Auction Advertising: Taking a
Closer Look
by Genia V. StevensIf you
sell on eBay or any other online auction site, you're probably
always open for suggestions about how to make your product visible
to potential buyers. If you sell TVs, you're probably one of
thousands of sellers who do. So what could make you different from
other sellers? Consistent marketing. Many sellers who buy
advertising don't really understand how important consistency is to
their marketing strategy. Marketing is an investment; It's an
investment into the success of your business.
Most of us have seen hundreds of
McDonald's commercials; thousands of Nike commercials; and even more
Bud Light commercials. We know exactly who McDonald's, Nike, and Bud
Light are. It's not likely we'll ever forget, right? The point is
not to remind you who those companies are, but to stimulate the
consumer's desire to buy. You may not want to buy anything from
McDonald's the first 100 times you hear the jingle, but on the 101st
time, while you're in the car driving to church, you suddenly have
the desire to buy that Fish Fillet. You buy it and you're hooked.
You visit McDonald's 5 more times and buy 5 more Fish Fillets within
the next 2 weeks. Now imagine how many more people this jingle has
effected this way. Consistency. Effective marketing strategies all
have that key element.
Message Board Marketing
Message boards (also known as
Discussion Forums) are an excellent way to start developing that
consistency. Members and guests of message boards return time and
time again to read posts by other members. By joining a message
board that allows you to post links to your website, auction store
or About Me page, then posting regularly, you develop a reputation
as a true professional. I caution you to associate yourself with
professionals only and always behave as a professional. You never
know who's reading the message board postings. Marketing is about
more than your print ads: it's everything from the way you deal with
anonymous people online to the graphics you use on your banner ads.
You will never see someone from top management of Nike arguing with
someone on a message board.
Banner Ads: To Do or Not to Do
Some professionals argue that
banner advertising is a lost cause, while other professionals would
disagree. Banner ads are still effective -- if used properly. Here's
a list of things to think about when deciding if banner advertising
is the way to go for you:
=Will you be able to use a non-free
banner? Stay away from those banners that have someone else's logo
(like addesigner) on them. They look unprofessional and, most
likely, website visitors won't even look at them. They'll just
assume they've seen it before. BannerMakerPro has a decent banner
program at a reasonable price. There are no logos on this banner and
it's simple to use. If you wish to have the program, contact me for
information.
=Would you be willing to think
about creating a banner ad using only text. Text banners seems to
get better response than graphical banners. A sample of 468x60 text
banner would be:
The thing to remember about text
banners is that they have to be simple, to-the-point, and easy to
read.
Will you be able to invest in a
long-term campaign? The financial investment isn't the only thing
you have to consider. The first banner you create may not yield the
results you desire. Many serious webmasters experiment with several
banners before they find the banner(s) that generate(s) the results
they desire. You have to keep in mind that one banner may perform
well on one website, and poorly on another. How will you measure
your results?
The Advantages of Keyword Text Ads
With Google's Adwords text
advertising program, you can have your ad up and running in a matter
of minutes. The initial cost is only $5.00; from there, you pay only
if someone clicks on your advertisement. This form of advertising
could be a good way to advertise your auction store; however, due to
eBay's strict protection of its trademark name, you cannot use the
word "eBay" as one of the keywords you want Google users to use in
order to find your advertisement. You'll have to be a little
creative when coming up with your keywords. All headaches aside
though, your ad will run on Google's website, along with all of
Google's affiliate sites: America Online, CompuServe, Netscape, Ask
Jeeves, AT&T Worldnet, EarthLink and Excite.
Additional Tips
=Target your local market. Many
e-commerce business owners neglect their local market. Post flyers
in prominent locations about auctions you currently have running.
You never know what local person could save you money on PayPal fees
by paying you in cold hard cash when they simply pick up the item
from your home!
=Always send a business card with a
receipt when you send an item to a buyer.
=Include a signature tag in all
your business correspondence. Remember: marketing is about more than
your banner ad.
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The Auction Board Newsletter
http://theauctionboard.com/ezine.html
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"Finally
-- You Too Can Turn Ebay Into A Non-stop Cash Generating Machine..."