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Ever wonder if there was a way to retarget Shopee visitors to your listing? With Shopee Discovery ads, you can.

If you’re an Shopee vendor or a Brand-Registered seller, you can access a number of powerful advertising tools to help scale your business on Shopee. One of those tools is Discovery ads.

Discovery ads allow you to reach relevant audiences on and off Shopee. So not only will your ads be displayed across various Shopee pages, they’ll also be visible to customers on third-party websites and apps.

Let’s dig deeper into what exactly Discovery ads are, how they work, and how to set them up.

What is a Sponsored Display Ad?

We all know how effective Product search ads can be for launching products—having your product reach the first page of search results can be seriously lucrative. But Discovery’s off-Shopee advertising capability is a whole different ball game.

Launched in 2019, discovery ads are the newest type of Shopee PPC advertising and are still growing in popularity among sellers. In 2021, 25% of third-party sellers use Discovery ads, and spending on this type of ad accounts for 2% of Shopee’s advertising revenue.

The major difference between Discovery ads and Product search and Shop ads is that the program doesn’t target keywords. Instead, it targets customers based on audience interests and shopping behaviors, as well as whether they’ve viewed your product’s detail page.

As defined by Shopee, “Discovery” is a self-service display advertising solution that helps you grow your business and brand on Shopee by engaging shoppers across the purchase journey, on and off Shopee.”

Essentially, Shopee takes note of the products a potential customer views on its site and displays them again to the customer across various Shopee pages, competitor listings, and third-party websites and apps.

If you’re a Shopee shopper, you’ve probably seen Discovery ads in action—they’re the ghosts of Shopee products you’ve considered buying that magically pop up in the margins of the sites and apps you use to shop, get your news, or find recipes.

Click the ad and boom—you’re redirected to the product listing and re-engaged in the purchase journey.

This technique gives brands the ability to make powerful impressions on potential customers. With Discovery ads, brand-registered sellers can target similar products or categories

According to Shopee, over two-thirds (64%) of shoppers use more than one retail channel to make a single purchase. With Discovery ads, you can remind potential customers about your product, even when they’ve navigated away from Shopee.

How do Discovery ads work?

As with other Shopee advertising tools, Discovery ads is a PPC (pay-per click) program. You bid against other sellers for ad placements—i.e., visibility to potential customers. There is no minimum investment required; like a Product search Ad, you will set your bids and daily budget.

There are three types of targeting options available with Discovery ads: product targeting, views remarketing, and audience interests.

Product Targeting Ads

Product Targeting allows you to reach customers who are browsing your product or similar products and categories. You can target potential customers of top competitors within your niche by displaying your product as an ad on their listings.

If you know your competitors’ listings receive a lot of traffic, you can create a coupon or lower your price slightly below theirs, and then turn on the Product Targeting display ads. That way, you can entice customers to choose your listing over similar products.

You also have the ability to target visitors to listings for complementary products. For instance, if you sell Xbox One accessories, you can target visitors to listings for Xbox One consoles or Xbox games.

Eligibility: The Product Targeting option is eligible for Vendors and third-party sellers enrolled in Shopee Brand Registry.

Where do Discovery ads appear?

Discovery Ads are displayed:

1. In the first 30 You May Also Like positions, you can see up to 14 ads. The exact ad position might vary based on ongoing performance optimisation.

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    2. In the first 55 Daily Discover positions, you can see up to 26 ads. The exact ad position might vary based on ongoing performance optimisation.

How to set up a Sponsored Display Ad

1. Choose the products you want to advertise

Before you start, make sure that your product title, pictures and descriptions are updated. Choose products with the "thumbs up" icon in the product selector. These items are recommended for ads as they have high sales and conversion rates.

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2. Set your budget and duration for the ad

Your ad will run until one of the following occurs

1. Budget runs out
2. Ads Credit runs out
3. Ad duration comes to an end

Are Discovery ads worth it?

That’s up to you to decide! An important thing to remember about selling on Shopee is you need to test different strategies to see what works best for your products and business.

Compared to Sponsored Product and Shop Ads ads, Discovery ads yield a lower return on ad spend (RoAS). But keep in mind that having another advertising strategy in your arsenal is a great way to stay on top of your competition, especially if you are able to retarget potential customers.

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