With most shoppers moving to Amazon every day to explore new products, it’s no surprise that brands are increasing their budgets for advertising on Amazon. This brings us to the big question— what types of Amazon ads should your business use to amplify sales and minimize Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS)?
We’ve prepared an easy guide for you, which explores different types of Amazon ad categories.
Contents
What are the types of Amazon ads?
Amazon Advertising essentially entails three main ad types— Sponsored Product Ads, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display Ads.
Let’s take a deeper dive and learn more about each ad, from what it is to how to optimise, we have covered everything you need to know.
Sponsored Product Ads
They promote your products across search results and product detail pages. Sponsored Product Ads work on a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising model that promotes one product, meaning you only pay for your Sponsored Product Ads when a shopper clicks on them. These ads help increase product visibility, drive traffic to product detail pages, and boost sales by appearing where shoppers are most likely to discover them.
With Sponsored Product Ads, your business can also manually or automatically target keywords relevant to your target shopper. If you opt for automatic keyword targeting, Amazon’s intelligence determines and focuses on the most appropriate keywords for your products.
Where do Sponsored Product Ads appear?
Amazon showcases Sponsored Product Ads on mobile, desktop browsers and the Amazon mobile app. They appear on Amazon search results pages (top, middle, and bottom of results), also on other product detail pages (under “Sponsored Products related to this item”) and on category pages. This is great exposure to people who are searching on your keywords.
Who can use Sponsored Product Ads?
Sponsored Product Ads are available for professional sellers, vendors, book vendors, authors, and agencies. Whether you’re a vendor, author, or seller, you need to have an active account with Amazon to use Sponsored Product Ads.
Additionally, your product must be new, eligible for the Buy Box, and listed in a qualifying product category. Amazon has more than 30 product categories under Sponsored Product Ads, including appliances, electronics, and pet supplies.
What are the best practices for Sponsored Product Ads?
For the best results from your Sponsored Product Ads, do make sure you execute the following tips:
Target high-converting keywords relevant to your products
Use negative keywords: With negative keywords, you prevent Amazon from displaying your ads for select keywords.
Analyse search term reports to refine targeting and eliminate irrelevant clicks.
Use automatic and manual targeting to maximise reach and control.
Automatic targeting: If you haven’t advertised on Amazon before, automatic targeting is a good idea as it gives you valuable information when it comes to finding high-value, relevant keywords. Try automatic targeting for a few weeks, and then use the data for manual targeting.
Manual targeting: it allows sellers to manually set keyword options for Sponsored Products ad campaigns. While automatic targeting lets sellers skip the process of selecting keywords, manual targeting gives you a higher level of control on selecting your relevant keywords. You can use tools like Jungle Scout and Helium 10 to refine your keyword research on Amazon.
Budget and Bidding Control
Experiment with Adjust Bid by Placement: With Adjust Bid by Placement, Amazon increases your bid by up to 100% to enhance the competitiveness of your ads, as well as their chances of appearing in the search results. There are 3 settings: Bid down only, Bid up and down
Fixed bids
Sponsored Brands Ads
Sponsored Brands are banner-style ads designed to increase brand awareness and showcase multiple products. These ads feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and up to three products, driving shoppers to your Amazon Store or a curated landing page.
Sponsored Brands Ads feature automatic or manual bidding. With automatic bidding, Amazon optimizes your bids on its own — but only by lowering them, it never increases your bids. And if you choose manual bidding, you need to optimise your keyword bids manually as per the performance.
Where do Sponsored Brands appear?
Amazon displays Sponsored Brands at the top and bottom of Amazon search results pages (banner format), within search results (Sponsored Brands Video), and on mobile and desktop devices. For mobile users, Sponsored Brands also appear within search results on the Amazon App.
Who can use Sponsored Brands?
Sponsored Brands are available to sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, vendors, and agencies representing brand owners. This ad type is ideal for brands looking to build recognition and drive consideration across multiple products.
With Sponsored Brands, you can drive brand awareness and sales, and sell multiple new products all at once. Furthermore, your advertisement appears in search results, which increases your exposure to buyers.
Additionally, it allows you to create custom landing pages. You can showcase your products, and display their unique advantages, with videos, image galleries, and more.
What are the best practices for Sponsored Brands?
Feature best-selling or high-margin products in the ad, use compelling headlines and high-quality brand logos, and link to a well-designed Amazon Store or landing page for a seamless brand experience. Why not leverage Sponsored Brands Video for more engaging storytelling?
Target 30 to 40 keywords: Amazon recommends that brands target 30 to 40 keywords when it comes to Sponsored Brands. This helps your business reach a wider audience who are more likely to buy your product.
Create actionable headlines: Using strong CTAs within the headline increases your ad’s chances of being clicked. For instance, you can say, “Buy Now,” or “Save Now,” to encourage consumers to act.
Use A/B testing for ads: Start A/B testing your Sponsored Brands. Dabble with different versions of headlines and images, as well as the products featured in your Sponsored Brands.
Sponsored Display Ads
Sponsored Display is a self-service display advertising solution that allows advertisers to target audiences both on and off Amazon using shopping signals and behavioural data. These ads help brands retarget shoppers, protect product detail pages, and reach new audiences.
Sponsored Display Ads use PPC to promote a product by targeting shoppers’ interests or similar products. Sponsored Display ads offer two targeting options (Availability varies by targeting type).
Product targeting: If you want to drive consideration through ads, product targeting can help you advertise or cross-sell your product among audiences who are actively browsing your product or looking for similar products and categories.
Audiences: If you are looking to loop in new customers or re-engage those who have viewed your product previously, Amazon audiences targeting can help you reach relevant buyers on Amazon. Additionally, you can also target potential buyers using the prebuilt segment: based on interests, lifestyle, hobbies, life events and more.
As compared to Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Product Ads, Product Display Ads have a unique approach to target buyers. Instead of focusing on keywords, this type of Amazon ad focuses on the similarities between your product and the buyer’s interests, product categories, and individual products.
Where do Sponsored Display Ads appear?
Amazon puts Sponsored Display Ads on search results, related product detail pages, customer review pages and merchandising emails. Product Display Ads can also appear outside of the Amazon website, like on websites within Amazon’s advertising network, such as IMDb, Amazon Fire TV, and Amazon Demand-Side Platform (DSP).
With Product Display Ads, your company can cross-sell and upsell your products. This type of Amazon ad also enables your business to expand its reach and connect with buyers that your competitors might be targeting.
Who Can Use Sponsored Display?
Sponsored Display is available to professional sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry, vendors, and agencies. It is suitable for brands seeking to retarget interested shoppers or expand their reach beyond Amazon’s marketplace.
What are the best practices for Sponsored Display Ads?
Here’s how you can increase the competitiveness of your Product Display Ads:
- Use audience targeting to reach shoppers who viewed your products or similar items.
- Protect your product detail pages from competitor ads.
- Customise creatives with strong calls-to-action and clear product images.
- Monitor placement and performance metrics to optimise campaigns.
- Pair with Amazon DSP for a comprehensive display advertising strategy.
Run campaigns continuously: Amazon recommends running Sponsored Display Ads 24/7, because more than 50 percent of Amazon shoppers purchase more than once a month. Meaning a campaign that runs all day has a better chance of conversions.
Use interest- and product-based targeting: Use both targeting methods. By developing campaigns that focus on interest- and product-based targeting, you increase the reach of your Product Display Ads.
Add Vendor Powered Coupons (VPC): When you set up your Sponsored Display Ads, you can choose to promote your VPCs. A VPC can encourage more buyers to click your ad and convert.
Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform)
Amazon DSP allows advertisers to programmatically buy display, video, and audio ads both on and off Amazon’s platforms. It enables brands to reach audiences across Amazon-owned properties and third-party sites, leveraging Amazon’s customer insights for precise targeting.
Where Do Amazon DSP Ads Appear?
These ads appear across Amazon’s properties (like Amazon.com, IMDb, and Fire TV) and third-party websites and apps. This broad reach ensures visibility to relevant audiences, even beyond Amazon’s ecosystem.
Who Can Use Amazon DSP?
Amazon DSP is ideal for medium to large businesses with significant advertising budgets, as it generally requires a minimum spend. Both self-service and managed-service options are available, depending on your expertise and resources.
Best Practices for Amazon DSP Ads:
- Use Amazon’s audience insights to target users effectively.
- Incorporate high-quality visuals or video to grab attention.
- Test and refine campaigns based on performance metrics.
- Pair DSP with Sponsored Display campaigns for a holistic strategy.
Amazon Video Ads
Amazon Video Ads are short, engaging video formats that showcase your products or brand to a highly targeted audience. These ads capitalise on the power of storytelling to drive brand recall and conversions.
Where Do Amazon Video Ads Appear?
Video ads can appear on Amazon’s website, Fire TV, IMDb, and mobile apps. They may also appear during live sports or streaming content, ensuring maximum visibility.
Who Can Use Amazon Video Ads?
Video ads are suitable for businesses of all sizes, though having access to video production capabilities is essential. They are particularly effective for brands seeking to build a narrative around their products.
Best Practices for Amazon Video Ads:
- Keep videos short (15–30 seconds) and focused.
- Start with a hook to capture attention in the first 3 seconds.
- Highlight the key value proposition and include a call-to-action (CTA).
- Optimise videos for mobile viewing, as many users access Amazon on their phones.
Amazon Audio Ads
Amazon Audio Ads enable brands to connect with listeners through Alexa-enabled devices, Amazon Music (ad-supported tier), and other Amazon audio platforms. These non-intrusive ads are ideal for reaching multitasking audiences.
Where Do Amazon Audio Ads Appear?
Audio ads primarily appear on Amazon Music’s ad-supported tier and other Alexa-enabled devices. This allows brands to tap into the growing popularity of smart home devices and streaming audio.
Who Can Use Amazon Audio Ads?
Brands looking to engage with listeners in a more passive format will benefit from this ad type. Audio ads suit businesses aiming to increase brand awareness rather than immediate clicks or conversions.
Best Practices for Amazon Audio Ads:
- Keep the message concise and memorable, around 10–30 seconds.
- Focus on brand recall rather than direct calls-to-action.
- Use a conversational tone that resonates with listeners.
- Ensure the ad complements the listening experience without disrupting it.
Amazon Promotions and Deals
Who doesn’t love extra discounts while shopping, and it’s no different for Amazon shoppers! That’s why Amazon Promotions are so popular. Having promotional deals on Amazon has proven to be a good way to attract new customers, bolster conversions and increase sales.
Here are some popular promotions available on Amazon:
Amazon Lightning Deals: These time-sensitive promotional offers are available on the Deal of the Day page. Lightning Deals are lucrative and enticing for buyers as the products featured are constantly updated with new deals; the Deals only last for four to six hours.
Amazon Promotions: With an Amazon promotion, you can offer your products at a discounted price to boost sales. You can have a certain percentage off on a few products through a special coupon code, use free shipping and run a Buy One Get One (BOGO) offer as well to attract customers.
To Wrap Up
From using different types of ads to offering enticing promotions, there’s no dearth of advertising options on Amazon. If you are just starting with Amazon ads, these simple tips discussed above can help you maximise the performance of your campaign and increase ROI.
If you are looking to improve your Amazon sales strategy, we are here to help. Contact our team to learn more about professional Amazon ads management or see if Amazon advertising is worth it for your business.
