The e-commerce marketplace has changed the way business is transacted both locally and globally. Prior to the introduction of the internet, success in the retail industry was primarily based on the location of your stores. Nowadays the internet is a global marketplace affording even the smallest of retailers both a national if not a global online presence. With that being said, it is fair to say that the scope of the e-commerce marketplace is extremely difficult to measure.
The e-commerce industry has become such a vital part of the economy with it estimated that marketers spent 115% more on e-commerce in the third quarter of 2019 in comparison to the previous year.
Its should be noted that the 2019 Digital Advertising Benchmark reports highlights a seasonal leap in e-commerce advertising and mobile search among multiple brands which invest in media on its platform, with this leap being largely attributed to Amazon Advertising and Prime Day with the cost per e-commerce click rose 10.5% in comparison to Q2 in 2019. The revenues made by e-commerce marketplaces from advertising dollars can be a fraction of what they generate from seller fees and store fees but by adding advertising as an additional revenue stream can boost the overall company revenue without significantly driving costs.
E-marketer predicts that traditional ad spending will drop slightly this year and digital will overtake for the first time ever, with the research firm predicting that U.S. digital ad spend will increase 19.1% this year reaching $129.3 billion while traditional advertising will fall a further 19% to $109.5 billion.
With the rise in advertising across the e-commerce industry, we examine 5 tips to stay ahead and succeed in this ever-evolving digital universe.
1. High-Quality In-Banner Video
Video advertising has been a priority for advertisers on social media and across multiple online formats for some time, however, in recent years it has begun to advance as a primary format for display advertising. According to the IAB, it now equates to one-fifth of all display advertising in Europe.
For example, Georg Jensen, the exclusive Danish Jewellers is a great example of an e-commerce brand incorporating video to great effect with their display advertisements with 6-times more engagements recorded in their ads utilizing videos in comparison to those without.
In-banner video can be an extremely useful tool for capturing viewers’ attention while also being simple to apply. On a basic level, a video can be used as a background for a banner or alternatively be more creative as part of an animation or gif.
For the e-commerce industry, in-banner videos present an exciting opportunity for retargeting purposes. Dynamic video offers advertisers the possibility to remarket by displaying previously viewed products and services programmatically.
2. Rich Media Display Advertisements
With the competitive nature of the e-commerce industry, it can be difficult to create unique advertising which stands out. Advertisements that are static and lifeless will not grab the attention. That is why rich media advertising presents an enticing option to e-commerce marketers and according to AdRoll rich media is proven to increase display advertising performance by 267%.
Rich media is defined as an ad that includes advanced features such as video, audio or additional interactive elements that encourage viewers to engage with the content — which in fact can provide endless possibilities. For example, DC Thomas Media and Nova are great examples of two brands who have leveraged the capabilities of rich media in order to construct effective and engaging display advertising.
3. Dynamic Content
The introduction of dynamic content in the e-commerce industry will provide brands with the ability to serve a range of various content elements directly to their customers. This essentially means utilizing live data feeds from display advertisements to showcase chosen products or even offers.
By using dynamic content powered by live data feeds, organizations can show specific copy and ad creatives to diverse consumers. For example, geolocation data can be used in order to show specific offers based on consumer’s locations. Dynamic content also helps e-commerce marketplaces display both engaging and relevant advertising and according to Bannerflow research, only 13% of European display advertisers are currently taking advantage of dynamic ads, highlighting the importance of staying ahead of the curve.
With regards to the e-commerce industry, the use of dynamic content and data feeds is simple and easy to both create and control via a management platform which takes the hassle out of this process, as all that is required is the connection to a data feed to a master creative and this will then showcase either products or offers you want displayed across all advertisement sizes and variants of display campaigns.
4. Display Ads With Retargeting
Advertising offers the opportunity to reach potential customers throughout their entire sales journey. From the top to the bottom of the sales funnel advanced display advertising can encourage users to complete the desired action.
At a basic level e-commerce companies can retarget users with products which were left in their checkout baskets with simple retargeting pixels placed on the checkout page of the website encouraging customers to purchase the items they previously selected but did not buy. For more advanced e-commerce organizations, decision tree targeting offers the possibility to show specific creatives, messaging and CTA’s (call-to-action) for each individual viewer or shopper, highlighting the importance of utilizing the valuable first-party customer data available to you in order to personalize your advertising and targeting of each individual consumer.
The introduction of personalization advertising is an area for huge expansion in the e-commerce industry over the coming years and offers endless retargeting possibilities and opportunities to reach the right consumer, at the right time with the right ad.
5. Occasion Marketing
In order to stay ahead of the competition in the e-commerce industry, companies need to remain reactive and in the moment. This does not mean purely reacting to a competitor’s latest offer but rather than engaging and interacting with events affecting the outside world, for example, topics such as the weather, sports, etc.
Creating current campaigns that embrace current happenings and cater to current events, organizations are more than likely to reach their desired target audience which why moment marketing is a beneficial and dominant feature of modern-day campaigns.
Take, for example, the FIFA World Cup saw a significant increase in both impressions and clicks for display advertisements throughout the duration of the tournament, which was due to the increased use of reactive messaging of events that took place during the tournament.
In order for this to work and to achieve this relevancy, creative management platforms are required in order to stay relevant while aligning messaging to ongoing events. With the introduction of real-time publishing and the control of management platforms, e-commerce and marketplaces change the messaging or the offer of their advertising campaigns instantaneously across both markets and formats.
What Does the Future of Advertising Hold?
The e-commerce industry is transforming dynamically every year. With Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner, Marin Software expects the rise in e-commerce to continue into 2020 as the likes of Amazon refine their offerings and advertisers get more sophisticated in how they operate various advertising platforms.
E-commerce companies such as Amazon, recently reported revenue from its “other” category which mostly consists of advertising is worth $3.6 billion by Q3 of 2019 and as we approach the end of quarter 4, we see no reason why e-commerce advertising growth would change course. Delving into advertising isn’t the correct choice for all e-commerce organizations but those willing to invest time and effort for an alternative revenue stream can take their entire business to the next level.
Originally published at www.advendio.com on November 27, 2019
