Where's Zazzle?

[LTurg]

I just did a Google search for "Funny Mother's Day" cards and nothing comes up from Zazzle on the first search page and Zazzle doesn't show until 3 pages in, about 3/4 way down.  Also, there's nothing in the "Sponsored" showcase area at the top of page and I scrolled to the end.

Ok, so I thought maybe it's not a popular item (hard to believe) so I searched "Personalized gifts" and Zaz only comes up one time in a personal Instagram link and again under "People also searched for" section.

Really! What the heck is going on? Zazzle search results used to be plastered all over the internet!  Are we to do ALL the advertising/marketing and they have NO skin in the game or am I out of touch on this???

[Jadendreamer13]

I noticed it yesterday. Same issue.

[CLC]

...it also happened on the 8, 9 and 10th of this month, not sure what is going on, it's like they shut the advertising off for a few days

[Will]

That’s amazing considering the amount of money that zazzle is making out of all the store owners (about 500,000) charging marketing fees of 35% per sale, zazzle says “The Marketing Royalty Fee applies whenever a sale is referred, whether by you, another Ambassador, or Zazzle”

I am just saying 

[Windy]

On the other hand, when I was watching CNN yesterday, there was a Zazzle TV ad. I had not seen that before.

[Jadendreamer13]

I’ve seen Zazzle ads on TV around Christmas time, but not Easter.

[LMGildersleeve]

Saw a Zazzle ad on the History Channel last week. I thought I was seeing an Etsy ad.

[BevStuff]

You're right. I googled Funny Mothers Day Cards and Zazzle wasn't a line listing until page 3, middle.
Nobleworks, Moonpig & Etsy, even Walmart & Amazon are getting big time promo in the thumbnail scroll adds.

[Anne]

@LTurg I noticed that too, for many different products. Just did a search for "Funny Mother's Day cards" on Brave search in Firefox (not sure if the browser also affects search). Zazzle comes up halfway page 2. Probably too far down to result in clicks. I also don't know if Google is playing a role in this, as Google sometimes also does strange things.

[Anne]

I just went to take a look at Pinterest and see how things are showing there. It is striking that when I click on one of my links, hardly any other products from Zazzle are shown. They used to be all over the place, but now it's Etsy, Wayfair or other sites. 

You're just so funny, @LMGildersleeve   "I thought I was seeing an Etsy ad" 😂

[LTurg]

Yes, this is disturbing. I just hope it's a transition of some sort going on.  I can see if Zazzle turned off advertising for whatever reason but why is it not coming up on Google in just a regular search??? That can't be turned off. Very confusing.

[Flobaby]

Some folks are starting to see Zazzle ads on TV, so maybe they're doing A/B testing to see how much comes in via TV only.

[Mariholly]

Well, I'm not sure how profitable that could really be. These days, not advertising on Google, Instagram, TikTok, and Pinterest feels like a waste of time. It's just my opinion, but based on my own experience — I personally don't feel motivated by a TV ad; I'm much more inclined to click on an ad on IG or Pinterest. In fact, I've always been surprised that their accounts on IG or Pinterest aren't much more prominent. Just a thought.

[ColsCreations]

I haven't paid for a real/live TV subscription in almost 10 years. Anything I watch comes from streaming stuff on the internet. So when you all say you are seeing Zazzle adds on TV - you mean like, real, old-fashioned TV commercials? If so, wow! That's not cheap. If Zazzle is/has-been advertising on mainstream TV, that's huge to me. Never occurred to me that Z is advertising on platforms where the user isn't already on their computer to see them.

[Flobaby]

Just scroll this thread, a couple people have reported seeing them.  I'm with you guys though, haven't seen actual TV commercials in forever (maybe some Superbowl clip repostings on social media, but that's it).

[Windy]

Yes, what I saw on CNN was a real old fashioned TV commercial! I was very surprised. It was a nice long ad, too.

[Barbara]

Ditto, @ColsCreations . We have a few TV's in the house, but they all use Roku and we all watch YouTube on our TV's. It's where I'm currently learning watercolor techniques and a few other things like that, the things that, long ago and far away, I was able to find on TV. (Remember Bob Ross?) Anyway, living in my own little bubble, I thought most people don't watch regular TV for anything but Netflix or Prime.

Colorwash's Home

[Barbara]

I found these stats on a marketing company's site:

• TV ads account for 26% of the world’s total advertising expenditure. 
• 77% of internet users between ages 15 and 35 use YouTube. 
• 70% of people purchase a product after seeing it in a YouTube advertisement. 
• 50% of marketers incorporate YouTube into their marketing strategy. 
• Paid YouTube mobile advertising is 84% more likely to attract viewer attention compared to TV ads. 
• 52% of consumers say they tune out TV ads. 

Also noted on the site was "TV ads are more expensive and typically require more resources to produce. TV ads usually have higher production budgets due to the need for expensive equipment and talent, while YouTube ads can be produced with a smaller budget and a more streamlined production process."

So, my question is this: Why isn't Zazzle spending its advertising budget on YouTube?

Colorwash's Home

[LTurg]

Interesting stats.  Thank you.

[SimplyDesigned]

They do? I see Zazzle ads every day in Youtube. YT does personalized advertising. Looking up videos about potty training? You're gonna get diaper ads. I looked at getting my music put up in places like spotify, now I can't stop seeing ads for Distrokid.

"70% of people purchase a product after seeing it in a YT advert?" I've got thousands of watched hours and never purchased a single thing at all. 

"Paid YT mobile advertising is 84% more likely to attract viewer attention compared to TV ads" What even is YT mobile advertising? All ads are seen across all of YT, there is no mobile/desktop exclusivity.

My point in calling these two things out is that any "marketing company" can use whatever verbiage they want to make people think they should be using THEIR company to advertise with. We don't know who this company is, these sounds like a bunch of AI statistics. Is this their own hired research or did they have a 3rd party find these statistics? That's also pretty important. biases are a real thing.  Radio advertising is still very alive and well (and was the king of advertising when every car had a radio but not everyone had a TV) and that's not even mentioned.  Take things you read like this with a grain of salt.

[Barbara]

YouTube does a deplorable job at targeting me with ads, though I occasionally see Etsy ads, but they have a lot of art/craft products, whereas Zazzle doesn't, and I never see Z ads. Maybe they can't figure out where I sit in demographics.

As for the source of information, a marketing company giving statistics is likely a better source than our own or someone else's suppositions.

Colorwash's Home

[Windy]

I find that the minute I actually place an order for any kind of home goods, I immediately get ads suggesting I buy exactly what I just bought. It's pretty funny, and a big waste of advert dollars.

[LTurg]

I agree with the other comments. The little TV I watch either has no commercials or the commercials are geared towards the app itself. I also watch over the air antenna TV and the programs are older so commercials target seniors with annoying health insurance ads & health issue stuff but no regular varied commercials.

I haven't seen a Zazzle commercial but if it's just about Zazzle, that doesn't showcase individual products, so that doesn't help creators get their shot at having their product seen.

If they're testing commercial advertising, maybe it's to hit a certain demographic or people with disposable income (because that's what it takes if you have to spend $7 to ship a $3 greeting card) but that's a whole other rant.😊

[Mariholly]

Well, I don’t know, all of this really makes you think. Running an ad campaign isn’t just about placing an ad here or there — it’s a global strategy, and it’s usually backed by a whole series of marketing actions across different areas. A company like Z should have a strong marketing team, and now that a significant part of our sales goes to marketing, it shouldn’t be something improvised.

[xBrie]

This is extra crazy since they are basically now charging us for their marketing even when it's self referred 🙁

[ievajen]

for me showing on a 1st google page, at bottom, but on a 1st page 

[Mariholly]

Two days in a row without sales… will there be a third? Feeling less and less motivated each day.