When Amazon’s online selling site first came out in 1995, it described itself as “Earth’s Biggest Bookstore.” It came at a time when bookstores, like Barnes & Noble and Crown Books, were all the rage.
Without the physical constraints of a brick-and-mortar shop, Amazon quickly dominated the online landscape with sales totaling $148 million in 1997.
Today, Amazon has evolved from a bookstore to the largest online retailer.
The e-commerce marketplace has become one of the primary destinations for online shoppers researching potential purchases. A report shows that 55 percent of consumers skip Google altogether and shop directly on Amazon.
As Amazon steadily expands its lead in e-commerce, more and more sellers are offering their products on the online marketplace to take advantage of its massive sales potential.
If you run a B2C company, advertising on Amazon is something you need to integrate into your online advertising strategy. Amazon provides a lucrative opportunity for advertisers to score better ad positions at an affordable cost than more established platforms, like Google AdWords or Facebook.
With the right enterprise management and automation software, you can manage your campaigns successfully and achieve your business goals. Learn about the basics of Amazon advertising through our guide below.
When a shopper logs into Amazon and types a keyword into the search bar, Amazon loads a page full of results relevant to that query. These are called Amazon ads and are found within the brand’s search engine result pages (SERPs). They are set apart from regular products that appear on the brand’s page through subtle “sponsored” or “ad” texts. Advertisers who want to gain more product visibility on Amazon can pay for these positions by bidding for specific keywords.
On January 2019, Amazon released a new targeting feature for Sponsored Products (Product Attribute Targeting), giving you more options to optimize your advertising campaigns. It includes a feature that lets you target by product category or Amazon Product Detail Page. You can then filter for price, brand, and star rating, ensuring your ads reach relevant audiences. In turn, this gives you higher visibility on your competitor’s product pages.
In the world of e-commerce, advertising on Amazon is an effective way for you to maximize revenue. And launching your campaign starts with the following steps:
And if you are successful with your campaign, you’ll enjoy the following benefits:
Amazon ads also have no monthly fees or minimum spend. These search-term targeted ads work on a cost-per-click pricing model, which means businesses only pay a fee when a user clicks their ad. As a result, you have greater control over your budget, and you can choose how much to bid per click.
With over 100 million subscribers for Amazon Prime worldwide, advertising on the e-commerce site is essential to get your products in front of more people.
Since online shoppers who search for products on Amazon already have customer purchase intent, the most effective way to rank higher on its SERPs is by increasing sales velocity.
Start attracting and engaging with millions of customers with Amazon’s dynamic ad solutions today. These include:
Experiment with all ad types to see which leads to the highest returns. Although sponsored product ads may yield the fastest ROI, sponsored brand campaigns can also attract loyal, repeat customers. Incorporate a mix of all formats then adjust your strategy and budget accordingly based on the results.
You can set up your Amazon ad campaign in four easy steps:
Now that you’ve got the basics down for Amazon advertising, you can start optimizing your listings and identifying the most profitable keywords for your campaigns. Evaluating the most important keywords can help you maximize your revenue potential and position your products for the most valuable search queries.
Read Chapter 2 to learn more about Amazon PPC terminology keyword research.