product display ads amazon with Ritu Java - a podcast by Michael Veazey

Intro
Ritu Java is CEO of PPC Ninja. Help sellers and advertisers maximise ROI on Amazon via Paid Ads - including Sponsored products, sponsored brands and sponsored display ads.Also have a software tool or full agency.
What are your clients trying to achieve?Most people are happy with sponsored product ads.
That’s because they are easy to set up; you don’t need to find extra images etc.Sponsored brand ads require some extra work - and sellers want to skip doing this.
When people have been running sponsored product ads and they get into sponsored brands.They then try to use the same kind of strategy. People then think that it doesn’t work.
Sellers are obsessed with reducing ACoS! Few come in with desire to have more salesNobody comes in with the desire to increase brand awareness!
Brand buildingCan you really build a brand on Amazon?
Amazon has trained shoppers to go for “value”Yes, shoppers might be put off around a Chinese or cheap-seeming brand.
But otherwise they have value as the main driver.Ritu’s response is to try to use the tools so you can get shorter-term return.
One extreme is to let Amazon manage your ads for you - for minimum $35K!For most SMEs that isn’t an option!
It’s not just the headline ads. It also includes the video insert or video ad.You can’t change the messaging too much but you can place messaging in the video itself with captions etc.
If you have the description of the video in a semi native format.How do you decide where to allocate money, time and focus?
It’s natural to focus on sponsored product ads. But that is actually an opportunity - if your competition are not willing to be there, you should!They are prominent and so many calls to action so this is a way to be more visibility
Money sideHow expensive are sponsored brand ads?
The lowest you can spend on sponsored brand ads in the USA is 10 cents.For video ads there is another layer that it’s $0.25 minimum for a click.
But Amazon is going through a transition period.Go after the long tail with sponsored brand ads that attractspeople in the lower funnel.
Also focus on your own brand.Store Spotlight (Beta) and Sponsored Display ad (beta)

Only available on the Amazon Advertising ConsoleAmazon Advertising Console -previously AMS who has access already?
Amazon’s been making an effort to merge the platforms so eventually people will all have access to it.So at this point people who have seller central which gives sponsored brands and some people also have AMS/Ad consoles with sponsored brand ads.
The only difference is that you can run product display ads on the Amazon Ad console.No need for image creatives but you can make custom message.
How time consuming is it to make/set up your sponsored brand ads?It depends on your process.
At PPC Ninja, First of all they brainstorm a list of avatars.The second thing is intent - are they just window shopping or “in market” - not just floating around in general keywords (higher or lower in the funnel).
Limits: have to be within 50 characters.Images
Not all images work - they try to split test outside Amazon eg Picfu to see what is most appealing.Then test those out.
Landing pageThen you have to test a landing page - should it be a sub page within a store, store page or detailed listing page.
The results vary.If someone in a long-tail search lands on a list of products, they are more likely to buy something.
Whereas someone with a more general search term, they might be better off on the storefront.Generally going direct to list page itself leads to better conversions.
Ritu puts in a whole day of spreadsheet work; you could do it in phases.How do  you accurately figure out avatar?
It’s not necessarily based on surveys; it’s generally clear.But the exercise really helps with the messaging. It helps clarify keywords and some of the creative messaging. Are you pitching this to TV watchers who will be excited by “As seen...

Further episodes of Amazing FBA Amazon and ECommerce Podcast, for Amazon Private Label Sellers, Shopify, Magento or Woocommerce business owners, and other e-commerce sellers and digital entrepreneurs.

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