In conclusion, listing advertisements are advertisements that appear in the search results of Yahoo!, Google, etc., in conjunction with the search keywords that users search for, and are one of the media that are very suitable for acquiring users, as the advertisements are displayed to the apparent audience.
In Japan, Yahoo! Advertising and Google Advertising are two types of listing advertising, and Quartet Communications is developing its business as a specialized listing advertising agency!
- What is listing advertising anyway?
- I’m interested in listing ads and want to know more about them!
- I want to learn more about it because I want to run my own listing ads!
Our experts will thoroughly explain listing advertising to those who want to learn more about it.
Listing advertisements are full of technical terms and require knowledge and know-how in order to produce results. Therefore, for those who are not familiar with the Web, there may be many people who feel “I don’t understand! This page is for those who are not familiar with the Web.
On this page, we will explain what listing advertisements are so that even those who are not familiar with the Web can easily understand what they are. We hope you will use this page as a reference to understand what listing advertisements are and to decide whether or not you should distribute them.
1. What is a listing ad?
In conclusion, listing ads are posted in conjunction with the search keywords that users search for in the search results of Yahoo! and Google, etc. Therefore, ads are displayed to the apparent audience and are a very suitable distribution method for acquiring users.
Listing advertisements are said to be the most cost-effective of all web advertisements, and are recommended for those who want to advertise with a small budget and seek immediate results such as inquiries and requests for information.
In other words, it is no exaggeration to say that this is the basic advertising you should use if you are having trouble attracting customers.
We believe that this type of advertising can produce explosive results that are unimaginable with other types of advertising.
In fact, there have been cases where our clients have received 10 times the number of inquiries after starting to use listing ads, and the cost per acquisition has been reduced to one-tenth of the cost of newspaper ads.
Some of our clients have even seen their monthly sales increase by 1.5 times from the month after they started advertising.
Of course, we have also expanded our sales by utilizing listing ads.
We hope that this article will help you understand what listing ads are and help you decide whether or not you should run them.
2. Differences between Google and Yahoo! Listing Ads
There are two major types of listing advertisements: Google Listing Ads and Yahoo! Listing Ads
We believe that there are many people who are confused about which one to choose when managing their business, so we will introduce the features and points on how to choose one.
Features of Google Listing Ads and Points on How to Choose
Google Listing Ads are characterized by their ability to provide more detailed targeting than Yahoo!
For example, while Yahoo! Listing Ads do not allow targeting by “age” or “gender,” Google Listing Ads do.
Also, since a wide range of users use Google to conduct searches, Google Listing Ads are the best choice if you want to target your ads to users including young people.
For a complete guide to Google ads, click here! ↓↓.
The latest version for 2022: A complete guide to Google Ads! Explanation from overview to benefits, from each delivery method to the latest information.
Features of Yahoo! Listing Ads and how to choose the right one
Listing Ads are officially characterized by the fact that many of them are for “middle and senior citizens aged 40 and over” and “executives.
(See also: Are there actually many users in the management and housewife segments? Yahoo! JAPAN’s media value in gaining reach
Even when we are operating our own ads, they are often a good match with commercials that cannot be approached through Google Listing Ads, especially those of BtoB companies.
In addition, the support is more detailed, so it can be a reassuring ally when operating for the first time on your own.
For a complete guide to Yahoo! Advertising, click here! ↓↓
What is Yahoo! Advertising? Ads, its features, rates, and differences from Google Ads!
If possible, you should use both mediums before making a decision.
Each has its own characteristics and it is difficult to choose one, but we recommend that you operate both media for about 3 months if possible, and continue to operate the media with the best results.
If you have any questions about the operation or if you are not sure which medium is appropriate for your product or service, please feel free to contact us.
3. where listings are placed
First of all, let us introduce you to the places where listing advertisements are placed. Listing advertisements are displayed in the search results of search engines (Yahoo!, Google) as shown in the red frame below. The “ad” mark is a landmark.
difference between organic search (natural search) and listing ads Search result screen for listing ads
There is “Organic search (natural search),” which is similar to Listing Ads and is shown in the blue frame in the above figure. (If the word “ads” is not present, the organic search is displayed.)
Organic search is displayed in the search results just like listing ads, but the major difference is that you are not charged for each click. Listing ads are charged for each click, but organic search is not charged no matter how many clicks are made.
However, unlike listing ads, organic search is difficult to display intentionally, and it takes time to get a high ranking. （If you want to attract traffic to your website immediately, we recommend that you use listing ads.
4. 6 Advantages of Listing Ads
Next, we will tell you about the benefits of listing ads. In addition to the ability to direct searchers to a specified website, there are generally the following six advantages. In a word, listing advertisements can be said to be “advertisements that anyone can start with a low budget and that easily lead to results.
Easy to obtain product purchases and inquiries
You can start with a small amount of money.
You can start serving ads on the same day if you want to.
Anyone can distribute ads.
Advertising text can be freely created.
It is easy to improve the delivery of advertisements
4-1. easy to obtain product purchases and inquiries
Listing advertisements are easy to lead to the acquisition of product purchases and inquiries. In other words, it is highly cost-effective.
One of the greatest features of listing advertisements is that “advertisements related to search keywords can be displayed in search results. In other words, you can target “hot users” who are searching for your product.
For example, showing an apple shopping site to a user who searches for “apple mail order” will lead to the purchase of apples at a high rate. In this way, by targeting “users who are looking for a specific product,” it is possible to obtain product purchases and inquiries while maintaining a high level of cost-effectiveness.
If you are conscious of cost-effectiveness, you should set keywords in your listing ads that clearly indicate that the user is searching for a product.
4-2. you can start with a small amount
Whether or not you decide to use Google Ads, you can start with as little as one yen, and since you can change your budget in one-yen increments, it is recommended for advertisements with a small budget. Many of our clients start listing ads with a monthly budget of about 200,000 yen, but you can also start with as little as 50,000 yen for the ads themselves.
In many cases, it costs more than 1,000,000 yen to advertise in print media such as magazines and newspapers, so it is possible to start with a small amount.
Listing advertisements often produce results even with a small budget, so you should consider taking on the challenge even with a small amount of money. Please see below for details on how to achieve results with a small amount of money.
4-3. easy to improve results
Listing advertisements are easy to improve results because all the results of the advertisements are recorded as data.
When results are recorded in data, it is easy to distinguish between measures that were not effective and those that were, so it is clear where to improve results and what to do about it. For example, if the following data is available, it can be judged that the results can be improved by weakening Measure A and strengthening Measure B.
- Measure A: 200,000 yen spent, 5 inquiries received
- Measure B: 10 inquiries for 100,000 yen
In addition, since it is possible to conduct AB testing to check the impact of different nuanced ad texts and different colors on results by simultaneously distributing them to different audiences, it is easy to perform the PDCA cycle of verifying and adapting improvement measures.
4-4. Ads can be distributed on the same day if you want to.
Listing advertisements can be distributed on the same day at the fastest, so there is a high possibility that they will lead to immediate results. Even if you don’t want to serve ads on the same day, there is a feature that allows you to serve ads much faster than with paper ads. However, please note that it may not be possible to deliver ads on the same day because of the screening process that occurs before the ads are delivered.
Therefore, this type of advertising is effective for situations such as the following, where you need to attract customers in a hurry. We recommend that you use listing ads when you need to attract customers urgently.
- A seminar is to be held next month, but the seats are not filled at all.
- We’ve held a sale and need to get people to our page immediately.
In fact, we often allow about 10 days as a preparation period for our company to spend time on designing and preparing to obtain results. Whether or not you will get results from your listing ads depends in part on the account design, so you should take the time to prepare for the design.
4-5. Anyone with knowledge of listing advertisements can distribute them.
No special qualifications or permissions are required to distribute listings. Anyone with knowledge of listing advertising can distribute advertisements. However, an Internet environment, advertising fees (money), and a computer are obviously required. 4-6.
4-6. you can freely create your own ad text
You are free to create your own ad text to be displayed when a search is made. There are some rules regarding the number of characters, symbols that should not be used, and expressions, but basically, you can freely create your own ad text.
The process of creating ad text is in-depth, but to give you a rough idea of the key points, it is important to create ad text that is “as clickable as possible.
Include the keywords you have set in the ad text, include numbers, and so on, to make it easy for potential customers to click on your ad text. However, be careful not to use wording that deviates significantly from your actual services. For more details on the points to consider when creating an ad letter, please refer to the following page.
5. 3 Disadvantages of Listing Ads
Although we believe that listing ads have many advantages that those who are having trouble attracting customers should definitely incorporate them, it is also true that there are disadvantages.
We will now introduce the disadvantages of listing advertisements.
5-1. knowledge and know-how are required to obtain results such as inquiries
The biggest disadvantage of listing advertising is that it requires knowledge and know-how to obtain results such as inquiries. Without knowledge and know-how, you will not be able to achieve great results quickly.
For example, even if you only think about it briefly, listing advertisements have the following settings. If you do not use an agency and distribute your ads on your own, you will need to research and think about how you should operate the screen to set each item correctly and how you should set it in order to get the best results.
- Campaigns
- Ad text
- Keywords
- Exclude keywords
- Ads
- Distribution Area
- User Attributes
- Bid Pricing
- Conversion settings
If you are familiar with the Web, you may be able to deliver your ads by yourself, but if you are not familiar with computers, you will need a lot of patience to deliver your ads. Even if you could, it would be even more difficult to get results.
As you can see, listing advertisements have many areas that can be set freely, but there is a disadvantage in that you need to have knowledge and know-how to achieve results. If you are not confident in your ability to manage it by yourself, we recommend that you entrust the management to an advertising agency such as ours.
It is not uncommon for clients to ask us to analyze accounts that they have taught themselves to run, but have not been able to set up properly, and have continued to run with low effectiveness.
If you want to know what you need to do in “operation” to achieve results with listing ads, please refer to “What is Listing Ad Operation? Please refer to the explanation of the two tasks to be performed.
5-2. some industries require a large budget
Although you can start listing ads with a small amount of money, depending on your industry, you may need a large budget in order to obtain results. This is because some keywords are expensive.
Listing advertisements cost money for each click, and some of the more expensive keywords cost more than 5,000 yen per click.
As a concrete example, here are some keywords with high cost-per-click, as estimated by the Keyword Planner tool provided by the media. (Please note that these are estimates based on the tool and should be used only as a rough guide.)
- Pharmacist jobs: 5,476 yen
- Listing advertisement agency: 4,437 yen
- Truck purchase: 2,513 yen
- Funeral service: 1,234 yen
It is said that the closing rate of users who come in through listing ads is generally 1%, so if you are aiming for results with the keyword “pharmacist jobs,” you can estimate that you will need about 547,600 yen to acquire one inquiry.
Listing advertisements themselves can be started with a small amount of money, but as mentioned above, the cost-per-click is high for some industries, so if the budget is small, there may be cases where not even one result is obtained per month. As a rule of thumb, if your cost-per-click is over 1,000 yen, you will need a monthly budget of at least 100,000 yen.
If you are in a high cost-per-click type of business and can only prepare a small budget, it may be more cost-effective to attract customers through methods other than listing ads, such as direct mail and flyers, so we recommend that you also investigate other means of attracting customers besides listing ads.
5-3. advertisements cannot be distributed for keywords that are not searched for
Listing advertisements are served in response to keywords that users have searched for, so if you set keywords that have not been searched for in the first place, of course your advertisement will not be served. If you wish to advertise for unknown keywords that have not been searched for, you will need to use a different method.
6. the difference between listing ads and SEO
As you learn about listing ads, SEO is what you will be compared to.
SEO and listing ads are completely different, so let’s compare them here.
What is SEO (natural search)?
SEO is an abbreviation for “Search Engine Optimization” and is one of the marketing methods and measures to optimize for your search behavior.
SEO is a marketing technique and measure to optimize your search behavior. By displaying specific articles at the top of the list for specific keywords, you can increase the number of visitors and lead to inquiries and downloads of materials.
In fact, our blog has been ranked high for various big words such as “Google Ads,” “GDN,” and “Yahoo!
It takes time, but if you take the right measures in the right way, you can get inquiries for free.
The difference is “immediacy” and “cost
There are various differences, but the main differences are immediacy and cost.
Listing advertisements have an immediate effect, while SEO is superior in terms of cost. The following is a brief introduction of the characteristics of both.
Listing advertisements (search-linked advertising): You pay money to post information (ad text and links) that you want people to know about for the keywords you want to use.
SEO: Create articles for the keywords you want to target, focusing on the information you want search users to find.
Listing ads if you want to attract customers immediately. If you want to improve your cost performance in the long term, even if it takes time, we recommend working on SEO.
7. 3 Situations in which listing advertisements should be distributed
Listing advertisements are basically recommended for all those who are having trouble attracting customers, but if you are placed in any of the following three situations, we strongly recommend the distribution of listing advertisements.
If you do not have any problems after confirming the disadvantages explained above, please consider placing a listing ad.
7-1. if you want immediate “results” such as inquiries or product purchases
Listing advertisements can immediately target “hot users” who are searching for products, so if you want results such as inquiries or product purchases as soon as possible, we recommend that you run the advertisements.
If you are not advertising and are having trouble attracting customers, why not give it a try?
We often receive requests for ad sharing from customers in the following situations, so if you are in the same situation, please consider using our ad sharing service.
You are holding a sale and want to attract a lot of people through listing ads.
You want to notify potential customers of a new business service.
However, if you have a large customer list that you can approach, or if you can take other measures that are more likely to produce immediate results than listing ads, it would be better to try those measures before placing a listing ad. 7-2.
7-2. when the budget is small but you want to advertise to attract customers
If you have a budget of only 100,000 yen per month to spend on advertising, but you want to get as many inquiries as possible, you should try this method. We recommend listing ads even if you have a small budget for advertising. Many of our clients start listing ads with a small monthly budget of 50,000 yen or 100,000 yen.
Listing advertisements are highly cost-effective because they can target the hottest users, so there is a high possibility that you can get more results at a lower cost than with other methods of attracting customers.
If you are unsure which is the most cost-effective advertising, you can rest assured that you will choose listing advertising.
However, as mentioned above, depending on the industry, the cost-per-click for keywords is high. If you are in an industry with a high cost-per-click, you may be able to obtain more results by choosing other measures to attract customers, so please be careful.
7-3. when the business category corresponds to the type of business for which listing advertisements are likely to be effective
If the commercial products for which you are planning to distribute advertisements fall into any of the following three categories, we recommend that you distribute listing advertisements because they are more likely to be effective.
- Merchandise with high gross margins and profit margins
- Merchandise that can be expected to generate repeat purchases
- Merchandise with urgent needs
8. monthly budget and cost structure of listing ads
From this point on, we will explain the costs of listing ads in depth.
We understand that listing ads are effective in obtaining results, but there are many people who are concerned about the costs involved. We hope you will find this information useful.
8-1. the market price is about 200,000 yen/month
Based on the data of our projects in operation, we can tell you that the market price for listing advertisements is 200,000 yen per month.
If you are not sure how much to prepare your budget, we recommend that you start with 200,000 yen per month!
Although it is related to the fact that we claim to be an “agency with strong capabilities in small projects,” nearly 60% of our projects have a monthly budget of less than 200,000 yen. Since we have several thousand clients, we have a considerable number of projects under 200,000 yen per month in absolute terms.
Incidentally, some projects are managed with a monthly advertising budget of 10,000 yen, so it does not necessarily mean that 200,000 yen is necessary. Please use this as a reference to get an idea of the cost of listing advertisements.
The details of the costs for listing ads are explained in the article below. Please check it out as well. How to determine the cost of listing advertisements and the appropriate budget necessary to achieve your goals.
8-2. The cost is determined by two mechanisms
(1) Pay-per-click system
Listing advertisements are paid-per-click, which means that costs are incurred when an advertisement is clicked on.
It does not cost anything just to have an ad displayed in the search results.
As mentioned above, the cost per click for the keywords you set differs depending on the bidding system auction described below.
(2) Bidding-based auction
Cost-per-click is determined by auctions. An auction is a method in which bidders raise the price and the highest bidder ultimately wins the auction. A familiar example is the Yahoo! Auctions.
In listing advertisements, advertisers set a “bid price” in the form of “this is what I will pay per click for this keyword,” and an auction is conducted with users who bid in the same way. As a result of the auction, the advertisement’s listing position and cost-per-click are determined.
Because of the auction system, keywords for which many users bid and keywords that are profitable even at a high cost-per-click that can easily lead to sales tend to have high cost-per-click.
Next, we will explain how to start listing advertisements and how to do it.
9. two operating styles of listing advertisements
Next, we will explain the management styles of listing advertisements. There are two major styles of operation, so if you are considering the distribution of listing advertisements, please consider which style you should use.
If you strongly seek the “immediate effect” and “cost-effectiveness” that are the merits of listing ads, you can rest assured that you should first choose “agency management,” in which you leave the management of your ads to professionals. In-house operation is good if you have in-house knowledge of the Web and marketing, but if not, it is not recommended due to the high hurdles to achieving results.
9-1. operation by an advertising agency (outsourcing)
This is a style of outsourcing in which you entrust the delivery of listing advertisements to an advertising agency. Agency management is recommended if any of the following applies
- Insufficient knowledge and do not feel able to serve the advertisements.
- You do not want to spend time and effort on management.
- You want immediate results.
- You do not want to spend a lot of money on personnel costs and do not want to set up an
- in-house operation system.
- You do not want to frequently check the latest information on listing ads.
If you are thinking of entrusting your ads to an agency, please refer to the following article to learn how to choose the right one.
No more hesitation! How to choose a listing ad agency to avoid failure
9-2. in-house management (in-house)
This is a style in which you distribute listing advertisements in-house (by yourself). In-house management is recommended if any of the following apply
- You want to reduce advertising costs (labor costs will still be incurred).
- You want to accumulate know-how in-house.
- You want to make detailed adjustments in real-time.
10. 7 steps to start listing ads in your company
Listing advertisements can be started by following the seven steps below. Some of these steps can be omitted if you just want to distribute your listing, but we believe that these steps are necessary if you want to achieve results such as inquiries and product purchases.
- Open an account
- Think about the account structure
- Submit your ad
- Confirm that your ad has passed the screening process
- Set up tags to measure results and configure measurement settings
- Deposit advertising fees into your account
- Turn on the delivery settings
Even a beginner can understand the details of the process! How to Start Listing Ads! If you are considering advertising, please check the following page for more details.
11. frequently asked questions about listing ads
This is the end of the explanation of listing advertisements. Finally, we would like to introduce some questions that we often receive from those who are considering the distribution of listing advertisements and from our clients who entrust us with the management of their listings. We would be happy if they could be useful to you when you are considering placing a listing advertisement.
11-1 Should I aim for a higher listing rank?
You should aim for the top of the listing because it is easier to be clicked. However, it is necessary to raise the bid price of keywords, and there is a risk that the cost-per-click will be high, so it cannot be said that you should aim for the top position in general.
A higher cost-per-click will result in fewer clicks, which will likely result in fewer “conversions” (i.e., inquiries and product purchases). Therefore, with the exception of some products, such as urgent products, it is recommended to increase the number of clicks rather than aiming for higher rankings. To learn more about how to maximize conversions, please see the following article.
Two Important Metrics for Maximizing Conversions in Listing Ads
11-2. What is the average click-through rate?
Based on our 9 years of data, which we have been operating mainly for small and medium-sized corporate clients, the average click-through rate was 1.18%. Since the data is based on only our projects in a mix of industries, it is not a result that can be said for all of them, but we would be happy if you could use it as a reference.
Please note that the average click-through rate varies greatly depending on the industry and the order in which the advertisement is placed, so it cannot be said that the click-through rate is low because it is less than 1.18%.
Google AdWords] What is the average CTR and CVR for listings?
11-3. Should I choose Yahoo! Advertising or Google Advertising?
As far as search-linked advertising is concerned, Google ads are recommended for BtoB products, and for BtoC products, we recommend serving both. If it is difficult to distribute both, Google Ads with a wide reach should be chosen first.
Once again, the following are the characteristics of each medium, so please check to see which one applies to your product.
Characteristics of Yahoo!
Wide female reach (due to the large number of women using it)
To put it another way, there are many users with low literacy.
To learn more about Yahoo! What is Yahoo! Advertising? Features, Rates, and Differences from Google Ads for a detailed explanation.
Features of Google Ads
Suitable for a variety of products and services
Many users use smartphones (because the default browser search engine is Google)
If you would like to know more about Google Ads, please refer to [Google Ads Guide], which explains the overview, benefits, and each delivery method.
12. Listing Ad Success Stories
Finally, here are some examples of actual listing ads we have delivered!
At Quartet Communications, there is no minimum budget for advertisements, and most of our clients have been successful without spending much.
The client we are introducing here also spent 300,000 yen per month for advertising, and the results exceeded their goals.
We have the know-how to compete even with small budgets, so please contact us if you are interested.
13. Summary
Listing advertisements are web advertisements that are posted in conjunction with the search keywords that users search for in the search results of Yahoo! In Japan, two types of listing advertisements belong to this category: Yahoo!
It is said to be the most cost-effective of all web advertisements, and is recommended for those who want to advertise with a small budget and seek immediate results such as inquiries and requests for information.
There are two management styles for listing advertisements: agency management and in-house management, so please choose the method that best suits your company and distribute your advertisements.
Contact us!
https://quartet-communications.com/contact
