The Blog>Intro to Advertising: Where to Begin When You're a Beginner

Intro to Advertising: Where to Begin When You're a Beginner

Posted by Jesse Ness, Team

Like anysuccessful e-commerce entrepreneur can tell you, advertising isanecessary step togrowing your online business. But don’t let the“a” word scare you. Advertising with iseasier than you think.

Welove small businesses. And wewant tohelp you beassuccessful aspossible asquickly aspossible. Inthis post, we’ll teach you how toget from zero toadvertising using simple tactics tocreate your first successful online advertising campaigns with Google Shopping Իboosted Facebook posts.

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Tips from e-commerce experts forsmall business owners Իaspiring entrepreneurs.
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First Things First: Set UpTracking ԻAnalytics

Weknow you’re excited toget advertising. And why wouldn’t you be?! But before you can get started building your first campaign, you’ll want toget thefoundations inplace.

Itonly takes afew minutes, but these two uber-easy steps are essential tosetting upyour store foradvertising-success ٳڳܳٳܰ.

1.Install aFacebook pixel inyour store

Even ifyou don’t plan toadvertise onFacebook immediately, setting upyour pixel will enable you togather rich audience data that you can use down theroad. Setup takes about 2minutes with afast internet connection, Իwhat’s more, it’s completely free for users.

Just follow our toget started. Nocoding skills required.

Note: ifyou’re using asaplugin foryour website, besure toconnect your pixel through your Control Panel Իnot your website’s dashboard. This will allow you togather Իutilize more targeted customer insights inyour advertising, like shopping activity Իtheproducts your visitors considered.

2.Set upGoogle Analytics

Google Analytics istheindustry standard foranalyzing website performance, but it’s also one ofthebest tools forfinding Իconnecting with new audiences.


Insightful Google Analytics dashboard

With afour syllable word like “analytics” inthetitle, itprobably sounds alittle intimidating, but wepromise itisn’t. Use this Իdzܰ toget started. (Even ifyou already have aGoogle Analytics code onyour website, you’ll want tomake sure it’s connected individually toyour store aswell.)

Learn more: The Beginner’s Guide ToGoogle Analytics For E-commerce Stores

Define Your Advertising Audience

Tolaunch anypaid online campaign, you’ll need toset uptargeting foryour ads. More Իmore advertising solutions are being automated todothis work foryou, but you’ll still want abasic description ofyour customers.

Answer these questions todefine your messaging Իnarrow your focus toyour most likely customers:

Read more: How toCreate Customer Personas foranE-commerce Store

The Best AdPlatforms forBeginners

Now that weknow thewho, let’s figure out thewhere. There are aton ofgreat online adplatforms fore-commerce businesses— some might say anoverwhelming amount. That’s why we’re keeping itsimple.

For thesake ofthis article, we’ll only befocusing onthesimplest Իmost cost-effective tools forbeginners: Google Shopping Իboosted Facebook posts.

Amazingly simple toset upԻproven todeliver results with minimal investment, these two platforms are thetraining wheels you’ll never take off.

1.Google Shopping ads

Ifyou’re doing business online, Google isone advertising juggernaut you can’t ignore. And with Google’s commitment toimproved user experiences Իinnovative technology, paid campaigns are easier than ever before.

Today, Google’s advertising toolbelt isaspowerful asitisvarious: Google Ads, Display Network, YouTube ads… thelist goes on. And fore-commerce businesses, Google’s given usadedicated platform: Google Shopping.

Itworks this way: you export your online product catalog with all theproduct info from your online shopping cart, Իthen upload ittoGoogle AdManager. Google Shopping then uses your product feed tocreate visual cards with your product pics, prices, Իtitles.

When ashopper searches forproducts like yours onGoogle, Google Shopping will display your product card tothat person inaspecial eye-catching carousel above theregular search results.

Google Shopping isespecially effective because ittargets shoppers who are specifically inthemarket foryour products Ի— more importantly— are ready Իintending tobuy.

Note: it’s recommended you have atleast 10sales under your belt before testing thewaters with Google Shopping tomake sure your store isready tocompete ontheplatform.

Here’s how theaverage e-commerce merchant would launch their Google Shopping campaign:

  1. Sign upfor.
  2. Export your product feed from your online store.
  3. Follow the.
  4. Add your product feed inProducts →Feeds intheMerchant Center.
  5. Create aGoogle Ads account.
  6. Create your campaign: selected your products, target keywords, Իbudget.

Wish itwas even easier? You got it. Ifyou’re an merchant, you can manage this whole process right from your Control Panel. Head over to, Իfollow thesteps below:

  1. Choose atarget audience.
  2. Choose products toadvertise.
  3. Launch your сampaign.

And we’ll doyou one better. With ’s innovative ads technology, you won’t need tobuild lengthy keyword lists tooptimize your ads forperformance: they’re fully optimized right out ofthegate.

2.Facebook Boosted Posts

Ifyou were born anytime after theBronze Age, there’s agood chance you’re familiar with theconcept of“posting” onFacebook. You share content like images, videos, orlinks toyour products with fans ofyour page, Իthen your network engages with it. Easy.

“Boosting” apost simply takes this practice one step further, assigning dollars tospecific posts topromote them toagreater number ofFacebook users.

Facebook reports roughly 2.9billion active users, but only atiny fraction ofthose will see your post intheir feeds organically (meaning without paid promotion). Infact, organic reach (people who actually see your post) islimited toabout 2%ofall your page’s fans. Soeven those following your page aren’t guaranteed tosee orengage with it.

Atthesame time, roughly 1in20posts sent tousers’ news feeds are ads. That means alot ofbrands use paid Facebook ads, sothere’s little sense insitting still infront ofyour 2%Իhoping forgoing viral organically.

Boosting your Facebook posts not only extends your reach tomore ofyour page’s fans: italso allows you toshare your posts with other Facebook users aswell.

Put simply, your humble Facebook post will effectively become anadvertisement with thepotential toreach upto2.9billion active Facebook users. And because advertisements that look Իact like regular content are proven tobemore effective than traditional pay-per-click ads, you’re also advertising more effectively.

What’s more, Facebook’s targeting issecond tonone, which makes iteasy toreach theexact audience you’ve defined asyour customers. Facebook’s targeting works particularly well ifyour customers can beeasily defined bytheir interests Իdemographics (e.g. males, 18-25, living inOregon, interested inTom Selleck movies… ).Examples include lifestyle brands, clothing, orproducts tailored toaspecific niche.

What post should Iboost onFacebook?

  1. Check your Facebook analytics tosee which posts are performing well organically.
  2. Make sure your post has astrong image that shows your brand orproduct. (Note: Facebook employs the20% rule forits advertisements. Ifyou’re using text onyour image, make sure itaccounts fornomore than 20% ofthetotal image.)
  3. Provide aclear call toaction foryour audience, sothey know exactly what you’d like them todo.

Here’s how toboost your post:

  1. GotoCreate Ads atthetop right corner ofyour FBpage.
  2. Select anobjective. Conversions isbest starting out (you’ll need theFBpixel installed forthis one), but you can also try website traffic toget more visits toyour website, oreven engagement toencourage questions Իcomments onyour post.
  3. Set upyour targeting: age, gender, languages, Իinterests.
  4. Decide onabudget. (If you’re not sure how your post will perform, start with $1aday for7days. Attheend ofthe7days, you can choose toextend thecampaign ifits performing well, orlet itend Իstart fresh with anew post.)
  5. Choose “Use existing post” Իselect thepost you’d like toboost.

How doIknow ifmyboosted post isworking?

Tosee how your boost isperforming, click “View Results” topull upFacebook’s analytics.

There are aton ofstatistics you can look atinside Facebook’s AdManager, but not many you’ll actually want to. The two columns totake note ofasane-commerce business are Website Purchases (number ofsales received from your post) ԻCost per Website Purchase (how much you spent inadvertising foreach sale).

Ifyou have theFacebook pixel installed in, all this will betracked automatically. Don’t bediscouraged ifyou don’t see asale after your first $7campaign. Ittakes awhile tolearn what posts will convert best foryour store. Just stick with it, Իyou’ll beaboosting pro innotime.

Tips toimprove your boosted post:

Ifyou find yourself spending more than you earn, there’s room forimprovement inyour advertising tactics:

  1. Choose abetter visual. High quality images are essential toaneffective campaign. Take things astep further byboosting ashort product video instead ofastatic image.
  2. Change your targeting (age, gender, location). Ifthesales haven’t started toroll in, it’s possible that your audience targeting isn’t quite right. Don’t gotoo narrow. Test advertising tofriends ofyour page fans tosee what resonates.
  3. Check thecomments. Are there anynegative comments that need aresponse? Proactively address negative feedback with anappropriate Իgraceful response toavoid negative performance.

Don’t forget Instagram. Most ads onFacebook use Automatic Placements, which includes all ofFacebook properties— including social media MVP Instagram.

Ifyou’ve got afew good-looking products Իyour product photography isonpoint, you might want totry your hand atinstagram aswell. You can boost anInstagram post right inyour profile, using your mobile device.

You’ve Got theBasics… Now What?

Asanew merchant, Google Shopping Իboosted Facebook posts will beyour bread Իbutter. Ease ofset-up, minimal investment, industry-leading audience targeting, Իseamless integrations with ’s Control Panel make these platforms amust fore-commerce businesses.

While it’s likely you’ll never outgrow thebasics, you may consider broadening your marketing mix once you’re alittle more comfortable with thelandscape. Remarketing Իlookalike audiences onFacebook, Pinterest ads, YouTube pre-roll, ԻInstagram Stories, just toname afew, are some ofthecountless ways you can promote your shop tonew customers. And when you’re ready, we’ll behere tohelp.

Ifyou’re an seller, you can set upretargeting campaigns onFacebook inminutes with . Itsimplifies theprocess ofsetting upyour campaign sothat you can convert window shoppers into paying customers with ease.

About The Author
Jesse is the Marketing Manager at and has been in e-commerce and internet marketing since 2006. He has experience with PPC, SEO, conversion optimization and loves to work with entrepreneurs to make their dreams a reality.

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