Amazon Advertising Guide: how to use Amazon ads to gain visibility and obtain more customers

So you’ve started selling on Amazon to tap into the millions of users who use this platform on a daily basis. And you thought you’d be selling more because of the many potential customers on it.

But of course…

Like you, there are a dozen other stores from your own niche that have had the same idea.

Having that many competitors, you clearly need to pull all kinds of tricks to stand out from the crowd.

And one of the most interesting options is advertising your products on Amazon Advertising.

Does it ring a bell?

If the answer is “no”, then keep on reading because in this post you’ll learn:

• What Amazon Advertising is and how it works.
• The kinds of campaigns you can create.
• Some tips so that your ads convert more.

Buckle up, because we’re about to skyrocket your products’ visibility. 😉

👉 What is Amazon Advertising and how it works

Maybe Amazon Advertising doesn’t sound familiar to you at first. But if we mention Google Ads or Facebook Ads, they surely ring a bell, right?

Well, Amazon Advertising is yet another online advertising platform with a very similar operation.

Here are some of its features:

• Running ads inside and outside Amazon: your ads can show up both on Amazon’s web and on other websites thanks to Amazon DSP (we’ll talk about it below).
• Cost per Click: campaigns on this platform work under a PCP (or Cost per Click) model —you only pay for the service when someone clicks on the ad. When it comes to setting up the campaign, you can determine the highest bid; in other words, how much you’re willing to pay for each click (even if you’ll have to bid higher due to your competitors so that your ads do show up). In this post we talk about CPC more deeply.

For example, this is how ads that show up on Amazon’s search results look like (you’ll spot them easily because they’ve been labeled as “sponsored”).

👉 Ads for everyone: the types of campaigns you can create with Amazon Advertising

One of the strengths of Amazon advertising is the vast amount of ad formats you can choose from.

Let’s see them one by one:

• Sponsored products: these are product ads that show up in search results and as related products on product cards. They look exactly like organic results, except for the fact they’ve been labeled “sponsored”.
• Sponsored Brands:  many products from the same brand are advertised. For example, if you are on the product card of a computer’s mouse, you could have a Logitech mouse ad popping up.
• Sponsored Display: We’re talking about banners here. An example would be the image we just showed you above.
• Audio ads: you can also create audio ads, which will reach Amazon music users. Just what Spotify does in its free version.
• Video ads: these are shown on streaming TV such as Amazon Prime Video. You can also create sponsored-display ads with video so they can be more appealing to the user.
• Amazon DSP: this platform allows you to advertise display, video, or audio both inside and outside Amazon. You can also turn to Amazon DSP to promote your products even if you haven’t set up shop on Amazon.
• Stores: it’s not a kind of ad per se, but it allows you to create a kind of “micro-web” inside Amazon to display your products, announce offers and even tell your own story.

For you to get an idea of how different these formats are, here are some real-life examples.

This is a screenshot of what a basic sponsored ad looks like on Amazon.

Then, there’s this video ad we found on a product card.

Last, this is Logitech’s store.

👉 How do you create an ad campaign on Amazon? 2 strategies you can use (and when to use one or another)

Let’s say you already know the type of campaign you want to run.

Now it’s time to get to work and start creating it.

For this purpose, Amazon offers two setting options.

• Automatic targeting: you only need to choose the product you want to advertise, set the bid and a daily budget, and the platform will take care of the rest —including when to show the ad depending on the keywords used by users in their searches. An ideal choice if you’re getting started with online ad campaigns.
• Manual targeting: you’re on your own here… You’ll have to search the keywords you’re most interested in and create ad segments yourself. In return, you’ll get to set more advanced settings.

To learn more, check this Amazon video out, which explains how to create a campaign (in this case, a sponsored product one).

👉 4 Good practices to increase ad conversion

Be careful about launching a campaign without knowing what you’re doing.

You must plan your ads really well to get the highest profit. Otherwise, you’ll be losing money.

In order to avoid that, take the following advice into account.

✅ 1. Set your goals before creating a campaign

First off, ask yourself this:

“What do I want to achieve by launching this ad campaign?”

For example, you might want to:

• Obtain traffic and/or sales: in this case, you should bid on CPC; that way, you’ll only pay when a user clicks on the ad and reaches one of your product cards.
• Give your brand visibility: tap into more visual ads (such as videos) and bidding options per views (CPM) to ensure the largest possible group of users becomes familiar with your store (a common option in branding strategies).

Do you know your goal yet?

Let’s move on.

✅ 2. Choose well the product you want to advertise

No, it’s not alright to create ads randomly.

Before posting an ad, keep this in mind:

• You must have enough stock: imagine the campaign you’ve launched is going really well; you’re getting a lot of orders for one product in particular and… when you’re about to ship the orders, you realize you can’t even cover half of the orders that have been placed. This can happen to you, and that’d mean throwing away a large amount of money you’ve invested in the campaign (in addition to having some upset customers). To avoid this, it’s important you keep rigorous control of your stock and ensure you have enough items before creating the ads.
• The product’s price should be attractive or on offer: you’ll increase the chances of selling to more users.
• Use your best products: choose your bestsellers or those products that generate a larger profit for you.

If, on top of that, it’s a product that has been rated positively, it’ll be even easier for you (social proof at its best). 😉

✅ 3. Optimize your product cards so they turn each visitor into a buyer

It does not matter how attractive or well-thought-out your ads are; it’s the content of the product card that’ll make the user buy from you or not.

So before activating your campaign, optimize the product cards of those products you’ll advertise.

For that, take the following advice into account:

• Descriptive and compelling texts: use solid copywriting skills to highlight the benefits the user will get if they acquire the product. That has more converting potential than a boring list of features.
• High-quality images: The product must be eye-catching. That’s why you need to use attractive images that present the product from different angles. Besides, it’s best to use pictures with models for products such as clothing items or accessories.
• Videos: they help users have a clearer idea of the product you’re selling (its look, size, functioning, etc.).

If you want to learn more, have a look at these two posts:

• How to improve your eCommerce’s conversions by using pictures and videos (with real-life examples)
• Product cards: How to use them to increase conversion in your online shop

✅ 4. Measure results and optimize your campaign

Amazon’s platform provides you with a series of statistics for you to know how profitable your ads are. These data come in handy when optimizing campaigns so they work better and better every time.

Some of the metrics you must control for are:

• Cost per Click and/or CPM (Cost per Mille), according to the type of bidding you’ve chosen.
• Click Through Rate (CTR)
• The conversion Rate

In addition to that, you have to calculate the return of investment (ROI) to know whether your ads are being profitable or not.

👉 Fine-tune your campaigns and start selling more with Amazon

After everything you’ve learnt in this post, you should already have an idea of the huge potential Amazon’s ads platform offer.

Are you not entirely convinced yet?

We have a little something for you then. 😉

In this video you can get to know the case of Honest, an eCommerce that sells baby hygiene products and which has reached very interesting results thanks to Amazon ads.

Now you’re up.

Choose the campaign that best adapts to your goals, set your budget, and apply the advice we’ve given you to start getting new clients.

Ads on!