As you may have noticed, using Amazon Ads has become increasingly complex in the last few years.
This change holds true for the entire Amazon ecosystem, meaning sellers must invest time in understanding everything, especially Amazon Ads. Though being an Amazon seller is a great opportunity, it requires hard work and a committed attitude.
As Amazon continues to evolve as a platform, succeeding as a seller means keeping up with trends and new tools in order to stay ahead of the competition.
Here, we’ll take a look at the latest developments happening with Amazon Ads so that you can make them work for you.
Table of Contents
Amazon Ads Portal Changes
Amazon has chosen to consolidate its range of portals to make the Amazon Advertising Console. For some sellers, this means feeling a little lost when searching for icons in the new user interface, but rest assured that this platform has everything you need.
The Amazon Advertising Console is a way for Amazon to unify the experience for software providers, freelancers, authors, and agencies. This new platform was created with Amazon seller feedback in mind and may be subject to further tweaks as Amazon continues its development.
One of the perks of this change is that a range of advertiser archetypes will have access to all Amazon Ads options. In the past, different categories of advertisers were privileged with a greater number of Amazon Ad options; for example, Sponsored Brands ads, or Sponsored Products ads. In Amazon’s latest incarnation of the platform, there will be more access equality for a diversity of advertisers.
What is Amazon Offering?
Although there are a number of pathways to choose from with Amazon Ads, it is easiest to think of them as part of two primary categories. The first is Amazon Pay-Per-Click (or PPC) Advertising which grants the advertiser extremely precise power over their ad metrics. This type of Amazon Ad can be found on Amazon, as well as outside the company website.
The second category of Amazon Ads is the Amazon Demand-Side Platform (DSP). This type of advertising permits greater exposure by employing programmatic targeting to access a broad range of potential customers. This type of advertising reaches beyond the Amazon marketplace.
How Does Pay-Per-Click Advertising Work?
If you are a new seller, Pay-Per-Click ads are a great way to get your toes wet since there are no minimum commitments. This means you can place whatever limit you wish on your spending, and as you might have guessed from the name, Pay-Per-Click ads only cost you as much as they are clicked. On the low end, you might be charged $0.10 per click or as high as $10.00 per click for competitive industries.
There are three main types of Pay-Per-Click ads:
- Amazon Sponsored Product Ads: this type of ad uses product page views and keyword targeting to connect shoppers to a certain product or a group of products. As a seller, you can create an ad campaign that is based on shoppers’ searches. For example, your potential customer might see your ad for ballet shoes after searching for “dance equipment.” As the advertiser, you can even target specific products; perhaps ensuring that your ad for ballet shoes appears alongside listings for ballet tights. At the moment, the most popular Amazon PPC advertising is leveraging Amazon-sponsored products, making this an invaluable form of marketing to understand.
- Sponsored Brands ads: this form of Amazon ad promotes an entire brand rather than a single product. Just as with Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands ads can be associated with certain products, or with certain search words, allowing you to target customers most likely to be interested in your product. A range of creative customizations is possible with Sponsored Brands ads, including videos as well as images. However, in order to take part in this type of Amazon Ad campaign, your brand will need to appear on the Amazon Brand Registry. This is just one of the benefits of gaining Brand registry approval and might be worth considering for its other advantages
- Sponsored Product Display ads: this category of ad targets customers based on their shopping behavior, working in a similar way to PPC ads on Google or Facebook. Sponsored Product Display ads are a great option for those interested in reaching an audience both on and off Amazon.
What About Demand-Side Platform Ads
If you are a large seller looking to make a splash, then DSP might be right for you. This advanced type of advertising is designed to stretch beyond the borders of Amazon’s platform and grow customer bases across the web. It is worth noting that DSP is best suited to sellers with larger budgets as it requires an ongoing $35k investment, at minimum. This can be a great move for sellers with the time and cash to play the long game. However, remember that Sponsored Display ads are a less pricey way of advertising off-Amazon if this better matches your current budget.
What makes DSP so dynamic is that it algorithmically targets your ads at customers most likely to be interested in what you have to sell. This programmatic targeting uses massive amounts of data to ensure your results are optimal.
How Can This Work For You?
As you take in all this information, and stay up to speed on Amazon’s updates, it can all feel a little intimidating. Over a handful of years, Amazon Ads has gone from having one avenue, to several highways. As these developments continue, it is crucial to keep up with what the different forms of Amazon Ads have to offer, and which tools will give you an edge. Keeping a strong flow of PPC ads is a good choice, but you should consider which version is best for you and your business. Beyond this, you can also reflect on how far to take your Amazon Ads off the platform and onto the wider internet.
Whatever the scale of your business, gaining a deeper understanding of Amazon Ads will position you to better find your customers and succeed.
Special Offer
GETIDA (GET Intelligent Data Analytics) is a powerful software tool that examines the previous 18 months of inventory management transactions to flag errors eligible for FBA reimbursement. It is free to run the report.
It’s also free for a GETIDA team composed of former experienced Amazon employees to file and follow up on reimbursement claims on your behalf. The only charge is a percentage of claims that are approved. And the first $400 of FBA reimbursement is free without charge.
Given the time and effort, GETIDA saves you so you can focus on running your business, it’s a small price to pay to recover potentially substantial reimbursement of FBA errors likely to occur while handling your inventory management.
