Yes, they still sell books online but they now sell much more! In so doing Amazon has now become the largest online selling platform around today. So it is understandable why their Advertising platform has also become the 3rd biggest for ads – just behind Google and Facebook! Over the last 20 years, Amazon.com has diversified their business into many different areas which has given Amazon an impressive balance sheet with profits in advertising alone being £1.9bn (2018) 130% higher and 12 times more than in 2017!
Amazon Ads are similar in nature to how Google Search Ads work, as when you type in a search query ie keyword into the Amazon search box and results appear, some of the top results will be sponsored posts – these are considered Amazon Ads. Advertisers who want to gain more visibility to their products on Amazon can pay for these positions by bidding on specific keyword terms, which will lead to higher visibility in the Amazon results pages. The advertiser will then be charged when a shopper clicks on their ad. You can essentially see Amazon’s advertising platform as the Amazon version of AdWords.
Amazon advertising provides three different types of Ad delivery which can be configured through Amazon’s ad platform – including Sponsored Product Ads, Headline Search Ads, and Product Display Ads.
Below we will take a brief look at each of them:
Sponsored Product Ads operate similarly to ads run through the popular Google Shopping Network. These are the ads that drive Amazon searchers directly to a specific product you’re selling on Amazon. Sponsored Product Ads are typically displayed above or below the search results page, as well as on other product detail pages to. Sponsored ads are keyword-targeted, so you have the option of choosing from exact, phrase, or broad match types, in so giving you complete control of your daily budget.
Headline Search Ads display in the search result pages as headline banner, which are always above the result listing, these ads will lead searchers to any specific page or product on Amazon. Headline search ads use a cost-per-click method, there are also only two keyword match-types supported for headline search ads – exact and phrase match.
Lastly, we have Product Display Ads that work a bit differently than the two ad formats above. These ads are not keyword targeted, but rather interest or product display ads. You can select from a long list of products or interests to target these ads to relevant shoppers and they will appear to the right or at the bottom of the search results page.
Out of all the new advertising platforms around today – Facebook / eBay, Amazon’s growth this year has been the most impressive out of them all. Don’t be confused these platforms should not be looked upon as a replacement for Google Adwords more of keeping your finger in another pie!
If you are an active online Amazon seller or you are interested in becoming one? here at Verve, we have a team of certified online experts with many years of experience in advertising and optimisation, so we can help you achieve returns you have only dreamt of.
Below is a list of some of the services we can offer you.
First of all, we would take the time to fully understand what you are trying to achieve! this may be to drive sales or grow your brand. Then advise which advertising type would best meet your needs. We will then create a bespoke strategy for a successful and achievable campaign to action and optimize going forward.
Once we have identified your goals and objectives, we would conduct comprehensive research of each of your products and your competitors to make your Ads stand out from the crowd, in so doing making them as cost effective as possible.
Below is the step by step process we would undertake:
Managing and monitoring your Ads is key to getting the most out of your budget, as this is where most campaigns fail. Amazon Ads are no different to other advertising channels, you can’t just set them up and forget them. So the key difference between doing well and blowing your competitors away is constant management, monitoring and performance tracking of all of your ads to see which Ads are performing well and improving the ones that are not.
In a recent survey by Search Engine Land they predict Marketers will increase their Amazon budget by as much as 80% for 2019, this is due mainly to the incredible growth Amazon Advertising is going through.
So the answer to – Is it now time to take Amazon Advertising seriously = I feel it is more if you don’t others will! – and some already are!
If you are interested in knowing more about Amazon advertising to whether it would be a good fit with your digital strategy – Please get in touch with one of our advertising experts today who will talk you through the different options to best meet your goals!