All signs suggest e-commerce will remain as popular as ever in 2019, meaning many brands will continue trying to build relationships with online shoppers and attract attention in as short a time as possible.
Tracking the user journey to inform these objectives is easy on eBay, thanks to a cross-device user ID. Considering over 80% of active buyers are persistently logged in, marketers can pinpoint how and when their target audience begins a shopping session.
But in order to make a strong impression, advertisers must also know the consumer behind the screen. A number of factors–including users’ preferences, habits and moods–all impact whether a message will resonate. Here are a few of our best tips to leverage eBay’s audience insights and make the most of your next campaign.
Track the Customer Journey with Pixel Placements
Brands who implement eBay’s conversion pixel have first-class seats on a user’s customer journey, from the moment buyers are first exposed to an ad to when they check out. Illuminating audience demographics, cross-shopping behaviors and shop-alike segments, pixels can improve the precision of campaign targeting and timing.
They also keep advertisers aware in real time. Once a brand’s campaign goes live, pixels allow eBay’s Data Science team to deliver actionable insights at the campaign line-item level, fine-tuning audience insights to help improve ROI.
Placing a conversion pixel helped a leading car insurance brand find new customers. Targeting first-party shopper audience segments on and off eBay, the brand optimized their campaign through insights discovered from campaign purchase funnel data. It didn’t take long for the brand to see results–within just a week of placing the pixel, data insights resulted in a performance boost of 3x. By the end of the campaign, the brand achieved an 8% better CPA average than expected, and users were 121% more likely to engage with the ad.
Send the Right Message to the Right Buyer
An ad, even when placed at the right moment, will not make an impression if it doesn’t target the right customer. To help advertisers find their target audiences, eBay has constructed hundreds of evergreen audience segments based on interests, demographics, purchase habits and more. These segments are constructed with insight from countless hours of transaction-level data, logged by over 177 million active buyers who browse eBay’s 1.1 billion listings.
Brands who think outside the box can also leverage Shop-Alike Audiences to target users who behave like existing customers and create custom segments.
Additionally, eBay’s Client Insights & Analytics team helps advertisers figure out which members of their target audience cash in on trending shopping moments. During viral campaigns like Nike’s Just Do It launch last fall, searches on eBay for the brand jumped 600%–creating an e-commerce event that other brands could leverage.
Leave Room for Creativity
Jennifer Werner, eBay’s Head of Industry, works with brands of all sizes across a variety of verticals to reach their most passionate shoppers. Even though her clients are experts in their goals and audience targets, Werner expects her team will surprise them with new insights.
“Our campaign managers bring new ideas forward and share really good insights on ways to optimize any kind of campaign,” she says. “We always hope our clients are willing to test new areas, because that’s where we see the best success.”
This collaborative relationship helped one financial services firm’s high-impact awareness campaign perform above expectations, and even pick up some new customers.
“Today, we have a strong partnership with them, and we’re continuing to have a dialogue on testing new areas of opportunity,” Werner says.
Brands that work with eBay can benefit from expert audience analysis. With a small budget set aside, they can test different audience segments and increase their chances of maximizing the success and reach of campaigns.
Greater precision, focus and flexibility is guaranteed to help digital marketers stay ahead of the curve. As brands reflect on a year full of can’t-miss e-commerce moments and advancements in audience targeting, eBay Advertising is helping them set ambitious resolutions for each interaction ahead.
Ready to make each moment count in 2019? Contact our ad sales team.