Take your PLAs to the next level

Since their launch in July 2012, product listing ads (PLAs) have become a great way to capture more attention for your products. With Google renewing its emphasis on monetising search, it should come as no surprise that PLAs now appear right at the top of the Search Engine Results Page- above paid ads and organic results.

The question becomes, how can we leverage these ads to maximise your returns?

The answer lies in utilising every feature Google has to offer. One of these features is merchant promotions. Merchant promotions allow you to enhance your product listing ads by highlighting any special offers you have for your products right at the moment someone is getting ready to decide where to buy.

By taking advantage of this exciting feature, you can increase both your click-through rate and conversion rates.

These promotions are fairly simple to setup and only require a bit of feed mapping. By using the Promotions dashboard in the merchant centre account, you can setup, alter, and review your merchant promotions at any time.

Your merchant promotions will appear alongside your PLAs as a "special offer". You can add up to ten promo offers per product. However, keep in mind that only a maximum of five will be visible on Google Shopping and only one offer is visible on Google itself. The good news is that there is no additional cost involved in using merchant promotions.

Here are a few best practices to help you get the most out of your merchant promotions:

* Limited time web-based offers have a very high success rate.

* Make sure your offer is available to all users and not just first-time buyers.

* Markdowns and other priced reductions are a strict no-no.

* Avoid using offers with insignificant returns (less than 5 per cent or $5 in monetary value).

* Offer free and discounted shipping only if there is a promo code attached.

As you can see, using merchant promotions can play a crucial role in the success of your PLAs in the ultra-competitive ad space arena. This way, when consumers are looking for the best value for a particular product, they will always see your offer right away.

The author is Tauseef Syed, Paid Search Marketer, NetElixir. Re-printed with permission.
Link: http://blog.netelixir.com/merchant-promotionstake-your-plas-to-thenext-level