Amazon.com, Inc. is an American multinational technology company that rules the e-commerce market. Amazon is one of the world’s most valuable brands with a multitude of product brands. They have a large number of both third-party sellers and vendors, where one sells their product directly through Amazon and the other sell their product in bulk to Amazon, respectively. For such merchants company offers a multitude of promotional programs such as headline search advertisements, product display advertisements, and Amazon Sponsored plan. Let’s know about Amazon Sponsored brands.
Amazon Sponsored promotion plan recommends their product to customers by showing them at the top or in-between search results for similar keyword searches. There will be a grey writing of “Sponsored” at the top of these advertisements, to distinguish it from other relevant search results. By clicking on the promotion, customers would be taken to the product detail page from where customers can purchase the advertised product.
How does it work?
Any third-party seller or vendor can apply for the plan for particular products, through the Amazon overview page in the sellers central. The merchant has to choose the product and other details regarding the product such as suitable keywords, match type, promotion period, Bid amount, etc. This can be chosen manually by the seller or can choose the automatic option where, other than the plan period and default bid, all other options would be selected automatically.
Keywords:
The keywords are chosen by the merchant play a crucial role in the display of the ad. The seller can choose multiple keywords for each product and if the customer search term contains any of the keywords selected, then the advertisement bid would enter the auction. More the number of keywords selected for each, the more the chance of the product getting into the auction. You can also choose a negative match where you can choose certain keywords, especially specifications of your primary keyword such as color, size, etc., for which your bid won’t be considered. This could narrow down and specify the targeted audience and could display the ad to customers with higher buying chances.
Match Type:
Another specification merchants can choose regarding their advertisement is the match type- Broad, phrase, and exact. It’s the gravity of the search term triggering each keyword selected by the seller and defines the relationship between the search term and the selected keyword. In a broad match type, any search text having a mention of the selected keyword would be considered for advertising. Specifications or product descriptions in the search term, which may not be in the keyword won’t be considered. In the phrase match type, your ad would enter the auction only for search terms somewhat similar to the selected keywords. And in the exact match type, if the search term is the exact keyword, then only the ad would enter for auction.
Bid Amount
The bid amount is the amount seller is willing to pay for the display of a product advertisement. Since it’s a PPC (Pay Per Click) plan, merchants have to pay only for the number of clicks the advertisement gets. The average bid of non-competitive keywords is US$0.20 and for a normal competitive keyword, it’s $2. For highly competitive keywords cost $6 on an average. The difference between the Average cost of sale and the selling price can be used as the maximum bid amount.
Once the search term triggers any of the selected keywords, it would enter the auction, and then it’s the bid amount decides which merchant should be given the chance. The highest bid wins and that merchant product would be shown in the first place. And they only have to pay $0.01 more than the second won bid. Merchants can choose the bid amount for each keyword depending on its demand.
Required Criteria
The allocation and display of the advertisement are under the discretion of Amazon and for that Amazon considers certain factors about the merchant and this is to ensure the credibility of the products Amazon directly recommends to its customers. Since all products won’t be able to display as sponsored and it’s prioritized, this criteria ensures efficient ones get the advertisement opportunity.
- Pro-merchant Account. The applying seller should have an active professional seller account with Amazon, and not just an amateur seller account.
- Shipment all over the US. The merchant should be able to ship their products to any address within the United States. If they can’t the advertisement would be worthless.
- More than one category. The products applying for advertisement should fall under multiple product categories and not just one. This ensures a higher number of ad displays rather than just a few times.
- Valid payment methods. The merchant should offer multiple and valid modes of payments including net banking, credit or debit card, cash on delivery, etc. for ensuring customer convenience.
- New products. Products offered by the seller for advertisement should be new and first-hand products, and should not be used products.
- Buy box option. The white box on the right side or below the product description page, saying “Buy Now” won’t be there for all products. For many, it would be “see all buying options”. This is when other sellers offer the same product for a better deal. The sponsored product should be eligible for a Buy Box, otherwise, the advertisement would be for redirecting traffic to other merchant pages.
Conclusion
Amazon Sponsored plan offers the merchants an opportunity to prioritize their product and display it over other similar brands on the search result page. Once the customer search for similar keywords, the merchant advertisement bid would enter the bid and the one with a higher bid would be displayed in the initial place among the search result. This could boost the visibility of products and according to Amazon data, 80% of customers interact with advertisements relevant to their needs, which thus a chance of increased sales. The merchant has to pay only if the customer clicks on the advertisement and enters the product detail page.
