Struggling to stand out on Amazon?
The enormous amount of competition on Amazon makes it incredibly difficult for millions of brands to gain exposure and traction to their pages.
Luckily, Amazon has an ad format to help brands grow their exposure on the platform.
It’s called Amazon Sponsored Display. If you have an Amazon storefront or sell products on Amazon, you’ll want to keep reading.
What Are Amazon Sponsored Display Ads?
Amazon Sponsored Display is a method of pay-per-click advertising through Amazon.
These ads are a bigger and more targeted way to advertise your Amazon products than standard paid ads.
Sponsored Display ads reach audiences by strategically placing your ads throughout the Amazon site itself. Amazon also places these ads on third-party platforms and pages such as Twitch or Google, which means they also reach audiences outside of Amazon. There, the ads appear to consumers who may have clicked out of their Amazon account.
This exclusive tool is not available to every seller on Amazon. Currently, only professional sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, vendors and agencies are eligible to take part in Amazon Sponsored Display ad campaigns.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Limiting the availability of the ad type not only increases demand but also helps to keep competition at bay.
Contrasting Amazon Ads
Amazon offers three major pay-per-click advertisement categories: Sponsored Display Ads, Sponsored Products, and Sponsored Brands. Each category has its pros and cons and offers a variety of return on investment.
Amazon PPC Advertisement Categories
Sponsored Products are the most popular Amazon ads available. This type of ad appears in search results and product listing pages. They are keyword-targeted, meaning your ad will pop up when a user searches for a specific keyword.
Sponsored Brand ads are between Sponsored Products and Sponsored Display in terms of size and reach.
These larger ads show up at the very top of a search results page. They feature the product the user was searching for as well as two or three other related products by the same company. Just like Sponsored Products ads, Sponsored Brand ads are keyword-targeted.
The major difference between Amazon Sponsored Display ads and Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Products is that the program doesn’t target keywords. Instead, it targets customers based on their past interests and shopping behaviors, as well as whether they’ve viewed your product’s detail page before.
Using personalized tracking data instead of keywords expands your audience range by showing a product to consumers before they even know they need it.
It also places the ads in front of people who have already seen your products through retargeting techniques. When the content feels familiar, a consumer is more likely to click on the product or ad and follow through to purchase.
Where Do Amazon Sponsored Display Ads Appear?
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads pop up in a few different places both on the Amazon platform and outside of it.
The first place you’ll see a Sponsored Display ad is on the Amazon homepage. The goal of an ad on this page is to engage the consumer when they first open the site.
These ads aim to draw attention and traffic away from what the consumer’s original search and onto the product in the advertisement. A consumer may visit Amazon to purchase dish soap, but when your Sponsored Display Ad for yoga pants grabs their attention, it reminds them they need those, too!
Consumers are also exposed to this content as they browse the site or search for a particular product or brand. Although the targeting doesn’t rely on keywords, it is still a targeted campaign. Much like Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products, these ads will pop up on search results pages of a consumer who Amazon’s algorithm thinks might be interested in the product.
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads are pretty much everywhere on the site, making them very hard to miss. This makes them an excellent choice for pay-per-click advertising.
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads also appear on Twitch and third-party websites and apps in select marketplaces. They retarget consumers who may have searched for your product or a product in your category before, including those who have your product in their abandoned cart.
The goal of placing these ads on other websites is to remind the consumer why they need your product and draw them back onto the Amazon platform to complete their purchase.
How Do Amazon Sponsored Display Ads Work?
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads work in three different ways.
- Product Targeting: This method works by targeting similar or complementary products and categories. It’s a good way to drive consideration or cross-sell by promoting products to audiences who are actively searching for similar products. Using this method, ads will only appear within the Amazon platform.
- Audience Views Remarketing: This method is good for goals that involve retargeting consumers. To retarget an audience, you focus on people who have viewed your product description page within the last 30 days. Using this method, the ad will appear on and off the Amazon platform through third-party websites and apps. This method of targeting is currently only available in the United States.
- Audiences: Interests: This targeting method is best for building brand identity and increasing brand awareness. It will expose the content to audiences who have shown interest in a particular product within the past 90 days. Only Vendors are eligible to use this method and the ads only appear on pages within the Amazon platform.
Determining which method to use will depend on the goal of the advertisement and the eligibility of the brand.
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads
Wrapping it Up
Turning big profits on Amazon is tough.
Amazon knows that. It also knows that its success depends on its vendors and sellers. That’s why it’s putting effort into helping them succeed and stand apart from the increasing competition.
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads are just one example of Amazon creating an environment where vendors can be successful.
And as always, if you need help getting the ball rolling, reach out to one of our Amazon experts!
FAQs
- What are Amazon Sponsored Display Ads?
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads are a type of pay-per-click advertising available to sellers and vendors with products sold through the Amazon platform.
- Are Amazon Sponsored Display Ads available to every seller on Amazon?
No. Currently, they are only available to a limited number of sellers who are enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, vendors, and agencies.
- How are Amazon Sponsored Display Ads different from the other types of pay-per-click advertising Amazon offers?
The other types of advertising offered through Amazon, Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, are keyword-specific. Display Ads use a more detailed, data-driven targeting strategy.
- Where do Amazon Sponsored Display Ads appear?
Depending on the targeting method the advertiser chooses when setting up their advertisement, the content could appear on various pages throughout the Amazon site or on third-party websites and search engines.
