A Step By Step Guide To Google Shopping Showcase Success!

Since the launch of Google Shopping in 2012, digital marketing experts have advised online retailers to utilise this feature to help increase both website visitors and conversions. Unlike paid Search adverts which entice users to click on the advert through a clever use of attractive keywords and phrases, Google Shopping adverts show the user an image of the product that they are searching for, the price that each retailer is selling the product for, any available discounts and the name of the retailer, making the sales journey a simpler and quicker task for the customer to complete.

Google has now taken this feature one step further by introducing Google Shopping Showcase adverts, a new opportunity that offers online retailers the ability to now show off a catalogue of products to customers rather than just targeting one specific product. The new Shopping Showcase adverts will appear above the paid Search adverts and will feature at the top of the Google Shopping SERP so customers will feel comfortable with their presence as they are used to seeing products displayed in these places.

When a customer clicks on the Shopping Showcase advert it will not take them directly to a product landing page like with a Product Shopping advert, but instead, the advert will expand to show the customer an array of relevant products which they may be interested in. Not only does this allow retailers to display more of their current stock, but it also gives them the opportunity to upsell other items that the customer wasn’t initially searching for and this is what gives Google Shopping Showcase adverts an advantage over the single products featured.

It is worth noting that unlike paying per click with Product Shopping adverts, you will not pay anything when the customer opens the Shopping Showcase advert to view its contents. You will only pay if a customer clicks on one of the products within the catalogue or spends more than 10 seconds looking at the contents of the Shopping Showcase advert. Alongside this, if you are interested in adding a Google Shopping Showcase advert to your current advertising repertoire, then you should know that this feature is only available with the new Google AdWords interface, which is currently (still) in the beta phase. So, if you are still using the old Google AdWords interface then this is surely a good reason for you to make the switch and start getting to know the new one!

At Media Lounge, we are excited to see new features being incorporated into Google AdWords as it means that we will have even more opportunities to explore. Shopping Showcase adverts were one of the more attractive features that we couldn’t wait to get our hands on, as we found the idea of showing a collection of products via Google Shopping to be an interesting concept that could potentially increase click-through rates. We feel that these will become a staple part of all Shopping campaigns in 2018.

Now you know what a Shopping Showcase advert is, let us break down the steps in order to create one…

Step 1

Select the Shopping campaign that you want to use and then create a new ad group within it. When doing so you will see a screen like the one below which allows you to create either a Product Shopping ad group or a Shopping Showcase advert. Select Showcase Shopping and proceed to step 2.

Step 2

Now it is time for you to select the products that you want to be featured in your Shopping Showcase advert. Remember that you can create multiple Shopping Showcase adverts, each focusing on a specific type of product, brand, product type and even custom label, so be clever with your selection to show the customer similar products.

Step 3

With your products chosen it is now time to create the Shopping Showcase advert. You will need to upload an image (1080 x 566) which represents the chosen products within the advert, write a descriptive Headline and Description which outlines the contents of the Shopping Showcase advert, alongside selecting the URL that you want to direct your traffic to and a Display URL that helps inform customers of what you are selling.

Before you complete the setup, take a moment and check that you have completed all of our following tips and hints to help maximise the chances of success for your new Shopping Showcase Advert…

• Use a bright, relevant, high quality image for the advert to help attract the customer’s eye. If you used a dull and poorly scaled image then it wouldn’t look very professional and this could be reflected in the customer’s thoughts of your brand.
• Make sure that your Headline is simple and represents the products featured in the Shopping Showcase advert. For example, if we made an advert that contained various brands of men’s trainers, our Headline would read “Mens Trainers” as this is broad enough to cover all of the catalogue contents.
• Don’t rely on one Shopping Showcase advert, run a few at once alongside your Product Shopping adverts to give you a higher chance of your products showing for the right searches.

So what are you waiting for, go forth and start showing off your stock with Google Shopping Showcase adverts!

Ciao for now…