Which is your favorite soulless digital giant to advertise with? Facebook? Google? Instagram? (Uh, that’s part of Facebook but you get the idea.)
The appealing thing about these platforms is that they seem so open. Whatever you sell, however you sell it, there’s a way to market your business via Facebook or Google. Not like Amazon, where you have to be a card-carrying Amazon merchant to take advantage of their enormous customer base and powerful advertising tools, right? Wrong.
You don’t even have to sell through Amazon to advertise through Amazon. That’s one of the reasons it is becoming a go-to marketing resource for small businesses in 2020. But it’s not the only reason. First, there’s that customer base. More than 206 million unique visitors make their way to Amazon each month, a number that is only set to rise despite a growing movement to boycott the unscrupulous retail behemoth. That’s the equivalent of the population of Brazil (as long as we’re talking about boycotts.)
Perhaps more vitally, 56% of Amazon’s customers search Amazon for their desired product before looking anywhere else online. More than one in five won’t look elsewhere if they spot something appropriate to buy on Amazon first. And a quarter will head to Amazon even if they spot their desired object elsewhere – just to see if it is cheaper at Bezos’ place. In short, if your product is not visible on Amazon – even if it can’t actually be bought on Amazon – you’ve pulled the shutters down on a huge potential market.
However you sell online – through Amazon or elsewhere – there is likely to be a way you can exploit Amazon’s advertising mechanisms in your favor. There are four different methods for those who sell a tangible product.
Sponsored Brands are useful for raising brand awareness more generally. This time, clicking takes customers to either your product page or your store’s landing page – and again, you only pay when a customer clicks through.
The third type of advert is the Sponsored Display. This one doesn’t just appear on Amazon.com itself; it shows up on Amazon’s other websites and apps, as well as third-party sites. Guess what? You only pay for the advert when a customer clicks through. This one is great if you’re selling your product through Amazon and want to draw outside customers into your virtual store.
Finally, Stores themselves are a form of Amazon advertising that allow you to create your own ‘shop window’ on the site. And they are free.
Display Ads are simple image adverts that you can show on Amazon, its subsidiaries, and other 3rd-party sites. And you don’t have to connect the ad to an Amazon store – customers can click through to Amazon or to your own business website. Costs vary, but are related to the number of impressions your ad gets.
Video Ads can appear on Amazon’s sites, but crucially they can also figure on Amazon’s devices such as Fire TV – making it seamless to get your video content in front of eager audiences. Your video ad can connect to a webpage of your choice, and the cost is dependent on the length and format of your video and exactly where it is placed.
Okay, so that’s what you can do. But how can you do it well?
To begin with, your campaign needs a name. This serves a couple of purposes, so choose it well. In the first case, you will probably create a number of campaigns over the months and years – so giving them memorable names helps you to know which is which. And secondly, this is the name they’ll probably use at the award ceremony when your campaign wins big!
Unless you’re raising the profile of a particular brand, it is best to stick to one product for each campaign. But you can include variations, such as color. The point is to be direct and to compete with the precise products that your rivals are selling in the same category.
Next you need to decide on your monthly budget. This is an important point as you don’t want the bill to start adding up day after day. It is worth starting with a modest campaign to see how many clicks and impressions you’re getting, so that you know roughly how much to budget next time around. You also need to set an end date for your campaign. Otherwise it will keep running and running, and every time someone sees your advert your account will be charged.
Next, think about the keywords you want to use. Keywords are the search terms that get your product noticed. If you’re new to all this, it can be worth choosing ‘automatic targeting’ first time around, so that Amazon chooses the most appropriate keywords for your product and brand. However, sometimes the human touch is more effective.
So when you have time, do some study and figure out how to cook up some killer keywords for your product. You will need to bid for keywords and it can get expensive to choose the most popular ones, so it is worth learning more about keywords to help you identify some cheap but effective options. There are different bidding categories available for sponsored products campaigns, so learn them well before you blow your hard-earned marketing budget.
Another thing with keywords: it is possible – nay, advisable – to use negative keywords in your campaign. This makes it less likely that folk searching for something that isn’t quite your product will click on your advert – saving you from paying for that impression, since the customer is unlikely to shop with you anyway!
Finally, because Amazon is known for welcoming back return customers at a high rate, it is worth leaving your Product Display Adverts running indefinitely. “[O]ver half of Amazon’s U.S. shoppers make multiple purchases per month,” the company's marketing guide points out, “and 80% make purchases at least once a month. Use Product Display Ads to convert these consumers automatically, in real time, year round.”
There you have it. It is not difficult to get Amazon Advertising up and running for your business – but it does take a bit of work to do it brilliantly. Start by revising these notes through this visual guide to Amazon Advertising for small businesses, and get ready to join the Bezos gravy train!
Read next: 52% of companies to increase their social media marketing budget in the year 2020
The appealing thing about these platforms is that they seem so open. Whatever you sell, however you sell it, there’s a way to market your business via Facebook or Google. Not like Amazon, where you have to be a card-carrying Amazon merchant to take advantage of their enormous customer base and powerful advertising tools, right? Wrong.
You don’t even have to sell through Amazon to advertise through Amazon. That’s one of the reasons it is becoming a go-to marketing resource for small businesses in 2020. But it’s not the only reason. First, there’s that customer base. More than 206 million unique visitors make their way to Amazon each month, a number that is only set to rise despite a growing movement to boycott the unscrupulous retail behemoth. That’s the equivalent of the population of Brazil (as long as we’re talking about boycotts.)
Perhaps more vitally, 56% of Amazon’s customers search Amazon for their desired product before looking anywhere else online. More than one in five won’t look elsewhere if they spot something appropriate to buy on Amazon first. And a quarter will head to Amazon even if they spot their desired object elsewhere – just to see if it is cheaper at Bezos’ place. In short, if your product is not visible on Amazon – even if it can’t actually be bought on Amazon – you’ve pulled the shutters down on a huge potential market.
However you sell online – through Amazon or elsewhere – there is likely to be a way you can exploit Amazon’s advertising mechanisms in your favor. There are four different methods for those who sell a tangible product.
Marketing tangible products on Amazon
The first method is called Sponsored Products, and adverts like this appear within Amazon among the search results or on other products’ pages. This technique is perfect for seasonal offers and clearances, or to boost the visibility of your products or offers. When customers click on this type of ad, it takes them to your product page – and you only pay when this happens.Sponsored Brands are useful for raising brand awareness more generally. This time, clicking takes customers to either your product page or your store’s landing page – and again, you only pay when a customer clicks through.
The third type of advert is the Sponsored Display. This one doesn’t just appear on Amazon.com itself; it shows up on Amazon’s other websites and apps, as well as third-party sites. Guess what? You only pay for the advert when a customer clicks through. This one is great if you’re selling your product through Amazon and want to draw outside customers into your virtual store.
Finally, Stores themselves are a form of Amazon advertising that allow you to create your own ‘shop window’ on the site. And they are free.
Using Amazon to market other products and services
There’s no need to cry if your business doesn’t sell tangible products. Amazon Advertising still has a place for you. There are a number of other advertising methods available to draw attention to your service.Display Ads are simple image adverts that you can show on Amazon, its subsidiaries, and other 3rd-party sites. And you don’t have to connect the ad to an Amazon store – customers can click through to Amazon or to your own business website. Costs vary, but are related to the number of impressions your ad gets.
Video Ads can appear on Amazon’s sites, but crucially they can also figure on Amazon’s devices such as Fire TV – making it seamless to get your video content in front of eager audiences. Your video ad can connect to a webpage of your choice, and the cost is dependent on the length and format of your video and exactly where it is placed.
Okay, so that’s what you can do. But how can you do it well?
Creating a quality Amazon Advertising campaign
There are several important steps to create a complete campaign via Amazon Advertising. And don’t forget to use the Amazon DSP platform to get your marketing visible right where you need it.To begin with, your campaign needs a name. This serves a couple of purposes, so choose it well. In the first case, you will probably create a number of campaigns over the months and years – so giving them memorable names helps you to know which is which. And secondly, this is the name they’ll probably use at the award ceremony when your campaign wins big!
Unless you’re raising the profile of a particular brand, it is best to stick to one product for each campaign. But you can include variations, such as color. The point is to be direct and to compete with the precise products that your rivals are selling in the same category.
Next you need to decide on your monthly budget. This is an important point as you don’t want the bill to start adding up day after day. It is worth starting with a modest campaign to see how many clicks and impressions you’re getting, so that you know roughly how much to budget next time around. You also need to set an end date for your campaign. Otherwise it will keep running and running, and every time someone sees your advert your account will be charged.
Next, think about the keywords you want to use. Keywords are the search terms that get your product noticed. If you’re new to all this, it can be worth choosing ‘automatic targeting’ first time around, so that Amazon chooses the most appropriate keywords for your product and brand. However, sometimes the human touch is more effective.
So when you have time, do some study and figure out how to cook up some killer keywords for your product. You will need to bid for keywords and it can get expensive to choose the most popular ones, so it is worth learning more about keywords to help you identify some cheap but effective options. There are different bidding categories available for sponsored products campaigns, so learn them well before you blow your hard-earned marketing budget.
Another thing with keywords: it is possible – nay, advisable – to use negative keywords in your campaign. This makes it less likely that folk searching for something that isn’t quite your product will click on your advert – saving you from paying for that impression, since the customer is unlikely to shop with you anyway!
Finally, because Amazon is known for welcoming back return customers at a high rate, it is worth leaving your Product Display Adverts running indefinitely. “[O]ver half of Amazon’s U.S. shoppers make multiple purchases per month,” the company's marketing guide points out, “and 80% make purchases at least once a month. Use Product Display Ads to convert these consumers automatically, in real time, year round.”
There you have it. It is not difficult to get Amazon Advertising up and running for your business – but it does take a bit of work to do it brilliantly. Start by revising these notes through this visual guide to Amazon Advertising for small businesses, and get ready to join the Bezos gravy train!
Read next: 52% of companies to increase their social media marketing budget in the year 2020