With a staggering 300 million active shoppers on Amazon, the platform offers unparalleled potential for product advertising. If sellers have dipped their toes into Amazon’s marketplace, chances are they’ve encountered Amazon PPC advertising. This robust advertising tool stands as the most efficient and budget-friendly means to showcase products to potential buyers and boost sales.
For newcomers, understanding the ins and outs of Amazon PPC may seem daunting. Fear not! In this comprehensive guide, let’s delve into the fundamentals of PPC, ensuring sellers are equipped to launch their first campaign without draining their advertising budget.
What is Amazon PPC?
Amazon PPC serves as an advertising framework designed to elevate online product sales for sellers and brands. Through this model, sellers can craft ad campaigns for their products. Whenever a prospective customer clicks on the ad, Amazon levies a nominal fee to the seller.
How does Amazon PPC work?
Here’s a basic rundown of how Amazon PPC operates:
- A shopper searches for a specific keyword on Amazon, such as “skin serum.”
- Amazon collects all relevant ads related to the keyword “skin serum.”
- Sellers participate in auctions by bidding on the keyword, with the highest bidder securing the top spot.
- The winning Sponsored Product ad appears prominently at the top of search results and product details pages.
- When a shopper clicks on the ad, the seller is charged a modest fee by Amazon.
Why is PPC important for Amazon sellers?
Now that the basics of Amazon ads are grasped, let’s delve into why they’re crucial for Amazon businesses.
With a staggering 2.4 billion organic traffic on Amazon as of May 2022, the platform offers an immense opportunity for sellers to boost their revenue. However, with this growth comes the challenge of visibility.
Given that Amazon is a go-to destination for shoppers actively seeking to make purchases, sellers must ensure their products are prominently featured. Research indicates that if a product isn’t found on the first page of search results, 45% of buyers won’t bother scrolling further.
Amazon PPC ads serve as a solution, propelling products to the top of search result pages that might otherwise get lost amidst competitors. This not only drives more sales but also enhances the organic ranking of the product for high-performing keywords on Amazon.
Types of Amazon PPC Ads
There are three types of PPC ads offered by Amazon:
- Sponsored Products
Sponsored Product Ads are the most common ad used by Amazon sellers. Usually, these ads appear on top of the organic search result page, the search results, and the product listing page.
Being the most common Amazon PPC ad type, it is used by 70% of third-party sellers.
Benefits of using Sponsored Product ads
There are multiple advantages of using Sponsored Product Ads:
- Sponsored Product ads seamlessly blend with organic search results, enhancing the buying experience without disrupting it.
- By conducting thorough keyword research, Sponsored Product ads can swiftly boost visibility, generate sales for newly launched products, and improve the BSR ranking.
Sellers can use two types of targeting options while creating a Sponsored Product ad: Automatic Targeting and Manual Targeting.
Automatic Targeting
Amazon employs automatic targeting to determine which keywords to focus on, analyzing the keywords in the listing. It gathers shopper behavior data and adjusts bids gradually to enhance targeting and optimize conversion rates.
Automatic targeting is ideal for newly launched products lacking specific keywords to target. However, it does come with limitations. Campaign control is reduced as it relies on the Amazon A9 algorithm for keyword selection. With automatic targeting, there’s a trade-off between spending more and gathering valuable data.
Manual Targeting
Opting for manual targeting provides enhanced control over advertising campaigns. There’s the flexibility to select keywords from automatic campaigns or utilize the keyword research tool to identify high-volume, relevant keywords to target. Additionally, custom bids can be set for each keyword to further tailor the campaign strategy.
- Sponsored Brand Ads
Sponsored Brand ads, formerly referred to as “headline search ads,” are sophisticated Amazon advertisements exclusively accessible to sellers and vendors registered with a brand.
These ads serve to elevate brand visibility and boost sales by presenting products through engaging advertisements within pertinent Amazon search results.
Typically displayed at the top, side, and bottom of Amazon search results, these ads feature the brand’s logo, tagline, and a selection of its products.
Benefits of Sponsored Brand Ads
Here are some benefits of Sponsored Brand ads:
- Sponsored Brand ads offer improved Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) by directing shoppers straight to the brand’s storefront or a customized landing page, devoid of any competing products.
- Additionally, they enable sellers to highlight complementary products, enticing buyers to add more items to their carts.
These ads come in three formats:
- Product Collection
With the product collection ad format, sellers can showcase up to three products simultaneously. There’s the flexibility to direct traffic from the ad to either a custom-branded Amazon storefront or a dedicated landing page featuring just the three advertised products.
This format is ideal for driving traffic to specific products that sellers are aiming to boost in terms of visibility and conversions.
- Store Spotlight
This ad format is perfect for brands with diverse product offerings across various categories or subcategories. Rather than promoting individual products, sellers can highlight three product categories in their store spotlight ads.
For instance, instead of featuring three distinct products, the ad showcases three different product categories. Clicking on any of these categories directs users to the corresponding subcategory page within the Amazon storefront.
- Videos
Amazon Sponsored Brand ads also feature videos.
Videos have a higher impact compared to images, offering brands significant visibility advantages over competitors.
However, it’s crucial to review Amazon’s Sponsored Brand video ad guidelines before creating a video ad.
- Sponsored Display Ads
Sponsored Display ads offer sellers the opportunity to connect with shoppers at various stages of their purchasing journey, ultimately driving conversions.
These ads have the flexibility to appear across a wide range of platforms, including Amazon affiliate sites, mobile apps, streaming services like Netflix, and social media platforms like Facebook, and even Google.
Benefits of Sponsored Display Ads
Sponsored Display ads stand out as a top method for reconnecting with potential customers and persuading them to make a purchase.
- By leveraging shopping signals, these ads effectively target audiences with strong purchase intent, both within and outside of Amazon’s platform, ultimately engaging new customers.
- They extend their reach beyond Amazon, drawing shoppers back to the product listing and driving conversions.
- Moreover, Sponsored Display ads are particularly beneficial for boosting sales of high-priced products with longer sales cycles.
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, navigating the complexities of Amazon PPC advertising requires a deep understanding of its unique algorithms, ad formats, and consumer behavior patterns. Partnering with a specialized Amazon PPC management agency can provide invaluable expertise and insights to maximize advertising efforts on the platform.
From setting achievable goals and selecting the most suitable ad types to optimizing product listings and keeping a vigilant eye on competitors, these agencies offer a comprehensive range of services to drive success on Amazon.
With its specialized knowledge and experience, the Amazon marketing agency can empower businesses to effectively reach their target audience, increase brand visibility, and drive sales growth in the highly competitive Amazon marketplace.
Ultimately, investing in the expertise of a reputable Amazon consulting agency can be a game-changer for businesses looking to thrive and succeed in the ever-evolving landscape of Amazon advertising.
