If you don’t have an Amazon account set up for your business, then you’re missing out on a platform with over 35 million users every month that basically have their computer mouse in one hand and their bank card in the other. If you do have an Amazon account, then you probably already know how much value advertising with them can bring.
If you’re already implementing PPC marketing into your strategy, you’re pretty much on your way. In this article, we’ll explain how to advertise on Amazon for beginners.
How to advertise on Amazon: Where do I start?
Why choose Amazon ads?
If you’re selling a tangible product that consumers can purchase online, you should absolutely be looking into how to advertise on Amazon! Alongside other digital marketing methods in your strategy, Amazon will just supply you with another way to get more eyes on your products and likely more buyers.
Your customers are already ready to buy!
Similar to how Google search works, when you type in a keyword in the Amazon search box and results appear, some of the top results will be sponsored posts – these are considered Amazon ads. They are denoted with subtle “sponsored” or “ad” text like in the image below.
Exploring how Amazon advertising works with costs
It’s much less than you might think.
The average cost per click on Amazon is rarely more than $0.35 (£0.26), making it more cost-effective on a CPC basis than search ads on AdWords or Bing Ads and comparable to some of the lowest CPCs on Facebook ads or Google display. Considering that Amazon searches show a lot of commercial intent, those are promising numbers!
Need more convincing?
After you’ve learnt how Amazon ads work, you may be thinking “Will Amazon advertising work for me?” Even more specifically, you should be asking “Will I make more revenue than what I spend on the ads?”
What are the different Amazon ad types?
Sponsored Product Ads
Sponsored Products use keyword-based targeting that is similar to Google Adwords. You can provide the keywords, or let Amazon find the keywords for you automatically. While this keyword-based targeting is technically similar to AdWords, Amazon uses a very different strategy and has different requirements.
With Amazon Sponsored Products – you pay a per-click fee only when a shopper clicks your ad. When they click your ad, the shopper is taken directly to an Amazon product detail page, where the shopper can buy the product from you. It is not possible to use Amazon Sponsored Products to drive traffic to another website.
Sponsored Brand Ads
Amazon Sponsored Brands, previously known as Amazon Headline Search Ads, are banner ads that display your brand logo, custom tag line, and multiple products, typically at the top of Amazon search results. In early 2020, Amazon released a new feature that allows brands to create video ads that will appear in the search results.
Sponsored Brands help increase brand visibility and drive product awareness because the prominent ad placements (i.e. at the top of search results) allow you to easily meet your shoppers while they are searching for what to buy on Amazon.
Sponsored Display Ads
Sponsored Display Ads, formerly known as “Product Display Ads,” are a unique remarketing advertisement product from Amazon that allows you to show your ad to consumers who have previously viewed your product or similar products, used search terms relevant to your product, or purchased from you.
How Amazon ads work for your strategy
Making sure your ads are effective
While each ad and target option offer advantages and disadvantages, they all serve a purpose. If you’re promoting a series of new products from the same line, for instance, you may use Headline Search Ads. Or, if you’re clearing out leftover inventory, you may use Sponsored Products for each item.
The ads all follow a pay-per-click (PPC), auction-based model. They also all require a minimum daily budget of £1, which lets you keep your advertising budget in check, which is important for smaller businesses.
Using your keywords correctly
If you’re new to this, take keywords from the keyword research you’ve done and set up an exact campaign with an ad group for each.
Alongside this, set up an Automatic campaign targeting the same products and add these keywords as negative. After a week or so, view the search term report to see which keywords from the automatic campaign you’ve been converting on. Add them as a negative for the automatic campaign and add them to your exact match campaign.
Find out how Amazon advertising works for you with Circulate
We hope you’ve enjoyed this Amazon PPC guide for beginners. If you want to diversify your PPC campaigns for more gains, you need to give Amazon advertising a try. As an amazing platform that’s perfect for both PPC beginners and experts, it opens up the world of PPC beyond display ads and social media, reaching users in new, unconventional media.
Looking to diversify your strategy but unsure how to advertise on Amazon? We can help. If you’re ready to implement Amazon ads into your marketing, contact us today and a member of our team will be in touch.
