White madness is a passion that many people devote themselves to. The interest in it is growing, along with the development of the ski infrastructure and the number of resorts where you can use well-prepared slopes of various difficulty levels. As a consequence, the demand for good-class ski equipment and accessories is also increasing. And here comes the chance for business. Remember, however, that sellers face a lot of competition in this industry. Therefore, a really good advertisement for the ski shop is needed. So what? See what to look for.
Positioning your ski shop is essential
Internet Marketing is a very broad concept. It includes not only activities strictly understood as advertising, but also those that serve to increase the visibility of the website on the web. More specifically: in Google search results. Why is it so important? You probably know the answer to this question perfectly well. After all, you also use the search engine every day – not only when you need information on a general topic. The data you find online also affects your purchasing decisions.
You have to remember this when running a ski shop as well. Even if you focus on selling in a stationary channel, for example, you run a point in a winter resort, you need additional promotion. It will allow customers to reach you, and not the competition, which, after all, lurks, sometimes literally, just around the corner.
Meanwhile, a customer who has decided to buy new ski goggles or poles can check information about the one he or she is interested in in a few seconds before entering the store. What will he think when you are not on Google?
Even more important is the advertisement of a ski shop, which operates mainly in the Internet space. When running such a business, online visibility is ABSOLUTE basis. How to get it?
There are many ski shops on the market. In addition, the assortment that you offer to lovers of white madness is also available in typical sports stores – these are large chain stores with a stable position on the market. The way to break through this metaphorical wall is to invest in positioning.
SEO activities will allow you to consistently and step by step break through to the top of the search results. You must be aware that this is not a road that will take days or weeks to complete. You will probably wait several months for the first results. However, if right now you are starting to wonder if this is a good idea, the answer is YES. Provided that the campaign related to positioning will be carried out by specialists, after an in-depth analysis. There is no other way here.
What do SEO activities involve and how to plan them?
Positioning aims to make Google’s algorithms consider the website of your online store as valuable in the context of specific queries placed in the search engine by users. Of course, these are phrases directly related to your product range, such as “ski shop”. “Accessories for skiers” or more specific, such as “ski poles”, “base wax” and the like. For this to be possible, Google’s algorithms must evaluate your website as valuable. For this you need, among others:
– a properly built site map with a clear division into product categories,
– optimized URLs of individual subpages,
– metadata optimization to include keywords related to the content with high potential,
– increasing the functionality of the website – so that it loads quickly, is responsive and safe.
The most important element of the entire process is the saturation of the website with content that will contain carefully selected key phrases. They must be properly selected – preferably as a result of an audit and analysis of the potential of individual keywords. Attention! In the case of ski shops, which usually offer a very extensive range, long-tail positioning may be a good solution, i.e. one that uses a wide range of phrases accompanying the most important ones. This allows you to increase your search potential.
Is positioning profitable?
It can be said that an advertisement for a ski shop without positioning will never be a complete marketing strategy. The reason is simple: SEO and advertising activities drive each other, but positioning allows you to maintain the effects in the long term. The results achieved once, provided that the store continues the SEO strategy, will allow you to stay in a high position for a long time. This strategy also brings a good level of return on investment, and the results get even better month by month. So it’s worth starting with positioning, unless you want to get sales results as quickly as possible – then your best ally will be Google Ads and Facebook Ads.
Advertising of a ski shop in Google Ads
You already know what role SEO activities can play in advertising your ski shop. However, it’s time to address the recipient directly – so as to guide them through the marketing funnel towards making the purchase. Ideally, it should come back many times more. For this purpose, it is worth using the tools available on the Google Ads platform.
Google Ads is the most widely used advertising system in the world. No wonder – Google is the main source of information for most people. Therefore, promoting yourself in this search engine is the most logical action that can be taken. However, it is worth knowing that Google Ads is not only advertising in the search engine. On the contrary. With the help of this platform, you can also advertise on external websites, and with great efficiency.
Let’s take a closer look at the most suitable forms that a ski store ad can take in Google Ads.
Sponsored Links
This is the most basic and highly effective form of promotion. What is it about? It is very easy! Running this type of campaign means that the link to your offer appears above the search results on Google. Of course, this happens if the user enters a password related to your scope of activity, i.e. he will search for ski bindings, a helmet or ski boots. Such contextual links may also appear when you enter a topic-related query.
What is the effectiveness of advertising in the form of sponsored links? High, because many recipients do not pay attention to whether the link is promotional and clicks on it. Sponsored links can effectively help you, for example, when some of the phrases you want to promote are extremely demanding. This form of advertising allows you to “skip the line”.
PLA ads
Advertising your ski shop this way is a great idea – especially in the high ski season. Then, inquiries about specific products are directed by determined customers. They need concrete things. They get them above the search results or on the side – these are boxes with specific products, along with a photo, price and link to the offer in your store. The power of this solution cannot be overestimated – it is a form of promotion that increases the likelihood of a successful sale.
Google Display Network
These are contextual ads that go not so much to the search engine as to external websites in the form of banners. Importantly, they are displayed not to random recipients, but to those selected, e.g. on the basis of demographic data or previously viewed pages. Here, remarketing becomes a very important tool – it is about personalized ads that are displayed to users after visiting your store. Perhaps they had almost bought one of the products, but eventually withdrew. Remarketing advertising will remind them of the offer and make it easier to return to it.
Advertising of the ski shop on Facebook and other social media
The ski shop operates in the B2C area. That is why Facebook is the most natural environment to conduct promotional activities here. But how to plan them? On the one hand, you should take care of image-building activities aimed at building brand recognition. I am talking primarily about an attractive fan page that will support content marketing activities.
However, it is also worth taking care of paid promotion – especially in the period of growing interest in ski products. It is then good to think about the advertising of the ski shop taking the form of, for example, a promotion of a post with a link to the blog about the choice of equipment, or contextual promotion. On Facebook, you can also take advantage of the possibilities offered by remarketing – it’s worth doing it.
Should the ski shop also promote itself on other social media? Here, for example, advertising on Pinterest will work well, and also, perhaps, on Instagram. However, if you are not sure whether these forms of communication will fit into your strategy, focus on other communication channels.
Effective advertising of a ski shop, carried out with due regard to the seasonality, but continuously, will allow you to effectively increase your visibility and brand recognition.
