Have an e-commerce store? Need a high-converting selling platform for your business? Then look no further than Amazon.
Amazon, in recent years, has created some sensational buzz in the world of digital marketing, particularly PPC!
Here’s why.
It is estimated that more than 197 million people worldwide visit Amazon on their devices each month. To put that into perspective, that is more than the total population of Russia!
Which is insane.
On top of that, Amazon is a goldmine of customer purchasing data which lets marketers up their targetting across the whole purchasing funnel.
This means if you are serious about boosting some real sales, going for an Amazon marketing strategy will be a no brainer.
But how?
To understand how you can use Amazon for paid search advertising you must make yourself familiar with Amazon’s platform and the types of ad formats it offers.
Let’s dig in!
Amazon Marketing Services is Amazon’s version of PPC which got recently rebranded to Amazon Advertising Console. It’s their paid advertising platform in which advertisers pay a fee to Amazon only when someone clicks on a particular ad.
It supports three major ad formats namely: Sponsored Product Ads, Sponsored Brand Ads, and Product Display Ads.
It’s similar to Google’s Adwords with the only difference that ads appear within Amazon.
With the Amazon Advertising Console, vendors and sellers can promote their products within Amazon.com.
The targeting with these type of ads is on keyword level and each ad appears on different position of the results page.
Benefits of AMS ads:
AMS ads are great if you want to target shoppers using exact search terms or generate a lot of clicks. They are especially helpful if you want to target buyers at the bottom of the purchase funnel that are more likely to convert.
Amazon Advertising Platform or AAP is a platform for advertisers to run programmatic ads which lets brands target audiences either on or off Amazon sites.
AAP uses the CPM or Cost-Per-Impressions model compared to the PPC model used by Amazon’s search ads.
AAP gives advertisers the opportunity to use Amazon’s powerful targeting to reach users based on their purchase history, recent purchase intent, and shopping patterns. The ads that come under AAP include Desktop and Mobile Web Display Ads, Mobile Banner Ads, and Video Ads.
Brands can either work with Amazon’s in-house team to run the ads or execute the ads themselves.
Benefits of AAP ads:
AAP ads are great if you want to target your audience based on their purchase history, intent, lifestyle, or their shopping behavior. They also work great if you want to promote a plethora of products and net some quality traffic.
Alright, now that you know about AAP and AMS it’s also important to know the difference between the two.
Both are equally important when it comes to advertising on Amazon. The question here is which phase of the marketing funnel are you trying to target? Are you trying for the top or the bottom part of the funnel?
Answering these questions will help you identify which one is for you.
AMS campaigns are perfect for targeting customers that are at the lower end of the funnel i.e. Customers that are more likely to make a purchase.
AAP, though ideal for any part of the marketing funnel, is best for targeting customers at the top of the funnel who have a longer purchasing journey. So if you want to generate interest for your products in the minds of your customers then AAP is the way to go.
Got the difference? Great! Let’s move ahead with the type of ads Amazon offers.
There are three major types of formats when it comes to Amazon PPC ads:
Sponsored Product Ads:
Sponsored Product Ads are the most popular type of ads on Amazon that show up at the top or bottom of Amazon’s SERPs.
The reason they are popular is that they are available to both vendors and third-parties and are easy to create.
These ads allow advertisers to promote individual products and can be either Automatic or Manual. This means they can be set to manual or automatic keyword targeting based on your requirements.
The products promoted with these types of ads on Amazon display ‘Sponsored’ on each of the products making them easily distinguishable from organic search results.
Sponsored Brand Ads:
Sponsored Brand Ads (previously called Headline Search Ads) are another popular type of keyword-driven ads which appear on top of the search results.
Sponsored Brand Ads are available to different agencies, regular vendors, book vendors, and sellers enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry.
They are targeted to customers who are the top of the funnel and have just started their buying journey (Great if your goal is to drive brand awareness.)
These headline banner ads have shown to have the highest CTR amongst all the three and can be customized up to three clickable products.
Product Display Ads:
Product Display Ads are those ads which target users based on interest rather than specific keywords. They are also used for product-targeting and appear on product listing pages.
These ads are only available to Amazon vendors and feature a single image which redirects customers to make a purchase on the product listing page.
Product Display Ads are mostly for customers who are at the bottom of the funnel about to make a purchase on a product page.
These ads can be a great addition to your Amazon marketing strategy as they can appear on your own page and even your competitors’ pages.
The working of PPC in Amazon can be understood in six simple steps. If you were executing a PPC campaign yourself, this is what you’d usually do.
Step 1: You start with your Amazon Listing Page:
The ad which you create takes your users to the listing page and is the starting point.
You first spend some good time creating a stunning listing page. This is done by writing an optimized title, creating detailed descriptions, working on the search terms and important ranking keywords.
Step 2: You set the ACoS Targets:
ACoS or Advertising Cost of Sale is a metric which determines your ad’s performance in Amazon.
You set ACoS targets and calculate the amount which you can spend on ads. The tool called Amazon Fulfilment Revenue Calculator is used to accomplish this.
Once you are done, you either do step 3 or 4.
Step 3: You run Auto Campaigns (For beginners):
Auto Campaigns are for those who are are not well versed with Amazon ads. You let Amazon automatically run the campaigns on your behalf for keywords it thinks are relevant.
Step 4: You run Manual Campaigns (For experienced):
Manual Campaigns are run by those who have experience running ads on Amazon. You run these campaigns to determine keywords which you think are relevant.
Step 5: Analysis of the Search Term Report:
You then check the Search Term Report to determine which search terms were used by customers to find your products.
Step 6: Optimize the campaigns:
In the final step, you optimize and test your campaigns further to leverage revenue. You adjust your bid and repeat step 1 to 5.
In this way, you experiment with your ads and test them over a period of time so that they bring maximum sales for your budget.
After going through various types of Amazon PPC ads and their working you may be wondering what benefits can Amazon marketing bring to the table in terms of sales and revenue?
Good news! There are plenty of them. Here are some to consider:
Get Higher Rankings:
The first and most important benefit of going with Amazon PPC ads is getting more higher rankings for your products.
By running sponsored PPC ads, your products get displayed at the top of the results page over other products giving you a high possibility of making a sale.
It boosts your search visibility and helps your customers discover your products easily.
It’s Cost-effective:
The benefit of having Amazon PPC is that you’ll be billed for the number of clicks you get on your products and not the number of times people have seen your sponsored ad.
So having to only pay for clicks means more savings on costs.
On top of that, Amazon also bills you based on your credit limit so you don’t have to worry about getting billed for each click individually. This makes for an overall hassle-free experience.
Let’s You Track Your Metrics:
Another advantage of using Amazon PPC ads is that you get total control over your PPC campaigns.
You can see which keywords are performing well and which ones need improving.
With the sponsored products reporting feature, you can measure and optimize your campaigns further to leverage your ROI.
Optimized for Mobiles Devices:
With the whole world shopping on their smartphones these days, it makes sense for ads to be mobile optimized as well.
Amazon ads are tailored for mobile devices and appear differently on different devices like smartphones, tablets, etc. The right ad size doesn’t spoil the experience of the customer making up for a better shopping experience.
Did you know that running Amazon’s PPC campaigns help you promote your brand and build awareness?
If you have a revolutionary new product and want to release it in the market, Amazon’s PPC ads can bring it in front of customers and help you spread the name of your brand.
Amazon’s paid platform gives you an opportunity to rise above your competitors and build your brand without affecting your sales.
If you want to take advantage of seasonal trends and special days like Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, Easter, New Year’s Day, etc. then Amazon can fetch you tons of sales.
It’s during this time when most businesses keep discounts or special offers for customers who, during this period, spend most of their time shopping online.
Whether you sell kids toys, shampoos, or televisions, utilizing PPC ads during the season is the ideal strategy and will generate plenty of business revenue for you.
It’s no wonder Amazon has become a top choice for businesses when it comes to boosting their e-commerce revenue. By opting for an Amazon PPC marketing strategy you can drive sales, generate traffic, and increase brand visibility without any significant efforts.
If you want to take advantage of Amazon’s platform but don’t know where to start we can always lend you a hand.
We are a top-tier internet advertising agency whose core competency lies in Amazon PPC marketing. Our marketers can help you plan a solid Amazon advertising strategy and execute PPC campaigns for your business so you don’t have to.
Have anything in mind? Just let us know and we’ll reach out to you.
