I launched a watch ecommerce site 2 weeks ago and have averaged 30 uniques daily since day 1. I used Bidvertiser, but converted to Adbrite for the cheap clicks ($0.05 max CPC). In the 14 days since launch I've had 2 sales. I would like suggestions on bringing my average daily uniques closer to 100/day and bring sales up with that as well, which mean I need more targeted uniques. Any suggestions?
So that's a .4 conversion rate at $.05 per click? To tell you the truth, that doesn't sound too bad...especially considering that this isn't search advertising. Have you tried advertising by both keyword AND by demographic? You should screw with that to see which works best. If you want more qualified traffic, then paid search traffic is the quick way, and natural search traffic is your long term strategy. Of course, that's probably not telling you anything new. And paid search traffic for the terms you want is probably pretty expensive, and the keyphrases are probably already competitive. But you could come up with a few other ways to bring in more traffic that would be a bit more viral. The traffic itself isn't always qualified in viral campaigns, but if played right, it's probably the cheapest way to get ROI. You might start with a local contest. Ask for the best excuses people have used for being late. And the grand prize could be a new watch. Or you could try to make it even more focused, and have a contest for which guy used the best excuse for being late for a DATE. Then the winner gets a set of his/her watches. Chances are, the more local something like that is, the more press coverage you would get. If you had a few good excuses lined up from the start, you shouldn't have too much trouble getting some coverage from a local DJ or perhaps a newspaper. Maybe even from some local 'relationship coaches'. Would that convert to sales? Maybe. If not, then try something else. If it does work, move on to the next city.
I love the contest idea. I will definitely try that one out. Thanks a lot for the long post and great ideas!
Perhaps start a blog about watches? If you like the topic enough, it won't be that boring... or maybe a squidoo lens would be nice... you could outsource someone to build it up.
Justin: Where owuld I find someone to outsource this task to? How much would you estimate it costing?
Posting on ebay and adding a link sounds like a great idea. The only problem is ebay won't allow it. You may get lucky a couple times but ebay will catch on. I know this because I did it when my site was new and had quite a bit of success. Then ebay kept canceling my listings.
I'm really surprised to hear that they do that. I use eBay quite often and it is a great idea to link your website into there, but I've never ehard of eBay actually pulling your auctions for linking to your websites.