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Are you on Google Shopping? If you own an ecommerce, Google Shopping is a great tool. It can help you achieve great revenue if you know how to use it.
As we discussed in the article on how to set up your Google Shopping campaign and differentiate yourself from the competition, the keys to sell on this platform are not related to the amount of products you put on sale, but with what items you decide to add to your Google Shopping feed and above all, how you publish them.
Once you know the most important points for launching a successful Google Shopping campaign, it’s time to get into more detail on one of these points, by selecting the products we want to put on sale. What do I have to do so that my Google Shopping feed is as attractive as other similar ones? Don’t forget the following 6 key points.
Take care of the images and texts
We’ll never get tired of repeating it. On the internet users can not touch your products or look at them closely. On the internet the difference between a sale and a simple visit is to a large extent in the images and descriptive texts of the products. It’s very simple, before you upload a photo of a product you just have to think to yourself: “Would I buy this?”
The space that Google Shopping offers for images is also very important, so use it well.
Another important tip: be descriptive. Write and publish all the details that make your product a must for your target audience. Users often do not finish making a purchase because the characteristics of what they are going to buy are not completely clear. Add technical data, materials, uses, colours, versions … all the pieces of information you can post will help promote trust in your product and encourage its purchase.
Google Shopping is improving more and more and allows you to add all kinds of data, such as prices by size in the following example. Do this with your products!
Select products with a good profit margin
As you may have seen, many competitors in Google Shopping struggle to monopolise the market by selling lots of products with very slim margins. We recommend thinking things through a little before getting started and going instead for the opposite strategy: to only sell products that allow you to play with the profit margin more or less freely.
The goal is to have a satisfactory pricing strategy through temporary discounts and incentives such as free shipping or cross-selling.
Also, if you think about it, within the profit margin of a product you have to include the investment in Google Shopping itself, that you will have to continue paying out until the user decides to buy your product. If you only bid on items with very slim margins, you may eventually lose money on every sale.
Maximise the differentiating elements
Price isn’t everything for consumers. Of course this is an essential element but there are other details that are differentiators and can be key to getting a sale.
Before posting a product in your Google Shopping feed, think about whether you can highlight and enhance the elements that differentiate it from others. Even if the competition has products with the same characteristics as yours, see how they are advertising it and take advantage of the information they omit.
Colours, sizes, new features, materials, accessories, all these characteristics might create the interest to purchase in a consumer, so do not forget to publish information about the product even if you think it may be irrelevant.
Analyse the next one you see. Why is only one knife shown when the set for sale has two? The advertiser is not making the most of everything he can offer with regard to his product:
Choose items with few advertisers
This advice has already been offered in the article on differentiating our Google Shopping campaigns from those of the competition, but it bears repeating. If you do a search for products like the ones you are going to put on sale, you can see the number and type of advertisers that are already bidding for each one of these products in Google listings.
Make a study of how many other stores are selling these products. If you see a huge amount of competition then opt for products with fewer advertisers, you will get more chances to close sales, and you can even start with the second point of this article, having the chance to play with your profit margins a little.
Focus on micro-niches and original products
Another of the great truths about the chances of success for small or medium -sized e-commerce sites is that it is better to focus on selling products for small, specific niches than to try and become the new El Corte Inglés.
If in doubt about what products to sell in your Google Shopping feed, decide on those which can meet the needs of a very specific set of people, as well as those which can draw attention due to their practicality, such as the original gifts from BigBuy. Even if the market is smaller, you’ll have much more chances of being seen and as a result, selling, than if you focus on what is being sold to everyone.
Don’t try to be David against Goliath
Very much related to the previous point, is what happens if you try to sell very standard products in your Google Shopping feed. This will harm your chances not only because of the large amount of advertisers selling the same thing, but also because the big stores are likely to have them on sale too.
The online consumer bases their acquisition of products over the internet on confidence and unfortunately for a small online business, a well-known and prestigious brand and store will produce that feeling more readily. As we said earlier, do not attempt to be David against Goliath and instead go for those products that have fewer advertisers, especially among the large stores.
As you can see, there are many methods and strategies for achieving sales; you just have to plan well in terms of what products you are going to put on your Google Shopping feed, and above all to know how to get the most out of them.
We look forward to your comments and any questions or contributions you might have!