Amazon launched Amazon Marketing Services in 2012, allowing first-party sellers (businesses selling wholesale to Amazon) to advertise on and off-site. Since then, lots has changed, with the advertising platform being separated from the vendor (first-party) console and opened to third-party sellers (businesses that sell directly to consumers through the platform). If your business has a product or products, Amazon is likely a great place to grow your business.
PROs of Using Amazon Advertising
- People shop on Amazon. They ship approximately 18.5 orders a second.
- You can target keywords and/or products to trigger your ads.
- Amazon is often the first place users search for products.
- Ads may generate organic traffic or sales
CONs of Using Amazon Advertising
- Competition is fierce, with 2.3 million active sellers and over 12 million products.
- Not all products are eligible for advertising or even being sold on Amazon.
- The site gets a cut of each sale, so tight margins may not work on their platform.
- Services can’t be sold on the site.
How Amazon Advertising Stands Up to Our Four Questions:
When deciding whether a digital advertising platform is right for your business, there are four questions you should ask yourself.
WHAT IS YOUR GOAL? – If your business has a product that can be readily shipped, especially if you have a trademark, you should be listed on Amazon, even if you’re not advertising. If your product is unique but similar to other products or has a competitive market, the platform can help you stand out or introduce your better-than-theirs product to an actively shopping audience.
WHO IS YOUR AUDIENCE? – Customers come to Amazon to buy, so while there are tire-kickers (those who seem interested in making a purchase but never commit), most users are there to find the right product. Where Amazon Ads struggles is audience and location targeting. If you would normally limit your ad campaign with a demographic or location, you’ll not have that option. That being said, proper search keywords can help ensure the right audience is presented with your ads.
WHAT ASSETS DO YOU HAVE? – Unlike almost all other platforms we’ve discussed in this series of blogs, you do not have to have a website URL, app, or even a phone number to target with Amazon ads. You target your product on the site. This means you do have to have a vendor or seller central account with Amazon, but that’s another blog (and also something Mediaura can help you with).
Let’s talk about assets for those products and ads. Amazon Ads wants high-quality actual product photographs (no renderings) with at least one on a solid white background. That being said, we can use almost any image or video for your ads, with the caveat that the platform is finicky, and what we submit one day may work fine and be denied and replaced the next day.
WHAT IS YOUR BUDGET? – Amazon Advertising lets you set your own budget, so there is no minimum ad spend. Using budget rules, you can up your bids at prime times and slow them down when your buyers are window shopping.
A Final Note About Advertising with Amazon
Amazon Advertising is very different than the other platforms we’ve discussed in this series primarily because it’s not just an advertising platform, it’s also an e-commerce platform. If your profit margin can handle the cost of selling through the site, then adding advertising can help you go to the next level. If you’re already selling on Amazon and want to improve your listings, get your brand registered, or start out advertising your competitors, reach out to the marketing experts at Mediaura for help.
