Advertising on Amazon is not just an option - it is a necessity.
Jens Vittrup
When selling on Amazon, advertising is not just an option – it is a necessity. With millions of products on the platform, it can be difficult to get noticed without the right advertising strategy. But which advertising formats does Amazon offer, and how do you choose the right ones for your business?
In this guide, we dive into the various Amazon ad formats, their placements on the platform, and how you can leverage them to increase your visibility and sales. Whether you are new to the platform or already have experience with Amazon advertising, you will find valuable insights on how to optimise your advertising efforts.
Amazon marketing encompasses all activities that help sellers promote their products on the Amazon platform. This includes optimising product listings, strategic pricing, customer service and, not least, advertising.
With over 300 million active users globally, Amazon is not just an e-commerce platform, but also a search engine for products. In fact, more than 60% of product searches start directly on Amazon. This means that visibility on the platform is crucial for reaching potential customers.
Amazon’s A9 algorithm determines which products appear at the top of the search results based on several factors, including relevance, sales performance and customer satisfaction. Advertising allows you to ‘jump the queue’ and gain instant visibility, even if your organic rankings are not yet strong.
For new sellers, Amazon marketing can be critical for establishing a presence, while established sellers can use it to protect their market share and explore new niche opportunities.
Amazon offers several different advertising formats, each with their own advantages and use cases. Understanding these Amazon ad types is key to creating an effective advertising strategy.
The three primary types of Amazon PPC ads include Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display. Each of these ad types has different placements on the platform and serves different purposes in the buying journey. Let’s review each in detail.
In addition to these, Amazon also offers more advanced advertising solutions such as Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform), which enables programmatic advertising both on and off the Amazon platform. These are typically aimed at larger businesses with bigger ad budgets.
The choice of ad type depends on your specific goals, budget, and where in the sales funnel you want to reach potential customers. An effective Amazon advertising strategy often combines several ad types to create a cohesive and comprehensive presence across the platform.
Amazon Sponsored Products is the most popular advertising format on the platform and a great starting point for most sellers. These ads display a single product in the search results and on product detail pages.
When users search for relevant keywords, your Sponsored Product Ads on Amazon can appear at the top of the search results, giving you a valuable opportunity to capture their attention. These ads operate on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis, meaning you only pay when a user clicks on your ad.
One of the biggest advantages of Sponsored Products on Amazon is their seamless integration into the search results. They resemble organic listings with the addition of a subtle ‘Sponsored’ label, making them less disruptive for users compared to traditional banner ads.
To maximise the effectiveness of your Amazon Sponsored Products, you should focus on keyword relevance, compelling product images and competitive bidding. Automatic campaigns can be a good starting point for identifying relevant keywords, which can then be refined in manual campaigns for more targeted efforts.
The results from Amazon Sponsored Product Ads can also provide valuable insights into customer search behaviour, helping you to optimise your Amazon SEO strategies for better organic rankings.
Amazon Sponsored Brands, formerly known as Headline Search Ads, are a powerful tool for promoting your brand identity on Amazon. These ads typically appear at the top of the search results and include your company logo, a custom headline and up to three products.
When users click on your logo in a Sponsored Brand ad, they are taken to your Amazon Store or a customised product collection page. This provides a unique opportunity to showcase a broader selection of products and tell your brand story.
Sponsored Brand ads also offer a video format, allowing you to demonstrate product features and use cases, which can be especially effective for complex or innovative products. With Sponsored Brand Video, you can capture attention more effectively in the busy search results.
To get the most out of your Sponsored Brands campaigns on Amazon, you should create a compelling headline that communicates your value proposition, select your most popular or complementary products, and ensure your Amazon Store is optimised for conversion.
A key benefit of Sponsored Brand ads on Amazon is their ability to generate brand recognition early in the buying process. By capturing buyers in the research phase, you can influence their perception and preferences before they make a purchase decision.
Amazon Sponsored Display is a self-service display advertising solution that allows sellers to reach relevant audiences both on and off Amazon. These ads can appear on product detail pages, search results pages, the Amazon homepage and even on external third-party websites and apps.
What makes Sponsored Display ads on Amazon particularly useful is their retargeting capability. You can target users who have viewed your products or similar products but have not made a purchase, allowing you to ‘follow’ potential customers and remind them of your offers.
Sponsored Display ads on Amazon offer various targeting options, including:
When it comes to understanding where Sponsored Display ads appear on Amazon, the answer is diverse. They can be shown in different placements, including under the ‘Add to Basket’ button on product detail pages, in the ‘Related to items you’ve viewed’ carousel, and even on devices such as Fire TV and Kindle.
To optimise your Amazon Sponsored Display campaigns, you should focus on creating visually appealing ads with clear calls-to-action and consider using dynamic e-commerce ads that automatically display relevant product information.
Amazon display advertising goes beyond the self-service options available through Seller Central. With Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform), advertisers can access more sophisticated display advertising opportunities.
Amazon DSP enables programmatic buying of display and video ads both on Amazon-owned sites and apps (such as IMDb and Twitch) and on third-party sites across the web. This provides incredible reach to engage potential customers at various stages of the buying journey.
A key difference between Sponsored Display and Amazon DSP is the complexity and access requirements. While Sponsored Display is available to all sellers through Seller Central, DSP typically requires higher minimum spend and working with Amazon’s team or a certified Amazon partner such as WeMarket.
Some of the benefits of Amazon DSP include:
For larger brands, Amazon display ads via DSP can be an effective way to build brand awareness and capture customer attention early in the decision-making process. This is especially valuable for products with longer buying cycles or higher price points.
Amazon Product Display Ads are an essential part of any Amazon advertising strategy. To get the most from your campaigns, it’s important to understand how to optimise these ads for maximum effectiveness.
When creating Amazon product listing ads, you should focus on the following key elements:
An effective strategy for Amazon product ads is to use a combination of automatic and manual campaigns. Start with automatic campaigns to gather data and discover effective keywords, then use these insights to create focused manual campaigns with precise keyword targeting.
It’s also important to consider seasonal trends and adjust your advertising budgets accordingly. For example, you may need to increase your bids during holidays or special sales events when competition intensifies.
To achieve outstanding results with Amazon Sponsored Products, it is crucial to look beyond the ads themselves and ensure your product listings are fully optimised with persuasive images, detailed descriptions and positive reviews, all of which can improve conversion rates when users click on your ads.
Understanding where Amazon ads appear is essential to optimise your advertising strategy. Different ad formats are displayed in different locations on the platform, each with their own benefits and use cases.
Sponsored Products can appear in several placements, including:
Sponsored Brands typically appear in these placements:
When it comes to where Amazon display ads can be placed, Sponsored Display ads have several possible placements:
For Amazon display ads via DSP, the possibilities expand significantly to include:
Different placements have different conversion rates and cost profiles. For example, ads at the top of the search results typically convert better, but also have higher competition and therefore higher cost-per-click (CPC).
When looking at what are the 3 types of Amazon PPC ads, it’s important to understand their unique features, benefits and use cases. Let’s compare them directly:
Sponsored Products:
Sponsored Brands:
Sponsored Display:
When considering the different types of Amazon ads beyond the three main PPC formats, Amazon’s advertising ecosystem also includes:
To create a comprehensive advertising strategy, sellers should typically begin with Sponsored Ads on Amazon to drive immediate sales, then add Sponsored Brands to build brand recognition, and finally incorporate Sponsored Display to reach customers at different stages of the buying journey.
In addition to standard advertising formats, Amazon also offers custom advertising products designed to meet specific needs and objectives for advertisers, especially larger brands with bigger budgets.
These tailored solutions can include:
Access to these specialised solutions often requires working with dedicated Amazon consultants or certified advertising partners. They are typically not available via the regular self-service interface in Seller Central or the Advertising Console.
The advantage of these customised solutions is their ability to create unique brand experiences that stand out from standard advertising formats. They can be particularly effective for new product launches, seasonal campaigns or to create differentiation in highly competitive product categories.
For sellers looking to explore Amazon custom advertising products, it is recommended to start with the standard advertising formats to build a solid data foundation and understanding of the platform’s dynamics before investing in more specialised solutions. This step-by-step approach ensures you can maximise ROI across your entire Amazon advertising portfolio.
When people ask what are Amazon CPM ads or how to get Amazon CPM ads, it is important to understand that Amazon’s primary advertising formats mainly operate on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis. CPM (cost-per-mille or cost-per-thousand-impressions) pricing is mainly available through Amazon DSP.
CPM pricing means that advertisers pay for a set number of impressions (typically 1,000) rather than for each click. This can be advantageous for campaigns focused on brand awareness rather than direct conversions.
Here are some key facts about Amazon CPM ads:
For sellers interested in what display advertising looks like on Amazon using CPM pricing, this can include standard banner ads, rich media ads, video ads and immersive brand experiences across Amazon’s ecosystem.
To access CPM advertising through Amazon DSP, sellers can either:
CPM advertising on Amazon can be especially effective for products with longer buying cycles, new product launches where brand awareness is critical, and for brands looking to maintain market share in competitive categories by increasing their visibility throughout the customer journey.
To get the most out of the different types of Amazon ads, it is vital to develop a strategic approach based on your specific business objectives, target audience and budget. Here are some strategies to improve the effectiveness of your Amazon advertising:
The most successful Amazon advertisers often use multiple advertising formats to reach customers at different stages of the buying process:
Different keywords and product targets have different values based on their likelihood to convert:
Even the best advertising campaigns will fail if the product listings are not optimised:
By integrating these strategies with a deep understanding of Amazon Seller Central and its advertising tools, sellers can create a cohesive approach to maximising ROI on their Amazon advertising investments.
It is also important to remember that Amazon advertising does not exist in a vacuum. Integrating your Amazon strategy with your broader e-commerce approach, including general sales strategies on Amazon and logistics solutions such as FBA, creates a more comprehensive presence on the marketplace.
For sellers who are new to Amazon Sponsored Ads or looking to improve their existing efforts, here is a step-by-step guide to getting started:
Before you can start running Sponsored Ads on Amazon, you need to:
Clear objectives will guide your choice of ad formats and strategies:
For beginners, it is recommended to start with Sponsored Products on Amazon:
Successful Amazon advertising requires regular adjustment:
For those looking to accelerate their learning curve, Amazon course options provide a structured approach to mastering the platform.
Remember, effective Amazon advertising is a continuous process of testing, learning and optimising. With patience and consistent effort, even small sellers can achieve significant results and gradually expand their advertising strategies to include more advanced formats and approaches.
Amazon’s advertising platform is constantly evolving, with new formats, targeting options and optimisation tools being introduced regularly. Staying informed about these changes is essential for maintaining a competitive edge.
Some key trends shaping the future of Amazon Sponsored Ads include:
For Amazon sellers, this means continuous learning and adaptation are crucial. Invest time in understanding new features as they launch, and consider working with specialised Amazon marketing experts to stay ahead of the curve.
As competition on Amazon continues to intensify, effective advertising will become even more critical for successful sellers. By mastering the fundamental advertising formats now and staying updated on new opportunities, Amazon sellers can position themselves for long-term success on the world’s largest e-commerce platform.
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