When thinking of digital advertising for your Ecommerce business, Amazon Advertising is often an overlooked platform. However, data from Statistica shows that Amazon holds 37.8% of the U.S. Ecommerce market. This makes Amazon by far the leading online retailer in the country. With roughly 300 million users on Amazon, leveraging Amazon Advertising is a no-brainer if you’re looking to substantially grow your Ecommerce business. Here we outline the different ad options, key benefits of the platform, as well as things to keep in mind before taking your business to the retailer.

What is Amazon Advertising?

Amazon Advertising, formerly known as Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), is an advertising service that works similarly to pay-per-click (PPC) advertising on Google. Ecommerce merchants utilizing Amazon Advertising only have to pay when shoppers click on their ads. This is true regardless if the product sells or not. In addition, like Google Ads, Amazon Advertising has many ways to connect products to customers actively searching for specific products like yours!

When you type a keyword into the Amazon search bar, the top results will most likely be sponsored ads. Products that are promoted through Amazon advertising are indicated by either “sponsored” or “ad”. When merchants want to gain visibility for their products, they will bid on keywords. Then, when users search for these keywords, the advertiser’s brand will appear higher in search results. Amazon Advertising features three different ad types.

Types of Amazon Advertising

Amazon Advertising offers three primary ad types: sponsored product ads, sponsored brands, and product display ads. Although, Amazon also offers other advertising options such as video ads, Amazon Stores, and Amazon Native Ads. 

1. Sponsored Product Ads

   Sponsored Product Ads are a PPC Amazon Advertising solution that promotes one specific product. With this type of ad, your Ecommerce business can either automatically or manually target keywords that are relevant to your target audience. Advertisers only pay for their ads when shoppers click on them which provides merchants with more control over their budget and keyword bidding.

   These types of ads are displayed on both desktop and mobile devices. They are shown on the right and bottom side of search results or on product details pages. Sponsored Product Ads are only available to professional sellers, retail vendors, and Kindle direct publishing authors. When merchants use this type of Amazon Advertising, they can easily reach shoppers as they search for products. In addition, Amazon provides merchants with audience insights that they can utilize to better cater their ads to their target audience. 

2. Sponsored Brands
   Sponsored Brands, better known as Headline Search Ads, is another form of PPC Amazon Advertising. However, now Ecommerce businesses are able to highlight their brand in addition to up to three products. Just like other types of Amazon ads, merchants do not have to pay for the ad to be displayed. Rather, the business is charged when a shopper clicks on it. Keywords and bidding are also a component of Sponsored Brands.
   
   These types of ads are displayed on desktop devices above, below, or to the left of search results. Sponsored Brands are available for professional sellers and retail vendors that are advertising new products.

3. Product Display Ads
   Product Display Ads are the most competitive form of Amazon Advertising. These types of ads are also based on a PPC model but do not focus on keywords like the other two types. Instead, they promote products by targeting similar products as well as the interests of shoppers. Targeting can be categorized into two distinctly based groups.

   Product-based targeting promotes your products’ similarity to competitors’ products. Or, it can be targeted as a useful add-on for products shoppers are purchasing. On the other hand, interest-based targeting targets your audience by their broader interests. This is useful to build your brand and reach a wider audience.
   
   Product Display Ads are placed on customer review pages, related product detail pages, or merchandising emails. They can also be found on other Amazon websites and Amazon decides.

What Type Should I Use For My Ecommerce Business?

Choosing the best Ecommerce marketing channels is essential before delving into Amazon Advertising. Amazon may not be the best place for your business to advertise products. However, if you do decide that you can profit from Amazon Advertising, the type of Amazon ads you use may vary depending on your needs and goals. It’s also important to conduct additional research on the ad types and take costs and vendor criteria into account.

Key Benefits of Advertising on Amazon

• Control Costs: Only pay when a user clicks on your ad.

• Higher Search Appearance: Increase the visibility of your brand and products in searches on Amazon pages.

• Boost Sales and Conversion Rates: An increase in visibility through Amazon ads can increase your sales, thus also increasing your conversion rate.

• Knowledge of Customer Behavior: Gain valuable insights into the behavior and choices of shoppers provided directly from Amazon Advertising!

• Saves Time on Marketing: Advertising on Amazon does not take much effort. Amazon takes care of measuring the progress of your campaigns, customer issues, etc. Less time spent on those marketing efforts means you earn more.

  

  Things to Keep in Mind

  Despite the advantages of Amazon Advertising, there are still considerations to keep in mind before starting a campaign. For example, when you sell on Amazon, the site is able to see all of your customer, pricing, and product data. Therefore, if you have a unique product line, it may not be ideal to use Amazon Advertising. If you do, you can run into the risk of Amazon starting their own line of your unique products. Nonetheless, Amazon Advertising can still be highly effective and cost-efficient for many Ecommerce businesses. 

  Ready to grow your Ecommerce retail businesss with Amazon Advertising? Call DaBrian Marketing Group at (610) 743-5602 to learn more and get started today!