Amazon as an eCommerce platform has a very powerful internal advertising system. You can argue that it’s way more potent than any other digital advertising system since customers on Amazon are there with an intention to purchase something. Advertising systems such as social media ads and Google ads are not necessarily guaranteed to be displayed to people that are looking to make a purchase. The point is that it’s easier to sell something to someone that already has “their wallet out” than otherwise.
Amazon sellers are very aware of the impact that Amazon Pay-per-click (PPC) ads have on their sales. Good Amazon sellers are the ones that constantly put effort into PPC and maintain their structures for maximum efficiency. Amazon PPC is very versatile and there are many tools in its toolbox. When sellers were asked about which subtype of ads gives them the best returns, sponsored products came out on top. This is good news since this is the basic toolkit available to all professional sellers. We can also see that other tools, available to registered brands, have also proven to be impactful, even if they aren’t as effective as sponsoring. Since these tools can be used parallel to the standard sponsored products, there is only more profit to be made by using them as well.
This suggests that no matter what type of product you sell, and regardless of niche, you can find a way to utilize at least some tools of the Amazon Ads system to your advantage. If you are not familiar with the basic ad types that are available, this guide might help. Let’s examine some trends and features that you might not have considered yet:
1. Video Ads
Video Ads are, unfortunately, available only to brands that are enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry program.
When it comes to targeting, video campaigns are limited in a similar way as sponsored brand campaigns are. You can have only the 3 basic types of keyword targeting: exact, phrase, and broad. You also cannot have ad groups in your campaigns. The video that you include has to meet certain requirements, such as the video cannot be longer than 30 seconds and larger than 500MB. This gives you plenty of room to experiment and represent your brand. When it comes to creating your brand identity you might find some interesting tips in this Brainlabs’ article. Keep in mind that it’s quite possible for video ads to cost more since there is less room for them to be displayed. This also depends on how many other registered brands you are competing with and how many of them have made videos for advertising.
2. More Personalization Options With Your Amazon Ads
Amazon is constantly upgrading the system and adding new options. This has mostly been in the sponsored brands system, which makes sense, since personalization is the most potent way of creating a brand identity. For example, for a very long time you could customize your brand ads with a logo and a 50 character slogan. Now there is a new addition:
This allows you to include a small banner alongside your ad. However, there are rules and guidelines for this. This new feature is in beta, but features like these tend to remain in the long term. It is very important to keep an eye on any changes that Amazon adds into their system, especially considering the fact that if you become an early adopter of a new feature, you might be able to carve out a larger piece of your niche for yourself before your competitors become adept at using the newly added feature.
3. Amazon DSP
Amazon DSP (Demand Side Platform) is a system that’s been available for a while but was originally very difficult to access. This is actually an immensely broad topic, but the most notable feature of this system is that you can advertise outside of Amazon. Amazon now allows its registered brands to create ads and materials that can be displayed on other platforms and properties of Amazon in order to bring traffic to your store as well as Amazon. If you have the option of using Amazon DSP, you should do your best to educate yourself on what it exactly is and how you can personally use it to your advantage. It can be a game changer!
4. Ads Potentially Getting More Expensive
As we went through the various stages of fluctuations in spending habits during the pandemic, there were some trends emerging in the general state of Amazon ads. The average Cost Per Click (CPC) has gone up significantly, and it still seems to be on the rise.
There can be many factors attributed to this trend, such as the fact that during the pandemic supply chain disruptions, many brands ran out of stock and had to compensate with more aggressive PPC spending once they were in stock in order to recover their organic rankings. The fact that there are more advertising options might be a factor as well since we have more competition between ad types. The newer advertising options are more competitive since sellers are competing for a smaller number of eligible display spots. Either way, this is something to pay attention to and keep in mind that you might have to commit more funds than usual in order to visibly increase your ranking and sales volume, as opposed to what was the case before.
5. Mobile Advertising
It’s no secret that a large portion of Amazon shoppers do their shopping on their mobile devices. If you have paid close attention to your campaign creation options in sponsored brand ads, there are options that allow you to see how your ad will look both on mobile and desktop:
You should make sure that any ad you create or any material that is included in your ad works both as a mobile and a desktop ad. Basically, just keep an eye on the details.
In Conclusion
The best chance you have as an Amazon seller in 2021 is to make sure that you get into the brand registry as soon as possible. Now, it’s easier than before since you don’t have to wait for your trademark process to be complete in order to apply. Make sure that you get acquainted with all of the different mechanisms that are available. Odds are that you are not even aware of all the options you have! You should also try and adapt to any new changes or features as quickly as you can since they may give you a short-term advantage that you can capitalize on later. Finally, be prepared to spend more in order to get ahead, at least for the moment. Good luck, sellers!
