Whether you’re creating your e-commerce ads using AdWords or Facebook, your conversion rate should be at the forefront of your strategy, you want to make sure that you’re getting the highest return per dollar spent. So, what’s a good ballpark figure that you should be aiming for?
Studies show that the average conversion rate for ads is around 3-5%, depending on the industry. If you can break into the top 10% of converting pages, however, you’re looking at a conversion rate of 11.5% or more which can mean a huge ROI potential.
How do you achieve that coveted conversion rate? Try following some best practices for e-commerce ads suggested by industry leaders like adding lots of extensions on AdWords, using specific URLs/headings for your ad campaign and even running more specific ads tailored to each individual product rather than your company as a whole.
On top of this, you can follow these four tips that can up your conversion rate and get you a more lucrative ROI.
Use videos
It’s no question that CTR’s for videos on Facebook ads are far more likely to convert than traditional written ads. Make sure that they connect with your reader, target a pain point and try to make it lighthearted and funny. Sure, you need to dedicate more time and effort to video creation. It’s a whole lot more than simply writing out a few witty lines of copy. But, research shows that people retain information shared in videos far better than their text counterparts, plus they’re far more likely to spend more time on your site.
Take a look at the Dollar Shave Club for a perfect example of how successful video advertising can be. The company burst onto our newsfeeds in 2012 with something new, edgy and frankly, hilarious in order to grab consumer’s attention. That viral video bagged them 12,000 new customers within the first 48 hours of launch, making their initial investment well worthwhile.
Retarget your ads
Over 70% of user’s carts are abandoned during the checkout process and this can be for a whole host of reasons. It would be insane to ignore this statistic and not try to persuade them to come back. Retargeting is probably the easiest way to convert your ads with campaigns usually generating a CTR that is 10x higher than that for standard advertisements. Retargeting can be run through social media or through AdWords and business have reported earnings of up to $15 per dollar spent this way.
Harness the power of Influencer Marketing
People are naturally more trustworthy of product recommendations from friends or people they know, rather than the brand itself. Of course, a company is going to say they’re awesome… but what about the average Joe, what do they think? Forbes reported that 92% of consumers trust the word of an influencer over a regular company-based ad. Bloggers and social media influencers already have a wealth of potential customers at their fingertips and your online store could seriously benefit from having them at the forefront of your ad strategy. To get started, seek the help of VA to create a database of potential influencers with followers in your target market and get negotiating!
Use dynamic advertising
Ever been browsing for products online and then poof, an hour or two later, your social media feed is littered with that product? That’s smart companies using dynamic ads. They know you’re interested in the product thanks to pixel tracking on their website. The great news is, this isn’t just for the big dogs like Amazon. Small e-commerce sites can use these ads too! If you’re using Facebook for your ads, it will automatically populate the product information from your site into the customer’s feed. You can choose to show products from the whole site or target specific categories you want to up sales for.
