Create a per-per-click plan to get the best ROI in your Amazon marketplace.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising on Amazon has evolved into a significant marketing platform. Sellers and vendors can “purchase” visibility for their products at the top of Amazon’s search results page by running Amazon pay-per-click advertising.
However, the number of vendors making use of Amazon PPC’s potential continues to rise year after year. As a result, if you don’t have a set plan in place, achieving your PPC goals on Amazon may become tough.
You’ve probably heard of Amazon pay-per-click (PPC) advertising if you’ve been selling on Amazon or if you’re planning to sell on Amazon and have done some research. Everyone is talking about Amazon pay-per-click and how it can benefit your FBA business on Amazon.
What exactly is Amazon PPC and how does it work? These are some of the most important questions that many first-time vendors have. It’s also critical to master the fundamentals of Amazon advertising if you’re new to the platform. When you pay to play, you want to get the most out of every dollar you spend.
This comprehensive Amazon pay-per-click guide will address those concerns and explain the fundamentals. It will assist you in creating successful Amazon pay-per-click ads that will help you grow your business.
If you prefer to navigate through the guide, use the convenient links below.
Seller Central vs. Vendor Central
How Does Amazon Paid Search Work?
How to Start Your First Amazon PPC Campaign
What is Amazon Pay-Per-Click?
Pay-per-click (PPC) on Amazon is an auction-style system in which advertisers bid on keywords. When an Amazon client conducts a product search, the sellers who submit the greatest bids on relevant keywords win the auction, and their product advertising appears in the location of their choice. Advertisers only pay the bid price if their Amazon ad is clicked, which is why the term “pay-per-click” was coined.
Because Amazon PPC campaigns are auctions, you will only ever have to pay one cent more for ad placement in the search results than your competition. But keep in mind that Amazon sellers only get paid when their ad is clicked, not every time it shows up in a search.
(i) Sponsored Products – They’re a form of a keyword and ASIN-based ad that helps products rise to the top of Amazon search results based on keywords (similar to Google Adwords). They are displayed at the top of product detail pages and as search results.
(ii) Sponsored Brands – They allow marketers to publish an ad at the top of the Amazon search results page with a personalized headline, logo, and up to three goods in order to increase brand visibility. On the search results page, sponsored brand advertising appears in various, more valuable places.
(iii) Sponsored Display Ads – The newest Amazon PPC Ad option directs shoppers to product detail pages and can display on both Amazon and external sites based on browsing history and activity. Depending on how the adverts are targeted, they may appear underneath the “add to basket” button on product detail pages and on linked sites.
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Overview of PPC Advertising
The history of paid traffic is fascinating. It’s been around since 2000, and for many online firms, it’s both a science and an art. It all began with Google AdWords, which is now known as Google Ads. If you’ve done a Google search in the last 20 years, you’ve probably come across some advertisements in the results. Amazon PPC Advertising debuted in 2012, allowing vendors and sellers to showcase their wares on Amazon’s website.
Despite the fact that Amazon Ads and Google Ads serve different purposes, they are cousins. Amazon aims to show people ads that are most likely to result in a purchase. Google wants to serve advertisements to searchers that are most likely to click on them. Amazon’s ad rank is determined by earnings, while Google’s is determined by CTR.
Organic Sales vs. Pay-Per-Click Sales
Amazon sells organic and paid search results, just like any other search engine. When a client discovers and purchases your product on Amazon without you sponsoring it for better placement in Amazon’s search results, this is known as organic sales. You should concentrate on Amazon Search Engine Optimization to boost your organic sales (SEO). When a consumer finds your goods through an advertisement in their search results, this is known as paid search sales or Amazon pay-per-click.
Using Amazon Ads to sponsor your products is the quickest way to attract traffic by placing your product to the top of Amazon’s Search Results Page (SERP). You should understand more about PPC campaigns because they are complicated.
Seller Central vs. Vendor Central
Amazon sellers have two options for selling platforms: Seller Central and Vendor Central.
Seller Central
Third-party merchants should use Seller Central. Consider third-party sellers to be small business owners who offer their wares directly to Amazon shoppers. These merchants can opt to ship things to their consumers themselves or let Amazon handle the shipping, earning the Amazon Prime badge for their product.
Vendor Central
Vendor Central is for first-party merchants, which are often larger companies that sell directly to Amazon, who then sell to Amazon’s consumers. Because suppliers sell directly to Amazon, the Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) Prime Badge is immediately applied to their products.
How Does Amazon Paid Search Work?
Here’s how Amazon’s paid search works in a nutshell. It’s not as difficult as it appears. Every month, millions of searches are made on the Amazon marketplace. These range in length from brief phrases to long phrases (or what we call long-tail keywords). These customers are those who are looking to buy something.
Recognize that potential customers will never cruise Amazon for the sake of window shopping. They aren’t there to come up with new ideas.
As a result, Amazon retrieves a list of products that it believes will meet the customer’s requirements. The list of products is referred to as “organic” results.
There are, however, some known as “sponsored” search results. No matter what you search for, these appear above the organic results. Though they are usually found above the organic search results, they can also be found in between them, on the right side, or below them.
Amazon’s sponsored ad program has a basic principle. Every Amazon paid search advertising or marketing option uses an expanded auction-based system, in which vendors and sellers determine their daily ad budget. The more a merchant or seller is willing to spend for his or her ad, the more likely it is to be displayed.
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Amazon Pay-Per-Click Ad Types
1. Sponsored Product Ads
Sponsored Product Ads enable a company to advertise its items based on keywords. Click-through rates and sales conversions for sponsored product ads are consistently high. They are quite beneficial because they blend in with the natural outcomes and imitate them.
They’re usually seen underneath Amazon’s organic search results, on the product detail page, or on the right side of the search results page. They are most effective only if you have done your keyword research.
Simply choose a product, a keyword term, and a budget to start running Sponsored Product advertising. Click-through rates and sales conversions for sponsored product ads are consistently high.
Many businesses have reported that Amazon Sponsored Product advertising generates more sales than Google AdWords, according to research.
2. Product Display Ads
Product Display Ads are a type of pay-per-click ad that shows on a product page, typically in a related product section. These advertisements are intended to be a self-service option that may be combined with ASINs to give marketers more alternatives for focusing on behavioral segments.
Each ad type has its own screen placement section, budget, conversion rate, and click-through rate effects that vary substantially. For a Display Ad, Amazon allows sellers to match each sale with a specific target demographic.
You can target the product’s description page, comparable categories, related interests, and complementary listings as a seller.
3. Headline Search Ads
A Headline Search Ad, like Sponsored Ads, is restricted to specific product categories. These are the ones with the brand logo at the top of the search results. These are also known as banner ads, and their goal is to entice customers to choose among a set of products.
They are positioned on the top to maximize the chances of a product getting seen. You may use headline advertising to show numerous products at once, adjust the landing destinations, and even the ad copy.
This sort of Amazon PPC ad has the most customization options. Your brand pages, product pages, search result pages, or a custom URL are all options. You can also customize the ad’s content and visuals.
The objectives should be aligned with the type of advertisement you choose. For example, sponsored advertisements should be used to target buyers with purchase intent, but headline ads are better for building brand awareness, and product display ads can be used for both reasons.
Requirements to Run a PPC Ad
Before you start operating a PPC ad campaign on Amazon, make sure you match the following conditions.
Seller Account: Every advertiser should have an active seller account.
Shipping: Every advertiser should be able to send merchandise to any location in the United States.
Buy Box: If you want to use Sponsored Products to promote, you must meet the Buy Box eligibility criteria, which includes things like having a professional seller account, showing metrics (for cancellation rates, order defect rates, late shipment rates, and so on), and stock availability.
Amazon Brand Registry: When employing a headline search ad, Amazon Brand Registry is especially important. The idea of Amazon’s brand registry is to protect intellectual property while also providing a better user experience.
Factors Affecting the PPC Placements
Now that you’ve learned about the many sorts of Amazon PPC advertisements, it’s time to learn about ad placement. The majority of people believe that the highest bidder always gets the greatest place, however, this isn’t always true. While the cost-per-click is important, it isn’t the only thing to consider.
The following are the two most important criteria that influence ad placement:
(i) CPC (cost per click) on Amazon
The person with the highest CPC has a better chance of acquiring prime ad space.
(ii) Quality Factor
The probability of a buyer clicking on the ad is also a quality factor. Amazon does not benefit from first impressions. Better ad placement leads to more clicks.
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Amazon Pay-Per-Click Keywords Vocabulary
1. Broad Match Keywords
When a customer searches for your keywords in any order, as well as other close versions, your ad will be displayed. It may not guarantee the best results, but it is an excellent technique to collect data following a product introduction. This information will be useful later on when you’re optimizing and refining your targeting. It’s also a good technique to boost ad visibility because your advertisements will appear for a lot of related search queries.
2. Phrase Match Keywords
If a buyer searches for the keywords in the same order, plus suffixes or prefixes, your ad will appear. Your ad will be seen for “blue floor mat” and “floor mat green” if your keyword is “floor mat.”
3. Exact Match Keywords
Only when a buyer searches for the exact keywords, without any additional words or phrases, will the ad appear. Exact match targeting is the most sophisticated targeting option, and high-converting keywords will offer the best results.
Reasons to try Amazon PPC
Despite the fact that your product is selling well, you should consider conducting PPC advertisements for a variety of reasons. The following are the most prevalent reasons why sellers and suppliers execute PPC ads for their items.
1. Boosts Organic Ranking of Highly Competitive Keywords
Your listing may contain terms that are too competitive to rank in an organic search. PPC advertisements for such keywords can help to increase visibility. Having a first-page result for such keywords not only increases sales, but also improves your product’s organic position for the keyword over time.
2. Increases Sales
One of the simplest strategies to increase sales is to run pay-per-click advertising. Of course, all sellers running PPC ads for their products have a long-term goal of increasing sales.
3. Creates Brand Awareness
The most popular products are automatically shown at the top of the search results. New items have a hard time ranking well for keywords. Low rankings lead to fewer sales. Running PPC ads is a great way to promote your product to the top of the search results and increase your sales.
4. Stay Ahead of Competition
Best-selling niches and categories reach saturation in terms of the number of sellers over time. Even if your product performs well in organic searches and has amazing deals, competitors who run PPC advertising for their products can simply outrun you. PPC campaigns are used by the majority of top-ranking brands to protect and maintain their top rankings and positions in Amazon searches over competitors who also use pay-per-click.
How to Start Your First Amazon PPC Campaign
1. Choose the Products to Advertise
First and foremost, you must choose which things to promote. You’ll probably choose a few different things to market whether you’re creating a Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, or Sponsored Display. Consider how your items will function together to promote clicks and revenue if you’re creating a Sponsored Brands ad. Product sales, ranking, and popularity are a few aspects to consider while selecting your products.
2. Conduct Keyword Research
If you’re putting together a manual campaign, do your keyword research after you’ve decided on your products. When advertising on Amazon, you have the option of building manual or automatic campaigns. Amazon creates a list of keywords for your ad (based on your product) to target automatically through automated campaigns. On the other hand, manual campaigns rely on you to offer keywords. Start with automatic marketing and work your way up to manual campaigns, as this is effective according to Amazon.
3. Optimize Your Product Listing
Whether you use automatic or manual advertising, you should optimize your product listings for search engine optimization (SEO) to get the most out of your ad campaign budget. This is an important step that will help you rank higher in Amazon’s organic search results.
If you gathered keywords in the previous phase, use them in the title, description, and features of your product. You should also double-check your product photos and copy in addition to these components.
Make sure your product has professional images that show it off both on its own and in motion. Your language should also emphasize the benefits and uses of your product, as well as mention important details such as whether or not your product is covered by a guarantee. You’re ready to create your Amazon PPC campaign once you’ve finished tweaking your product listing.
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4. Create Your Campaign
Follow these first steps to get started on your first campaign:
- Access your Amazon account.
- Select “Advertising” from the drop-down menu.
- Choose “Create a campaign” from the drop-down menu.
After that, you’ll have three options to choose from which are products, brands, or displays that have been sponsored
After you’ve decided on an ad kind, Amazon will ask for the following information:
- Name of your campaign
- The beginning date
- Your deadline has passed (optional)
- Your campaign’s daily budget
5. Choose your Targeting
Amazon will ask you to choose your targeting setting once you’ve completed the initial campaign setup.
You have the option of choosing between manual and automatic targeting:
Automatic targeting: Amazon utilizes your product information to target your ads automatically.
Manual targeting: Your ads are delivered by Amazon based on the keywords and bids you provide.
6. Upload Your Keywords
With manual targeting for Amazon PPC, you can use up to 1,000 keywords per ad group; aim for at least 30 for your campaign. You can either type in keywords manually or upload a csv file with your whole keyword list. If you type in terms manually, Amazon will recommend keywords for you.
You can also choose from the following:
- Broad
- Phrase
- Exact
- Negative phrase
- Negative exact match
7. Set Your Keyword Bids
You can find the most cost-effective bid for your various keywords using your previous keyword research. You may, for example, increase your default bid for one keyword and then increase it for another. In any case, be sure you base your bid on data. You don’t want to waste money by speculating.
Check your adverts on a regular basis to see how they’re doing. Amazon will even assist you by making bid suggestions. With this progressive approach to Amazon pay-per-click, you’ll be able to spot opportunities to lower or raise your bids to improve your campaign’s outcomes and ROI.
8. Submit Your Ads
You can submit your ads to Amazon after you’ve finished adding your keyword bids. In most cases, Amazon will review your campaign and ads within a few hours. However, once it does, your advertising will be launched, and you can begin monitoring its effectiveness. If Amazon notices a problem with your ads, it will notify you and suggest solutions. Remember to monitor your ads on a regular basis even after they’ve been launched.
Final Thoughts
On Amazon, selling a fantastic product isn’t enough; there’s simply too much competition to rely on your product’s quality for sales. In this congested environment, you must find a strategy to make your product very noticeable in order to attract buyers. The faster a customer is able to locate your things, the more likely you are to sell them.
The key to getting your goods noticed on Amazon is to use pay-per-click advertising. You may control whether you rank high in product searches by bidding on keywords. PPC is an additional cost in your budget, but using this guide to create and manage your campaigns can keep your advertising costs low, resulting in more product visibility and sales.
