In recent years, it’s been hard for retailers to ignore the power of Amazon Ads, not only for driving bottom-of-the-funnel action but also for helping audiences discover new brands and products. However, as Amazon continues adding new ad types to the mix, creating a cohesive Amazon advertising strategy has increasingly become challenging.
Here is a helpful breakdown of each Amazon Ads type and some powerful tips for getting the biggest ROI on Amazon advertising spend.
Get Competitive with Sponsored Products
Sponsored Products are ads for individual product listings. They appear in shopping results and on product detail pages. Sponsored Products ads blend in with organic search results. In order to utilize Sponsored Products, an advertiser’s products have to fit into one or more eligible categories. They are sold on a pay-per-click model, meaning that advertisers bid on keywords, and the winning bid for that keyword wins the right to run an ad.
One of the best parts of this Amazon Ads type is the fact that there is no creative for advertisers to build. Instead, brands choose which of their Amazon products to advertise, then ads are auto-generated using the image and title from the product detail page (PDP).
Because they offer the same value as standard web paid search–reaching people who search specific keywords–and require less effort for building out creative, Sponsored Products are the most popular Amazon Ads type. However, advertisers can also use these ads to appear on individual product detail pages, either your own or a competitor’s.
Pro Tip: A competitive Amazon advertising strategy means being aware of what the competition is actually doing. Sometimes, winning the bid is everything. Other times, it’s smart to wait. For example, if a competitor is launching a new product, they’re likely to bid more on keywords, so it could be best to wait until their promotion is over to claim your share of voice for the product without spending your entire budget.
Focus on the Funnel With Sponsored Brands
Sponsored Brands is an Amazon Ads type that appears at the top of, alongside, and within shopping results. They are highly customizable and include an attention-grabbing product portfolio, the option of customizable headlines, and the inclusion of a brand logo. In order to access a sponsored brand, Amazon shoppers can either click the brand logo, which leads to an Amazon store or custom landing page, or shoppers can click on one of the products featured in the product portfolio to go directly to that product’s page. These ads are also sold based on a PPC model based on the advertiser’s bid.
Pro Tip: For a long time, retail media was considered a bottom-of-the-funnel advertising tactic, meant to “seal the deal” for customers who have browsed a product or added it to a shopping cart. However, Amazon Ads types offer a wealth of opportunities for advertisers to meet customers at every stage of their journey.
Recent studies have found that as many as 74% visit Amazon in the research stages of shopping. Sponsored Brand ads are an excellent way to attract new audiences by showing the best of what a brand has to offer while they are still browsing the digital shelf and those who might be ready to buy.
Target Audiences With Sponsored Display
Sponsored Display ads use automatically generated ad creatives to target audiences that are created based on shopping interests related to their product interests. Sponsored Display ads offer the highest chance of engaging audiences since they appear on Amazon’s home page, product detail pages, shopping results pages, Twitch, and other third-party websites and apps. Also sold using the Amazon PPC model, Sponsored Display ads differ from other Amazon ad types because they are auto-generated, but also hyper-targeted, and very detailed.
Targeted to shoppers who have browsed your product, similar products, or relevant categories, Sponsored Products Ads include a product image, pricing, deals, savings badging, star rating, and a “Shop Now” button that links to your product detail page.
Pro Tip: Although there are many ways to target audiences inherent to each Amazon Ads type, advertisers who use Sponsored Display audiences see up to 82% of their sales driven by new-to-brand customers.
Recent changes to data privacy practices across retail media mean that many advertisers have encountered roadblocks to targeting or measuring other forms of digital advertising. Sponsored Display offers a way to continue reaching out to new and existing audiences across multiple channels.
Use Amazon DSP as Part of a Well-Rounded Amazon Media Mix
Amazon’s demand-side platform allows advertisers to programmatically buy display, video, and audio ads on and off Amazon. These ads are intended for advertisers exclusively selling products on Amazon’s website, including non-endemic advertisers in categories like automotive and financial services.
Advertisers can either build custom creative (as long as it adheres to Amazon’s readily available guidelines) using Amazon’s exclusive creative options. The pricing for display ads purchased through Amazon DSP varies by format and placement. Amazon DSP uses the company’s insights into customer behavior, including shopping signals, to target audiences.
Pro Tip: Since Amazon’s ad prices vary by ad type. And as with any media mix, a balance of volume and quality is vital, especially for retailers. For example, while Sponsored Products can offer tremendous volume and will most likely represent the bulk of your Amazon Ads impressions, other Amazon Ads types, Amazon DSP, should work with your mainstays, with each Amazon Ads type utilized to drive specific actions. Think carefully about your Amazon program mix in order to ensure that you are always buying in relation to your total program, not just one ad format at a time.
Download the Amazon Ads Types Guide Now
For more information on how to make the most of each Amazon ad type, download The Skai Marketing Guide to Mastering Amazon Ad Types here.
