Thinking about advertising on Amazon? Just because you own a brick-and-mortar store, doesn’t mean you can’t double down on your ad efforts to increase sales and reach more customers around the world.
But before we dive into some tips and tricks for managing your Amazon PPC strategy, let’s first take a step back and review the basics.
What Is PPC?
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a marketing model that allows you to pay for bids ONLY when users “click” and engage with your digital ad. You’ve probably seen them at the top of your Google SERPs after searching for a product.
Let’s say, for example, you’re in the market for a new pair of bluetooth headphones.
You might type “bluetooth headphones for mac” into your search browser and see results for businesses with the word “Ad” attached to them. If you decide to click on one of these Google Ads, that business will pay for that particular click. If someone searching for the same product decides to click on the same business’s website below the ad, then the business wouldn’t pay for the click, as this is an organic vs. paid click. Make sense?
What Are Amazon PPC Ads?
Amazon’s PPC platform is similar to Google Ads: you can pay per user click, pay by number of impressions, or pay by the type of engagement. You can also retarget customers based on their shopping habits.
Amazon PPC allows you to choose from three different bids:
- Sponsored Product Ads
- Sponsored Brand Ads
- Sponsored Display Ads
You may have already came across these types of ads while searching on your Amazon account for specific products (i.e., sponsored product ads) or on a third-party website (i.e., sponsored display ads).
3 Strategies for Better Amazon PPC Bids
When the time comes to set up your Amazon campaigns, there are a few best practices you’ll want to implement into your overall strategy. We recently sat down with one of our PPC experts, Alex Wolfgram, to learn his 3 basic tips for launching Amazon PPC:
Choose a Bidding Strategy
Choose between Manual bidding or Automatic bidding.
- Manual bidding allows for precise keyword targeting whereas Automatic bidding will “automatically” choose the most relevant keywords and product pages, where Amazon thinks your product will convert.
- Automatic bidding is a great way to gather data faster as to what converts and what doesn’t. In comparison, Manual bidding is more for those who know exactly what they want to target.
Cross Analyze Keyword Data with Other Marketing Platforms
Do you have any cross data points from Google Ads, Google Analytics or Google Search Console that you can reference? If so, learn what keywords, search phrases, products, or selling points you have noticed and apply that within Amazon.
Remember, it’s data you already own, so you might as well leverage it!
Better Listings Typically Means Better Conversion Results
Make sure to include as much information as possible in your ad. This includes pictures, headlines, bullet points, descriptions and FAQs. The more robust information and transparency you provide, the better conversion rate you’re likely to see both from organic search and paid search efforts.
Quick Do’s & Don’ts
After you create an effective Amazon PPC strategy, you’ll want to follow a few other tricks and avoid a few rookie mistakes to ensure you’re making the best investment.
Do’s
- Research keywords
- Optimize listings before advertising
- Understand what you can afford with CPCs
- Look at competitors
- Understand search volume for your product
Don’ts
- Avoid advertising products that have high CPCs (cost-per-clicks), if you can’t afford them
- Don’t forget to make sure your inventory is prepared for a surge in orders
Ready to Get Started with Amazon PPC?
If you’re reading to kickstart your ad campaigns on Amazon, Google, or other digital platforms, connect with our team to help implement the best plan for your business. We’ll help you define your goals, choose the best bidding strategy, and optimize your ads for improved engagement and conversions.
To get started, fill out our contact form and a member of our team will reach out to you shortly!
