With 154 million active buyers worldwide eBay holds a lot of sales potential for brands. But the platform is also home to a massive 1.5 billion listings. Luckily we've got five eBay marketing strategies that will help you stand out from the crowd.
To maximize visibility and sales brands need to have a presence across multiple retail sites as well as their own direct to consumer store.
The biggest benefit of selling on eBay is that you gain access to a huge audience that is ready to buy. But simply uploading your listings isn't enough to reach them. To gain maximum exposure you need to implement some eBay marketing strategies.
Doing this will ensure your eBay listings are seen by loyal customers as well as brand new prospects.
Some eBay marketing tactics are low-cost and easy to implement while others require both time and money. Whatever your budget you'll find a strategy to suit your brand below.
Retail media has taken off in recent years because it allows brands to reach consumers as they shop. These perfectly timed ads drive up conversions by allowing shoppers to conveniently make a purchase.
That's why eBay advertising is essential to your eBay marketing plans. If your products have a healthy profit margin eBay's sponsored listings and brand ads are an effective way to get your products in front of highly relevant buyers at precisely the right moment.
Listings that are sponsored on eBay look just like regular listings. The only difference is that they are labelled 'Sponsored' and appear more prominently in search results.
eBay advertising campaigns are easy to set up and offer precise targeting options. In fact eBay has more than 550 audience segments to choose from. These are carefully broken down by demographics income shopping habits and other key traits so that you can reach your ideal audience.
eBay advertising is effective too. Listings that are sponsored on eBay get 36% more impressions. One case study even showed they can increase sales by 142%. That's why over a million sellers use them.
When it comes to eBay marketing it's a good idea to master the basics before moving on to more complicated and costly strategies. By focusing on your content and the health of your seller account you can boost your visibility on eBay organically.
eBay has its own internal search engine which determines when and where your products appear. To help eBay shoppers find relevant products it considers each listing's content and keywords. To ensure its shoppers have a positive experience eBay also takes your product pricing customer service record and sales history into account.
If you get all these things right your listings will rank highly in eBay's search results - alongside sponsored listings. So be sure to write in-depth product descriptions price your products competitively and provide attentive customer service.
Keyword optimization's is also critical. To increase sales on eBay you need to carefully choose keywords that are both frequently searched and highly relevant to your products. Keyword tools will help with this. For more in-depth advice check out our guide to optimizing eBay listings for search too.
90% of shoppers read reviews before making a purchase so it's important that your eBay listings have lots of positive feedback and ratings.
The first step to landing more positive reviews is to provide top-class customer service. If you answer incoming messages promptly and deal with issues effectively it will have a positive impact on your reputation. This will impact your search rankings too as eBay's algorithm factors in your seller performance and disputes history.
Brands with excellent service may even obtain eBay Top Rated Seller status. This comes with lots of perks including better visibility and a top seller badge that inspires trust in shoppers who view your listings.
Once your customer service is up to scratch you can start requesting reviews. Sending reminders will encourage customers to share their thoughts. By including a link in the email you'll also make the process easier for them. You can use feedback software to automate these requests.
If you sell products across multiple sales channels it's also a good idea to use a Digital Shelf solution to automatically track your feedback across eBay and the rest of your network. This will provide the data you need to reduce negative reviews. You can also set alerts that will allow you to react quickly when issues arise.
Creating a storefront is an essential eBay marketing tactic because it is one of the few brand building opportunities that the marketplace offers.
eBay recently updated the layout of its storefronts with a modern design and larger product images. Storefronts now appear on the eBay mobile app too. In fact app shoppers can even save your store for easy access.
To create an eBay storefront head to the Marketing tab of your Ebay Seller Hub. Once set up make sure your store is worth visiting by taking advantage of all the eBay marketing features on offer.
Brands can also use eBay's Promotions Manager to create special offers and discounts that encourage shoppers to spend more. This can increase visibility for listings too because many shoppers use the 'Deals & Savings' filter when searching for products.
eBay marketing isn't just about what you do on the platform. There's plenty of off-site eCommerce marketing tactics you can use to drive traffic to your listings too.
These include:
eBay offers a way for brands to reach a wider audience and boost sales. You just need to know how to promote your listings. These five eBay marketing strategies are by no means an exhaustive list but they are a great starting point.
