Amazon Sponsored Ads
The Beginner’s Guide to Boosting Your E-Commerce Sales
With over 300 million users worldwide, it is no doubt that Amazon is a huge opportunity that every e-commerce business should leverage. By selling their products on Amazon, brands can take advantage of Amazon’s trusted brand via association, reach a larger audience and generate a higher demand for their products. However, the best way to have maximum visibility and ensure users click on their product listings is by using Sponsored Ads.
What are Amazon Sponsored Ads?
Amazon Sponsored Ads work a lot like Google Ads, as the goal is to reach customers while they are researching and discovering products and brands. When a person types in a keyword and search results appear, the top results will be pay-per-click ads. They look a lot like regular product listings, but are denoted with grey “Sponsored” text.
Amazon’s Sponsored Ads are the best way to get your product offerings above the fold in search results. In other words, every product you see before scrolling down on a search result page are sponsored advertisements, and as people are most likely to buy products on the first page of results, these ads hold prime real estate.
Take a look at the search results for “cat food” below:
Sponsored ads also appear on relevant product pages, as seen by this product detail page for a polaroid camera below:
These ads direct users to your product detail page or Store. Just like Google ads, the most relevant ad with the highest bid will be shown. Sellers only pay for performance, meaning they are only charged when the user clicks on the ad. Amazon also suggests keywords the Seller should bid on, as well as insights that monitor ad performance so that the Seller knows which ads are getting results.
Types of Sponsored Ads
There are two types of Sponsored Ads: Sponsored Product and Sponsored Brand. Sponsored Products promote an individual product, and redirect to a product detail page. Sponsored Brands promote a collection of products, and feature a custom headline with an image or company logo. Clicking on a product featured in the ad will lead the user to a product detail page. Clicking on the headline or image will direct the user to the brand’s Store or a page featuring their collection of products. Take a look at an example on the right for “headphones” search results.
Do Sponsored Ads Work?
Yes! Sponsored Ads work because they affect the purchasing behaviour of customers that have a high intent to purchase. Here are some examples of how Sponsored Ads can affect the customer decision journey:
Melissa has heard about the health benefits of kombucha tea and wants to give it a try, however she isn’t familiar with any brands that offer it. She purchases the first thing she sees (a Sponsored Product ad) because it has decent reviews and ratings.
Ronald goes on Amazon to buy a specific dog treat that his dog loves. He clicks on the Sponsored Brand ad that advertises more products from the brand and explores some products he has never seen before.
Kelly is looking for the exact same phone charger as her broken one, but sees an ad from another brand. She buys from this brand because it has better ratings and reviews than that of her old charger.
Are Amazon’s Sponsored Ads Right for My Business?
If you have a tangible product that consumers can purchase online, then yes! Amazon is a trusted platform that can help you increase brand awareness for your products and increase sales. Sponsored Ads are also ideal for boosting new product sales, awareness and clicks, so that your products will gradually rank higher organically. We have also found that Sponsored Ads are great for seasonal campaigns, like special promotions during Christmas, Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day. It helps Sellers make the best use of product seasonality or end-of-season sales to quickly get rid of inventory.
How Do I Get Started
If you are already selling your products on Amazon, getting started with Sponsored Ads can be as simple as logging into Seller Central, choosing the product(s) you want to advertise, setting your budget, and choosing your keywords.
However, this is only if your products are retail ready!
This involves: Clear product titles, descriptions and media A star rating of at least 3.5 At least 15 customer reviews Ensuring your products are in stock Winning the buy box Ensuring your enhanced content highlights your value proposition and brand story Setting up your product Store.
How Mrkt360 Can Help You?
Mrkt360 can help with ensuring your product listings are retail ready, as there are many rules and requirements, as well as creative elements necessary to have your ad listed. Mrkt360 can also create and monitor your campaigns, bidding and the performance of your account. Our Amazon Sponsored Ads Accredited members of our team can apply their expert knowledge and ensure your ads are competitive. We can also leverage our in-house API to monitor your bidding and performance and implement improvements. Let Mrkt360 help you drive discoverability and incremental sales for your brand!
