The Sponsored Display beta is now available in the UK for all vendors on Amazon. There is no need to apply for this - the new campaign feature will appear automatically in your account.
If you have any questions or would like help getting started, just get in touch today >>>
Automation and ‘smart’ campaigns play a more important and influential role in our marketing strategies than ever before. It’s hardly surprising, therefore, that Amazon has announced its answer to fully-automated display campaigns.
With Google’s release of smart display campaigns earlier this year, it was only a matter of time before we saw other big players catching up.
Speaking about the announcement, Amazon explained that “Sponsored Display makes it easy for shoppers to discover your product for the first time, or to reconsider your product for purchase. The goal of Sponsored Display ads is to inspire these shoppers to return to Amazon and make a purchase from your brand”.
So, it sounds like it’s win-win; a win for the advertiser as it increases their sales, and a win for Amazon as they’re driving people specifically through to purchase via Amazon and not through other retailers.
So How Does Sponsored Display Work?
As is the nature of smart campaigns, with Sponsored Display advertisers hand the vast majority of creative and strategic control over to Amazon itself. Advertisers are able to choose the products to add into their Sponsored Display campaign, and Amazon will do the rest.
They will automatically generate your ad creative, consisting of an image, information about the product, and a “Shop now” button that links directly through to the product detail page. If desired, Amazon is offering the option to customise the logo and/or headline text within the ads.
Amazon will then dynamically promote the most relevant products within the campaign, with the highest expected chance of conversion, to automatically generated audiences based on relevant Amazon shopping activities.
Can I Trust Amazon?
A recent Mintel report highlights that almost 90% of UK shoppers use Amazon, 70% of which say it’s the first online retailer they go to. Based on these sky-high percentages, it’s fair to assume that Amazon knows a lot about its consumers’ purchasing habits and has a good grasp on their in-market signals.
As a result, while handing all control of audience targeting over to Amazon may seem daunting and scary to some, advertisers can have confidence that their ads are being served only to the most qualified users.
In terms of placements and costs, Sponsored Display ads are eligible to show both on and off of Amazon, on mobile and on desktop, and advertisers are charged on a click based model, rather than impression based. There is no minimum budget requirement.
How Do I Launch my Sponsored Display Campaign?
Here’s the catch. This beta is currently only available to Amazon sellers and vendors in the US, but it’s coming. We’re expecting to see it make the move across the pond to the UK very soon. Any updates that come in, we’ll be sure to share with you.
In the meantime, if you’d like to understand more about the opportunity Sponsored Display advertising on Amazon will offer, get in touch and we’ll keep you updated.
And, of course, we’re always available for a chat about your wider paid Amazon or paid media requirements, so drop us a line here >>>
