Surplus.net has come a long way from being just another marketplace. Once known primarily for its surplus and liquidation deals, the platform has now leveled up into a digital marketing machine. Whether you’re a curious competitor or a business owner looking for inspiration, here are 10 ways Surplus.net transformed its marketing – with some help from cutting-edge AI, clever content, and community-driven strategy.
1. Introduced Interactive AI Avatars
Let’s start with the coolest one first. Surplus.net now features AI-powered avatars that guide users through product categories, answer questions, and even crack a joke or two. These virtual assistants don’t just talk—they convert. Visitors spend more time on the site, bounce rates are down, and conversions are up. It’s like having a 24/7 team of charismatic sales reps built into the site – learn more here.
2. Revamped Their Email Marketing Strategy
Instead of generic newsletters, Surplus.net segmented its email list by user behavior—bidders, buyers, and browsers. Now, emails are tailored, timely, and packed with personalized deals. Open rates jumped, and click-throughs followed.
3. SEO-Focused Category Pages
They beefed up product and category pages with rich keyword-optimized content, FAQs, and schema markup. Traffic from Google surged as a result, especially for niche liquidation terms competitors overlooked.
4. Launched a Weekly “Deal Drop” Livestream
Borrowing a page from QVC and Twitch, Surplus.net started a weekly livestream hosted by one of their AI avatars and a real-life product specialist. They showcase hot auctions, answer questions live, and create urgency with limited-time deals.
5. Gamified the Bidding Experience
To keep users coming back, Surplus.net added gamification elements—badges for first bids, loyalty points for daily logins, and leaderboards for top buyers. It turned shopping into sport.
6. User-Generated Content Campaigns
They encouraged customers to show off their surplus finds on social media with the hashtag #SurplusScore, offering rewards for the best posts. Not only did it build community, it brought in loads of authentic user content they now repurpose in ads and emails.
7. Smart Retargeting with Dynamic Ads
Surplus.net dialed in its retargeting. Now, if you browse an auction for, say, industrial kitchen gear, you’ll see dynamic ads showing those exact listings (or similar ones) across the web. No more generic banners—just laser-focused follow-ups.
8. Partnered with Niche Influencers
Rather than burning cash on big-name influencers, Surplus.net tapped micro-influencers in industries like salvage, resellers, and DIY. Their authentic product demos and unboxings hit the right audience without breaking the bank.
9. Built a Referral Program That Actually Pays
They introduced a referral system where users earn real bidding credits. It’s simple, shareable, and motivates power users to spread the word like wildfire. Spoiler: It worked.
10. Created an AI Chat Funnel for Seller Onboarding
Getting sellers on board used to be a clunky, manual process. Now, an AI chat assistant walks new sellers through setup, from account creation to listing their first auction. More sellers = more inventory = more buyers.
Final Thoughts
Surplus.net’s marketing glow-up shows what happens when a company isn’t afraid to blend creativity with tech. From AI avatars that chat with customers to livestreamed deal drops and community-powered content, they’ve turned a traditional surplus marketplace into a digital brand that’s impossible to ignore.
Want your business to do the same? Take a page from Surplus.net’s playbook—just don’t be surprised when your “old school” competitors start looking at you like you’ve got superpowers.
