EBay is a machine. It behaves in a particular way and must be understood by anyone trying to use it for profit. To utilize classified ads to advertise your affiliate products; I suggest following these basic steps:
- Select a category
- Find a product to promote
- Create a list of keywords
- Test each keyword
- Create the ad title and subtitle
- Write your classified ad
- Place your ad on eBay
- Add an eye-grabbing picture
- Track the results
- Multiply your efforts
Selecting a category –
Optimally, your classified ad should be visible within the first few pages of the selected category, and also within the first few pages of the keyword search results. In a previous post, 005 – Ebay Classified Ad Visibility, I listed several categories that would provide decent visibility for your classified ad. This data was collected on 03/04/2010 and will only be relevant for a limited time. (I am planning to publish a free newsletter that will contain up-to-date information on eBay classifieds, USFreeAds classifieds and other important classified sites that will be of special interest to affiliate marketers. Stay tuned!)
The best position estimate places your ad on the page calculated by: (N – C + 1)/50, where N=total number of listings in the category (standard and classified), and C=number of classified ads listed in the category. The worst position estimate places your ad on page N/50. I suggest starting out in a category that would have the best ad position calculating to page 1 or 2, and the worst ad position calculating to page 2, 3 or 4. Of course, this may not always be possible; but, do your best...
Find a product to promote –
Try to promote a product that would be a good fit for the category selected in the previous step. Ask yourself the following questions... Are there identical products being offered in standard auction and buy-now formats? If so, it may not be a good product to promote. Are there similar items being offered in standard auction and buy-now formats? If so, you will be contending with strong competition for your product or service. Your ad copy will need to be strong! Are the commission payouts high enough to generate a profit with a 0.50% or 1.0% conversion rate? Keep in mind that your ad visibility could be 50 views per month (perhaps the worst case) to less than 200 views per month.
Create a list of keywords –
List several keywords that users might key-in to search for a similar product or service. Although users frequently search with one-word keywords; it would be difficult to achieve good ad position in the search results. Focus on two- and three-word keywords for good results. List as many keywords as possible. Some of your keywords will be discarded in the next step.
Test each keyword –
When you look at the search results created by each of your keywords, consider the best and worst ad position. Obviously if there are 500 listings returned, your classified ad could fall on page 10. Keep the keywords that give you good ad position and discard the others.
Create the ad title and subtitle –
Put your best keywords into the title space and arrange them so they make the most sense. Look at the titles in other ads to see examples of this. It is not the job of your title to describe your specific product. It represents a list of keywords that users are likely to enter when searching for similar products! You only have 55 characters to work with. If you have any remaining title space; include the word “new” -assuming your product is new- and enclose the title within double-quotes. The subtitle actually serves to describe the specifics of your product or service. It will cost you an additional $1.50 USD.
Write your classified ad copy –
Remember to answer the important question... “Why should an eBay user click your affiliate link and purchase directly from the merchant?” You must have a compelling answer to this question and it needs to be stated fairly early in the ad text. Consider writing something like: “unlike fixed-price auctions and buy-now ad formats, we can offer you the best deal available on any given day...” or “there’s no eBay middle-man, which allows us to pass along additional savings to you...” or “buy directly from the manufacturer and be completely secure with your purchase...” You get the idea!
Place your classified ad on eBay –
There are many options when placing a classified ad on eBay. The basic 30-day listing will cost $10 USD, but include an additional $1.50 USD for the subtitle which I feel is absolutely necessary! You could also have the ad title listed with bold characters, but that would cost you an additional $4.00 USD. I suggest keeping it simple and low cost until you begin making some profits. Consider taking 40-50% of your profit and reinvesting into additional listings and experimenting with various listing options. It’s important to not give up... Rarely do affiliate marketers succeed in the beginning!
Add an eye-grabbing picture –
A standard 30-day classified ad allows you one free image. I suggest uploading an eye-grabbing photo that will get the attention of eBay users when they browse-through the listings! Frankly, the merchant supplied images usually don’t cut it! I would check out iStockPhoto.com and purchase a standard licensed image for just over $1 USD. Be careful to not misrepresent the product, however! The photo should possess warm bright colors. (The image in the heading of this BLOG was licensed through iStockPhoto and would display well in eBay listings.)
Track the results –
Anytime you list an ad on a classified site; keep track of the number of page views, click-through rates to the merchant site and the number of conversions. You’ll be able to test the effectiveness of an advertising site, for a given product, and focus your advertising expenses on the places that convert best! In time, you’ll also be able to test ad variants and hone your ad copy skills.
Multiply your efforts –
It is very unlikely that any single classified ad will allow you to quit your day job. However, once you raise your confidence and can consistently make money in your affiliate marketing efforts; I suggest that you reinvest some of the profits to purchase additional ad space. In time, you’ll have several classified ads running each month –not just on eBay- and bringing-in a nice income. Folks do make money with affiliate marketing; otherwise, why are so many people doing it? Always work to hone your skills in writing ad copy and selecting the best categories and best products to advertise.
You’ll want to read the next, final, post in this series. I’ll talk about eBay classified ad rules and also discuss some legal matters regarding your ad content.
Until later... :)
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