Amazon Ads Sponsored Products is a campaign type that helps brands and manufacturers drive traffic and sales to their product listings on Amazon. In a competitive marketplace like Amazon, it is not sufficient enough just to list products. Amazon Ads Sponsored Products allows us to reach a wider audience and target customers that are ready to make a purchase. Sponsored Product ads are an easy way to showcase your product to Amazon customers in a familiar place to where they normally shop from - the search results page. When advertisers target customers with relevant keywords and search terms, Amazon customers benefit by having a more relevant search result page and are exposed to a wider variety of products. This blog post will cover an overview of Amazon Ads Sponsored Products, targeting options, how to set up a campaign, and examples of our Sponsored Products work with our Goat Consulting clients.
Amazon Ads Sponsored Products Overview
Amazon Sponsored Product Ads are an ad campaign type that allows sellers to promote individual product listings on the Amazon search results page and product detail pages. These ads target specific keywords that customers use to find products and appear within the shopping results of a search term. They’re marked with a subtle “sponsored” icon and direct shoppers to the product detail page of the listing.
Sponsored Product Ads are valuable to both sellers and shoppers. For sellers, they help increase audience reach and product exposure. Another benefit of Sponsored Product Ads for sellers is the control they give over costs and budgets. The Amazon Sponsored Ads Products uses a pay per click (PPC) model, so you only pay whenever your ad is clicked on. The PPC advertising format means you decide how much you want to spend per click, giving sellers more control over budget.
When shoppers search for related products, a sponsored product ad can appear and drive new customers to purchase. With effective ad targeting, these ads are an effective conversion driver as they capture customers who are already actively searching and in the purchasing mindset.
Targeting Options for Amazon Ads Sponsored Products
Targeting is an important step to build sponsored product campaigns where you input the keyword or products for the Amazon ad to appear. Effective targeting puts your ads in front of customers who are searching for those targeted inputs. Within Amazon Ads sponsored products, sellers can utilize either automatic or manual targeting.
Sponsored Products Automatic Targeting
Utilizing Sponsored Product Automatic Targeting lets Amazon’s algorithm determine which search terms and products to serve the ad on. For sellers, this option saves time when developing a sponsored product ad as it does not require keyword research to be performed or inputted. Automatic targeting is beneficial for sellers who are just starting to use Amazon ads due to the simplicity of the setup process. Automatic Targeting is also a way to brainstorm additional keywords that you may not have thought of in your own keyword research that can be integrated into additional ad campaigns or added into your product listing. Within Automatic Targeting, there are 4 targeting groups that are included:
Close Match - the close match targeting group will include search terms that are closely related to your product. If you are advertising “coffee beans” - your ad could show on the search term “ground coffee beans” or competitor coffee bean products
Loose Match - loose match shows products that are loosely related to the product you are advertising. If you are advertising “coffee beans” - your ad could show on coffee cup type terms.
Substitutes - the substitute group will include products that could be substituted in a purchase compared to your product. If you are advertising “coffee beans” - your ad could show on tea products and related terms.
Complements - the compliment Automatic targeting group will show your ad on complementary products and search terms. If you are advertising “coffee beans” - your ad could show for espresso machines and related terms.
Sponsored Products Manual Targeting
Sponsored Products Manual targeting lets you input the keywords and products that you choose to advertise on. A benefit to using your own inputs is that it gives you more control over how a sponsored product ad shows up. Using manual targeting, you can choose the specific keywords and products you’d like to target using Amazon’s list of recommended keywords, your own keywords, or a combination of both. The options for Sponsored Product Manual Targeting setup is either keyword targeting or product targeting.
Keyword Targeting - Keyword targeting uses word combinations or phrases that you believe customers may be searching to find your product. The keywords you input into this targeting can be expanded to more search terms that customers may find your ad if you include the different broad, phrase, and exact match types.
Product Targeting - Product targeting lets you serve your ad on Amazon categories, specific products, and brands. Depending on how your settings are structured you are able to serve your ad on Amazon product listings of your choice, including competitor listings.
A robust Amazon Ads strategy includes a combination of both Automatic Targeting and Manual Targeting to build a portfolio of Amazon Ads Sponsored Products campaigns to reach your advertising goals.
How to Set up an Amazon Ads Sponsored Products Campaign
Here are the steps for creating an Amazon Ads Sponsored Products Campaign:
Log into your seller account, navigate to the advertising tab, and click on Campaign Manager
Select “Sponsored Products”
Decide on a name for your campaign, edit the start data and daily budget, and select either automatic or manual targeting
Define your bidding strategy
Create and name your ad group and choose the product(s) you want to advertise
Choose either product or keyword targeting type
Choose match type and enter keywords to target
Adjust bids for your keywords
Launch campaign
There are many ways to set up Amazon Ads Sponsored Product campaigns, each with its own unique targeting and advertising goals.
Goat Consulting Examples of Using Amazon Ads Sponsored Products
We at Goat Consulting set up our client’s Sponsored Product campaigns that meet our clients goals. For Absolute Filth, a Goat Consulting client and premium hockey wax manufacturer and seller, we set up Amazon Ads Sponsored Products campaigns. We conducted keyword and market research to understand what shoppers were searching for in the amazon search bar to find Absolute Filth products, and set up both automatic and manual targeting campaigns. This resulted in increased sales and brand awareness all while retaining a profitable return on ad spend for our client. Sponsored Products is an Amazon Ads campaign we have found success with across many of our clients to reach sales and awareness goals.
Frequently Asked Questions on Amazon Ads Sponsored Products
What is Amazon Ads Sponsored Products?
Amazon Ads Sponsored Products is a campaign type that lets brands and manufactures target keywords and products that customers search on Amazon.
Where do Amazon Ads Sponsored Products show up?
Amazon Ads Sponsored Products show up on the search results page and product detail pages.
What are the benefits of Amazon Ads Sponsored Products?
The benefits of Amazon Ads Sponsored Products include easy set up that displays your product listing in front of potential customers that can increase your sales and impressions.
What are the targeting options for Amazon Ads Sponsored Products?
The targeting options for Amazon Ads Sponsored Products are keyword targeting or product targeting.
What are the targeting groups for automatic Sponsored Product campaigns?
The targeting groups for automatic Sponsored Product campaigns include: close match, loose match, substitutes, and compliments
How do you set up manual targeting for Amazon Ads Sponsored Products?
To set up manual targeting for a Sponsored Product campaign, select the manual targeting option under the targeting setting. Then, select either keyword targeting to target words or phrases, or product targeting for categories, specific products, or brands.
How much does it cost to sponsor product on Amazon?
Sponsored Product Ads use a PPC model, which means you only pay when your ad is clicked on. The cost can range from $0.10 up to more than $50.00 depending on the keyword bid competition.
What budget should I have for Amazon Ads Sponsored Products?
Your Amazon Ads Sponsored Products budget should align with what you need in order to accomplish your seller goals. The more you are willing to spend, the more potential impressions and sales opportunities.
How to set up Amazon Ads Sponsored Products?
To set up Amazon Ads Sponsored Products campaign, navigate to your Amazon Ads console, hit create campaign, select Sponsored Products, add in your campaign settings and publish.
How to turn off Amazon Ads Sponsored Products?
You can turn off Amazon Ads Sponsored Products by toggling the status of the campaign under your campaign overview.
How do I get my product listing to show up at the top of the Amazon search results page?
Amazon Ads Sponsored Products is a way to pay for placement of your product listing at the top of the Amazon search results page for your targeted search term.
Conclusion
Using Amazon Sponsored Products Ads is an effective way to drive sales from shoppers who are actively searching for products, brands, and solutions similar to your listing. By targeting customers with the right keywords, your sponsored product ads can show up for shoppers who are ready to make a purchase. By understanding Sponsored Product Ads, sellers can reach more shoppers, drive sales, and improve the customer experience by placing ads in front of the right audience when they are in a purchasing mindset. Setting up your sponsored product ad with the right keyword research and targeting strategy is important to ensure your ads are performing effectively on Amazon to meet your advertising goals. If you need help structuring your ad campaign and understanding its performance, reach out to us with questions in the contact us form below.
About the Author - Summer Ericson
This post was written by Summer Ericson, an Account Manager at Goat Consulting. Summer helps her clients sell on Amazon by increasing sales, mitigating risk, reducing costs, and solving problems. Summer has expertise in setting up and running Amazon Ads Sponsored Products that align with the overall Amazon selling strategy of her Goat Consulting clients. If you want help setting up Amazon Ad campaigns, or assist with other aspects of selling on Amazon, Summer is happy to help. Please reach out through our contact form to start the conversation.