More than 50 million products are listed on Walmart Marketplace (walmart.com). With such a massive quantity of items selling at Walmart, there is intense competition. To counter such hefty competition, the question arises: how can you start Walmart advertisements?
First, we need to know how important it is to come up with a good plan for advertising. A strategy for advertising needs to be in line with goals, target groups, and an evaluation of the brand or product being advertised. Once the stakeholders’ consent to the strategy that can make the business stand out and increase revenue, it’s time to know how to advertise on Walmart and go live with the ads.
Advertising on Walmart
Walmart provides many advertising opportunities to qualifying sellers who meet certain criteria. For instance, you can place an ad that buyers can see when searching for relevant categories, or you can opt for Walmart’s Search Brand Amplifier.
Compared to other marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, Walmart has more strict policies about ads. For example, businesses need to file an application with Walmart and commit to monthly spending of at least $1000 on ads.
You can manage your ads yourself or opt for Walmart’s ad management service. However, Walmart’s services are only for advertising plans that want to spend at least $25,000 per year. You can hire someone with advertising knowledge and expertise for Walmart store management services.
Means of Walmart Advertising
Walmart is strict compared to other eCommerce platforms when it comes to policies about advertising. There are mainly two types of ad campaigns that sellers can opt for: Self-Serve Campaigns and Campaigns managed by Walmart Media Group. Each requires a commitment of a minimum spending amount to gain access.
- Self Serve Campaign
With this option, you will manage your ads on your own. It requires a monthly minimum of $1,000 or a daily cap of $100.
- Campaign managed by Walmart Media Group
This option is only available to sellers who are willing to commit to spending at least $25,000 per month. With this option, Walmart Media Group would provide ad management services itself.
Steps to Start Walmart Advertising
Here is a simple step-by-step guide you can follow to start advertising on Walmart.
1. Become a Seller on Walmart Marketplace
If you don’t already have a seller account on Walmart, you should begin by creating one. It is a fairly simple process. The application filing takes 15 to 20 minutes. Walmart requires details about your business and any prior experience with online selling.
Once your application is approved, you can continue with the Walmart registration process, including signing Walmart’s retailer’s agreement
2. List your product
Once you complete your Walmart business profile, you can start listing your products. You can pick from the following two options.
- Setup by Match: This option suits you if you sell the products already listed on Walmart by SKU.
- Full Item Spec: This option is for you if you want to create a unique and customized listing for your products.
3. Request access to advertising
Once you are live and selling at Walmart, you need to write an application to Walmart Media Group. You would also need to provide the following details too.
- Company name
- Contact information
- Number of SKUs
- Category
- Campaign Objective
- Target audience
- Advertising plan
- Expected budget
Walmart Media Group would assess your performance at Walmart and decide whether to approve your application or not. The parameters for performance assessment are not known, other than the requirement of a minimum monthly budget of at least $1,000.
4. Attend the Webinar by Walmart
If your application meets Walmart Media Group’s requirements, you will be invited to a Walmart advertising training session. The webinar is mandatory, and you must attend it to proceed with the rest of the process.
There will be a live, interactive question-and-answer session with Walmart Media Group representatives as part of the training webinar.
Walmart Media Group hosts these training sessions every week. So managing to attend one of these sessions is relatively easy.
5. Login to Walmart’s Ad Center
Once you are done with the webinar, Walmart Media Group will give you access to the Walmart ad center. You can get into your ad account using your seller account details.
If you have actively attended the training webinar, you will know how to start creating ads. Things would be simple if you had worked with Walmart Media Group or any other Walmart account management service provider to manage your ads.
If you get stuck at some point, you can get in touch with your dedicated category specialist. Walmart Media Group assigns you the specialist when it approves your applications.
6. Launch Your First Campaign
You can launch your ad campaign once you have created your ads and come up with a plan, including:
- What products to advertise?
- How much to spend per month?
- How much to spend per product?
- How long do you want your ad campaign to run?
Once your ads are live, you should keep a watchful eye on your ad’s performance. It would allow you to monitor how helpful the ads are in increasing your sales volume or whether you need to make any changes to your ad campaign.
Engaging Walmart Account Management Service Provider
You can opt for a third-party ad management service to create and manage your ads, just like SPCTEK will do the same with Account Management Services.
Wrapping Up!
Advertising your products is one of the best ways to scale your Walmart business. It allows you to tap the marketplace much more effectively.
However, the only downside to advertising on Walmart is its strict policies. These policies filter out uncommitted sellers from serious sellers, thus allowing them to advertise their products against head-to-head competition.
If you are looking to advertise your products on Walmart, SPCTEK is here to help you out. We provide premium Walmart store management servicesthat can help you take your business to new heights of accomplishment.
