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Amazon Advertising: Types, Pricing & How It Works

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When you start your own business, you focus on creating quality products.

Whether you customize clothing, make eco-friendly cleaners, or craft trinkets, your products showcase your personality.

Unfortunately, all your work is futile if you cannot reach your target audience.

Advertising is a cut-throat industry, but your social network should not determine your success.

With Amazon advertising, you can reach millions of customers worldwide. Learn how to get started below.

The Basics of Amazon Advertising

Amazon advertising may seem overwhelming at first.

Luckily, it is user-friendly once you break it down.

What Is Amazon Advertising?

Amazon advertising is a method of using data from Amazon to reach customers.

They may be on Amazon sites, third-party sites, apps, or any combination.

Advertisers pay when someone clicks on their ad.

How Does Amazon Advertising Work?

Amazon controls 49.1% of the e-commerce market, and it tracks each customer’s buying habits.

Thus, Amazon has data on the preferences and purchases of almost half of Americans who buy products online.

Once a seller teams up with Amazon, they have access to this data, allowing them to target the ideal buyers.

They can use sponsored ads, display ads, or video ads to attract customers.

Amazon Advertising Examples

Bounty’s sponsored product technique uses the popular keyword “paper towels” to reach many customers.

It also describes exactly how many rolls you will receive and runs a promotion to draw attention away from the competition.

Tork’s display ad appears above the results, forcing the customer to see this company’s product first.

Tork emphasizes products with high ratings to attract attention.

Types of Amazon Advertising

As discussed above, there are three types of Amazon advertising.

Each one addresses a different goal that sellers may set.

1. Sponsored Ads

Sellers select the keywords that apply to their product and bid on these terms.

In the example above, Bounty bid on the term “paper towels.”

Those who bid the highest sums on keywords will see their ads along the top.

Sponsored Products

Sponsored products appear on the search results pages and relevant product pages.

Sponsored Brands

Sponsored brands also appear on the search results page and relevant product pages.

They include a custom headline, the logo for the brand, and several products.

2. Display Ads

Display ads focus on images.

They can appear on Amazon sites, third-party sites, and third-party apps.

The products or services displayed may not appear on Amazon.

These ads allow the seller to find the most relevant audiences.

The seller may choose an audience himself or collaborate with Amazon.

3. Video Ads

Video ads can also appear on Amazon sites, third-party sites, and third-party apps.

Sellers may use video ads to tell a story and create an emotional connection with their audiences.

Like display ads, video ads may represent products or services that do not appear on Amazon.

Should You Advertise on Amazon?

Sellers have different preferences for advertising platforms.

Consider the following before making your decision.

Pros of Advertising on Amazon

Amazon reaches a vast audience. Around 100 million people shop on Amazon, the second most popular shopping app in the United States.

You can reach a vast pool of buyers by using Amazon advertising.

Amazon tracks the purchasing habits of its customers.

This information is available to sellers once they sign up for Amazon advertising.

Cons of Advertising on Amazon

You may need to spend extra money bidding on keywords.

If your keyword is popular, competitors could easily outbid you.

Then, your product will not appear at the top of the list and will receive less attention.

Conclusion: Is Amazon Advertising Worth It?

The pros of Amazon advertising outweigh the cons.

Although advertising for yourself may be less expensive, you will never reach as many customers as you could with Amazon.

How Much Does It Cost To Sponsor on Amazon?

When you advertise on Amazon, you will pay every time someone clicks on your ad.

You can choose your daily budget to ensure that you will not pay more than expected in a day.

The exact price will depend on a couple of factors.

You can use self-service ads, which are minimally customizable.

Premium ads, on the other hand, are personalized, visual banners.

Remember that you will also bid on a keyword as you see fit.

How To Optimize Your Amazon Ads

Sellers who advertise on Amazon use these techniques to improve their ads.

vector graphic showing amazon advertising on a computer screen, with a man holding a megaphone coming out of the screen

1. Campaigns by Product Category

The keywords in your ad campaigns should match those in your product listings.

You may choose to use the keyword makeup in your ad campaign.

A product labeled as a face wash is not a match, so Amazon may consider it irrelevant.

Include the word makeup in your product listing.

2. Compelling and Urgent Ad Copy

The ad copy is a short description of your product that explains the premise of your product in only a few words.

You want the reader to be intrigued by your product.

Include a call-to-action within your ad copy.

3. Make It Specific

Most customers will not click on an ambiguous ad.

Your ad should attract the attention of customers searching for products within the same category as yours.

4. Bid on Similar Products

Bidding on similar products gives you an edge over the competition.

If you sell Hefty trash bags, your products will likely appear under trash bags and Hefty trash bags.

If you bid on the keyword Glad, your products may also appear when customers search for Glad trash bags.

In this case, customers will notice your product even when shopping for a competitor’s products.

5. Try All Three Ad Formats

Your potential customers could be anywhere.

Although Amazon has a vast customer base, many people use other sites.

When you use all three ad formats, you can reach customers on Amazon and third-party sites.

Additionally, different people respond to different ads.

A short sponsored ad may catch a shopper’s attention, but a video ad may intrigue someone who is not actively shopping.

6. Use Negative Keywords

Negative keywords are those that do not relate to your product.

Customers who use these keywords are highly unlikely to buy your product.

Negative keywords allow Amazon to divert these customers away from your product pages.

What Is the Best Time To Run Ads on Amazon?

Prime Day and Black Friday/Cyber Monday bring the most new customers to sellers.

People who have never purchased from your brand are more likely to do so these days.

On Prime Day, sellers receive 2.1 times more new customers than on typical days.

On Black Friday/Cyber Monday, they receive 1.5 times more new customers.

How To Advertise on Amazon

Follow these steps to advertise on Amazon.

  1. Create an account on Seller Central using the Advertising tab.
  2. Choose a type of ad.
    1. If you are using Sponsored Products, choose the products you want to advertise. Select automatic or manual targeting. Choose an amount for pay-per-click.
    2. For Sponsored Brands, choose three or more products to advertise. Attach a logo and headline. Pick your targeted keywords and the amount you wish to spend on them.
    3. If you use Sponsored Display, choose an audience. Select your bid and a daily budget. Pick the products you will advertise and make a campaign.
  1. Track your data.

Wrapping Up

Your products matter to you.

With proper marketing, you will find customers who love them.

Whether you provide a service in person or sell products on Amazon, you can promote your business with Amazon advertising.

If you have any questions about this process, please leave a comment.

Amazon advertising is a quick and efficient method to reach countless customers.

With customizable techniques and data on purchasing habits, Amazon allows sellers to reach buyers in various ways.