The Ultimate Amazon Sponsored Ads Guide: 2022

December 08, 2022

The Ultimate Amazon Sponsored Ads Guide: 2022

In 2022, Amazon sellers are racing to pay-per-click advertising more than ever to help boost product visibility and sales. Amazon advertising was previously referred to as Amazon Marketing Services (AMS). It is a general term used to describe Amazon's range of advertising services and is essential to your success on Amazon in 2022. 

We’ll dive into everything you need to know about Amazon sponsored ads in today’s climate, including types of sponsored ads and whether Amazon advertising is worth digging into your pocket in today's competitive landscape.

Let's get into it.

Why Amazon advertising?

Amazon selling has changed in the past few decades. Today, Amazon has made it easier for sellers to join the platform. While this translates to more revenue for Amazon, it means more cut-throat competition for sellers. As an Amazon seller, you can no longer afford to take a back seat and rely only on organic ranking to increase brand visibility. Around you are Amazon sellers pumping thousands of dollars into their marketing campaigns. 

The good news is that Amazon has a way of leveling the playing ground so every seller can get their products noticed and boost conversion rates. 

Amazon advertising works like Google advertising. When you type a phrase into the search bar, the first results displayed are Amazon adverts identified by the subdued "sponsored" or "ad" text. Amazon sellers looking to get more brand and product exposure purchase these spots by bidding on certain high-volume keywords. 

Through Amazon sponsored ads, your listings will appear on top of search results, eventually boosting conversion rates to increase sales. There are different ways of approaching Amazon-sponsored ads, which brings us to the next section.  

Types of Amazon Sponsored Ads

Amazon Sponsored Ads

There are three types of Amazon sponsored ads – sponsored product ads, sponsored brand ads, and sponsored display ads. Let's find out how each ties to your bottom line and when to consider using them.

#1 Sponsored product ads

Sponsored product ads are the most common type of ads used by over 66% of Amazon sellers. They are keyword-based ads that look similar to organic search results except for the word "sponsored" that appears on the ad. Sponsored product ads aim to increase sales and attract more traffic to the product pages. They appear on Amazon and help promote products on relevant product pages and shopping results. They can appear on both product detail pages and even organic searches and have a higher conversion rate of about 10%. 

Sponsored product ads are hard to miss since they appear almost everywhere across product pages, search results, and top search results. Sometimes they are displayed on the product detail pages of competitors. Since these ads appear in so many places, they are valuable to third-party Amazon sellers as key revenue drivers. When customers click on the ad, they are automatically redirected to your product page. 

Amazon sponsored product ads are placed in front of buyers who are lower in the shopping funnel. Ideally, these shoppers already know what they want hence a greater likelihood that they will purchase from your ad. You have to bid against other sellers for more exposure with sponsored product ads, so decide on your budget per click. 

When setting up sponsored product ads, you need to choose between standard creative, where you use one of your products in the ad, or a custom creative that appears next to your ad to encourage customers to click.

#2 Sponsored brand ads

Rather than target your products, these ads display your entire brand and product portfolio to increase brand visibility. Sponsored brand ads comprise a brand logo, a custom heading, and a few products from your portfolio. They appear at the top of search results or within to boost brand awareness and sales across the entire catalog. When shoppers click on the ad, they are redirected to a product selection or your Amazon store. 

Amazon sponsored brand ads are preferred by about 34% of third-party sellers. They are available to vendors and sellers registered in Brand Registry. You can display your sponsored brand ads as a standard creative (no custom image or video), a custom image, and a video creative where you incorporate an interesting video that gets people clicking.

#3 Sponsored display ads

These ads help reach out to Amazon customers who have either shown an interest in categories related to your promoted product or have viewed your product detail page but didn't make a purchase. You can also use sponsored display ads to target specific categories and products similar to your promoted product. 

These ads aim to target and retarget audiences on and off Amazon. They appear across the internet, including published websites. Customers are redirected to the product page when they click on the ad. Amazon sponsored display ads are used by about 25% of third-party Amazon sellers. They are available to vendors and sellers registered in the Brand Registry program. 

Are Amazon sponsored ads still viable in 2022?

Amazon sponsored ads 2022

The average cost per click for Amazon advertising is $0.97, which is almost similar, if not the same, as advertising on Google and other platforms.  

The question is, will Amazon sponsored ads work for you? Even more important, will your revenue improve if you spend on ads? The short answer is yes! 

Investing in Amazon product ads, display ads, or brand ads is okay. What matters is how you go about it. For your sponsored ads to succeed, consider the following: 

  • Your advertising strategy: You have the perfect ad and product to skyrocket your sales. The only problem – you spend a huge chunk of your advertising budget targeting the wrong keywords. Bidding on irrelevant keywords or keywords that are too broad or too competitive won't help your ads convert. The goal is to optimize your ads for performance. That means targeting high-performance keywords and using "negative keywords" to exclude irrelevant traffic to your listing.
  • Your advertising budget: Amazon PPC is a great model because it means only paying when someone clicks on your ad. Ideally, the higher your advertising budget, the more the number of potential clicks. When evaluating your Amazon ad goals, ensure your budget matches your expectations.
  • Use of eye-catching visuals: Unlike physical shoppers, online shoppers can't hold a product in their hands to make a purchase decision. You might have the best product and a big advertising budget, but that won't increase conversions if your images are unattractive or unclear. For that reason, invest in quality product photography. 
  • Your ad copy: Brick-and-mortar stores have customer service reps to help position the product and answer related questions. You don't have that provision when you sell online. Your ad copy should do the job of a customer service rep. It should contain all the information a customer would want to know about your brand and product in a way that convinces them that the product meets their needs, and there's no reason not to click on the ad. That's what will improve your ad performance. 
  • Ad positioning: Someone clicking on your ad doesn't mean that they will automatically buy. The reality is that customers aren't necessarily loyal. They shop around a lot, so if your marketplace positioning doesn't match your product quality or you don't offer competitive pricing, you'll definitely lose out on sales. 

Summary 

Budget is a big concern for most Amazon sellers. After all, you are trying to grow a business and therefore want to be sure that money is allocated correctly. Your advertising budget won't go to waste if you have an effective advertising strategy and work with an Amazon marketing agency that can help guide you toward best-case results.

 Don’t waste time or money on Amazon ads. Invest in the help of Ecomocy to help you build a bullet-proof Amaozn advertising strategy. Contact us today.




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