We are committed to serving auctioneers as a trusted digital partner. We invest heavily in the industry because we know that combining the right auctioneer technology and marketing toolkit with the most trusted online buying environment for bidders, enables auctioneers to maximize asset value and run successful online businesses.
This is the sixth email in a series of marketing guides to support auctioneers on everyday marketing needs and best practices.
If you have any questions or would like us to cover a certain topic, please feel free to send a note to your account manager and we will add it to the list of guides in the works for the coming months.
Why should bidders pick my auction?
In the last few newsletters, we talked about the User Interface (UI) and the User Experience (UX) which focus on having a deep understanding of users, what they need, what they value, how they shop, their abilities, their limitations, and their satisfaction level to ensure we find the ideal buyer for every auction. However, we can’t just find the ideal buyer once and then market all asset categories to them on every auction. Each asset category will have its own targeted buyer. Every auction will require a smart strategy to ensure the ideal buyer is identified and reached. To have a deep understanding of the ideal buyer or the “who”, we need to start with the right demographics such as age, gender, education, career, occupation, location, and income. This will help us identify an accurate “buyer persona”. A “buyer persona” is the profile of a bidder which defines your target buyer for each specific asset category; this profile is a detailed description of your ideal bidder who will convert into a buyer. Understanding your “buyer persona” will also help you make marketing, advertising, and sales strategy decisions. At this point, how will you know which publication will be most effective? The only way to know is to measure performance. Continuously measuring and analyzing your marketing strategy is the ONLY way you can ensure your campaigns perform well on every auction. If you are utilizing a third party, be sure to request performance results. Knowing your Return on Investment “ROI” is essential when allocating a marketing budget for each publication. Notifying bidders in a timely manner is another crucial component to ensure your marketing campaigns perform well. The time that it will take for your marketing campaigns to be successful varies based on your asset category and industry. We recommend auction catalogs to be uploaded and marketing campaigns to start at least 14 days prior to the auction. This benefits you on multiple levels; it gives Google crawlers enough time to pick up your content and gives your bidders a chance to be aware of your auction, plan due diligence and make the decision to buy.
Once you’ve incorporated everything we have covered in the last 5 newsletters, how can you then ensure bidders pick you when they decide to buy at auction?
In the last three decades, online shopping (eCommerce) has gone from barely existing to now a multibillion-dollar industry. People are getting comfortable buying assets online because businesses are investing significantly to replicate the in-person buying experience, online. There’s not much difference between shopping online and shopping in person anymore; in fact, the online experience is becoming so seamless, convenient and efficient, that often it is the preferred choice for buyers.
Have you ever wondered what proportion of people shop online? According to Statista.com by 2025 the US population is expected to be at about 347 million, of which, over 291 million people in the US are expected to buy goods and services online. That’s about 83% of the US population. That’s more than 3 in every 4 people you may know who will be shopping online, if they are not already.
Most people are shopping online because of its convenience. Today, bidders are able to find all the details about assets they are interested in from the comfort of their office or home. Therefore, it is critical to provide detailed descriptions and focus on the quality of your images and videos to boost online engagement.
Even if bidders end up attending a live auction to purchase in-person, their bidder journey starts online. Everything we’ve reviewed so far tells us, the competition online is mainly over user experience and customer service.
- A bidder’s journey starts with awareness – this is where they research the desired assets.
- It then transfers to consideration – at this stage they are dedicated to compare between assets.
- The last stage is where they ultimately make a decision – this is where they decide to purchase.
When it comes to online shopping, bidders are a lot more informed today than ever before. They research assets, sellers, past buyer experience, and all of what they find is considered when they are ready to make a decision and purchase. Therefore, it is important to understand the bidder journey and focus on the quality of your online content as it may affect your in-person (live) bidders as much as your online bidders. Set yourself up for success both online and offline by investing the right level of time and attention to your online catalog.
This means, in order for you to ensure bidders pick YOU when they decide to buy at an auction, they should be able to:
- Easily find you online – getting to the top of search engine results pages is key
- Read happy customer reviews about your business
- Be able to browse your assets easily on any device
- Conduct proper due diligence from the comfort of their office or home by looking at detailed descriptions, clear photos with good lighting, and even videos of your assets up for auction
If bidders feel they can trust you, they will pick you when they are ready to make a purchase!
Make sure you keep up with these series of emails! If you miss one, reach out to your account manager and they will be delighted to share.
Still to come, our last email of these series…
- How easy is it for bidders to find me?