If you are selling on Amazon, you must have used Amazon Advertising tools to increase traffic and sales on your Amazon listing. But did you know you could use Amazon Advertising to advertise your brand and attract customers on your website?
Amazon’s Demand Side Platform Is A Great Tool To Expand Your Customer Base Outside Of Amazon:
DSP is the only advertising tool offered by Amazon that allows brands to drive traffic to their own websites. Otherwise, it’s a big no-no for all the brands selling on Amazon. Amazon is very stringent when it comes to retaining its shoppers. Any mention of a brand’s website or any other website that can lure the customer outside Amazon will lead to their account being suspended in the worst cases.
But with DSP, brands can get the best of both worlds. They can take advantage of Amazon’s vast customer base and leverage it to build an off-Amazon customer base. Sellers selling on Amazon are already using PPC to drive traffic to their listing, but now they can use DSP to create a backup customer base to grow outside Amazon as well.
Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? In this article we will take an in-depth look at this topic, but first, let us understand the basics.
A Background On Amazon Advertising:
Usually, when we say Amazon advertising, most sellers will equate it to Amazon PPC. In reality, Amazon Advertising is very intricate and it has made some massive changes quite recently. In September 2019, Amazon consolidated Amazon Marketing Services (AMS), Amazon Media Group (AMG), and Amazon Advertising Platform (AAP) into one branch: Amazon Advertising. Take a look at the image below to understand the advertising and reporting structure.
So now you know the Amazon Advertising structure. You have already used the ad tools from Amazon Ad console. Here we will get into details about Amazon’s Demand Side Platform.
Have You Heard About Amazon Demand Side Platform?
Amazon’s Demand Side Platform, better known as Amazon DSP, allows advertisers to programmatically buy video and display ad placements to reach a wider audience across the web. Feels like we have heard of something like this before…<Google Display Network> Anyway, a unique thing about DSP is that it allows brands to advertise their potential customers using customer data exclusive to Amazon.
Five Most Common DSP Questions Answered:
Question 1: Which Ad Formats Are Available In Amazon DSP?
- Desktop Display Ads
- Mobile Banners Ads
- Mobile Interstitial Ads
- Image & Text Ads
- In-stream Video Ads
Question 2: Where Will The Ads Show?
Amazon Display Ads will show on and off Amazon sites. Ads will be shown in the below listed Amazon-owned platforms:
- Amazon Website
- Fire TV
- IMDb
- Kindle
- Freedive
- Third-Party Exchanges
- Published Partners
Question 3: Do I Need To Be An Amazon Seller To Advertise On DSP?
No. The first assumption that most advertisers make about DSP is that you need to be an Amazon seller for using DSP. But this is not the case. Any advertiser can use this platform whether or not they sell on Amazon.
Question 4: What You Will Need To Get Started With DSP?
First of all, you will need a DSP account. This is different from Amazon Ad console that you would have for running Amazon Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brand and Product Display Ads. Similar to Google, you will need assets like marketing banners, interstitial and short videos created according to Amazon’s specifications. Amazon DSP does not have an automated creator or templates as Google Display Builder has. So it’s essential to properly design your creative assets because it can highly impact your conversion rates.
Question 5: How Long Does It Take To See The Results?
Because of the programmatic nature of this platform, it can take time for the campaigns to generate enough impressions for the data to become robust enough to target the audience. So don’t fret if the performance metrics aren’t that profitable in the beginning. Expect to see a spike in performance within four to six weeks. The programmatic approach also means that once the performance is settled, it will continue to improve steadily over time.
DSP Couldn’t Be More Different Than PPC
DSP, unlike every other ad available on Amazon DSP, is not Pay Per Click. Instead, it’s an impression based module that is Cost Per Thousand (you pay for impressions rather than clicks). So your bidding strategies should be targeted towards awareness and reach and not sales. Speaking of data, DSP has a lot more information about customers than Seller Central. It is very effective for the top and middle of the funnel advertisers looking for brand awareness.
While you are selling on Amazon, you use an advertising tool that can get more traffic to your listings. But while you are advertising for your brand or website to grow your business outside of Amazon, you look for an advertising tool that can increase brand awareness and customer reach. You want more and more customers to know your brand. This is exactly what DSP helps you out with.
Why Should Amazon Sellers Use DSP For Expanding Off-Amazon Customer Base
As mentioned earlier, DSP allows you to drive traffic on your own website. You can take advantage of the networks owned by Amazon and Amazon’s in-depth knowledge of consumer behavior like:
- Purchase history
- Searches performed
- Brand affinity
The 184 million visitors visiting Amazon every month can be a bit of a perk too. DSP actually provides far more information and insights to the advertisers than you can expect from other advertising tools and platforms. So less money is spent outside of your target zone customers.
When you use this particular service, you are able to target your competitor’s buyers in a round-about way. For instance, if a shopper visits a competitor’s product page, Amazon will recognize that the customer is looking for that particular type of product and not the brand. It then allows you to display your ad on those pages or categories that your competitors are using. This helps increase the number of quality audiences.
All in all, DSP can be an unfair advantage to your company:
- It improves discoverability
- It creates an opportunity to target buyers based on their interests and past purchases
- It allows the brands to retarget the customers. This increases brand loyalty
- Brand can reach more and more customers including the category shoppers
- Your ad will not only be displayed on the site pages and web but also on competitor’s pages, giving you more access
Is DSP Even Better Than Google & Facebook For Off Amazon Growth?
Google and Facebook is the go-to option for brands to advertise their brand and website. These two platforms have more users and data overall, but when it comes to getting customer-centric data, Amazon wins. Everyone knows that Amazon has, is and will always sell products so naturally, it has a great understanding of a user’s purchase behavior. Another great advantage of advertising on Amazon is that viewers present on Amazon are already there with purchase intent while those on Google and Facebook are there with a browsing intent. It is highly unclear whether they want to make a purchase or not.
In the past few years, users have migrated to Amazon for research. There was a time when Google was for search and Amazon was for the shop. But stats show that as many as 55% of the product searches begin on Amazon. Amazon is the first and most preferred stop for the shopper when it comes to looking for a new product and not Google or Facebook. While you are using Amazon DSP, you gain a competitive advantage by putting your product in front of customers that are most likely to buy it.
Ready To Get Started? You Have Two Options To Manage DSP:
Option 1: Spend $35,000 and work with Amazon directly
This option will work for brands that have time, money and resources to put on in the process. If you are a big brand with a team to dedicate into the program, then you can take this route. You will get all the benefits, expertise and can be more hands-on.
Option 2: Work with a 3rd party agency like beBOLD Digital
The best part of choosing this option is that you don’t have to spend a huge amount like $35,000, yet you can get the benefits of expertise (you’re getting more for less this way). In most cases, this method has proven to be far more better for brands looking for more support and transparency.
We will help you not in just launching and advertising your product using this tool, but we will also help you succeed. Interested? Set up a strategy call with our experts to plan your Amazon DSP venture.
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