First campaign and badly chosen keywords

[Azterias]

Good evening,

I know that the industry in which I started to operate sometimes evokes various emotions, but I treat it as a business and not a hobby, so I would ask you to refrain from mocking comments and professional advice from specialists - I know they are like that here!
I sell erotic accessories.
In the beginning, I chose keywords, but even then I felt that they were too general. I learn, so I try. For example, in the vibrator category, I used: "vibrator", "vibrator", "small vibrator", "large vibrator" etc.
I did my first Google Ads campaigns. I had entries, people were browsing my website but they didn't buy anything. I think keywords are too general. People go to my website and browse the store, but I think they were looking for something other than the store - they were interested in the topic but not in the shopping. I need to pause my campaigns and do my keyword research again.

I would like to focus on the right keywords at the moment, because I am also starting positioning and I would like to choose them as accurately as possible so that my work with content creation is not wasted. Please do not suggest that the appearance of the store is more than trustworthy, too expensive, etc. - this is a separate topic that I am working on. In this topic, I want to focus on how to choose keywords well and effectively. How to check what people type most often to find a store with a given product and what to do not to burn the budget in campaigns.

I understand this may be a trial and error method, but do you have any advice or tutorial for the newer?
I would like to add that I would not like to use paid tools because I spent a little money on campaigns.

 

[japancool]

Before you started your adwords campaign, did you test out your keywords and see whether your competitors ranked for them?

It seems to me that the terms you chose will be primarily people looking for videos involving them rather than people looking to buy.

 

[Azterias]

Before you started your adwords campaign, did you test out your keywords and see whether your competitors ranked for them?

It seems to me that the terms you chose will be primarily people looking for videos involving them rather than people looking to buy.

I was trying to - I even posted a thread about this in this forum - How to check your competitors keywords for free?
But I do not think I did this successfully. Do you have advise how to do this? Would appreciate any help

Yes, thinking the same, it might be videos or something else but not buying...

 

[WaveJumper]

The simplest method I know of is to simply do a google search looking for the items you sell and I am sure the first and if not the second pages of your search results will all be adverts and within / underneath all the main headings you will see the search words / phrases they are using.

 

[japancool]

I was trying to - I even posted a thread about this in this forum - How to check your competitors keywords for free?
But I do not think I did this successfully. Do you have advise how to do this? Would appreciate any help

Yes, thinking the same, it might be videos or something else but not buying...

What results do you get if you Google "buy"+your products?

And have you considered advertising directly on adult websites?

 

[fisicx]

People google for specific products. Use your product names as keywords and link to the product page.

But, make sure you have optimised the landing pages for adwords. You already have the lead, you just need to close the deal.

 

[Fagin2021]

I wouldn't rush to the conclusion that your problem is badly chosen keywords.

If you search on 'vibrator' there's a host of Google Ads and organic results for that term. The Ads make it clear that they're selling products, so whilst you might get some seeking titillation there are a lot easier ways to get that on the internet.

Essentially, you're selling a commodity where price and discretion reign supreme. I don't know what the conversion rate (sales to visitors) is like in your industry, but it's probably around 2% to 5%. If you're getting visitors but no conversions, then you need to examine your website in comparison to others.

You say...
"Please do not suggest that the appearance of the store is more than trustworthy, too expensive, etc. - this is a separate topic that I am working on."
That's not right - until your potential customers are happy that the store is 'trustworthy', 'competitive' etc there's little point in paying Google to send them there. It's not a separate topic.

Unless you have some unique products that you haven't mentioned I doubt you'll come up with keywords that your competitors haven't already included in their campaigns. All they need do is use the keyword 'vibrator' as phrase match and their ads will show for 'large vibrator,' small vibrator', 'liquorish vibrator' and any variation you can think of.

The fact is that you've chosen to operate in a highly competitive market with lots of well-known brands advertising their wares (including Amazon of course) so why should anyone buy from you? When you've answered that question, you can start worrying about keywords.

If and when you do start thinking about keywords don't ask 'how do I find out what keywords my competitors are using', ask "what search terms could bring customers to my site that my competitors aren't using ?"

That's a lot harder - especially with Google's fondness for 'close variants' but a lot more rewarding.

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Hi @Azterias

I've worked at Ann Summers selling these accessories online in my early days so I'm familiar with the topic.

I remember my mates were insanely jealous at the time but after a while, I realised it's just shifting boxes!

Anyhow, before I go into keywords, I will just want to point out that selling is a process. Not an instant event. People don't generally rock up to a website and buy something, especially if it's a brand they've never heard of or it's a product that is a considered or emotional purchase.

This is.

Your online store may have a 3-6% conversion rate but that means you've got at least 94% of people leaving without buying.

Regardless of your marketing campaign, you need to take a longer view. Your objective apart from a sale should be to capture their email address. That way, you can continue the conversation with them, nurture them and convert them later down the line. It's easier and cheaper that remarketing because you own the relationship.

Now, back to keywords. You need to think niche. Size, colour, texture, speed, bunny ears, etc. As the Americans say,
'the riches are in the niches'. By going niche, you've got a better chance of converting a sale.

Rather than use guess work, or Google's Keyword Tool (which is pretty useless) you could get a 7-day trial with SEMRush to backward engineer your competitors to see what keywords they are ranking for. This will give you a ton of intelligence about how they are getting their traffic, the demand for particular keywords / phrases and the level of competition. You could use it on the top 10 websites and you would have load of data to play with.

I use SEMRush religiously to pull apart competitor websites for my clients so we can create an effective strategy to beat them. I know you said you didn't want to use paid tools but this is really the only way to get the data you need.

You should also have very targeted landing pages. The visitor should get the impression that the page is tailored to them. Be specific!

Of course, there are a ton of trust and conversion factors for the product page but you said you were already working on that so I won't mention them in this thread.

Hope that helps.

Matt

 

[Fagin2021]

Hi @Azterias
Regardless of your marketing campaign, you need to take a longer view. Your objective apart from a sale should be to capture their email address. That way, you can continue the conversation with them, nurture them and convert them later down the line. It's easier and cheaper that remarketing because you own the relationship.

Sorry Matt - on this occasion I disagree with you. I am however curious to know how you 'nurture' someone who's after a Black Mamba?

 

[JEREMY HAWKE]

Your in the same position as me and I never thought I would say this to a vibrator business owner !

I like you am the best in my field but I am useless with this internet black magic stuff despite being one of the first transport companies in the South West to have a website !
The simple answer is to pay somebody that knows what they are doing .

Your a sex toy expert not a digital what ever they call themselves

 

[Deleted member 335660]

Good evening,

I know that the industry in which I started to operate sometimes evokes various emotions, but I treat it as a business and not a hobby, so I would ask you to refrain from mocking comments and professional advice from specialists - I know they are like that here!
I sell erotic accessories.
In the beginning, I chose keywords, but even then I felt that they were too general. I learn, so I try. For example, in the vibrator category, I used: "vibrator", "vibrator", "small vibrator", "large vibrator" etc.
I did my first Google Ads campaigns. I had entries, people were browsing my website but they didn't buy anything. I think keywords are too general. People go to my website and browse the store, but I think they were looking for something other than the store - they were interested in the topic but not in the shopping. I need to pause my campaigns and do my keyword research again.

I would like to focus on the right keywords at the moment, because I am also starting positioning and I would like to choose them as accurately as possible so that my work with content creation is not wasted. Please do not suggest that the appearance of the store is more than trustworthy, too expensive, etc. - this is a separate topic that I am working on. In this topic, I want to focus on how to choose keywords well and effectively. How to check what people type most often to find a store with a given product and what to do not to burn the budget in campaigns.

I understand this may be a trial and error method, but do you have any advice or tutorial for the newer?
I would like to add that I would not like to use paid tools because I spent a little money on campaigns.

I would tend to agree with some of the other comments in that it takes time and you cannot expect your first campaign to suddenly increase sales.

I do use https://yoast.com/ free version that helps me get my pages and products in a better shape for SEO optimization so this might help you.

 

[fisicx]

@Trevor Andrews - don’t use Yoast. The advice they give is woefully outdated. Popular =/= Good.

Try Rank Math: https://rankmath.com/

 

[WebshopMechanic]

Sorry Matt - on this occasion I disagree with you. I am however curious to know how you 'nurture' someone who's after a Black Mamba?

Ha ha

Let's just treat this like any other product because essentially, it is.

Believe it or not, adult toys are actually no different to shoes, handbags, digital cameras or even holidays. People need education and persuasion before they buy. This is an emotional and personal purchase which isn't cheap.

Educating customers (also called the Desire stage of AIDA Marketing) turns them from warm prospects into customers who want to own the product. This could be:

• A buyers guide
• User guides / Video explainers
• A guide to bedroom activity
• Customer testimonials
• Social media,
• Introduction to the people behind the business, etc.

The level of procrastination and research that goes into a product like this is immense. Don't underestimate it.

Customers want 'validation' before they buy from new brands. You need to show them you are different to the likes of the larger brands and have specialist knowledge they can't get anywhere else.

You should work as hard as you can to get people onto your email list. You can then set up an automated email series to educate them on products, your brand and general sexual topics. You can even do this on a product basis. I can imagine the engagement would be high.

Get as much as you can working on autopilot. Ads and email should work together.

Matt

 

[WaveJumper]

Ok now I want to go see this website for myself have I missed something was there a link somewhere?

Just laughing to myself perhaps it should be sent in a private DM

 

[Fagin2021]

Ha ha

Let's just treat this like any other product because essentially, it is.

Believe it or not, adult toys are actually no different to shoes, handbags, digital cameras or even holidays. People need education and persuasion before they buy. This is an emotional and personal purchase which isn't cheap.

Educating customers (also called the Desire stage of AIDA Marketing) turns them from warm prospects into customers who want to own the product. This could be:

• A buyers guide
• User guides / Video explainers
• A guide to bedroom activity
• Customer testimonials
• Social media,
• Introduction to the people behind the business, etc.

The level of procrastination and research that goes into a product like this is immense. Don't underestimate it.

Customers want 'validation' before they buy from new brands. You need to show them you are different to the likes of the larger brands and have specialist knowledge they can't get anywhere else.

You should work as hard as you can to get people onto your email list. You can then set up an automated email series to educate them on products, your brand and general sexual topics. You can even do this on a product basis. I can imagine the engagement would be high.

Get as much as you can working on autopilot. Ads and email should work together.

Matt

Good morning Matt
I defer to your expertise in this market and particularly like your suggestion of video explainers.

I think we're pretty much on the same wavelength here. The point I've tried to make to the OP is that simply researching and changing keywords ain't going to cut it. From the limited information available it looks like the OP is a new entrant to an established market with many well-known competitors selling similar/identical products for similar/identical prices.

These competitors have already researched their PPC/Organic keywords. By attempting to imitate them, all the OP will do is stick up his hand from the back of the crowd and whisper "me too".

My suggestion to sellers in a crowded marketplace is..
1. Go where your competitors don't go (demographic, geographic, niche).
2. Do what your competitors don't/can't/won't do.

You've made good suggestions about how the OP can distinguish himself from the pack. I think we both agree it'll take more work than just fiddling around with a few keywords.

 

[Deleted member 335660]

@Trevor Andrews - don’t use Yoast. The advice they give is woefully outdated. Popular =/= Good.

Try Rank Math: https://rankmath.com/

Thanks for the tip, although their free package seems quite limited. I have found Yoast back up their claims with research so a bit surprised by your comment.

 

[japancool]

Ok now I want to go see this website for myself have I missed something was there a link somewhere?

Just laughing to myself perhaps it should be sent in a private DM

Why is it funny?

 

[WaveJumper]

Well, it bought a smile to my face thinking about the lengths one of their main competitors go to explaining how your parcel is going to arrive.

“Depending on the nature and size of your order, you’ll receive your items in a plain box, or plain heavy-duty or padded envelopes. The returns label we provide is addressed to Gold Group House instead of ……………….

“Your parcel won’t have any markings, branding, or logos, except for the address label and courier sticker”.

And even further:
“There's also no need to worry about your bank statement for most banks, as your payment will appear as 'AS Ltd'”

So yes, sorry it made me smile ……. The secret world of buying online sex toys

 

[shopomatix]

I would use Google content network for this type of advertising. Set up responsive image ads then customers know its adult products before clicking. Try a Display ad campaign

 

[Fagin2021]

I would use Google content network for this type of advertising. Set up responsive image ads then customers know its adult products before clicking. Try a Display ad campaign

I don't think Google allow that sort of content on the display network.

 

[shopomatix]

I don't think Google allow that sort of content on the display network.

You could be right thanks for the correction

 

[Azterias]

Good morning,

Thank all of you for your tips

I will focus on the things you mentioned and come back soon with information about result

 

[Iain Venn]

If you do not want to target every type of searcher with your advertising or seo, then a good strategy would be to focus on product pages, by brand, product specifications etc. Just make sure your content is more comprehensive than the competition and demonstrate your expertise.

If online searchers are typing in specific product descriptions there is more likelihood they are looking to buy. Smaller audience but higher conversions.

You can expand on your reach as sales build.

 

[Gavin Foley]

I was trying to - I even posted a thread about this in this forum - How to check your competitors keywords for free?
But I do not think I did this successfully. Do you have advise how to do this? Would appreciate any help

Yes, thinking the same, it might be videos or something else but not buying...

Hey, I'm super brand new to this forum but just spotted this and wanted to help..

I use a tool - google chrome extension called Keywords everywhere. It's nifty, when I go a google search it gives me the info for all the keywords and related info for that topic.

If you head to YouTube and search Neil Patel SEO - I'm literally working though his free training on SEO and Keyword research at the mo, he has also made a site called ubersuggest, it's free to use, I'm on a 7 day trial, I've not signed up yet. His YouTube course will teach you how to use it but it is pretty straight forward.

Hope this helps..

 

[fisicx]

Hey, I'm super brand new to this forum but just spotted this and wanted to help..

I use a tool - google chrome extension called Keywords everywhere. It's nifty, when I go a google search it gives me the info for all the keywords and related info for that topic.

If you head to YouTube and search Neil Patel SEO - I'm literally working though his free training on SEO and Keyword research at the mo, he has also made a site called ubersuggest, it's free to use, I'm on a 7 day trial, I've not signed up yet. His YouTube course will teach you how to use it but it is pretty straight forward.

Hope this helps..

At best all these tools give you is a best guess. I wouldn’t trust my campaign on their suggestions.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

If you head to YouTube and search Neil Patel SEO - I'm literally working though his free training on SEO and Keyword research at the mo, he has also made a site called ubersuggest, it's free to use, I'm on a 7 day trial, I've not signed up yet. His YouTube course will teach you how to use it but it is pretty straight forward.

Hope this helps..

Neil is a great marketer but is not an SEO, the content on his site isn't written by him, he's a slick marketer/salesman so take it with a pinch of salt really.

 

[OldWelshGuy]

Good morning,

Thank all of you for your tips

I will focus on the things you mentioned and come back soon with information about result

Having worked for 2 of the biggest names in the industry of 'sex toys' I can assure you it's cut-throat and what you need to be focussing on is lifetime value of customers.

Google ads is fine, but it isn't just about the search term, it's about the entire process end to end (customer journey).

You need the landing pages spot on to match the ad copy, you need to be using a host of negative search terms to prevent wasted clicks, the copy must filter out dreamers and make it crystal clear what you are delivering.

As for the terms competitors are using, I can get every single ad a competitor is running, all their titles, content, landing pages bid amounts etc within 24 hours.

No need to guess anything