Looking to sell some items online? Whether you’re selling new or used items, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we will discuss the ins and outs of marketing your auctions.
Create a Business Plan
No matter what type of business you’re in, creating a business plan is essential. When planning your auctions, you need to consider how you will market your business. Think about what you’ve learned from previous experiences, what will make your business stand out, and what else you need to consider.
For example, if you’re a car enthusiast, you might want to consider creating an online marketplace where people can come together to buy and sell vintage cars. If you want to give your business a more professional look, you could setup online auctions where businesses and brands can buy advertisements to appear in high-quality videos that promote their products.
Choose A Commercial Hosted Solution
There are several companies that offer fully customisable and scalable online store platforms. These were built with e-commerce in mind and take the pain out of establishing an online store. They also provide the capability to integrate with existing websites or social media accounts for an even greater flexibility.
Deciding between a commercial hosted solution and building your own solution is tricky. You might not have the time to develop a fully functional e-commerce store and then maintain it. In addition, a hosted solution is always a safer bet when it comes to cyber-security and keeping your business data secure.
Determine Your Auctions’ Niche
If you’re not sure what sorts of items people are looking for, you can use various free tools to get some idea. For example, you could use Google Trends to search for item types that are gaining popularity or using Bitbucket to track trending keywords.
Once you know what sorts of items people are searching for, you can design your auctions to fit that niche. If you’re designing a vintage car auction, you might want to keep the prices low so as not to scare away potential buyers who are looking for more affordable alternatives. On the other hand, if your target audience is mostly millennials, you might want to consider raising the prices to attract a larger audience.
Establish Industry Relationhips
Even if you’re not sure what sorts of items people are searching for, there are still a few things that you can do to establish marketability and trust. If possible, establish a tie to an existing industry that people can relate to. For example, if you’re selling vintage cars, you could connect with classic car websites or clubs to expose your auctions to a greater audience. You can also reach out to other car enthusiasts in your area to see if they’re interested in establishing a club or group of collectors to show off their items and establish market share.
If you’re using social media to advertise your auctions, be sure to maintain a consistent quality throughout. If you want to gain trust and establish credibility with your audience, you need to earn it. Constantly posting poorly written status updates filled with typos and irrelevant photos will put you at a serious disadvantage.
Research Keywords And Phrases
To find potential buyers, you’ll want to enter a few keywords and phrases into the Google search bar. Try to use as many relevant keywords as possible but don’t throw the kitchen sink at it. Keep your keywords simple and short
For example, if you’re selling vintage cars and you know that people are searching for “vintage car auctions”, you might want to enter “vintage car auctions” into the search bar to find potential buyers. Keep your keywords and phrases simple, easy to understand, and relevant to your auctions. Remember, you’re trying to attract people who are already interested in buying your items, so keep your language strictly in the context of e-commerce.
If you’ve ever bought an item online, whether in person or through an auction platform, you’ll know that a simple Google search can reveal a lot of information about the item you’re buying. More importantly, the search results can provide you with tips on how to correctly use the item you’ve purchased. For example, if you’re purchasing a vintage watch as a present, you might want to look up some information on watches to know what style would be best.
Use SEM To Build Awareness
If you’ve ever shopped online, you might have noticed that certain keywords and phrases often trigger a paid advertising result on the search engine. For example, if you search for vintage watches, you’ll see a variety of luxury brands and watch models listed as search results. If you click on the “Show More” button next to any of the listings, you’ll see a small “buy button” in the top right corner. When someone clicks on this button, they will be “landed” on a PPC (Pay Per Click) landing page where they can read about the product or service, or can be directed to the retailer’s website.
This type of feature is very common on e-commerce websites and allows marketers to target specific audiences based on their interests and behaviors. You can put a lot of effort into creating the right PPC landing page for your niche but not every marketer does this. If you’ve got the skills, consider creating a PPC campaign for your Auctions. This could be extremely profitable.
Use SEO To Improve Traffic To Your Site
When someone “searches” for a product or service on Google, “organic” search results appear at the top of the page. Since these are pre-qualified results, they might not be “highly targeted” to the person performing the search but they are targeted to a specific niche. To get these results, you’ll need to use specific keywords and phrases in your content and throughout your site’s URL (Uniform Resource Locator).
If you’ve ever shopped online, you might have noticed that some retailers and brands appear frequently on the search engine’s results while others pop up less. For example, if someone searches for vintage watches, they’ll see a variety of luxury brands and watch models listed as search results. Depending on the complexity and popularity of the item, some brands and products might appear more frequently than others. To discover which ones are “most trusted” in your niche, consider performing a Google “custom search” for items related to your niche. This will allow you to see which brands and products appear on the search engine more often than others. From there, you can determine which ones you should try to promote the most.
Use Social Media To Establish Brand Awareness
While SEO and PPC campaigns might get you “organic” results on the search engine, social media can get you “sponsored” results. These are results presented alongside “sponsored ads” from brands seeking to make a “social media mark on the keyword or phrase” they’re targeting. For example, if you search for vintage watches, you’ll see a variety of luxury brands and watch models listed as search results. If you click on any of these results, you’ll see a blue brand bar listing various social media platforms that the brand or product owner uses. If you look closely, you’ll notice that a few of these brands and products have “followers” on these platforms.
This is where social media comes in. If you “follow” a brand or product on one of these platforms, you’ll be able to see their content. As a result, you might “like” or “share” the content on your social media channel. When someone “shares” or “likes” your content, it increases your own organic traffic by appearing on the end of the article in a small banner.
Use Email Marketing To Build Relationships
One more thing you can do to promote your auctions is via email marketing. To create an email marketing list, you’ll want to visit your “email preferences” within your account and change the default email signup from “no preferences” to “yes”.