In May of 2020, we saw an exponential spike in ecommerce sales as COVID shut down many businesses. Online sales retailer Amazon benefitted as their third-quarter earnings tripled, despite the pandemic.
Over the last year, we have learned ecommerce is not going anywhere. The good news is it’s never too late to learn how to utilize the tools Amazon has for marketers.
In this interview, Ignite Visibility’s Amazon experts Jenny Silva and Samantha Blush sit down with John Lincoln to discuss the ins and outs and best practices when it comes to Amazon marketing and the various tools available.
Being “Retail Ready”
“Retail Ready” is a term used in the space of Amazon advertising to determine if your brand is up to Amazon’s selling standards.
It’s important to note that Amazon likes to see a well-integrated brand selling products with strong optimized details.
Another option is to become brand registered with your trademark through Amazon to gain access to A+ content and brand stores.
Important Metrics to Optimize Your Amazon Performance
ACoS, or advertising cost of sales, measures how much it costs you to obtain a sale based on your advertising.
“While it’s a helpful metric I think it stops short in showing you the full picture of what you’re doing on Amazon,” Samantha Blush says.
Many companies rely on this metric in their business strategy, but it is important to utilize various tools to measure your results. When you look at the big picture, the metric TACoS, total advertising cost of advertising, shows how much you are looking to spend to achieve a certain revenue
This metric can provide you with a more accurate picture and guide your future optimization strategies.
Advertising on Amazon
There are various ads you can run on Amazon, but they should be based on an approach you believe will work best for your company.
If you employ auto campaigns, you allow Amazon to place your ad where they see best fit. Manual campaigns give you a little bit more control, allowing you to target specific audiences. Brand based ads allow you to target audiences on your specific terms. Defensive targeting ads protect your own detail page from competitors.
While there are many other advertising strategies that are available, it’s important to choose one that will best help you achieve your company’s advertising goals.
While selecting these ad types and creating your master plan, it’s essential to establish KPIs or key performance indicators and goals for a brand. This will help you allocate your advertising budget and decide where your money will be best spent.
AI in Advertising
Artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly popular as more brands try to employ it in their everyday business plans. It is almost essential to have some sort of tech when it comes to Amazon advertising to try to stay ahead of the competition.
“There’s never going to be a 100% solution in terms of tech when it comes to Amazon, you wanna make sure there is always a person that has experience with Amazon to really look through and find what’s going on with the tech,” Jenny Silva suggests.
DSP
DSP stands for Demand-Side Platform, which is essentially Amazon’s display network.
This is a very powerful targeting tool for ads. With a new way to market your brand, this tool will help you advertise not only on Amazon but on all other Amazon-owned and operated sites.
The secret behind this tool’s power is to layer in all of Amazon’s first-party data. This data has been collected through Prime customers for years, which make up about ½ of U.S. households, making these touchpoints much more reliable than third-party data.
Sponsored Display
Sponsored Display used to be known as product display ads. Amazon is now using them as a way to introduce various brands to display advertising.
With this tool, brands have the option to plug in various target information. This enables brands to reconnect and retarget possible consumers who interacted with their brand in the past but did not purchase their product.
There is an opportunity to target individuals who shopped products similar to your product in the past, as well as a tactic to target consumers in niche interest categories.
Wrapping Up
Jenny and Samantha leave us with a final expert tip:
“The more you try things that Amazon has that are new or in beta, the more Amazon is going to reward you,” Jenny Silva mentions.
Amazon is always innovating, it is what the company is known for. Stick to your goals and review your budget, when trying to figure out the best ads for your company.
Finally, tune into the upcoming Webinar, Get the Amazon Advertising Competitive Edge, to hear our Ignite Amazon experts discuss more insights on how to build a strategic framework to boost your overall strategy.
