David Katz10/9/2024
If you're selling on Amazon, you know it's not easy to stand out. With millions of sellers like you competing for attention, getting your products noticed can feel like a real challenge.
You've probably worked hard on optimizing your product listings. That's great, but breaking into the top three search results is tough, even with perfect optimization.
And anything past the first page might as well be invisible — after all, 35% of shoppers click the first search result they see, while 70% never even navigate to page two.
This is where Amazon advertising comes in. It's a powerful tool that can help you increase the visibility of your products, even if you're not ranking at the top organically.
Here's a quick rundown of the steps to advertise on Amazon Seller Central:
Don't worry if this seems overwhelming - we'll detail each step as we go along.
Meanwhile, partner with Archer Affiliates if you want to complement your advertising efforts with affiliate marketing. We connect you with over 2,500 Amazon-focused affiliates who can drive external traffic to your listings.
The best part? You only pay when you make a sale - no upfront fees or monthly charges. Join Archer Affiliates today and connect with affiliates who can help grow your sales.
Amazon ads are pay-per-click (PPC) advertisements that appear in various places across the Amazon platform. They're designed to increase your product visibility, increase traffic to your Amazon listings, and boost sales.
The beauty of these ads is that you only pay when a shopper clicks on your ad, regardless of whether they purchase.
Here's why Amazon ads can be great for you:
Fun Fact: According to Statista, Amazon's advertising revenue hit $46.91 billion in 2023, up from $12.63 billion in 2019. This massive growth underscores just how powerful and popular Amazon advertising has become.
Let's briefly overview the various Amazon ads available for promoting products and brands:
1. Sponsored Products: These are the most common and straightforward Amazon ads. They promote individual product listings and appear in search results and product detail pages. Sponsored Products are great for driving sales of specific items.
2. Sponsored Brands: Formerly known as Headline Search Ads, these ads showcase your brand logo, a custom headline, and multiple products. They appear at the top of search results, making them ideal for building brand awareness.
3. Sponsored Display: These are display ads that can appear both on and off Amazon. They're perfect for retargeting shoppers who have viewed your products or similar items.
4. Amazon Stores: While not technically an ad, Stores are free multi-page destinations on Amazon where you can showcase your brand story and product catalog. They work hand-in-hand with Sponsored Brands ads.
5. Video Ads: These short video advertisements can appear in search results and product detail pages. They're particularly effective for showing product features or telling your brand story.
Each ad type serves a unique purpose in your overall Amazon advertising strategy.
As we move forward, we'll focus primarily on Sponsored Products, the most accessible and commonly used ad types.
Now, let's set up your ad campaign on Amazon Seller Central:
First things first - you need to have an active Seller Central account. If you're new to Amazon, you'll need to sign up for a Professional selling plan.
This costs around $39.99 per month plus selling fees, but it's required for access to advertising features.
For this guide, we'll focus on creating a Sponsored Products campaign. It's the most straightforward option for beginners and a great place to start your advertising journey.
Next:
Pro Tip: Choose something descriptive that will help you easily identify it later, like "Summer Sale - Beach Towels 2024".
Now, you have to find the sweet spot between visibility and profitability:
You have two main options here:
For your first campaign, automatic targeting can be a good way to gather data and discover effective keywords.
Select the products you want to advertise in this campaign.
Carefully review your product catalog and identify specific items to advertise based on criteria like:
Choose relevant and compelling products to showcase in your ads. You can add individual ASINs or use bulk upload for multiple products.
Install conversion tracking tags on your website to attribute external sales driven by your Amazon ads. Reports will then fully reflect ad performance.
Check ‘Amazon Attribution’ under Seller Central’s ‘Advertising’ tab for setup instructions.
Review all your settings, then click 'Launch campaign.' Your ad will go through a brief review process before it starts running, usually within 1-2 hours.
Remember, creating your first ad is just the beginning. The key to success with Amazon advertising lies in ongoing monitoring and optimization, which we'll cover next.
Monitoring the performance of your Amazon ads should become an ongoing routine using Seller Central's advertising reports.
Here are some key metrics to keep an eye on:
To access these metrics:
1. Go to the 'Advertising' tab in Seller Central.
2. Click on 'Campaign Manager'.
3. Here, you'll see an overview of all your campaigns. Click on individual campaigns for more detailed data.
Amazon provides several helpful reports to dig deeper into your ad performance:
Pro Tip: Set up a routine to check these metrics regularly - weekly for new campaigns, bi-weekly, or monthly for established ones. This will help you spot trends and make data-driven decisions to improve your campaigns.
To get the most out of your Amazon advertising efforts, consider these best practices:
While Amazon's built-in advertising tools are powerful, you should look for additional ways to boost your sales.
This is where Archer Affiliates comes in. Our innovative platform connects sellers like you with a vast network of affiliates, influencers, and content creators.
Here's how we supercharge your Amazon selling strategy:
To get started with Archer Affiliates:
1. Sign up on our platform with a brand account.
2. Import your product catalog and choose which products to promote.
3. Set commission offers to incentivize partnerships with affiliates.
4. Connect with affiliates who can find your products in Archer's network.
5. Manage product samples and promo code requests from affiliates.
6. Track performance metrics through Amazon attribution links.
That’s it! It’s a simple way to build your brand both on and off Amazon.
Below are answers to some common questions about Amazon advertising:
Your click-through-rate goal will vary by product type, but top Amazon advertisers typically maintain ad CTRs averaging above 0.35%.
Anything near or exceeding 1% is considered very strong.
A competitive ACoS target range for Amazon ads is between 25% to 40%. Your ideal ACoS should allow for profits based on margins while maximizing volume.
ACoS above 50% likely signals poor keyword/product targeting, low-quality scores, or high competition.
The Average Cost-Per-Click bid for Amazon Sponsored Product ads in the US marketplace is around $0.81. Actual CPC costs will vary based on the competitiveness and relevance of your selected keywords.
Amazon advertising can significantly boost your product visibility and sales. But why stop there? To truly maximize your Amazon success, consider partnering with Archer Affiliates.
We connect you with over 2,500 vetted Amazon-focused influencers, publishers, and deal sites. They'll drive external traffic to your listings, potentially increasing your organic rankings and sales. You only pay when you make a sale - no upfront or monthly fees.
Connect with Amazon influencers through Archer Affiliates today and start growing your sales with targeted, commission-based partnerships.