Competition is tight and high in the ecommerce industry. Businesses of all shapes and sizes are taking their operations to the digital world where a significant part of the world’s population spends hours browsing through the web. According to the latest statistics, there are more than 5 billion internet users in the world. Thus, jumping into ecommerce and online business gives entrepreneurs access to billions of people as potential customers.

While there are billions of online users globally, the number of ecommerce websites and online stores is also increasing by the minute. Reports put the number of ecommerce websites in the world at around 12 million to as much as 24 million. The industry continues to grow as more and more online retail stores are created. 

Some of the most popular niches in the ecommerce industry include gadgets and technology, fashion, lifestyle, entertainment, and food. Thousands of ecommerce websites and online businesses revolve around the same niche to the point that the market becomes oversaturated. In cases like this, business owners need to be creative and innovative in the ways they try to outplay their competition. 

One of the most effective ways to rise above the competition is through effective marketing strategies. Your marketing campaigns and efforts greatly influence your online presence and visibility. Taking this into consideration, utilizing targeted advertising campaigns could be the answer to your marketing woes. 

But how do you exactly start an ecommerce advertising campaign? To help you with this, here’s a quick starter and guide on the different ecommerce advertising platforms used by most marketers.

 

Best Ecommerce Advertising Platforms

 

Google Ads

Google is undoubtedly the most popular search engine worldwide. Data shows that Google records more than 1 billion unique searches per month and accounts for roughly 80% of global web searches. Other competing search engines such as Bing and Yahoo accounts for only 5% and 3% of web search respectively. Taking this into consideration, there is no question that digital marketers should look into advertising on Google’s platform. Widely considered the standing giant of ecommerce advertising platforms, Google ads allow marketers to promote using paid search and display ads. 

 

Pros:

One of the definite advantages of using Google ads for your ecommerce marketing strategy revolves around its expansive audience reach. With billions of average monthly searches, it is highly likely that potential customers from all over the world would chance upon your advertisements. 

Google ads also boasts of its relatively high return on ad spend (ROAS). Data shows that the average ROAS for ads placed on Google sits at 2:1. Aside from that, the Google Search Network holds a promising 800%.

Not only do Google ads offer auspicious marketing opportunities, but it is also priced at a considerably affordable rate that is suited for small to medium-sized enterprises. Also, Google Ads is known for its seamless integration and user-friendly interface. 

 

Cons:

Despite the enticing campaign on Google Ads, there is still a handful of cons and disadvantages associated with the platform. One of which pertains to the significant increase in cost. While Google starts as an affordable ad platform for SMEs, it can quickly balloon and become a huge marketing investment for larger enterprises. 

Aside from this, competition is still high and prevalent as the majority of electronic commerce businesses jump into Google ad campaigns immediately. And while it’s easy to integrate using Google Ads, learning the inner workings and dynamics of Google advertising can still take a lot of time and effort to master. 

 

Facebook Ads

Much like Google, Facebook is also a major platform that digital marketers can utilize for ad campaigns. The social media site is one of the largest globally with roughly 2.8 billion average monthly active uses on record. 

Using Facebook ads provides nearly the same level of presence and visibility as Google. However, the main point of difference revolves around the way Facebook ads operate. Google ads work under a pay-per-click model where marketers bid for a target keyword. On the other hand, Facebook displays ads based primarily based on user location, demographic, preferences, and profile information. All Facebook marketers have to do is set a budget for the level of online impression their ad would receive.

 

Pros:

Compared to Google, Facebook offers a brand new opportunity to reach a significantly large yet diverse audience. According to the latest reports, people spend an average of 147 minutes on social media platforms lately. Thus, advertising on platforms like Facebook provides exposure to a larger audience for a longer duration.

Facebook also makes it easy for marketers to control their ad spending. When an online business sets a budget for its advertisement, the ad will only run within the given budget and is automatically cut from circulation once it reaches its limit. 

Aside from that, many believe that Facebook offers one of the best opportunities for in-stream video ads. Marketers can choose to plug their video ads at the start, middle, or end of the content users regularly consume for the best possible visibility and quality exposure.

 

Cons:

Because of the apparent popularity of Facebook, advertising on this platform can also become expensive. While marketers have control over their advertising budget, competition can still push their budget to the limit in order to come on par with other brands. Advertisements that don’t have a significant budget behind them can easily be drowned by those from larger ecommerce brands and business entities. 

 

Amazon Ads

Amazon is one of the largest ecommerce platforms in the digital world. With sales amounting to roughly 470 billion US dollars, Amazon is recognized as the largest online retail company in the United States and one of the most valuable brands globally. Aside from ecommerce, Amazon also continues to provide an array of digital products, goods, and services to customers around the world. 

Unlike Google and Facebook, the unique feature that Amazon ads have is that the platform is already designed for customers to shop and buy. This makes it easier to convince customers to purchase as they are already on a digital platform dedicated to online shopping. Like Google, ads on Amazon allow marketers to bid for specific keywords as well as their placements on the platform’s search engine results page. The higher the bid, the more visible your product would be on related keyword searches performed by customers. 

 

Pros:

One of the primary benefits of utilizing Amazon ads is that users are already in a position to buy or purchase. Amazon traffic comes mostly from people who are searching for a specific product and looking to buy it conveniently online. With Amazon ads, marketers can place their products in a position that would make the most impact on the customer’s decision to successfully buy from them. Given that Amazon itself is already a sophisticated ecommerce platform, there is no need for businesses to funnel traffic or add links to their ecommerce websites. The focus of Amazon ads is to promote and advertise the specific product itself, making it more visible than the thousands of other brands with nearly the same item.

Amazon ads also offer a wide range of campaign types for businesses to choose from. Depending on the objective or goal of your marketing efforts, you can choose from Amazon’s automatic targeting campaigns, sponsored products, manual targeting campaigns, video ads, and so much more.

 

Cons:

While advertising on Amazon can be easy, it definitely is not the cheapest option in the industry. Given the status of Amazon as an ecommerce platform, advertising campaigns on this site includes several fees. Aside from the initial advertising fee, Amazon also asks for an additional referral fee which is a percentage of the product sales. 

Aside from that, Amazon also holds sellers to a relatively high and strict standard. In order to maintain its reputation and ensure a good customer experience, Amazon sets strict standards regarding ecommerce standard operation procedures (SOPs) such as shipping times, purchase confirmation emails, follow-up emails, order cancellation rates, and the like.

 

Want to know more about the growing ecommerce industry? Sidekicks is an on-demand virtual company and we’re eager to help visionaries and entrepreneurs like you. Get a free ebook and learn more about how we can help you by signing up for our newsletter. We also offer a free 30-minute consultation if you prefer something more personal.

 

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