Google Merchant Promotions: Benefits Free Shipping and Discounts
Google merchant promotion
This function, which has been launched mainly overseas, has the great advantage of being able to display unique benefits and strongly promote your own products in shopping advertisements, where it is difficult to differentiate from competitors for the same product. In fact, in Japan, it will be a function that will be gradually released from around October 2022, and some people may not have seen it yet.
This time, we will carefully explain everything from the basic information of Merchant promotion to setting methods and points to note.
- What are Merchant promotions?
Specific display image and advantages/effects
- How to use Merchant promotions
When to use Promotion Builder
When to use promotional feeds
- Notes on Merchant promotions
>Some promotion types are not allowed
>Avoid overly restrictive promotions
>Promotional discounts should not be reflected in the price on the product page
>Register well in advance for promotions
>The following attributes cannot be changed after approval
>Text that stands out excessively is NG
>Clearly state the value in the title of the promotion
- summary
What are Merchant promotions?
Merchant promotions are features that allow you to display unique offers, such as discounts, giveaways or free shipping, on products displayed in Google Shopping ads or free listings.
The Merchant promotion itself was announced in November 2018, and was not yet supported in Japan at the time, but on Google Help, Japan is included in the available countries, and it can actually be set in the Google Merchant Center.
Specific display image and advantages/effects
As an example in the United States, when products using Merchant promotions are displayed in shopping ads or free listings, "SPECIAL OFFER" and "SALE" are displayed in the upper left corner of the product image as shown below.
If you click to display the details, you can deliver privilege information along with product information to users in the form of "gift gift with purchase over a certain amount" or "10% off with coupon code".
"Get a gift with a purchase of $100 or more in beauty products and perfumes" (actual search result display: US setting)
The string with the scissors icon is the coupon code
Among various products lined up, if words such as "SPECIAL OFFER" and "SALE" are displayed, I think it will be more eye-catching than other products.
Google's product image policy states that images containing promotional elements are not acceptable. On the other hand, if you use Merchant promotion, the PR icon will be displayed on the product image as shown above, so it can be said to be a great advantage from that point of view.
Reference: Google Merchant Center Help - Product image link [image_link] - Image guidelines
Also, for products that are handled by many EC sites, multiple site information may be displayed after clicking the product. Since the products you sell are common, it is easy to compete on price, but by using Merchant promotions, you will be able to differentiate yourself from your competitors.
In fact, in Google Help and explanation videos, compared to when there is no Merchant promotion, the click rate (increase in the number of clicks) and the average conversion rate rise by 28%, which can lead to an increase in revenue.
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| courtesy: Google images |
How to use Merchant promotions
First, make sure you meet the following requirements to be eligible for Merchant promotions:
- Available at checkout or by time of purchase
- Expires within 6 months (183 days) of promotion start date
- Comply with promotion policies and editorial requirements
In particular, be sure to review promotion policies and editorial requirements in advance. If the content that was implemented without confirmation was in violation of the policy, there may be cases where it will be disapproved.
When actually setting up Merchant promotions, there are two main methods:
- Use the "Promotion Builder" available within Google Merchant Center
- Create a promotional feed
First, I will explain how to set up using the first "Promotion Builder". This method is relatively easy and is the recommended method.
When to use Promotion Builder
In the Google Merchant Center, select "Promotions" from "Marketing" on the left menu. You can start setting up a new promotion by clicking the "+" button.
Proceed to enter “① Promotion type”.
Once you have selected a promotion category, you will proceed to set up the detailed items. Here, select "Present" → "Receive a gift".
Enter your promotion details and click Continue.
Go to “② Promotion settings”.
Set "Promotion title and ID" and "Product". In "Products", select the rules for products to be promoted from the following three.
Create a filter to apply this promotion to specific products
1. If you want to target products with or without specific values for "item id[id]", "product type[product type]", "brand[brand]" or "item group id[item group id]" in your product feed, set this here.
2. Apply this promotion only to products that have this promotion ID in your product feed
3. Create a column called "promotion ID [promotion ID]" in your connected product data and add "promotion title and You can also target products that include the promotion ID set in "ID".
Select this if you want to target all products
without setting special rules to apply the promotion to all products.
Set "Promotion Code", "Start Date and End Date".
If you leave the promo code blank, the user can receive benefits without entering the promo code when purchasing the product.
Enter each item and click "Create promotion" to complete the setting.
Once completed, it will be reviewed by Google. If you successfully pass the review, you will be able to view the promotion.
When to use promotional feeds
If you need to manage a large number of promotions, the second configuration option, the promotions feed, introduced in How to use Merchant promotions, is for you.
Also in the Google Merchant Center, click "Promotion feed" in the upper right corner of the "Promotion" screen from "Marketing" on the left menu to proceed to the settings of the promotion feed.
Select basic information, a name, how to connect the feed, and connect the promotional feed you created.
The required fields for promotion feeds are:
- Promotion ID [promotion_id]
- Product eligible for promotion [product_applicability]
- Coupon code required [offer_type]
- Promotion title [long_title]
- Promotion start date [promotion_effective_dates]
- Promotion redemption channel [redemption_channel]
- Promotion Destination [promotion_destination]
In addition to the above, each item is prepared according to the content of the promotion, so please enter the necessary information.
Detailed specifications for each item can be found in this help article.
Personally, if you're looking to set up Merchant promotions in your feed, unless you have a background where you have a lot of control over your feed and want to fine-tune multiple promotions, often with case-by-case separation, I'd go with Promotion Builder. I found it easier to set up using it.
Notes on Merchant promotions
Merchant Promotions is a convenient way to display additional information, but there are a number of specific policies and requirements that you should be aware of. This time, I picked up some rules that I especially want to know in advance.
Some promotion types are not allowed
For example, the following promotions are NG. There are other prohibited items in the policy, so please check in advance before using.
- Giveaways of samples or trials, usually free goods or services
- Gift cards outside your own store
- The current price of the product is less than 4 dollars, or a discount of less than 5%
- Trade-in
- Cashback by mail or email
- Sweepstakes
- Use of text that promotes products without discounts
Avoid overly restrictive promotions
We don't allow promotions that apply only to some customers or that are only available with certain payment methods. Examples include:
8 dollars off for teachers and students
12 dollars off on your birthday
10% off with Visa credit card
10% off for survey responses
Promotional discounts should not be reflected in the price on the product page
If the promotion offers a $ 8 discount on a $ 80 item, the price on the product landing page should be displayed as $ 80, not $ 72. (It can be misunderstood that the discount is 8 dollars from 72 dollars.)
Show promotions in your cart or during the checkout process.
Register well in advance for promotions
After you set up your Merchant promotion, it will be reviewed by Google. Considering the time required for the review process, it's best to complete the setup at least 24 hours before the promotion starts.
The following attributes cannot be changed after approval
Once approved, the following attributes cannot be changed. Please note that if you need to change it, you will have to start over from the beginning and go through the review process.
- Country
- currency
- Applies to
- language
- Merchant ID
- Promotion ID
- Start time
Text that stands out excessively is NG
Punctuation marks, symbols, unnecessary capitalization, unnatural repetition of words, and unnecessary text are not acceptable in Google Ads, but so are Merchant promotions.
Avoid trying to stand out too much, as this will cause you to be disqualified.
NG example: BUY NOW / ☆★ Buy now ☆★ / Buy more, get more discount!
Clearly state the value in the title of the promotion
Titles must include specific promotional value and discount information. It should not be a generic promotional phrase (e.g., "spring shoe sale").
Describe the item in the title and include the price if possible.
- NG: Receive a free item with purchase
- OK: Receive a free memory card worth 16 dollars at the time of purchase
Summary
Some advertisers are already using it, but it hasn't been long since the function was released in Japan, and I have the impression that it hasn't fully penetrated yet. However, Merchant promotion has already been actively used overseas for several years, and many companies are doing their own PR.
It's a very useful feature that not only makes your ad creative stand out, but also gives you a reason to buy from your own site instead of a competitor's site.
The promotion builder makes setting it up easy, so why not give Merchant promotions a shot at boosting your acquisitions?
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