Promote Ads

[Former_Member]

Does anyone understand how the automatic bid works for promote ads? I have a $3 a day budget, but for some of my items, if someone clicks , the bid price is over $1 so that only gets me 3 clicks per day. Some bid prices are as little as .11 cents. Is it possible to override the automatic bid? When I tried to do this, the message came back as Low Bid. What does this mean? I can't find a clear article on how the promote ads really work and the automatic bid process.

[MaxplanationPhotos]

You can change your buds and not accept the automatic bids .

[ConcertinaPress]

yes, you can click the little pencil next to the bid amount and change it to whatever you want - you could always experiment with a lower bid and see if it still gets you clicks over a week or so

[RazzleDazzleMe]

I just signed up for promote ads for $1.00 a day. I signed up because I almost always had an item on the front page of ear cuffs and am now around page 5. Two big sellers of handmade ear cuffs are using them, so I thought I would try it for a month. I don't understand how it works at all, but I guess I will find out.

[kzannoart]

I tried it a few days letting Etsy set my bids. I had lots of views but no sales and my budget was met by the afternoon leaving none for the pm. For me this was not worth it, just like the other ad campaigns before.

[Former_Member]

I have used before a few times and the most i got out of it was several more views. Last timemImhad $8 per day and let it run for 2 weeks and still nothing. To me was not worth at all.

[OneFairfaxRoad]

I have set a budget of $1/day and have limited promotion to selected items in my shop. I think very unique items will be found in search, so I haven't been promoting those. I am promoting items that are more common and have set low promotion budgets for these items.
Still experimenting, and have received 2 sales.

[KJPottery]

The ads did not work for me.

[Former_Member]

I think Anne is onto something. My opinion, a scatter shot approach just isn't going to work with promoted listing. Select items and put your money there, that's what I've done. Look at your stats and see what is getting the most views and favs from outside and promote those items. That's what I've done.

[GSaleHunter]

I have hesitated to use the Promotional ads for several reasons - the search ads did not work for my shop, the tag words were too limiting for my Vintage shop. Also, the forums have been extremely negative towards them. I saw a you tube video today by an Etsy user explaining how to use them with low bids set at $1 a day and has shown marginal success in my opinion. Also, many sellers say that once they turned the ads off, their views went up again. Any thoughts on this? I am working on Titles and matching Tags like crazy, listing new items daily, but the beginning of November has been dismal.

[maydaylabels]

We use promoted ads; I don't see what they would have to do one way or another with regular views (from the relevancy search). You do have to be careful about the bids; don't let Etsy set the automatic bid for you.

[Former_Member]

I have used the ads for a week, then turned it off, and used them again for a few days. I had a few clicks, but that was it.
I had it on $1 per day and on selected listings only.
Then I did some research and found, that for what I am selling, mostly sellers with low or now views were using the ads. At least for the searches I used.
It appeared to me, that well established sellers with lots of followers, admires and lots of sales, do not need to use those promoted ads and pay. They are selling anyhow.
I rather did renew some of my listings to put them on more recent search results again and I did find myself on the first or second page in the searches I did.
I also search for my items in a different browser and not being logged in. That way when I find one of my items and I look at it, it counts as a view.
But I don't renew every day or too often.
I have so many items to list, that right now I am concentrating on that and I often read, that more listings help also in being found.

[maydaylabels]

Promotion in a non-promo thread - no good.

Trying to game the system by tricking it into thinking your item is getting a legitimate view from search when it is actually a fake view - no good.

[Former_Member]

I am not sure if this
"Trying to game the system by tricking it into thinking your item is getting a legitimate view from search when it is actually a fake view - no good"
is pointed against me, because I search for my items in a different browser and I am not logged into my shop in that browser.
In now way have I intentions to "fake views"!
Anybody reading forums and team discussions will have come to a discussion at some point, that we do see our own shop different being logged in or not.
I find my items in searches easier not being logged in, than being logged in.
That is just my observation.
I also then realized, that my view in a different browser counts, when I am not logged in.
That is also just my observation!
I use 2 different browsers to make it easier for me when I list. I am logged in 1 and not in the 2nd one. So it saves me time going back and forth.
I did not know, that it is not allowed to look at my own items not being logged into my own account. I never read that rule anywhere.
So please be assured, I am not sitting at the computer the whole day looking for my items not being logged in, to give myself "fake views"!

[Former_Member]

Sara was referring to the post above hers that was a promotional post on a non-promotional thread. Getting views that way, even on promotional threads, doesn't do you any good.

[maydaylabels]

Ah, no, I thought when she said "I also search for my items in a different browser and not being logged in. That way when I find one of my items and I look at it, it counts as a view.", she meant that she was doing that *because* it counted as a view (from search) and she could gain relevancy ranking that way.

I misinterpreted the "That way" part - I took it to mean "Because" when you meant it to mean something else; I apologize.

There are people who do that though! crazy as it sounds.

[Former_Member]

I have mine on..... I set the bid to 0.05 about a month ago perhaps a bit more.
My stats for the past 30 days....
65k impressions, 509 clicks, $26.79 costs, $276 revenue.

All time....as in the past 2 n half months
135K Impressions 1142 clicks. 93.68 costs, $428 revenue.

By far better then it was IMO.... Before it was more like a 50% profit no matter how I played with it... which just wasnt worth it for any company to pricey.

[Former_Member]

To ananemone: Apology accepted :)
and I have to apologize also!
I re-read my first post and you could understand it as if I'd browse for my items to gain views. But I really don't. My views on each of my items would be much higher.
And all please be a little patient with me, when my posts are not too clear: English is not my first language and I do use words differently than most people, who have English as their first language.
Even my husband often has no clue what I am talking about.

When I now re-read my second post, I realized I wrote "now" instead of " in no way" . It totally bugs me, when I overlook mistakes like that, even when I check more than once before I post.

[Former_Member]

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