Amazon PPC: What You Need to Know to be a Top Seller on Amazon

Joel Lazrado
Amazon Selling Strategies
13 min readSep 6, 2022

The people who are using Amazon differently from search engines such as Google. Even if you’ve mastered the pay-per-click (PPC) method for Google but what does well on Google won’t provide the same benefits at the top eCommerce site. When you shop on Amazon you’re competing with Amazon as a whole, along with over 10 million sellers. So in order to achieve results, you’ll require a specific Amazon PPC strategy.

This is where we step in. Our team has all of the information that goes into Amazon PPC spend and we know which strategies work and which don’t. We’ll walk you through every step from how to create an ad to how to improve your bidding strategy . So prepare yourself for a wild PPC tour, because here we begin.

What is Amazon PPC?

Amazon PPC is the process of promoting products on Amazon. Create a campaign, and then bid on keywords that are relevant to the campaign. If an advertisement space is available, Amazon hosts an instantaneous auction, with all bids related to the open advertisement. The winners of auctions are shown for viewers on Amazon user, however you only pay when the user clicks on your advertisement.

Top five reasons to use Amazon PPC

Amazon PPC is a great method to be noticed by prospective customers with a high purchasing intent. And If you’re doing it right it could result in an exponential growth for your company. If you’re not currently making use of PPC advertisements on Amazon Here are the top reasons why you ought to be using:

1. Boost product sales

Amazon PPC is the best method to put your product to the attention of potential buyers for quick results. Even if you’ve spent hours optimizing your SEO on the Amazon products, they might not be able to gain traction in the event that you’re not paying to play.

2. Enhance your organic rank for keywords that are highly competitive

Some keywords are highly competitive, and regardless of the quality of you think your Amazon SEO strategy is, your page may not be noticed for the most popular keyword. If, however, your PPC campaigns targeting those highly competitive keywords produce results, it can impact the organic rankings for the keywords.

Amazon’s primary goal is to make money, so when they notice that a particular keyword that is used in PPC can result in sales, your rank for that specific keyword may be boosted.

3. Make sure that the brand is well-known for launches of products

Past performance is a major impact on the organic ranking of Amazon. However, the problem with brand newly launched products is they don’t have any previous performance, and it’s difficult to get the publicity that can lead to the performance.

Amazon PPC can be the answer to this problem. It is possible to use PPC to make new products noticed , allowing you to create brand awareness, sales and customer satisfaction as well as prove to Amazon that these products are worthy of the attention.

4. Beating competitors to the top spots and sales

Your competition is probably conducting the same PPC campaigns. They’re probably monitoring their performance, improving their campaigns and tracking the effects in their return on investment. If you’re not operating PPC ads, chances are you’re missing out simply by not entering the market.

5. Be aware of the latest trends in the season

Amazon sales tend to increase or decrease based on the season and holiday. When sales are on the rise for instance, such as Cyber Monday, Prime Day, or when shoppers are looking for holiday and Mother’s Day gifts, you need to ensure that they can see your items.

In these instances, Amazon users usually have an increased desire to purchase and it is important for them to see your products at a time when they’re looking to purchase.

Amazon PPC advertisement types

You’re convinced that it’s time to join the bandwagon by joining Amazon PPC. Great! There are several kinds of advertisements you could make to help get your product to potential buyers. You can choose one or all of them according to what works most effectively for your needs. Below are the different types and their benefits for each.

Sponsored products

Sponsored products on amazon are among the most basic of Amazon PPC ads. They are intended for people searching for a particular product, such as a blender, but don’t have a preference for a particular type or brand. The ads for sponsored products will appear on the search page when people type in “blender which means that your company is included.

It is easy to set up an advertising campaign for your product even you’ve never tried Amazon PPC previously. It’s a matter of minutes to create and could result in rapid growth in sales. You can begin the ads for a small amount per day. Once you’ve tried them out and discovered what’s working for your product they’re easily scaled by increasing your budget , or bids for the most sought-after keywords.

According to Amazon the company, its products typically have a 40 percent increase in sales per week in the first year following the launch of sponsored ads for their products.

Sponsored display ads

Amazon Sponsored Display Ads are focused on building brand recognition or the retargeting of potential customers. They combine text, images along with a call-to action that takes them the Amazon site for your product. The ads appear on the Amazon homepage as well as in Twitch (Amazon’s live-streaming service) and on other third-party websites and applications that show Amazon PPC advertisements.

Display ads let you decide on the audience that will see your advertisement. You can select the demographics of your audience or prior shopping habits to identify your intended group of customers. Additionally, you have the option to choose different options for your campaigns, such as your goal return on spend (ROAS) and device types and more advanced filters.

In contrast to sponsored product ads which rely on the text that is already set on your page about your product You must create specific content for your advertisements for display. It is essential to convey clearly the primary advantages for your products.

You’re not given a lot of space therefore think about how you can convince your customers to click: Amazon itself recommends using active verbs in headlines. Consider creating an additional sentence for display ads that are larger, depending on the place where your ads will appear.

Since display ads are able to appear on third-party websites that aren’t Amazon They can be very effective in targeting potential customers who have looked at your product offerings but did not buy. It is also possible to use them to reach customers who have viewed the listings of competitors’ products as one of the few tools that you can use to direct poach your customers from your competitors!

Display ads offer a lot of benefits. Amazon states that advertisers who use display ads typically get the majority of their revenue from new customers.

Watch the short video to know about How does Amazon Sponsored Display Ads Benefit you? Quick beginners guide

Sponsored brands

Brand-sponsored ads differ from the two other types due to the fact that they target a particular brand rather than a particular product. They are also known as “headline search ads” because they are displayed at the at the top of search results within the Amazon SERP as they are referred to as a “headline.”

These ads are a fantastic opportunity to attract prospective customers who might not know exactly the product they’re looking for but. They might have looked for something very broad such as “blender” or “kitchen appliance” and you could promote your entire selection of items that may attract their attention.

Through sponsored brand ads, you can create a captivating headline, and then upload an animation or video to show off your company’s image. Making use of videos that are sponsored by brand ads can offer significant benefits with Amazon PPC. According to Amazon the advertisers who use videos in ads for brands get an 108.1 percent rise in their CTR as compared to ads that use images in their brand ads.

To know the difference between Amazon Sponsored Products & Amazon Sponsored Brands Click Here.

Where are Amazon PPC ads show?

We briefly touched upon this while discussing Amazon PPC advertisement types, but let’s dig deeper. There are many places where the ads appear.

1. The top result of the results of a search

The first page users look at when they are searching has enormous benefits and results in the highest number of clicks. Advertisements for sponsored brands appear at the top of results of a search So if you’d like to show up here then this is the kind you’re looking for.

Of course, there’s only one space at the top. This makes this advertisement very cost-effective and costly. If you’re aiming for this spot, it is important to determine if your bid strategy can yield a decent ROI.

2. In the results of the search

The ads you place on your site may also appear in search results. Most of the time, the first search result will be an ad, but Amazon often adds additional ads in these results. This makes it hard for users to differentiate between organic results and ads.

The sponsored product ads in the search results may offer more return on your investment than those at the top of results. However dependent on the bid you place the ad may be placed in the bottom of results, or even be at the bottom of page 2 or 3.

3. On the other side of search results

Sometimes , ads are placed on the sides of results of a search. They could be sponsored by brands or a display advertisement. This can be ideal for getting noticed and may be cheaper than the top of the page result.

4. On the page for the product

There are a myriad of locations for advertisements on pages for products. The first is that every product page includes carousels beneath the description of the product with advertisements for related products. Your sponsored product ads could appear on the carousel. Your position is dependent on the bid you place. If you bid greater bid, you might be the first to appear on the carousel or at the very least, at the top of page.

Display ads are also available on the page of the product. These advertisements appear in boxes on both the left and right side on the webpage. They could be more popular than advertisements on the carousel however, since there are less places for these ads, they’ll likely cost more.

The number of items on Amazon So it’s easy to place your advertisements on the product page. It’s just a matter of finding the most appropriate target to place your ads placed on those pages that are most pertinent to your needs.

What is required to conduct an PPC campaign What’s required to run a PPC campaign Amazon?

It’s pretty simple to get started conducting PPC ads on Amazon as there aren’t any many specifications. All you require is:

  • A Amazon seller account: Anyone can set an Amazon Seller Central account and begin selling. There are various types of accounts based on the type and how much you intend to sell. You can begin using an individual one if your sales are less than 40 products per month, or you can opt for a professional account if you’ll be selling greater than 40 products per month and would like accessibility to greater tools as well as better reports.
  • Shipping methods: You need to understand how you’ll deliver your goods to customers. 83% of shoppers said that shipping is their top factor when buying online . In addition, 54% of shoppers abandon carts due to shipping charges. This is why you’ll need a strategy to make sure that shipping isn’t an issue for you. A lot of sellers utilize fulfillment services provided by Amazon which guarantees speedy and inexpensive shipping via Amazon. With FBA it is all you have to do is send your items at Amazon’s fulfillment facilities, and Amazon will handle the rest. You can also opt to deliver directly to your customers. This might be a better option in the event that you already have a reliable logistical system or in the case of seasonal items or products that don’t meet to Amazon FBA requirements.
  • Amazon Brand Registry: If you’re advertising with sponsored brand ads or display ads, you’ll need for your business to be registered on Amazon. This is essential to protect your name from brand infringements or incorrect content.
  • Product: It goes without that to say that if you’re planning to conduct PPC campaigns, you’ll require products to market! You can promote almost every item using PPC. The only limitations are that you are not allowed to promote used products, refurbished or adult products.

What is the procedure for Amazon CPC auction work?

Each time a place for an advertisement is opened or when someone is searching or clicking on a website page and there’s an instantaneous auction to determine where an advertisement will be placed. The ads that target the relevant keywords are competing with each other in the auction. Amazon’s algorithm picks which one is the winner.

It’s not just about making the bid that is the highest. Amazon also takes into consideration ad’s quality and relevance when selecting the auction winner, which is why you must ensure that you’re bidding on the right keywords and that your advertisement is in line with the requirements for the kind of advertisement you’re running.

The ad that is the winner of the auction will then be displayed at Amazon users. Amazon user. If the user does not click on the ad, the advertiser isn’t charged. If the user does click, the advertiser is billed to pay for each click. Cost of click might not correspond to the maximum bid that the advertiser could have placed during the auction.

The price is dependent on the second-highest bid which means that the bidder pays $0.01 over the highest bid. Let’s take an example: you offered $1.50 for a keyword, but another bidder offered $1.25. The auction would be won and, if the Amazon user clicked on your ad and clicked, you’d be paid $1.26 for each click.

How does bidding work?

In Amazon PPC auctions, there are numerous ways to place a bid. Determining whether to employ automatic or manual bidding is your first decision to make.

To know How To Bid On Amazon PPC — The Formula You Need for Your PPC Strategy

Automatic bidding: You delegate the process to Amazon. With automatic bidding, you set a spending limit, and Amazon makes bids on keywords to try to use up as much of it as possible. Both benefits and drawbacks of automatic bidding exist. It’s easy to use since you let Amazon handle the labor-intensive tasks, but you have to have faith that Amazon is familiar enough with your goods to target the appropriate customers.

Manual bidding: You decide which ASINs (certain products), categories, or keywords to target. You are free to place different bids on each of them, raise your bids on targets that are performing well, and drop your bids on targets that aren’t.

We advise developing both automatic and manual bidding campaigns to determine which is most effective for you. You get to pick your targeting with your Manual bidding campaign. Targeting ASINs and categories is fine, but focusing on keywords yields the best results.

For your campaign, you should compile a lengthy list of pertinent keywords. To start, check out what people are searching for on Amazon by using the autocomplete feature of the search box. These are all potential effective keyword targets.

After obtaining your keywords, you must select the Match Type in Amazon. There are three different keyword Match Types on amazon, and they will choose which auctions your bids for the various keywords will participate in.

Exact Match: You can only participate in auctions if the keyword you’re bidding on exactly matches the term being used. If your keyword is “smoothie blender,” for instance, your bid will only be accepted in auctions for that specific term.

Phrase Match: If the keyword contains your term in a phrase, your bid may be put in auctions. Your offer will be displayed, for instance, if someone searches for “Personal smoothie blender.”

Broad Match: Your bid may be accepted in auctions for phrases containing your keyword, even if it might be sandwiched between other words or be in a different sequence. For instance, “fruit smoothie blender” or “blender for smoothies.”

In your advertising, you might also specify negative keywords. These are terms that may have generated lots of clicks for you but few sales, resulting in a subpar ROAS. If you exclusively sell personal blenders, you may make “Industrial” a negative keyword in our blender example.

Amazon PPC campaign strategies

Now that you are familiar with the fundamentals of Amazon PPC, it’s time to develop your approach. It may take some trial and error to figure out the ideal plan for your company before you find what works. In order to design the ideal approach for you, we advise following these steps:

Gather knowledge about consumers. Understanding consumer browsing and purchasing patterns can ensure your PPC strategy performs at its peak. You can examine demand in your Amazon categories to determine what products customers want. This is the basis for your PPC success.

Try out several campaign formats. Although starting out with just Sponsored Product Ads is the simplest option, you might want to give the others a shot as well. Create various campaigns using various automated or human bidding processes, and test your keywords with various match kinds. Although you may initially pay more than you intended to, you will receive priceless information that will enable you to enhance your marketing.

Optimize your PPC Campaigns. Amazon offers a tons of options for campaign analysis. You can see which terms generated clicks, which generated sales, and which ones weren’t as effective. You can even discover the terms that Amazon used to target your automatic marketing, which may provide you with some worthwhile suggestions for other efforts. You can add new keywords, modify your bids for various phrases, add negative keywords, and keep watching the results.

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Joel Lazrado
Amazon Selling Strategies

Developing SEO strategies to maximise performance and ROI for the enterprise, small business clients & Implementing and managing SEO campaigns.