Given the high price tag would it be recommended to mention the price in the ad text to disqualify those looking for cheap copies? Wouldn't it also put off genuine buyers?
One more question.... the merchant doesn't actually do any pre-selling, in fact it just lists the features of the product and that's it. What criteria do you consider when deciding whether to PPC to a pre-selling page of your own or straight to the merchant?
Thanks
Does that answer your question?
I am responsible for marketing for my company and we sell relatively expensive items ($1000 - $3500) exclusively over the Internet. So I have "struggled" with the same dilemma that you are now dealing with.
There are 2 approaches you can and should take here.
The first it to use price as a prequalifier in your ad copy so that those who are looking for the $13 widget will not click on your ad when your widget is $1500. We did this with our ads and we did save on ad spend and saw minimal difference in sales from PPC for those campaigns.
The other approach would be to not mention your price and then concentrate on communicating your value proposition and the features and benefits that your $1500 widget has that the $13 widget does not have...thus convincing the shopper that your widget is well worth the money. The comparison can begin in your ad copy.
I remember a story I heard in one of my marketing classes that I will never forget. There was a barber shop who was the only one in the area for several years. At the time, they were charging $15.00 for a haircut. One day, another barber shop opened up right across the street and put a sign outside that said $8.00 hair cuts. Of course, this had a big impact on the amount of customers who were going to the $15 barber and business began to decline.
The barber wasn't sure what to do...lower prices, or find a way to explain to customers that his hair cuts are better. He didn't have much money at all for marketing. He decided to rent a billboard that was between his shop and the $8 shop. The billboard simply stated "We Fix $8.00 Hair Cuts".
It didn't take long before business was back to normal.
Remember...not everyone shops on price alone. Some shop on price and others shop on the benefits offered by a service or product. You should have campaigns that cater to each of these shoppers.
Kevin French
I don't think many would be willing to shell out an extra $1300 on a product that's not essential. This is an impulse-buying product, something that's hot and in demand and the only reason someone buys it is because it's the latest craze.
without knowing the particulars of the product, its difficult to provide specific advice. I would have a hard time ever thinking of a $1500 item as an impulse purchase.
Your mileage may vary. I've tried this with other clients with more moderately priced products, and it didn't work at all.
So try a test campaign, and see what you get.
The I wrote AdWords ads for each page, listing the price for the most requested item on that page (which was usually the cheapest). Someone looking for the specific items would go to the proper page. Someone looking for the generic item sees the ad for the "cost in the hundreds" page.
This approach is working well, selling many of these every day, including the ones in the low thousands (haven't sold any of the really expensive products, but those ads only get the occasional click). I'd suggest tyring not to cram too much information about all variations on the product in one page, but spread it out with an easy way to move between them and explain the difference.
I like to include prices in my ad copy to pre-qualify the visitors, but make sure you stay on top of price updates that happen on the merchants site.
