marketing your ebay business

Marketing

Your eBay Business

Presentation by

Cindy Shebleywww.clovercity.com

Copyright 2008

Many people feel like selling and marketing is almost the worst job………

When most people think of marketing they think of the used car salesman…

Neither of those are true. It’s going to take some time, but once you’ve built a loyal base of buyers you’re going to find it’s a lot easier to sell to your goods.

In this presentation:

Marketing eBay Style• Improve sales by writing effective

listings

Marketing eBay Style• Use the tools eBay provides you as an

eBay store owner

Marketing eBay Style• Show you how to use eBay’s social

networking features to build loyal customers

What are your

goals?

Set your goals – look at what your company is, who you want it to be

and what the outcome of your business is.

When you have a business plan, it will be much easier to create a

marketing plan with actionable goals.

Build A Marketing Plan

• Who’s your ideal client?

• What do they like

– Where do they go on vacation

– Where/how do they shop

– How old are they

• Where are they going to ‘hang out’?

Old style marketing is out!

Word of Mouth

Buyers have always shared advice with each other about purchasing decisions and now it’s as easy as a few mouse clicks. People find opinions on every product or purchase from a trusted peer by using the Internet.

And we internet sellers can harness that power!

Security & Confidence88% reported they are more likely to buy from a company they trust*

First step is understanding what exactly a customer wants from you:

*from the Edelman Trust Barometer

The Edelman trust barometer further states:

“the most powerful drivers of trust are quality of products or services, customer service and a company’s overall reputation”

Trust = Customers

Although you may think these are simply the mechanics of selling on eBay, how you present yourself and your store is marketing your business.

Be Consistent • Create a uniform

template and use it through-out your listings

• Hire a designer or use a free service like Auctiva.com

Know Who Your Customer Areso you can talk to them in their language

Fair Terms Of Service

Want to know a marketing secret? 70% of shoppers say a return policy is very important in a purchase decision.

Respond Quickly

Create A FAQ via Ask The Seller A Question

You can set up a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ (FAQ) display for your buyers. When they hit the ‘ask the seller a question’ the FAQ questions will be displayed from a drop down menu.

Follow Through“I twittered about my love of Kayak.com, and they twittered back. And Fast!”

“American Airlines is now my mortal enemy. “

“I got the same message. Good luck with that American. “

“Bogus. If AA doesn't show up in my Kayak results, I'll just have to assume they don't fly between LA and Chicago anymore. “

An unhappy customer is likely to tell many more people about their experience than the happy one did. An unhappy customer posting on a Blog for hundreds or even thousands of readers is something you really don’t want.

eBay Listing Upgrades

2% or less

Now that we’ve covered customer

service as marketing, let’s look at the tools

eBay provides

Subtitle

Branding your business with the subtitle gives you a lead on the competition. A consignment seller in a certain industry can make it easy for repeat purchasers to find you while looking through the listings by using a simple subtitle like:

“Another great auction by ABC Trading Company.”

Sell on International Site

• 13% increase in bidding activity if you offer it for sale internationally

• 6% improvement in sell-through-rates if available to Canadian shoppers

• Approx 44% of eBay users are outside the USA

Gift Icon

Add the gift icon at the end of your listing title as a way to up-sell your buyer. Time starved customers will happily pay a little extra to have you wrap their gift and send it to the recipient.

Bold – Border - Highlight

Write An Attention Getting Listing

• Simple Things To Optimize Sales– Tell them benefits over features– Relieve customer anxiety– Add a sense of urgency– Ask for the sale

Long or Short Sales Copy?

Bar of soap = short

Unknown Gadget = long

WIIFM“What’s in it for me?” It doesn’t matter what the product is – WIIFM is the number one question on the buyers mind. It may sound jaded but that’s the truth, your customers whole reason for considering the purchase is about them, not you.

Benefits Over Features• Benefit tells a customer how it

solves a problem or will improve their lives

• Feature talks specifically about the product

Sample• Feature: “Mint Flavored Toothpaste”

• Benefit: “Minty fresh flavor delights your taste buds and leaves your smile sparkling white.”

Add A Sense Of Urgency

Your buyers are interested in buying, you’ve brought them all this way it would be a shame if they decided to click out

and do a little price comparison shopping now wouldn’t it? You know it’s likely once

they click out they’ll never return.The listing must have a ‘call to action’.

Your job is to get the buyer to click on one of those buttons instead of the ‘add to

watch list’ link. Offer:

- Limited quantity- Bundle products – make them limited

editions- Put time limits on your special offers

Ask For The Sale“Click the buy now button to get

this to you ASAP”

“Don’t miss this auction by forgetting to bid - scroll down and

place your bid now”

Incentives & Rewards• My Store Rewards (repeat buyer rebate

program)

• Add a value added bonus (create an user guide and press it onto a CD or print it out)

• Combine Shipping

PACKAGING•Label on the box – who’s it from?

•Using services like endica & stamps.com can help branding

•Unboxing – how’s your item wrapped?

•Make sure your item wrapping matches expectations

•Toss-ins

•Use VistaPrint.com or create your own material

VistaPrint PDF

www.clovercity.com/vp.htm

About Me

Sticky Note - WIIFM

Build Your Brand With An eBay Store

• Hire a designer: Sharon Ware Dandelion Consulting her url: http://www.dandelionconsulting.com

• Use templates available from eBay at: http://pages.ebay.com/storefronts/designcenter.htm

RSS• Real Simple Syndication – turn on your

feeds

Markdown Manager

Shoppers love sales and this is one way to entice them into buying or returning.

Promo Boxes

Newsletters

Newsletters

“…but I only have a few names on my list….”

Newsletters

Harris pole study 68% of online shoppers fell compelled to browse

an online retail website after receiving an email from the store

What to write about?• Newly listed items

What to write about?• Newly listed items

• Special email members only

What to write about?• Newly listed items

• Upcoming limited editions

• Sales

What to write about?• Newly listed items

• Upcoming limited editions

• Sales

• Build rapport by writing tidbits about you company, product benefits or information related to the products you are selling

My World

Adding Modules to build SEO

Bio•What Everyone Should Know About Me

•Things that I Sell

•Things that I buy

•Hobbies – Movies – Music – TV Shows

•Fill In Your Own Stuff

•Business Information

Let’s Start NetworkingSocial Marketing on eBay

Back To Trust!

TimeMake no mistake; social marketing takes time to succeed. You must build relationships with potential clients and participate in their chosen venue. Think of it as online networking. When you network outside your business, whether in person or on the web it takes ‘face’ time. You must be present.

Find Your Community

eBay’s Community

Neighborhoods

NeighborhoodsProduct thumbnails

Product Reviews

Blogs

Discussion Boards

Groups

Groups Your Private Club

Reviews & Guides

Reviews

Guides

eBay Blogs

Watch For The Book

The eBay Marketing Bible

By

Cliff Ennico & Cindy Shebley

www.clovercity.com

Photos in this presentation were used under creative commons license

Thanks to the photographers of Flickr!