You are running Google Product Listing Ads (PLAs), maybe Amazon Ads too. Perhaps they are doing well – but honestly, you are only scraping the surface of what could be achieved until you begin using these offsite channels to their fullest potential.  

The offsite product discovery journey is a vital part of ecommerce and something brands and retailers must not only track, but optimise towards. Augmenting product content for offsite marketing channels is the main part of this and the most important strategy to increase traffic and revenue.  

In a survey we conducted, we found that only 30% of retailers had complete, accurate and attribute rich product data being sent to different marketing channels. The remaining 70% were missing out on a lot of traffic and missed sales.  

6 Core Strategies for Offsite Optimisation

Your product data is the lifeblood of your product ad campaigns. We have put together a list of 6 core strategies that you should seriously consider right now.

1. Enriching product data & category mapping

Miscategorised products or those with no partner category mappings will have limited visibility. The more information provided, the more relevancy your product has in search results; and the more chance it has of appearing and ranking higher in results.  

2. Adding core product information to the titles

Most retailers use the onsite product information for offsite channels too and this isn’t necessarily optimised for SEO.

Titles must reflect what your consumers are searching for. For example, “HP 15-BS625TX 15.6-inch Laptop” won’t give search engines enough relevant information about the product to surface it.

Adding operating system, RAM and hard drive space is advisable so it can be searched and indexed.  

3. Considering alternative words for products

It’s important to ensure that the ways in which people search for products are considered, especially when expanding into new markets and for CBT (Cross-Border Trade).

Using alternative keywords in your titles will ensure a wider range of consumers can find your product, and these can be found using Google Ads Keyword reports and on your own site. 

4. Ensuring products have competitor information

If you sell similar products from different brands or manufacturers, then a powerful strategy is needed to ensure you products have competitor information (model numbers, etc.) in the feeds that go out, so they show when people are searching for competitors’ products.  

5. Testing and optimising product images

Images, especially for fashion, play the most important part in deciding whether a consumer clicks on an ad. To increase CTR (Click through rate) of relevant buyers, it’s important retailers show the right image. 

6. Optimising product data for specific channels

Each channel you send product information to will have their own way of indexing products for search and display. It’s crucial that time is spent optimising data for specific channels to reach their potential. 

The Importance of Testing 

In addition to the points mentioned above, it is vital when attempting optimisation that you test the optimisations on a subset of products (A/B Testing) and compare the expected outcome to make sure that the changes are positive before applying them to the full set of products.  

Benefits of Optimising Your Product Discovery Journey 

Optimising product data is the most vital part of performing at scale across all touchpoints. The better it is, the more likely shoppers will see your product ads and click-through.  

In addition, ads will appear more frequently to the right consumers, at the right time and in the right place. This means:  

• Accelerated Time-to-Market
• Improved Product Exposure
• Increased Product Ad Conversion
• Increased New Customer Acquisition
• Maximised Return on Ad Spend
• Reduced CPC & Campaign Costs

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