesive aesthetic from one touch point to the next.

Advanced ecommerce features

Do you want to be able to offer discounts or accept payments through different payment processors? Maybe you want to send visitors a reminder email when they exit your website with something in their cart. 

Perhaps you’re interested in creating customer profiles and analyzing advanced analytics. 

Other advanced ecommerce features include:

  • Email marketing integrations
  • Memberships and recurring payments
  • Gift cards and discount codes
  • Partial payments or payment plans
  • Shipping and fulfillment management
  • Product variations
  • Product categories

Think carefully about what you need and what would be nice to have. Then, you can use your list of requirements to narrow down your list of choices. 

The different types of ecommerce platforms

There are several different types of ecommerce platforms on this list. And which type you should choose depends on your current situation. 

Ecommerce website builders

These are all-inclusive website builders that include ecommerce functionality. 

This option is best for businesses without an existing website (or those who want to start over from scratch). Website builders also don’t require a lot of design experience to get up and running so it’s an excellent choice for beginners.

Adding ecommerce functionality to an existing website

If you already have a website, integrating an online store is much easier than starting over on a different platform. Several of the recommendations on this list can be used with an existing website so you don’t have to worry about starting over.

However, these typically require a bit of coding knowledge to customize so they’re not suitable for beginners. 

WordPress plugins

This option is best for users already using WordPress to run their website. 

Note: If you don’t know what a WordPress plugin is, this probably isn’t the best option for you (go with a website builder instead). 

#1 – Wix Review — The best for flexibility and customization

Wix is a great option if you’re looking for an affordable and flexible ecommerce platform. It’s famous for it’s drag-and-drop interface with complete design freedom to create anything you can imagine. 

With Wix, you also get access to more than 500+ prebuilt website templates and plenty of customization options (with no coding required). Or you can create pages from scratch with complete design control. 

Furthermore, they have a robust mobile app so you can make changes and manage your store from anywhere in the world.

Wix also includes a wide variety of marketing features, like emails, Facebook ads, and social media posts right from your account dashboard. You can even sell directly via social media.

Their ecommerce plans include powerful features, like:

  • Support of 90+ languages and local currencies
  • 250+ apps to add extra functionality to your site
  • No additional transaction fees
  • Custom product pages
  • Worldwide shipping and taxes
  • Coupons and discounts
  • Advanced sorting and filtering
  • Product collections
  • Customizable checkout
  • Recurring payments

Plus, if you already use Wix, you can upgrade to an ecommerce plan in just a few clicks within your account dashboard. 

Wix offers four ecommerce plans for online shops of different sizes, including:

  1. Business Basic — $23/month
  2. Business Unlimited — $27/month
  3. Business VIP — $19/month
  4. Enterprise — custom pricing

This is an excellent option if you have a small store or special design requirements. However, If you expect a high order volume and large range of products, you’re better off with BigCommerce or Shopify instead.

#2 – Shopify Review — The best all-in-one ecommerce platform

Shopify is an all-in-one ecommerce website builder that powers more than one million online stores, making it one of the most popular choices on this list. 

However, it’s not as customizable as Wix. But it offers more advanced ecommerce features because it’s built specifically to host online stores. Plus, it’s easy to use with just the right level of flexibility. 

It’s also incredibly versatile, powering micro to large stores, and everything in between. Shopify plans include access to an incredible suite of ecommerce features, including:

  • Point of Sale for brick and mortar shops
  • Real-time carrier shipping rates
  • Abandoned checkout recovery
  • 100 different payment gateways
  • Automatic tax calculations
  • Customer accounts and profiles
  • Fulfillment centers
  • Advanced inventory management
  • Unlimited products
  • In-depth analytics

Plus, with 70+ professional themes (nine of which are free) and 4,100+ apps, you can create a beautiful and highly functional ecommerce store without having to start from scratch. Or write a single line of code.

Combine that with award-winning 24/7/365 customer support and you have an excellent ecommerce platform. 

Shopify offers five plans for businesses of all sizes, including:

  • Shopify Lite — $9 per month 
  • Basic Shopify — $29 per month 
  • Shopify — $79 per month 
  • Advanced Shopify — $299 per month
  • Shopify Plus — custom pricing

Shopify Lite is a great option if you want to embed products and “buy” buttons onto an existing website. However, it doesn’t come with the all-inclusive website builder. 

Keep in mind that Shopify has its own payment processor. They charge 2.4% – 2.9% + $0.30 depending on the plan you choose. They also charge additional fees (0.5% – 2%) if you use a separate payment processor like PayPal or Square. 

#3 – BigCommerce Review — The best for medium to large stores

Like Shopify, BigCommerce is an all-in-one ecommerce website builder specifically for large online stores. It includes more advanced ecommerce features suitable for managing high volumes and a large number of products. 

With a customer base of 100,000+ stores, including some big names like Ben & Jerry’s and SkullCandy, they’re a smaller player in the industry. 

But that doesn’t make the platform any less powerful. 

BigCommerce plans include access to powerful, industry-leading features, including:

  • Customer accounts for faster checkouts
  • Mobile-optimized checkout
  • Abandoned cart recovery
  • Google AMP and Akamai
  • Advanced product filters
  • Coupons and discount codes
  • Advanced inventory management
  • Customer groups for personalized shopping
  • 65+ payment gateways with no extra transaction fees
  • Built-in shipping management

Plus, all of their plans include unlimited products, file storage, bandwidth, and staff accounts. 

And you can choose between 12 free mobile-responsive design templates or opt for a paid template to make your online store stand out from the crowd without touching a single line of code. 

BigCommerce offers four paid plans (with a 15-day free trial), including:

  1. Standard — $29.95/month with a $50,000 annual sales limit
  2. Plus — $79.95/month with a $180,000 annual sales limit
  3. Pro — $299.95/month with a $400,000 annual sales limit
  4. Enterprise — custom pricing

If you’re just getting started, BigCommerce is overkill for your online store. However, if you’re an established business or plan to sell high volumes, it’s an excellent choice. 

#4 – Squarespace Review — The best ecommerce platform for creatives

Squarespace is well-known as a website builder, but their higher-tier plans also include ecommerce functionality. Furthermore, their design templates are famous for their ease of use and creativity, making this an excellent choice for creative online stores. 

You can also install and customize multiple templates at a time to see which one you like best. And switching between templates takes just a few clicks. 

Aside from beautiful templates, Squarespace offers a variety of ecommerce features, including:

  • Subscriptions, digital products, and in-person compatibility
  • Built-in tax tools for automatic tax calculations
  • Discount codes and gift cards
  • Abandoned cart recovery
  • Mobile-optimized checkout
  • Mobile store management
  • Rich product listings
  • Quick view capability
  • Inventory management
  • Real-time shipping estimates

Furthermore, Squarespace integrates with most of the popular email marketing and social media platforms so you can sell and market your products like a pro. 

And they have fantastic 24/7/365 customer support ready to answer your questions and help you get things set up the way you want to. 

Squarespace offers three ecommerce plans (and a personal plan), including:

  1. Personal — $12 per month + no ecommerce functionality
  2. Business — $18 per month + 3% transaction fees
  3. Basic Commerce — $26 per month + 0% transaction fees
  4. Advanced Commerce — $40 per month + 0% transaction fees

They also have an enterprise plan with a dedicated account manager, SEO consultations, and prioritized technical support. 

And while the Business plan offers ecommerce capabilities, I highly recommend choosing Basic Commerce to start. It’s the cheapest plan with no transaction fees, plus it includes other essential features like, customer accounts and ecommerce analytics. 

#5 – WooCommerce Review — The best for WordPress websites

The recommendations thus far are all-in-one website builders. WooCommerce, however, is not. It’s a WordPress plugin built to add ecommerce functionality to existing WordPress websites. 

WooCommerce powers approximately 30% of stores online today. And with 80+ million downloads, it’s one of the most popular ecommerce platforms on this list. 

Note: if you don’t already have a WordPress website, I don’t recommend going this route. Stick to an all-in-one ecommerce platform, instead. 

WooCommerce is a lightweight plugin that adds ecommerce capabilities like accepting online payments, configurable shipping options, product listings, and more. But you have to have an existing website to use it. So, it’s a great option if you already use WordPress. 

It includes powerful ecommerce features like:

  • Plugin extensions to increase functionality
  • Rest APIs for developers to create custom platforms
  • Extensive tutorials and documentation
  • 140 region-specific payment gateways
  • Support of subscriptions and deposits
  • Automated tax calculations
  • Real-time shipping rates
  • iOS and Android mobile apps
  • Physical and digital product capability
  • Endless product variations
  • Public support forum

And the best part? It’s free to download, install, and use. Forever. 

However, some of the extensions aren’t free so watch out for that if you start digging into those. 

With the power of WordPress behind it, your customization options are only limited to what you can imagine. So, the sky is legitimately the limit with WooCommerce. 

But with that said, it’s not the easiest or most intuitive ecommerce platform. So, I don’t recommend it if you aren’t already using WordPress and 100% comfortable with it. 

#6 – OpenCart Review — The best for selling digital products

OpenCart is another open source ecommerce platform, much like WooCommerce. However, it’s not limited to WordPress websites. But you do need to have an existing website to use it. 

Over 300,000 online stores use OpenCart to confidently sell products of all shapes and sizes online. Plus, most web hosting companies offer one-click installation or will install it for free, so it’s incredibly easy to set up. 

Note: I only recommend going this route if you already have a website up and running. 

While you can sell products of any kind, the no-fluff interface (and free price tag) makes it an excellent option for selling digital products to make more money with your online business. 

All without adding an extra monthly expense because it’s 100% free forever. 

OpenCart offers a powerful set of ecommerce features, including:

  • Simple and centralized admin dashboard
  • Advanced user roles and access controls
  • Manage multiple stores from a single dashboard
  • Limitless product variables and variations
  • Built-in affiliate management and rewards system
  • Discounts and coupons
  • Unlimited products
  • One-click digital downloads
  • Product reviews and ratings
  • 36 built-in payment methods
  • Recurring payments

Plus, with 13,000 modules and themes in the marketplace, you can add any functionality you can imagine including service integrations, conversion modules, email marketing, and more. 

Keep in mind that not all of OpenCart’s extensions are free. You may have to pay for more advanced capabilities. 

And they don’t currently offer support for free, either. 

If you can’t find what you’re looking for on their community forum, you have to pay for dedicated help. Dedicated support starts at $99 per site per month or $99 for a one-time fix. 

#7 – Ecwid Review — The best for integrating with your current platform

Like OpenCart and WooCommerce, Ecwid is an ecommerce platform you can use to integrate with your current platform, regardless of what you’re already using. 

It integrates with platforms like Weebly, Wix, WordPress, Squarespace, and more. So, if you already have a website set up and want to add ecommerce functionality, Ecwid is an excellent choice. 

With that said, they also offer an all-in-one ecommerce website builder if you want to start from scratch. However, there are better website builders to use. 

So, I only recommend Ecwid if you want to integrate ecommerce into your existing website. 

This ecommerce platform includes a wide range of features, like:

  • Multi-channel selling (social media, marketplaces, in-person, etc.)
  • Integrated email marketing and advertising features
  • Centralized inventory and order management
  • No transaction fees
  • Fully responsive designs
  • Built-in POS integrations
  • Customer accounts for easy checkout
  • Real-time shipping rate calculator
  • Poduct variations
  • Digital product capabilities
  • 40 payment options

The biggest downside is that you can’t manage your store from inside your website account dashboard. You have to log in to Ecwid instead. So, you need to manage two separate accounts. 

But the good news is… you can start on the limited free forever plan to try it out before making any investments.

The free plan only allows up to ten products, so you have to upgrade if you need more. Ecwid also offers three paid plans, including::

  • Venture — $15/month (up to 100 products)
  • Business — $35/month (up to 2,500 products)
  • Unlimited — $99/month (unlimited products)

As a stand-alone store builder you might be better off with other options (like Wix and Shopify). 

But if you already have a website and want to add an ecommerce store, Ecwid is a great alternative to WooCommerce and OpenCart. 

Summary

My #1 recommendation for most users is Wix. It’s great for users of all experience levels. Plus, it’s easy to use, highly customizable, and affordable as well. But if Wix is too customizable for you, Squarespace is a fantastic alternative. 

For large stores, I highly recommend BigCommerce or Shopify. 

However, if you already have a website, WooCommerce, OpenCart, and Ecwid are excellent choices depending on what you need. 

The post Best Ecommerce Platforms appeared first on Neil Patel.

How to Set Up Microsoft Bing Shopping Campaigns for E-Commerce Businesses

Google may lead the search engine ranks, but they’re not the only player in the game.

Bing holds 11.22% of the global search engine market share. Compared to Google’s 72.94%, that may not seem like much — but with upwards of a third of US desktop searches coming from Bing (and Bing-backed AOL and Yahoo), it’s pretty huge.

For ecommerce businesses, that makes Microsoft Shopping Campaigns (formally known as Bing shopping campaigns) a killer opportunity to boost your bottom line.

NOTE: Bing now refers to all platforms related to their shopping ads by the Microsoft name. For example, what was once called the “Bing Merchant Center” is now the “Microsoft Merchant Center.”

Bing Does Not Equal Google, but That Could Be a Good Thing

Long story short: Your paid media strategy deserves diversification, and Bing is the place to find it.

Why?

Because Bing offers unique demographics you may not be able to target from Google Ads.

More than 70% of Bing users are over the age of 35. At the same time, nearly 40% of Bing users have a six-figure annual household income. The company reports a good chunk of their user base comes from the South Atlantic region of the US (which includes various states from Delaware to Florida, plus Washington DC) — but they also have a stronghold across North America, Latin America, China, and more. 

If you are looking for high earners in a particular region, Bing could be your gateway into a lucrative ecommerce market.

Bing has some other perks too, like:

  • Affordable cost-per-click: Bing competition is significantly less than Google, with one ReportGarden study sharing the average cost-per-click for Bing Ads is just $7.99, while the average Google Ads cost-per-click costs more than $20. Of course, this depends on the industry — but a 250% price increase is nothing to ignore. 
  • User-friendly design: You don’t have to be a digital marketing pro to use Bing Shopping (though you may feel like one after you’re all set up.) You can easily craft ecommerce ad campaigns across platforms (Google included) to reach a wider audience.
  • Targeting differentiation: On Bing, you can target the device (desktop, smartphone, or tablet), operating system, timezone, and more. (Google allows similar targeting, but the options are far more limited.) 
  • An in with major websites: AOL and Yahoo both use Bing to power their search engines. This benefit provides Bing shopping marketers with a combined 700+ million unique monthly visitors from these two websites alone. Additionally, Amazon’s Alexa currently uses Bing for web searches.

When used in tandem with Google Ads, Bing can diversify your paid media campaigns for all kinds of ecommerce products. 

For more information about paid shopping and product campaigns, check out this video and the eCommerce Unlocked series on my YouTube channel:

How Does Bing Shopping Work?

When a user searches a branded or non-branded keyword on Bing, they’ll receive a grid of shopping results from various ecommerce platforms, which are usually from big ecommerce giants like Amazon and small businesses with compelling offers and inventory.

If the user has their location tracking turned on, Bing will refine the results by adding products they can find locally.

example of a bing shopping campaign ad -- How to Setup Microsoft Bing Shopping Campaigns for Ecommerce Businesses

Bing “hiking boots” search query

Depending on your layout, these ads might show up as a vertical grid on the SERP’s right-hand side.

As an ecommerce marketer, your Bing shopping campaigns can give you valuable real estate above the fold.

And it may just put you in contact with a whole new audience while you’re at it.

How to Set Up Your Bing Shopping Campaigns

First things first: Create your Microsoft Merchant Center account. 

You can do this by logging onto your Microsoft Ads (formerly known as Bing Ads) account, click the “Microsoft Merchant Center” button, and create an account. You’ll need to verify your store with a destination URL, which may take up to 48 hours.

set up bing microsoft shopping account

Once that’s done, follow the steps below. 

Create an Up-To-Date Shopping Catalog

A shopping catalog (or shopping feed) is where your products live. You can either import your existing shopping feed from Google Merchant Center or create a brand new one. You can upload any new catalogs to your Microsoft Merchant Center.

Import ecommerce product feed into microsoft bing merchant center account

When creating a new feed, don’t forget to set up all of your product attributes.

There are mandatory product attributes (like title, link, price, description, product identifiers, and more), but there are also some optional ones (like color, gender, material, and size).

Add as many as you can because this info helps you connect with users in your target audience. That will help improve your conversion rates —  which is always a good thing.

Create an Audience

Creating a custom audience tells Microsoft and Bing who you want to reach. Aim to create a narrow audience, so you don’t waste ad spend on people outside your target audience.

On your Microsoft Advertising account, head to “Shared Library.” Under the audience header, you’ll click “View Audiences.” This section is where you can lay out your ad’s plan of action once it’s live.

Create a Campaign

From your Microsoft Merchant Center, click Create Campaign. Then click Sell Products.

You’ll adjust your campaign settings, like setting priority levels for each of your Bing shopping campaigns.

Priority levels can be high, medium, or low. The higher priority campaigns take precedence, so set your important campaigns with a bigger budget on high priority while leaving your runner-ups on medium or low.

Organize Your Product Groups

You can organize based on various attributes you’ve given to each product. This feature helps with targeting.

Turn on Automatic Item Updates

This option ensures your ad prices always reflect your website prices, and you’re not advertising products that you’ve already sold. A new consumer isn’t going to give your shop a second look if prices are off or you’re promoting out of stock items.

Instant updates also help you avoid wasting your budget. 

Use Custom Labels to Streamline Audience Targeting

Head to the “Labels” on your product feed in your campaign editor. You can organize campaigns, keywords, ad groups, and ads in a way that works for you.

While it won’t directly impact your Bing ads, this does help you better analyze your campaigns and improve future targeting. That can boost future campaigns and help you optimize existing ones.

Need a more hands-on guide? Microsoft has a training course for newbies.

Tips and Plugins to Optimize Your Bing Campaigns

Why settle for average when your ecommerce shop can run the Bing shopping game?

Try these tips and tricks to optimize your Bing ad campaigns and maximize your ad dollars. You can also view my free PDF of Bing Ads resources.

Import Google Ads to Bing Shopping Campaigns

It may seem like magic, but you can import your shopping campaigns to Bing straight from Google Ads.

All you have to do is make sure your website is set up on an ecommerce platform (think Shopify and the like.) Then, ensure your Google Ads shopping feed and campaign are up and running.

Once you create your Microsoft Merchant Center store and verify it, you can import your campaign using Microsoft’s Google Merchant Center (GMC) Import tool.

import google shopping campaign into microsoft bing shopping campaign

Then, tick the option that allows you to sync the two platforms to keep everything updated.

Universal Event Tracking

Universal Event Tracking (UET) is a Microsoft tool that helps track the sales and conversions that stem directly from your Bing shopping campaigns. 

Events are consumer actions like clicks throughs, add to carts, and purchases. You can track which events matter most to you and follow the consumer’s path from start to finish.

This tracking will help you understand how much revenue you can attribute to your Bing ads. The process includes applying a UET event tag and short web coding to record the conversions as they come.

Use Microsoft’s how-to guide for implementing UET for your Bing shopping campaigns.

Microsoft Ad Extensions

To help businesses of every kind (including you ecommerce folks), Microsoft has developed a series of ad extensions for Bing shopping campaigns.

What are my favorite extensions for ecommerce businesses?

Well, since you asked:

  • Sitelink extensions: Sitelinks are a cool tool that sends ecommerce customers straight to the right page. Word on the street is that you can’t actively control these on Google, so take advantage of this in Bing ads.
  • Image extensions: Add relevant images to your Bing ad using image extensions.
  • Review extensions: Show average reviews for your ecommerce products, right on the ad.
  • Price extensions: List your competitive price to lure in consumers from the SERP.
  • Action extensions: Add a call-to-action to your campaign that’s clear, concise, and action-oriented.

Shopify Ecommerce Store Integration

If you use Shopify to run your ecommerce store, you can integrate it directly with Bing Shopping.

Use the Shopify app to streamline analytics and keep all your data in one easy-to-access place. 

Shopify is especially helpful for ecommerce teams who want collaborative access to Bing shopping campaign info. But regardless of how many people you have on your side, it’s undoubtedly beneficial for Shopify store owners.

Set up Bing Remarketing Audiences

Remarketing is a process that lets you target consumers based on their prior web actions.

Keep in mind, if you import Google shopping feeds over to your Microsoft Merchant Center, you can’t import your remarketing data. That means whether you’re importing or starting campaigns from scratch, you’ll need to set up remarketing audiences manually.

Start with your existing audiences in your Microsoft Advertising platform.

You’ll also want to make sure you’ve set up UET tags and coded them into your website. This tagging makes sense considering you’re basing it off of the customer’s previous actions, so you need to track them.

Once you hit the “Audience” page, click “Create a remarketing list.”

From there, create a tag and configure the settings as you see fit. And whatever you do, don’t forget to save!

Use Local Inventory Ads For Storefronts

Bing’s local feature is pretty cool. It shows your ads for localized product queries, including cities, states, or phrasing such as “near me.” 

So if your ecommerce business also has a local storefront, set up Local Inventory Ads to maximize reach. 

All you have to do is provide your shop’s physical location, upload and submit product info, keep your inventory updated, and enable your Microsoft Shopping Campaigns.

Conclusion

There’s no denying Google‘s prowess, but ecommerce advertisers should consider Bing campaigns as well.

Adding Bing shopping campaigns to your marketing repertoire is an easy way to diversify your paid advertising.

Is your ecommerce business ready for an adventure into the world of Bing shopping?

The post How to Set Up Microsoft Bing Shopping Campaigns for E-Commerce Businesses appeared first on Neil Patel.

Welcome to Ecommerce Unlocked: Your Free Ecommerce Marketing Course

E-commerce is booming.

There are currently 24 million e-commerce sites and counting. And with only 12% of sales taking place online, you can expect there to be massive growth in the years to come.

So if you want to create an online business, one of the best ones to create is an e-commerce store.

But how do you market it? How do you grow your traffic? And, most importantly, how do you get sales?

Sure you can use tools like Ubersuggest to help you out, but what do you do if you need step-by-step instructions from the very beginning… especially if you have little-to-no marketing experience?

Introducing E-Commerce Unlocked

Over the next 4 weeks, I am going to teach you how to market an e-commerce website. From SEO to paid ads to even CRO… I am going to cover all aspects of e-commerce marketing.

And of course, all for free. 😉

E-Commerce Unlocked is similar to my free SEO training course, SEO Unlocked.

But unlike SEO Unlocked, which is a 7-week course, I thought it would be more efficient to get you the training you need in just 4 weeks.

So, every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday, I will release new videos to teach you how to get more traffic and sales to an e-commerce site.

And just like SEO Unlocked, E-Commerce Unlocked will contain worksheets, cheat sheets, PDFs, spreadsheets, and everything else you need.

Here’s the first lesson, which you can watch below:

Make sure you go here to download the worksheets that go along with it.

So what exactly will I learn?

As I mentioned above, it is a 4-week course. Here is an overview of what will be broken down in each week and in each lesson:

Week #1

Lesson #1: Getting Started

  • Foundation methodology
  • Strategies you’re going to learn
  • Strategies & mindset

Lesson #2: Sales Channels

  • History of e-commerce the timeline
  • What is working in the e-commerce space
  • Introduction to sales channels
  • Understanding sales channels

Lesson #3: Marketing Channels

  • Multi-channel marketing
  • Which market and sales channels work
  • Building visibility and brand
  • Current & future movers and shakers in the e-commerce industry

Week #2

Lesson #1: Conversion Rate Optimization

  • Introduction
  • Product pages made to convert buyers
  • Experience
  • Using reviews
  • Urgency and scarcity
  • Abandoned carts and follow up
  • Increase your AOV (Average Order Value)
  • Exit intent – capture lost traffic
  • Split testing with Crazy Egg
  • Increasing conversions on your e-commerce store
  • Email marketing campaigns for your site
  • Action tasks for optimizing your website for conversions

Lesson #2: SEO & Content Production

  • Setting up your Google organic feed
  • Rank your product listing pages
  • E-commerce content marketing workflow
  • Technical SEO for e-commerce
  • Making your content & transaction pages
  • E-commerce topical clusters
  • Content examples to look at

Lesson #3: Content Promotion

  • Link building for e-commerce
  • Building links to content, PDPs, & PLPs
  • Social media and social proof leveraging
  • Social media platforms in the long-term
  • Strategy for content promotion

Week #3

Lesson #1: Amazon

  • Keyword research for Google & Amazon rankings (and the differences)
  • Data sources
  • How to write good copy, product descriptions, ads, and come up with different marketing “angles” for Amazon
  • Amazon promotions & lightning
  • Optimize your listings
  • Using Facebook Messenger & Manychat
  • Amazon PPC
  • Sell more to your existing customers

Lesson #2: Sales Channels

  • Getting higher rankings on marketplaces
  • Walmart – how to get set up and what to expect
  • eBay – how to get set up and what to expect
  • Etsy – how to get set up and what to expect
  • Wish – how to get set up and what to expect
  • Facebook Commerce – how to win
  • Getting traction on each platform & what to do to win in each platform

Lesson #3: Marketing Types

  • E-commerce Marketing for (B2B) vs (B2C)
  • Sales process for B2B e-commerce vs B2C
  • Picking the one that’s right for you – do both or pick one?

Week #4

Lesson #1: PLA Campaigns

  • Setting everything up
  • Google dynamic remarketing
  • Google product listing ads (Google Shopping Ads) introduction + setting up
  • Your PLA campaigns
  • Bing product listing ads + setting up
  • Facebook dynamic product ads + setting up DPA’s correctly
  • PLA + DPA summary

Lesson #2: Additional Marketing Channels

  • Instagram ads
  • YouTube PPC – world’s 2nd largest search engine work to get you sales
  • Etsy PPC – what’s working on Etsy
  • Email marketing campaigns must have campaigns for e-commerce
  • Automate your customer emails and gather reviews much faster

Lesson #3: Additional Channels

  • Working with influencers
  • Push notification – lists & messaging
  • Understanding your metrics (COGS, ROAS, ROI to see what SKUs to scale with)
  • Case studies
  • Summary

How can I follow along during the 4 weeks?

You’ll see videos released every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday.

The videos are roughly 10 to 15 minutes in length on average so it shouldn’t take you more than an hour per week to follow along, including the completion of the homework assignments and worksheets.

To make things easier, the worksheets and homework assignments will be somewhat pre-filled so you will know what to do every step of the way.

No matter what, make sure you complete each assignment. Watching the videos is not enough.

Sure, the videos will teach you theories and strategies, but you also need to learn how to execute and implement. That’s why I want you to complete the worksheet and homework assignments.

In total, I’m asking you to commit an hour each week. If you are new to marketing, maybe an hour and a half, which should be doable. 🙂

Once you complete the 4 weeks (12 videos), you’ll know how to market any e-commerce website and even how to sell products online on sites like Amazon.

If you want to make sure you don’t miss a lesson (because I won’t be blogging about each lesson), make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel as I will be uploading the lessons there.

Once you click the link above, you’ll see a subscription box popup on YouTube. All you have to do is click the “SUBSCRIBE” button.

Once you click “Subscribe,” you’ll notice a bell image next to the subscribe button, make sure you click on that as well.

When you click on the bell, you’ll be given a few options.

Click on the “All” option. Next to the “subscribed” button, you should see a new bell notification :

This makes it so YouTube notifies you when I release a new E-commerce Unlocked lesson.

Conclusion

E-commerce is a booming field. Just look at Amazon, they are bigger than any traditional retailer.

Having the skillset of knowing how to market an e-commerce site can never be a bad thing.

And who knows, maybe you’ll do it full time as either a consultant or through running your own e-commerce site.

If you are new to marketing, don’t worry about being overwhelemed. I am going to teach you the main tactics that drive the majority of the results. And I will break them down in a simple step-by-step formula.

You’ll also be provided with the worksheets and tools you need, so you all you have to do is bring yourself and be willing to commit an hour to an hour and a half each week.

So, are you ready to learn e-commerce marketing?

PS: Leave a comment below letting me know what course you would like me to create next. I already did one on SEO, and now I am doing one on e-commerce marketing. Would you like one on content marketing, paid ads, Instagram…? It can be anything, just let me know in the comments.

The post Welcome to Ecommerce Unlocked: Your Free Ecommerce Marketing Course appeared first on Neil Patel.

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