March 5, 2014
By BJ Cook,
360° Image capturing has been around and growing in popularity for some time now. We’d say it’s nearing its’ “teen celeb” years and is prime for a starring role in today’s advertising stage.
Shopping online can bring a consumer many steals and deals, but the one downfall is that you can’t really see or feel what the product is like unless you are willing or able to find a store near you. After many years of the Brick ‘N Mortar vs. the Online Shopper wars, 360° images will be coming to a search result page near you at a rapid pace in 2014 like your favorite teen heartthrob. A consumer will be able to find a full 360° product view on an advertiser’s website and in Google PLA’s!
PLA’s have grown in popularity and outpacing the previous generation of Google Ads and replacing them with Product Listing Ads that showcase an image, description, and price of the item you were searching for on Google.com or Google Shopping. And they don’t stop there. You’ll find these types of ads pulling information from a feed on Amazon, eBay, and more! If you haven’t already given PLA campaigns a try, get with the latest craze…YOLO.
What can you expect to see?
- An increase in traffic for PLAs
- A decrease in traffic for Text Ads
- An increase in competition pushing CPCs up
- A learning curve associated with non-keyword target campaigns and feed optimization
Once you are ready with solid campaigns, sign up with Google to use their 360° imaging. Create an account, include your product feed, and send them your products for scanning. Get ready for the screaming fans (conversions and interest) when you see your products spinning in the SERP’s. If you aren’t sick from all the sugar and cheesiness in this post, keep reading.
What kind of specs does the Google 360° program require?
- Approved 360° account
- Send all color variations of products
- Don’t send over scratched or damaged packaging/products
- No product labels allowed
- Dimensions = 5” x 5” x 6” and 22” x 22” x 18”
- Only products with a product page on Google Shopping should be sent
- More depending on your product
Don’t get distracted by all the flashing lights and forget to create a shipment and upload your product feed in the process! How do you know if your products should be shipped? Check the status column in your account. If you complete all the shipping steps properly, an address will populate to send products to.
Google not to be outdone, has really stepped up their game for advertisers and this brand new feature will not disappoint consumers. Contact us - we’ll make you a PLA “Belieber” and have you singing “Like Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh!” in no time and maybe even make you our honorary “Boyfriend”!
