Online auction marketing
Introduction to marketing auctions websites
The benefits of running online auctions are clear. Off line, real auctions taking place in a room are limited to the size of the event space, the frequency with which auctions can be held and the turnover of the auction has to be sufficient to generate a profit.
Running an auction on line provides the opportunity to not only attract your current crop of customers but also to capture a new set from a more far reaching geographic location. You can still run these auctions offline, you can even webcast them online, or you could bunch a group of items together and auction them off online.
But once you have made the step online what options are available to you? The following provides a summary of some of the strategies available to you. Many of these ideas will seed engagement with your site and brand. By providing greater opportunity to interact your site becomes more 'front of mind' with your users.
Make use of your existing customers
It is true that is it easier to sell or up sell items to existing customers, so your first port of call would be you open up your address book and contact them directly. It is a good reason to get in touch with them and it provides them with some interesting information.
Targeted email marketing
To start with you will have existing customers we can target when you first start to raise aware of your auction website.
Once your auction site becomes more established you will have a database of users you can contact with details of up and coming lots for auction. You will be able to target these email based upon the lots they have bid on or won.
Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a term covering all the strategies and tactics involved in improving the ranking of your site in search engine results.
In essence it includes the optimization of your site, link building, interaction with other websites and paid placement. SEM provides reasons for search engines to recommend your site to users when they enter phrases in to search engines.
Become an industry authority
By making yourselves an industry authority you will not only breed confidence in your abilities, but also demonstrate to you customers your depth of knowledge in your subject or industry. It will also provide you with the interesting content for search engines to consume, index and use when determining how relevant your website is when someone performs a search.
Blogging
As well providing interesting content on your own auction website, you may also want to consider interacting with potential customers by writing opinion pieces in the form of a blog. The blog can either be attached to your auction site of just loosely related. By writing the blog you provide search engines with another route to you site. You also give your readers the opportunity to join the debate.
Podcasting, white papers and video
Interaction with sales leads does not have to be confined to your website or blog. Perhaps try giving them something to take away and consume after they have left your website. Offer podcasts they to listen to at their leisure or white papers (an authoritative report on an industry topic) they can read at a more convenient time. These along with video podcasts offer customers a means with which to understand how your company thinks and operates.
Make use of feeds
One of the tricks with a product or service on the web is to make it easy for your users and customers to return to your site again and again. This can quite often be done by giving your audience prompts to do so. Emails provide you with the opportunity to market products and services, but feeds such RSS give you the opportunity to drip feed news, auction updates and other information in a passive way.
Interact with social media
In the same way networking in the offline world provides a steady stream of contacts and sales leads, the same can be true online. By taking part in relevant online discussions, or joining groups and listening to others you have the opportunity to give advice and give people the opportunity to trust you as a business partner and auctioneer.
Integrate with vertical markets
By partnering with companies in vertical markets you are tying up the supply chain. There may well be customers interested in the lots you have for sale in your auction that were previously unaware of your presence. If you make use of partner websites to promote the lots you have for sale you are encouraging qualified sales leads to visit your site.
Collective Intelligence
Your online auction website will have a wealth of untapped information available to you. By examining the habits of all your users you will be able to make judgements about what customers are interested in. You will be able to start correlating lot items together. This will mean that customers interested in one item may well be interested in another. This gives you the opportunity to market to them in a number of fairly personalized ways.
If this is the sort you thing you think we can help you with, then please contact us.
