If you are the owner of an eCommerce brand, it is understood that you will have to advertise your brand well to get more sales. Advertising helps to make your brand well-known and imprint it in the minds of consumers. 

Let’s take a look at what eCommerce advertising is, how to advertise an eCommerce website, the different methods you can use, how much your eCommerce advertising budget should be, and tips to remember.

To advertise an eCommerce store you can use both online as well as offline advertisements to raise awareness and build traffic to your eCommerce site.

Offline ads include traditional types like print, TV, billboards, and more. 

Online eCommerce advertising includes social media ads, search engine ads, influencers, SEO, blogs, etc.

One of the biggest benefits of online advertising is that you can reach and target specific groups of people and keep in touch with them through various platforms.

How to Advertise an eCommerce Website?

There are different methods of eCommerce advertising, from SEO to blogs to Google. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular methods to promote your eCommerce website

eCommerce advertising using Google

1. Google text ads – Using Google text ads, marketers can promote their brands and products. These are the ads that pop up when you conduct a Google search. Setting up a text ad is easy as it requires copy and links to web pages and landing pages.
2. Google shopping ads – Google shopping ads are displayed right at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) when a customer searches for a certain product. They appear in the form of a visual format and include a photo, the name of your product, the price, and the store's name. These are high converting ads and usually drive more leads to your site.
3. Google display ads – Google display ads include images and are shown on the web page rather than the search engine results pages SERPs. The main components in a display ad are a company logo, unique value proposition, image of visual representation, and CTA.

Retargeting ads

Retargeting ads occur when eCommerce websites use a retargeting strategy to nurture visitors to your website and lead them back to your site. An example would be when someone views a product on your website but does not buy it and sees the same product being advertised on another website. 

Research suggests that retargeting ads are very effective in reaching prospective consumers and reminding them of your brand and product even after they leave your site.

Retargeting can be done on different platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, and more.

Dynamic search ads

Dynamic search ads will appear on search engine results pages SERPs and work by dynamically generating headlines that are meant to target relevant customers based on what they have searched for.

These are also known as dynamic barriers or dynamic creatives and they automatically change to keep up with the content and promotions that will apply to each specific user.

Facebook

Facebook is a great platform to advertise because thousands of users use this platform each day. On Facebook, you can add story ads that are suited to appear on a mobile phone.

You can also use photo ads, video ads, and carousel ads to engage your audience.  

Using Facebook custom audiences, you can easily target a certain section of people by uploading their email addresses, leads, and contacts and setting up your ad with a few clicks.

You can make use of Facebook’s location and demographic settings and make your ads even more personalized.

Instagram

Like Facebook, Instagram is another platform that you can explore and set up your advertisements. 

With Instagram, you can create:

• Photo ads
• Story ads
• Video ads
• And lots more.

You can also advertise in the “Explore” section and your brand will appear to the audience who is looking for new topics to explore on the platform.

You can set up Instagram shopping ads to allow people to directly make purchases on Instagram itself. Make sure to use bold CTAs to attract people.

Pay Per Click Advertising 

Pay per click PPC are ads that advertisers pay for as soon as a user clicks on them. Pay Per Click ads cost between $1 and $2 on average.

They are usually composed of text but may include a small image as well. Surveys suggest that around 65% of customers click on Google Ads when they want to buy a product online.

Mobile Advertising

Mobile advertising is important because these days more consumers use their smartphones to shop.

Mobile advertisements have been a part of digital marketing and advertising ever since smartphones were invented.

Video Ads

Today videos are more popular than other types of advertisements as they are easy and quick to watch.

YouTube is one of the best platforms to post ads and like PPC a business will pay for an ad only when a person clicks on it.

Setting an eCommerce Advertising Budget 

Part of creating advertisements for your eCommerce brand includes setting up a good budget. An important point to remember is to use channels that will provide you with a higher ROI. 

When deciding on a budget for your eCommerce advertising campaign, ask yourself:

• What your goals are
• Where your consumers are meeting up, and 
• How much you should spend to get new customers. 

Research shows that almost 50% of eCommerce brands spend up to $1000 on advertising, however, 16% spend between $20,000 and $150,000 per month. 

Experts suggest that you spend between 5% and 15% on your marketing revenue out of which 10% to 50% should be spent on online advertising.

To achieve the best when it comes to eCommerce advertising, write down a list of goals and break them down into sub-points. Then select your channel for eCommerce advertising. Estimate your cost and measure your results on a biweekly or monthly basis.

The most common channels where you should spend your eCommerce advertising budget include: 

• Social media platforms
• SEO content
• Pay for click advertising
• Email marketing, and 
• Content marketing.

Experts in the industry suggest a rule of thumb to follow. This is the 70-20-10 rule.

According to this rule, 70% of your budget should be spent on strategies and marketing channels that you know will surely work, 20% should be devoted to new strategies and 10% of your budget should go towards an experimental strategy.

eCommerce Advertising Tips to Keep in Mind

Here are some tips to remember when it comes to eCommerce advertising.

Keep increasing your email list

It is important to collect as many email addresses as you can. They could be customers, potential customers, or people just interested in your brand. Send them a welcome email and let them know about your brand. 

You may even offer a referral discount to encourage them to bring their friends and family. The larger your email list is, the more you’ll be able to reach out to customers and increase sales in the long run.

Be active on social media

It is important to boost your online presence on social media websites, as most people use social media these days.

Try to build a great social media presence so that people are constantly engaging with your photos, videos, and content. People who follow you on social media can easily be converted to leads and redirected to your website.

Create good content

Provide value to your customers and they will be more attracted to your brand.

For instance, when advertising for a product, include links on your website that may lead to blogs or “how-to” articles that explain more about the product or related products. Let your brand’s advertisements stand out from the rest by creating valuable content.

Partner with influencers

Online influencers are people who have large audiences. When you partner with the right influencer, your product can reach thousands of customers and it will increase brand awareness and at the same time add value to your product. 

Influencer marketing tactics may include a person writing a blog post, posting social media content, or talking about your product at an event.

Use SEO

SEO is important because when users search for products, if you use the right keywords in your website, your site will appear quicker.

Pay attention to your page content, your product descriptions, images, blogs, and so on. 

A good tip to remember is to think from your customer’s point of view. Also, pay attention to meta descriptions and title tags.

How to Advertise My eCommerce Website- The Bottom Line

As you go ahead with advertising for your eCommerce business, it will get clearer which channels are working for you and are worth investing in. Each brand and industry is unique and what works for one may not work for another. 

Keep a close track of your eCommerce advertising budget and don't forget to review it often to see whether you are getting a good ROI.

By monitoring your budget, and your advertising and marketing channels, you will get a clearer picture of eCommerce advertising for your brand and industry.