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Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising has been offered to Amazon sellers since 2012, and the marketplace is filled with ads from companies hoping to increase their sales. Not every campaign is successful though, so, before we get too far in, you’re probably wondering: Is Amazon PPC worth it?
With the right strategy, the answer to this question is a resounding yes! After partnering with SupplyKick on their ads strategy, Ultra Ankle saw an Amazon sales increase by 80% in one year. Another partner, South Bend Woodworks, saw a 630% increase in ad-attributed sales in a single quarter and doubled their Amazon revenue YoY.
Across the board, we’ve found that optimized advertising campaigns can increase sales up to 50% on average, making Amazon ads an integral part of an effective Amazon marketing strategy. Along with generating sales directly, a successful Amazon PPC campaign can also boost your product's ranking, leading to organic sales that continue long after your campaign has ended.
Achieving these results, however, isn't as simple as starting the first campaign you can think of and hoping for the best. In order for Amazon PPC ads to be worth the investment, you will need to implement a meticulous process of keyword and competitive research, A/B testing, and continual optimization. With that in mind, let's take a look at everything that goes into successful Amazon PPC management, including how Amazon PPC works, the keys to an effective PPC strategy, and the benefits of partnering with an Amazon PPC agency.
It’s important for Amazon sellers that are new to PPC advertising to realize that creating a profitable PPC campaign and increasing your Amazon sales takes time. Funding your first campaign and expecting to quickly multiply that investment and improve your ranking quickly isn’t realistic. The reality is that the best Amazon PPC management strategy is much more of a marathon than it is a sprint, and comes with plenty of trial and error.
From optimizing your product listings so that customers who do click your ad are more likely to convert, to choosing the right keywords so that your ads are seen by the Amazon customers most likely to purchase your product, there's a lot that goes into creating a successful PPC campaign. For this reason, more and more Amazon marketplace sellers are choosing to partner with an Amazon PPC management company rather than going at it alone. Alternatively, an Amazon wholesale seller can handle all aspects of Amazon for you, including shipping, marketing, and advertising your products.
Amazon PPC agencies specialize in Amazon PPC optimization and likely also offer Amazon listing optimization services. With their experience and know-how, these companies are able to help Amazon sellers skip much of the trial and error that creating a successful PPC campaign typically entails. Working with the best Amazon PPC management company you can find not only means that your campaigns will have the best chance of being profitable right out of the gate—it also means that you will not have to spend nearly as much time managing and optimizing the campaigns yourself, freeing you up to focus on other ways to grow your business.
Creating an Amazon PPC ad campaign starts with keyword and competitor research. Using multiple keyword match types and targeting types will strengthen your advertising campaigns, and using a mix of broad, phrase, exact, and negative keywords will, too. When targeting these keywords, be sure to bid for these terms in a variety of ways (more on bidding later).
The different types of keyword targeting on Amazon are:
Additionally, it’s important for sellers to set up campaigns that isolate search terms. A search term is isolated when it only shows up in one keyword. Ideally, that search term is also the only search term that keyword is bidding on. You should also test new keywords and targets often, and have a plan in place to test any new or existing features you aren’t taking advantage of.
In addition to keyword research, you should also identify competitors and their practices. Every product and brand is different in terms of finding the right advertising mix—you should understand your position relative to competitive items so you can craft the right strategy. Identifying similar products with poor reviews, a high price point, or low-quality content and photography can lead to massive gains.
The next step is to choose between the different types of Amazon PPC ads. Here are four of the most common:
Amazon Sponsored Brands Video ads link directly to your product detail page where customers can learn more and buy your products. Video ads can set you apart and show your product in action. You can learn more in our Amazon Video Guide.
Once you’ve determined what ad type you want to run, you’ll start submitting bids for keywords in Amazon PPC auctions. Your bid details how much you are willing to spend each time a customer clicks your ad. If you place a bid of $1.50, for example, then your account will be charged $1.50 each time someone clicks on your ad—regardless of whether or not they actually end up purchasing your product. Higher bids mean that your ad will be seen by more customers, but it also means that your campaign is going to be more costly.
Once you've placed a bid and chosen the type of ad you would like displayed, the final step is to launch your campaign and monitor your budget and bids. All brands typically have an awareness, volume, or efficiency goal when advertising, and many have some mix of each. Understanding your goals helps inform decision-making. For example, if your goal is awareness, you may consider bidding highly on Sponsored Products broad match terms and utilizing Sponsored Brands. If your goal is efficiency, it’s likely you’ll be using more exact match terms and regularly adjusting bids based on performance.
Then, analyze your results and determine your strategy going forward. Learning how to analyze Amazon PPC data is one of the biggest keys of a successful campaign and one of the areas where working with an Amazon seller management service can be most beneficial.
Amazon Advertising is constantly evolving, which means smart brands are continually updating and iterating on their Amazon strategy. The best way to stay on top of the marketplace is to test new advertising products as they emerge and implement the ones that work best for your brand going forward.
An Amazon PPC consultant is an Amazon ads expert who specializes in helping sellers create and optimize their PPC campaigns. Given how relatively quick and simple it is to get a PPC campaign up and running, many Amazon sellers don't realize the value in working with one of these specialists. However, while launching an Amazon PPC campaign is simple enough, optimizing it for maximum ROI is often not so easy.
When you work with an Amazon marketing agency to implement your Amazon advertising strategy, you can look forward to your specialist managing every aspect of your campaigns, including research into the ideal bid for your campaign and Amazon PPC cost calculator projections, assistance in choosing the right type of ad for your products and campaign goals, A/B testing and ongoing optimization of your campaigns, and product page optimization so that customers who do click your ads will be more likely to place a purchase.
The complexities associated with creating a profitable Amazon PPC campaign may lead some sellers to shy away from launching one. The reality, however, is that PPC advertising is one of the most powerful tools you have available for boosting your sales and growing your business on the marketplace. When done right, few strategies are more effective at generating both paid and organic sales than a well-thought-out PPC campaign.
It can be worth it to partner with an Amazon seller management service if you don’t have the time to run campaigns yourself or are unsure of how to run one. We know firsthand that selling on Amazon is a lot of work, and working with an Amazon seller consultant like SupplyKick lets you focus on building your brand, while we take care of your day-to-day Amazon management needs and more.
Our partner Lids saw a month-over-month marketplace revenue increase of 40% with SupplyKick:
“SupplyKick has been instrumental in helping Lids to grow new brands within our marketplace. Our brand can be quite complicated because the product is very regionally specific. When we first started with Amazon Ads, we struggled to find the manpower to execute impactful campaigns. SupplyKick stepped in and created an extremely detailed plan with over 300 campaigns. Understanding the level of detail required for these campaigns was priceless for Lids and has helped us to become a top 5 brand in our marketplace.” - Kyle Dickerson, Lids
As a verified Amazon Ads partner, SupplyKick has the knowledge and expertise it takes to run a successful PPC campaign. Learn more about what we can do for your brand and reach out to our team.
For press inquiries, please contact Molly Horstmann, mhorstmann@supplykick.com