Amazon is the world’s leading online retailer, with no signs of slowing down any time soon. In 2021, Amazon’s share of the U.S. e-commerce market is predicted to be 50%. While that means a lot of competition on Amazon, it also means a lot of potential for visibility and revenue for Amazon sellers.
However, without the right knowledge of Amazon advertising strategies, sellers will waste time and lose out on acquiring more customers. To leverage ad spend and generate sales, you have to know where to start.
Why is Amazon advertising important?
For e-commerce brands selling on Amazon, implementing an advertising strategy is a no-brainer. A recent study by Feedvisor found that 73% of brands advertise on Amazon, so your competitors are likely already taking advantage of this ad space. In fact, Feedvisor also found that 98% of brands on Amazon say they see value in Amazon advertising, whether they currently use it or not.
So, why are so many brands opting to advertise on Amazon? Amazon is where the customers are, and increasingly so as Amazon encompasses more of the purchase funnel.
Consider this compelling stat from a BrandVerity report: 56% of surveyed consumers choose Amazon as their first destination for product searches.
Customers are searching for everything from paper towels to bike shorts on Amazon, and converting has never been easier with one-swipe mobile purchasing.
Amazon’s options for advertising are evolving, too, giving sellers more opportunities to be seen. Ads are now reaching customers beyond the top of search results with ad placements on detail pages, video ads in search, custom creative banner ads, and new on-and-off placements.
Everywhere customers are online, Amazon wants an ad closeby.
6 Strategies for Boosting Your Amazon Advertising Performance
Now that there’s no doubt Amazon is the place to be for e-commerce brands, here are six strategies that will give your Amazon advertising a leg up on the competition.
1. Understand advertising’s impact on total sales
Amazon advertising has a more integrated impact on your total Amazon sales than other solutions. Sellers may think they are diluting their revenue if an item is purchased through an ad, but they should consider lifetime value and the additional exposure that ads provide, especially within a crowded marketplace.
For example, let’s say a new customer orders your product through an ad, then subscribes for monthly reorders. How much more valuable was that ad than if they had never subscribed? To know that, you’ll need to track metrics beyond the average cost of sale and click-through rate, such as lifetime value and days between orders. These metrics will help show the true impact of ads on overall sales, just as it did for a Booyah client. While helping the client sell more on Amazon, the campaign structure allowed the client to double down on investment into growth on the platform as new customers returned to make multiple purchases.
Read more about our success with Jake’s Nut Roasters.
2. Set objectives for your campaigns
Would you expect to pay the same amount to acquire a new customer as to maintain an existing customer? Of course not! So, you shouldn’t set your campaigns to target these customers with the same strategy. For example, if you sell insulated coffee mugs, you should be willing to bid more for the keyword “insulated coffee mug” than “YourBrand insulated coffee mug.” A non-branded term would have far more search volume than a branded term, so you should expect to have to pay more for that bid.
Expectations like these can help you lay out realistic objectives. By planning out each campaign before launch around a realistic objective, you ensure you properly control your budget, cost of acquisition, bidding strategy, and products included in the campaign.
3. Utilize all available ad units
As Amazon advertising has grown, so have available ad units. These now include Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, and Amazon DSP. Sponsored Products are the most common ad type, with 57% of brands utilizing this pay-per-click ad unit. Sponsored Products have also shown to have the highest return on ad spend out of all Amazon ad types.
If your brand has a wide range of product variations or ASINs in your catalog, Sponsored Brand ads might perform better for you. Sponsored Brands also allows for custom images as backgrounds, or you can use video assets in Sponsored Brand Videos to make your ads stand out to consumers.
Marketers should take advantage of all available ad units — experiment and see what works for your particular products and brand.
4. A/B test product titles as if they are ad copy
One of the foundations of a strong ad strategy on Amazon is top-notch content on your product detail pages, and a product title is arguably the most important element. Why? Because product titles are the text customers read before clicking on your ASIN. So, titles should be treated like ad copy on Google or Facebook.
A strategic product title that focuses on key search terms drives valuable leads, resulting in higher conversion rates. Incorporating keywords in your title helps your product rank for relevant search queries, and different keywords should be substituted and tested periodically.
While you might not want to change your product title as often as on other ad platforms, you should be testing various keywords, title lengths, and details. You can manage these A/B tests through Amazon Experiments in your account for a true A/B test experience.
5. Experiment with new ad features
Amazon’s advertising business has exploded over the last few years, leading to innovations that allow brands to reach consumers in more targeted ways. Using these new advertising features lets you gain new insights and test different ways to win customers.
Every few weeks, Amazon releases a new insight (like Impression Share for Sponsored Products) or targeting capability (like Negative Product Targeting) allowing you new ways to find customers. Amazon often releases these new features before announcing them, so check for new features every week in your account to stay on the cutting edge.
6. Remember, it’s a marathon — not a sprint
Amazon advertising can be one of the highest return and largest impact media channels for your business, but too often brands only focus on advertising for short periods. The most successful brands on Amazon don’t turn on ads just for Prime Day or the holiday shopping season, but rather they have an “always-on” strategy. In the same Feedvisor study, they found that over half of all brands on Amazon advertise consistently throughout the year, which Amazon itself recommends.
This doesn’t mean your budget shouldn’t fluctuate throughout the season, but brands that have ads running throughout the year will have better insight into their business, be able to scale growth more quickly and see better returns than brands that run ads sporadically.
Like most of digital advertising, this is a long game.
Still not sure where to begin with your Amazon advertising strategy?
Booyah’s team of Amazon experts is ready to help!
