4 Tips for a Winning Ad Strategy
November 21, 2023
If you’re involved in marketing within an e-commerce business, you probably contemplate dozens of marketing strategy questions daily. Core to these questions is likely the big one: How can I drive traffic to my Amazon listings?
It’s no secret that the best e-commerce businesses sell, and sell well, on Amazon. Why? The answer is simple: Amazon accounts for nearly 40% of e-commerce shoppers in the US, a $1 trillion industry. We have four tips for launching an effective advertisement campaign that gives you the edge on the world’s biggest e-commerce marketplace.
1. Make the most of Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads
Think about it: When you shop on Amazon, how often do you scroll past the first page of a product search? If the answer is never, then you join 70% of Amazon customers. In fact, 64% of shoppers will only click on the first three products listed on a search page. The good news? With Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads, you make sure that your product hits that first page (as part of the “sponsored” section) even if you are new and seeking to break into a highly competitive market.
Utilizing Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads to secure placement on the first page of a relevant Amazon product search can help your sales conversion rate jump to 18%. Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads work in a pay-per-click model, which means Amazon gets a small commission for each click of a customer (rates averaging $0.81), regardless of whether they make a purchase. So, you will want to make sure you strategically choose which of your products has the highest conversion rate and profit margin to make the most of these ads.
2. Use the right keywords
Your brand exposure on Amazon largely depends on how you integrate search keywords into your advertisements and listing copy. To gain maximum exposure, you may be tempted to use the highest search volume keywords in your product category. Unfortunately, this plan often backfires.
It may seem obvious, but you want to make sure your keywords are most relevant to your product and your target customers search queries. This often means being selective and targeting lower search volume terms that are more specific to your product niche, rather than stretching to broader search terms that are less relevant but have more search volume.
Using negative keywords and phrases to rule out irrelevant products can help you avoid your product appearing on mismatched searches, causing confusion for shoppers rather than leading to sales. For example, if you sell digital cameras, you may be tempted to integrate broad keywords related to smart phones into your text with the hopes of catching new audience members. This tactic will likely backfire and drown your product in an irrelevant market. Instead, stay focused to make sure you find your ideal customer.
3. What about Sponsored Display Ads?
Although the bulk of product searches usually start on Amazon, 34% of shoppers still find their way to Amazon through external traffic – meaning off-Amazon advertisements. This percentage is too large to forget. Thankfully, Amazon offers a different advertisement mechanism, Amazon Sponsored Display Ads, which allows you to easily market your Amazon products on external websites, like social media.
Amazon Sponsored Display Ads allows brands to auto-generate product-focused ads that target customers based on their shopping habits, rather than using keywords. This program evaluates what kinds of products shoppers prefer, then appears as simple window ads in the margins of blogs, videos, social media websites, and more.
Like Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads, Display Ads work on pay-per-click scale. Getting customers in the door is often the hardest part, but combining Brand Ads and Display Ads with strategic pricing will bring your brand exposure to grow significantly, and will ultimately lead to more sales.
4. Partnership, partnership, partnership
When you’re ready to cut through the hothouse of competition that is Amazon by crafting a winning advertisement strategy, working with e-commerce industry experts like ZQUARED can give you a distinct advantage.
We understand the e-commerce landscape intimately: How to leverage the most out of Amazon ads, how to utilize both high-volume and niche-specific keywords to maximize your brand exposure to the right audience, and how to ensure your prices are competitively set to ensure maximum conversion, and profit margin.
At the end of the day, partnering with ZQUARED allows you to focus on the aspects you love most about your business while knowing that your product’s Amazon exposure is handled by trusted experts.