Amazon is (currently) the undisputed leader when it comes to moving your products online. Of course you can sell directly from your site or via a multitude of other ecommerce marketplaces, but with Amazon being the indisputable go-to for most consumers, it is nearly impossible to ignore.
Furthermore, if you are new to the Amazon ecosystem, it can feel daunting to set up, stand out, and gain traction purely from an organic search standpoint. Enter: Amazon advertising.
The opportunities available on Amazon are amazing. However, the level of competition is also somewhat breathtaking as more sellers are leveraging Amazon each and every day.
This combination of opportunity and also standing out from the competition are just a couple of reasons that many Amazon sellers turn to advertising.
Advertising on Amazon isn’t just about a few one-and-done sales.
You can also boost visibility, build brand recognition, build up your bank of positive reviews, and much more. This additional “juice” that Amazon advertising can help facilitate will have a positive effect on your organic product listings as your Amazon standing matures.
Needless to say, the combination of both paid media and organic efforts on Amazon can provide a compounding impact on how much product you can move nationwide or even worldwide.
So, let’s take a quick peek at your options when it comes to advertising on Amazon and the benefits each holds for your brand.
Sponsored Products Ads
Okay, you have your brand registered on Amazon and you are ready to start moving your product—well done! After this initial step, one of the most common tactics is to build some initial Amazon Sponsored Products ads.
These ads function on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis much like Google Ads. They are designed to show up in the shopping results as well as product pages, meaning that they will show up on product detail pages as well as in organic search results. They are also known to pull in pretty impressive conversion rates, hovering around 10%, which isn’t too shabby.
Part of the reason for this higher conversion rate is because these Sponsored Products ads appear more like organic results even though they are actually placed above the organic results and are indicated as “sponsored” as you can see in the screenshot below.
Sponsored Brands Ads
Moving products is great, but maybe you have an entire product line that needs some attention.
Well, Amazon Sponsored Brands ads might be just what you are looking for. Now you have the flexibility of providing potential customers with custom landing pages or simply taking them directly to your Amazon Brand Store. So, if you get a click using a Sponsored Brands ad, it really does become all about you…well…your brand.
You might also notice (as seen above) that your Sponsored Brands ads take up far more real estate across the top of the page than Sponsored Products ads do! So, not only do you show up above the organic listings but you show above the Sponsored Products ads as well.
Like Sponsored Products ads, these Sponsored Brands ads also work on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis.
Sponsored Display Ads
So far the sponsored ad examples have been more focused on gaining “top-of-funnel” attention, as you attempt to capture the attention of customers as they start an initial search.
This is great, but what about further down the funnel?
If you have ever used paid media via Google or Facebook, you are likely familiar with the concept of “remarketing” or “retargeting”—the idea of bringing those “warmer” customers that have looked at your brand or products before back for another look.
There are countless reasons that a customer may have passed you by the first time, but a Sponsored Display ad is your opportunity to remarket and re-engage these customers.
You have the extra added benefit of showing these ads both on and off Amazon as well. If you have ever looked at a product and then seen that same product an hour later on another site (complete with Amazon branding), you have seen Sponsored Display ads in action.
In short, you now have the ability to retarget customers who have viewed your product listing in the past 30 days, similar categories or products, or customers based on their previous shopping behaviors or product interest.
Amazon Audio Ads
Now we are getting to some of the ad types you may have never considered, but there is a reason that Amazon spearheaded the audio assistant revolution a few years ago.
That’s right—if you have ever thought about those ads that trickle in through Alexa-enabled devices between songs or in between podcast episodes, you have experienced one of Amazon’s audio ads.
Now we know that this may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is worth hearing what Amazon has to say.
According to Amazon, “Consider using audio ads to complement your on-screen advertising strategy if you’re already using other Amazon Ads products. Companion banners display on Echo Show devices, Fire TV, and on mobile and desktop, where audiences can click after they hear your ad on Amazon Music’s ad-supported tier.”
So, now you know. Let’s pivot back directly to the Amazon platform to see what other opportunities might be waiting for you.
Amazon Video Ads
Believe it or not, Amazon is also flexing a whole bunch of video advertising muscles—and for good reason.
Beyond being another tool for standing out, showing a product in action truly speaks louder than any product description. Video also lets you take all those frequently asked questions and put them into a visual clip, proactively quashing those friction points.
Keep getting asked, “How much can I fit in this purse?” Create a video showing all the packing potential, compartments, and quality zippers your product has to offer. “Are these shoes waterproof?” You can make a video for that too. Think of it this way: When someone is on Amazon, they are already in “purchase mode,” so all you need to do is eliminate the friction, and video is a profoundly valuable tool for accomplishing this.
Amazon also knows that mobile makes up for a huge number of searching and purchasing actions on its platform, so they have accounted for this when it comes to the flexibility of their video options.
Currently, video ads can be customized for Amazon homepages on desktop and mobile devices, detail pages on both desktop and mobile devices, as well as pretty much everywhere on Amazon’s line of Fire tablets.
You can check out the additional capabilities surrounding Amazon video ads by contacting our team or getting the full scoop from Amazon by clicking here.
Amazon Live
There is one phenomenon that you are going to hear a lot more about in 2022, and that is shoppertainment.
A reimagining of the classic QVC days (no offense, we are pretty sure they are still going strong), Amazon Live is an emerging tool allowing brands to provide a real-time, hands-on look at what they are offering.
This ad tool also lets potential customers engage with the presenter via live chat so they can ask questions about the products, features, quality, or pretty much anything!
There is also a whole emerging sector of Amazon creators (or Amazon influencers) who can help brands connect with their target audience.
Recently, Amazon introduced the ability to “follow” brands on its platform, and brands can promote when they are going live to their followers. So, for brands (like yours!) that are really looking to connect with their audience and take things up a notch, Amazon Live might be exactly what you are looking for this year.
Amazon Stores
Okay sure, this isn’t exactly an “ad strategy” per se, but when you are looking to gain credibility for your brand and product lines, a brand store is a must on Amazon. If you have a potential customer interested in what you have to offer, you don’t want them to have to leave the platform and visit your website to learn more about your brand.
Beyond the brand name recognition, Amazon Brand Stores also have a smorgasbord of benefits, such as:
– Fully customizable layouts so you highlight your products in the best way for your brand.
– Editable content as well as messaging so you can take advantage of seasonal or other promotional campaigns.
– The ability to help you gain higher rankings organically on Amazon.
– Assisting in driving repeat purchasing via promotions to brand “followers.”
– Building your store is free!
You also have the ability to update, feature, and categorize your products directly from your Amazon store, which is perfect for catering to repeat customers who know what they are looking for. All in all, you give your brand a home base right on Amazon for free. It gives you another place, another website, to cater to this ecommerce-savvy customer base that prefers not to bounce all over the internet to learn about what you have to offer.
Primed for Growth in 2022?!
There are even more opportunities, tools, and strategies than what we have presented here, but we figure this is enough to get your creative juices flowing. There is a whole world of discussion to be had when it comes to budgeting, placement, and targeting, which we will be sure to cover in an upcoming article.
So, whether you are considering jumping on to Amazon this year or have already dabbled on the ecommerce giant and are looking to ramp things up, we are here to help! We also have a number of case studies we encourage you to check out (by clicking here) that highlight all that is possible when it comes to marketing on Amazon.
Contact our team of experts today. We can take a look under your Amazon hood and give you a complete profit analysis so you know where your greatest opportunities are for 2022.