Towards the end of Chapter 1, we briefly covered the basics of setting up an Amazon Ad Campaign: log-in to Amazon Seller Central, pick a product to advertise, set your budget and keywords, and click launch. In this chapter, we’ll break this down further for the benefit of those who’re starting from scratch. So, roll up your sleeves and let’s get started with Amazon Advertising.
Amazon designed its PPC platform in such a way that sellers with zero experience in advertising could quickly get the hang of pay-per-click advertising. And the first thing you need to cross out on your campaign creation to-do list is check if you’re eligible to be an advertiser.
You need the following to run a successful ad campaign on Amazon:
Here are the steps to creating your first Amazon PPC Campaign:
Step 1. Log-in to your Amazon Seller Central Account.
Step 2. On the topmost menu, find Advertising and click on Campaign Manager from the drop-down menu.
Step 3. Just below the second level of menu tabs, find and click the Create Campaign button.
Step 4. Choose your campaign type.
You’ll have two choices: Sponsored Products or Sponsored Brand.
Sponsored Products may appear on:
Sponsored Brands (formerly known as Headline Search Ads), meanwhile, appear in the banner area of the search results page (main location), the left and bottom side of the page (on desktop view), and in the search results.
Choose the ad type which you think can give your product the highest exposure.
Step 5. Set up your ad campaign. Provide the following information:
Choose Product targeting (also Product Attribute Targeting or PAT) if you want to create a new ad group that targets related categories or products. You can manually select product pages (ASINs), brands, or categories you want to appear in.
Step 6. Click on Save and finish.
Congratulations! You just published your first Amazon PPC campaign.
Recall that in Chapter 2, we discussed various keyword research methods and tools, like a PPC management software that automatically mines related keywords; free keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner; Amazon’s Seller Central, and various manual methods.
All these are excellent avenues to gather relevant keywords (words and phrases that target customers type in the Amazon search box when looking for items to buy). But keyword lists, especially from automatic generators, can easily have more than a hundred entries. Even with an unlimited advertising budget, bidding on hundreds of keywords to sell one product would be wasteful and foolish.
The crucial part of keyword research, therefore, is trimming down your list and identifying which ones are worth bidding on.
Keywords that bring the most value are the ones that generate impressions (can show your ad to a broad audience), conversions (can show your ad to audiences who will click on your ad), and sales (can show your ad to audiences with buying intent).
How do you find these high-value keywords that can increase your sales?
Long-tail keywords may not have the highest search volumes, but they suggest a high buying intent and convert extremely well. In Amazon PPC advertising, it’s wiser to target a few buyers who have already decided to buy a product than hundreds of window shoppers who’re still undecided.
Put yourself in your customers’ shoes. Assess which level your keywords fall under. Then bid for keywords that target Most Aware customers because they’re most likely to buy your product. Keywords that fall under this umbrella are often long-tails and may include a brand, main feature, or description.
Essentially, identifying high-value keywords is a matter of testing ad groups, observing outcomes, and giving yourself time to gather enough data to back your keyword choices.
In the last quarter of 2018, Amazon released new targeting features for Sponsored Product Ads:
These create different campaign structures that address goals for different stages of your advertising campaign. The smart use of these new features can help you maximize your ROAS (return on ad spend). Let’s discuss them further.
Since its beta launch, all Automatic Campaigns are now EAT Campaigns. It’s also only available to Auto Sponsored Products campaigns. EAT offers these new targeting options:
Targeting Options/Match Types:
These expanded options give you better control over your ad spend on Auto campaigns. Remember, Auto campaigns are necessary for initial data gathering and are necessary when you launch an ad for the first time. Ideally, you run an EAT campaign for four to six weeks, and then mine the data (impressions, clicks, and conversions) so you can further refine your Manual campaigns.
This targeting function is only available in Manual Sponsored Products campaigns. Instead of targeting keywords, it targets product attributes. PAT helps build brand awareness because of its broad reach.
Targeting Options/Match types:
Creating these four ad groups can help you optimize a PAT campaign:
Here’s a tip: Take note of your highest-converting ASINs and put them in your Offensive Exact ASINs ad group. Doing so amplifies your organic impressions and could increase your conversions exponentially.
You can also apply Negative Targeting to PAT Campaigns. It works the same way as Negative Keyword Targeting: it prevents your ads from appearing on specific ASINs or search results that are irrelevant or had zero conversions.
A lesser-known structure that you need to know about is the PGN or product group name, a proprietary campaign set-up generated by the Amazon PPC automation software, Zon.Tools. It is designed to make full use of Amazon’s Matching Algorithm and Sponsored Products API while adhering to the platform’s terms of service.
PGN is a family of related campaigns with different targeting techniques, including PAT and EAT. It essentially simplifies Amazon paid ads. As you will learn later in this course, the best way to promote on Amazon is to launch multiple keyword-targeting ads for one or a group of related products. The data you gather will refine your campaign so you can target the best keywords and get your ads before your target audience. PGN automates the creation of these keyword-targeting ads in one go.
Each PGN has the following structure:
Besides automatically creating all of the above, a PGN also automates mining for in-demand customer search terms and product targets, negating (blacklisting) keywords, adjusting your bids up and down based on the likelihood of conversion and on each keyword/target Max ACoS, and generating searchable summaries and reports (advanced analytics).
There’s definitely more to learn about PGNs in the coming chapters. You’ll also have more opportunities to refine your keyword research methods and campaign structures because, in the next chapter, we will discuss the common mistakes in Amazon PPC ad campaigns.
Yes, you heard it right, it is now free for all!Use the 2 buttons in the image above to login…
Amazon, one of the largest e-retailers, sells all kinds of goods and services like electronics, games, books, accessories, apparel, and…
If you are working as an Amazon seller, you need an efficient Amazon PPC campaign to increase your ROI. The…
You may have noticed the tips while you are waiting for an operation to complete on the black-out screen. You…
If you saved a note, now you will be able to see a yellow note button on dashboard page that…
Saudi Arabia Amazon Marketplace (SA) Support is Live!Also supported within our FREE Ask Zon Tools research tool!You can just subscribe…