Professional sellers on Amazon know that PPC is what really moves the needle after keywords are optimized and gorgeous images are created. Consistently generating $8 - $10 for every dollar in advertising spend is an incredible feeling. More importantly, ads increase sales velocity, in turn increasing organic rank and pushing sales even higher. This consistent feedback loop makes advertising the most powerful tool available on Amazon. But for beginner sellers, it can be difficult to know where to start and what all the options mean. And while ads are the most powerful tool to increase sales on Amazon, it is also the quickest way to burn capital if the setup isn't correct.
Most ads cost a few dollars for every click, meaning you get charged even if the customer doesn't make a purchase, so it doesn't take long before a significant debt is built up. That doesn't mean new sellers should stay away, just that they should understand what is available and define a strategy for successful advertising.
Various strategies exist around PPC, and the most appropriate strategy is based on the company and their budget. Some brands focus on the most valuable (and competitive) keywords. Others concentrate on winning by making someone else lose, attacking a certain competitor with the intention of taking their sales in any way possible.
One of our favorite strategies is advertising with partner products. Selling bird seed? Make your product appear on the page of bird feeders. The idea is, if someone needs your product to go with another product to be able to use it, you can advertise on their page.
Finally, an interesting strategy for those with a low budget or looking to squeeze every dollar from their business should consider campaigns targeting low competition and long tail keywords. Low competition means keywords with just a few hundred searches per month, while long tail keywords are very specific searches with just a few searches per month. For the bird seed seller, that might mean targeting searches for "hulled sunflower seeds for warblers." Creating these campaigns is a large time commitment, but the profit can be huge for those who take the time.
Because Amazon advertising is incredibly deep and varied, this article will focus only on Sponsored Products. Take a look at our article on Sponsored Display and Sponsored Brands to get the full scope of Amazon advertising.
Sponsored Products
Sponsored products target a shoppers searches. When someone goes to Amazon and searches for a product, the first few results are brands who have targeted that search. You'll know someone has done this when you see sponsored on the product.
The first two products in this search for controllers show sponsored. Those companies are willing to pay to show up first in a search for Xbox controller.
This is the first stop for most sellers as they begin to advertise. It makes the most sense, show up when someone is looking for your exact product. Even within this option, there are a few choices to make.
Automatic or Manual Keywords?
The first choice is whether to set your campaign to Automatic or Manual keyword selection. Automatic is just that, Amazon uses keywords from your listing to decide when to show your product. This is a set it and forget it option. Overall, we do not recommend this, as you may show for any number of random and irrelevant searches. The only time this makes sense is if you want to fish for new keywords.
What does that mean? It means Amazon may show your product for search words you had not considered, and does well with profitable sales. While that is exciting, it doesn't happen often.
For that reason, we recommend Manual keywords. This is telling Amazon exactly what searches you want to show up on. This is what we recommend. No one knows your product better than you, so who better to decide what words would describe the product. As we will see though, this still isn't a foolproof method.
Manual Keywords
Now that we've selected manual keywords, Amazon will still offer suggestion on keywords or let you enter your own. You want to enter your own. Make a list of phrases and words that you expect shoppers to enter when they would need your product, and type them in.
Matching
Matching is how close a customer's search must match your keyword before the ad shows. There are three options for you to choose from : Broad, Phrase and Exact match. Throughout this section, we will use bird seed as our product.
Broad
Broad is any search in the ballpark of your keywords, and occasionally searches outside of the ballpark. You should expect your ad to show for misspellings (bird sead) , plural spelling (bird seeds), word order (seed for birds), and even close approximations (sunflower food for doves). Concerning close approximations, we have seen some that we would not quite call close. A broad search targeting bird seed might sometimes show for parrot cage accessories. It is unlikely that will ever convert, and any clicks will be a waste of money. For that reason, we rarely recommend a broad match.
Phrase
We have found this to be the best choice in matching. Any keyword with phrase matching will show as long as those words appear in the same order, even if other words are present. That is a little confusing, so let's use an example to make it easier. If we phrase match bird seed, our ad would show for all of the following:
bird seed
large bag of bird seed
bird seed for warblers
bird millet and seed
In each one of those, the word bird followed by seed occurs, even though other words appear before, after and in between them. If someone searches for seed for bird, your ad would not show. That is an easy fix though, also do a phrase match for seed bird, and you're covered.
Exact
With exact match, a search must match, letter for letter, your phrase. That means if you target bird seed, anything other than bird seed will not show. Even birds seed will not show, due to the extra S. There are a few instances when we use Exact matching.
For our brand name - If the name of your company is Big Bird Seed Co, you want to show up front and center if someone searches your name. A common tactic from competitors is to bid on your name in an effort to steal your sales.
To gain organic position - If you are ranked 5th for bird seed and you want to be ranked first, do an exact match for bird seed. The entirety of the budget will be spent on searches for bird seed only, and no other combination of words.
As a first step into advertising, there are plenty of options with Sponsored Products. Strategies for successful advertising are always developing, so check back in to find updates. And if you need help in maximizing your ad dollars, visit www.arsndigital.com to work with experts in the PPC space.
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