Launched in 2019, Sponsored Display Ads are the newest type of advertising that’s been growing in popularity since its launch. According to Jungle Scout, in 2021, about 25% of the third-party sellers use Sponsored Display Ads and it accounts for 2% of Amazon’s advertising revenue.
In this blog post, we’ve detailed what Sponsored Display Ads are, how they work, how to set them up, why they are important, and what has changed.
What are Sponsored Display Ads?
Sponsored Display Ads, formerly known as Amazon Product Display Ads, allow brand registered sellers to show their ads to shoppers who have previously viewed your products or similar products, purchased from you, or used a search term relevant to your product.
Eligibility criteria for Sponsored Display Ads
Sponsored Display Ads are available to vendors and professional sellers registered in the Amazon Brand Registry.
Important – The audience: interest targeting option is currently available to vendors only.
Sponsored Display Ads are available in the following marketplaces
- North America: United States, Canada, Mexico
- South America: Brazil
- Europe: Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom
- Middle East: United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia
- Asia Pacific: Australia, India, Japan, Singapore
Where do Sponsored Display Ads appear?
- Product detail pages right below the bullet points or the buy box
- Customer review pages
- Top of the offer listing pages
- Off Amazon
According to Amazon, about 64% of shoppers use more than one retail channel to make a purchase. With Sponsored Display Ads, you can advertise in front of shoppers even when they’ve navigated away from the Amazon website. They appear outside of Amazon on websites owned by or partnered with Amazon.
How are Sponsored Display Ads & Amazon DSP Ads different?
Amazon DSP Ads and Sponsored Display ads have a lot in common, like the ability to remarket and to advertise on off-Amazon platforms, but they do have a long list of differences:
| Point of comparison | Sponsored Display Ads | DSP |
|---|---|---|
| Available to | Amazon sellers & vendors | Advertisers who sell on Amazon and those who don’t |
| Minimum ad spend | No minimum ad spend | $35,000 (may vary per country) |
| Ad type | Display Ads | Display, audio, and video ads |
| Setup | Campaign setup in Seller Central or the Advertising Console | Campaign setup in the Amazon DSP |
Sponsored Display Ads are a convenient way to get access to Amazon DSP features without the stringent and costly requirements of Amazon DSP.
Know more about Amazon Dsp Ads here: Amazon Dsp: Everything From Basics To The New Updates
How do Sponsored Display Ads work?
Just like Sponsored Products Ads and Sponsored Brand Ads, Sponsored Display Ads are pay-per-click, self-service ads where you set a budget and bid against other sellers for placement. However, unlike Sponsored Products Ads and Sponsored Brand Ads, Sponsored Display Ads targets shoppers based on audience interests and shopping behaviours as well as their page view history.
Sponsored Display Ads include two types of targeting options: product targeting & audiences.
1) Product targeting
Product targeting allows you to reach shoppers who are browsing related products and categories. Advertisers can also display their ads on product pages of top competitors to lure customers to their detail page. If your competitor’s listing receives a lot of traffic, you can offer a discount or lower your prices slightly to entice customers to choose your product over competing products. Advertisers can also use product targeting to sell complementary products. For example, if you sell iPhone 12 phone case, you can target shoppers who are buying iPhone 12.
Ads appear on the Amazon home page, product detail pages, or shopping results pages.
2) Audiences
Sponsored Display audiences is divided into two subcategories:
- Views remarketing
It allows you to target shoppers based on the products they have viewed. Amazon suggests using views remarketing if you want to remarket to high intent audiences. Your ads will show in front of shoppers who have viewed detail pages of your product or similar products in the past 30 days but have not purchased. Ads appear on the Amazon home page, product detail pages, shopping results pages and on third-party websites and apps. - Interests (Available for vendors only)
It allows you to target shoppers based on their past shopping behavior. This unique targeting option is for advertisers looking to increase their brand awareness and recall to new shoppers whose shopping behavior suggests that they might be interested in your products. Ads appear on the Amazon home page, product detail pages, or shopping results pages.
Sponsored Display Ad campaigns are retail aware, meaning they automatically pause if your products are out of stock. Amazon will automatically exclude shoppers who have purchased the product you are advertising.
What is the cost of running Sponsored Display Ad campaigns?
Sponsored Display Ads are pay-per-click ads, so you pay only when a customer clicks on your ad. The cost per click is determined in an auction where each advertiser sets a bid (maximum amount they are willing to pay per click) and the highest bidder wins. However, the highest bidder does not necessarily pay for the amount they bid; they only pay $0.01 more than the second-highest bid.
What percentage of my total advertising budget should be allocated to Sponsored Display Ads?
Unlike DSP ads, there is no minimum ad spend required for Sponsored Display Ads and advertisers can also set a daily budget to control their ad spend. Set aside around 5-15% of your total advertising budget for Sponsored Display Ads.
How to set up Sponsored Display Ad campaigns?
- Setting up Sponsored Display Ads is simple. In just a few clicks, you can have your display ad campaigns up and running. The steps are very similar to setting up your Sponsored Product campaign.
- Go to the “Advertising” tab and click on “Campaign Manager.”
- Hit the “Create Campaign” button and click on “Sponsored Display” under “Choose your campaign type.”
- Enter your campaign name, date range, daily budget and ad group name. We recommend you start with a $20 daily budget. As your campaign performs, you can increase the budget.
- Choose between “Audiences” and “Product Targeting.”
- Next, choose the product you want to advertise. You can advertise up to 10,000 ASINs per campaign.
- Set a bid. Amazon automatically suggests a default bid, but you can bid any amount you like.
- You have the option to customize your ad creative or have Amazon set it for you. You can add your logo and a catchy headline.
- Finally, choose where you want your ads to show. Amazon will also show you a preview for better understanding.
It is recommended to have a Sponsored Product Ad campaign set up before you begin with Sponsored Brand Ad campaigns. You can transform your high-performing, high-converting ASINs.
Are Sponsored Display Ads right for me?
It totally depends on you. However, according to Amazon:
- Advertisers who use Sponsored Display Ads see up to 82% of their sales driven by new-to-brand customers.
- On average, campaigns using Amazon’s product targeting recommendations saw 2x more impressions and 1.5x more clicks.
If you ask us, Sponsored Display Ads bring exciting opportunities for sellers and vendors, including remarketing your product to shoppers and advertising your products on third-party websites. According to Amazon, only 4% of the browsers convert to shoppers immediately. An average shopper will take about 6-7 days to go from browsers to shoppers. With Sponsored Display Ads remarketing, you can re-engage shoppers who have viewed your detail page or a similar detail page and keep your products on top of their minds.
Your ads will get some of the best real-estate on Amazon: product detail pages. Sponsored Display Ads, when used in tandem with Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brand Ads, can have a compounding effect on your impressions and brand awareness. They also allow you to cross-sell your own products and target competing products.
As these ads are not displayed anywhere on the SERPs, they are less competitive than Sponsored Product and Sponsored Brand ads, so your ACOS and CPC are going to be lower.
With Sponsored Display Ads, advertisers can:
- Retarget customers who have visited your product detail page in the past 30 days
- Target similar products and categories
- Target shoppers, based on their past shopping behavior
- Target shoppers based on their interests
- Generate awareness for newly-launched products
Sponsored Display Ads best practices
#1: Don’t set it and forget it
One of the easiest ways to keep your Sponsored Display Ad cost under control is by regular bid optimization. If ACOS is greater than our target ACOS, increase your bids. If ACOS is less than your target ACOS, decrease the target bid. Monitor your bids frequently so you can reduce irrelevant spend and make the most of available opportunities.
Pro tip: If you find yourself too busy to micromanage PPC campaigns, consider hiring an Amazon marketing consultant.
#2: Identify new targeting opportunities
If you have Sponsored Display Ad campaigns running, use the data to identify new targeting opportunities. Here are some of the ways to identify and find new ASINs you can target in your display ad campaigns:
- Go through the ‘Products related to this item’ section on your product detail page.
- Check out the ‘Frequently bought together’ to target complementary products.
- Look out for new competitors in your category.
While you should always be on the lookout for new ASINs for targeting, don’t forget to weed out the ASINs that simply aren’t performing. Go with what works, and remove what doesn’t.
#3: Keep on updating the products you advertise
Just like you retire any target ASINs that are not working, it is essential that you continually update the products you are advertising. The products you advertise must have:
- Profitable ACOS
- High sales volume
- Optimized copy and images
- 15+ positive reviews
#4: Leverage negative targeting
Negative targeting is available for campaigns that use the product targeting option. Use negative targeting to remove brands you do not want your ads to target. To add negative targeting, go to a campaign that is using the product targeting option and click on an ad group. You will find a tab named “Negative Targeting” on the left side of the browser. Click on the tab and add your negative target. Please note that negative targets can be added only after a campaign is created.
#5: Set your campaign goals first
If you are looking to maximize your CTR, consider adding our best-selling products and target against your competitive products. To ensure better conversion, target competitors with fewer reviews, lower ratings, or higher prices. Advertisers also use Sponsored Display Ads to promote their seasonal or holiday-specific products. The ads are now enabled with deals and savings badges so shoppers won’t miss a deal.
Sponsored Display Ad campaigns can also be used to promote newly launched products. Target your already-established, best selling and popular products. You can leverage the traffic they receive on their detail page and create awareness for your just-launched products.
#6 Don’t skimp on ad creative
Amazon automatically populates the ad creative based on your product details, so your product detail page should be properly optimized, complete with a detailed copy and high-resolution images. Prime eligibility, coupon and deals badge are automatically visible on your ad. Advertisers also have the option to add a custom headline to make the ad more compelling. Use phrases like “new” and call to action like “Buy Now” to trigger a response from the customers. Avoid making any unsupported claims like “Best Seller” or “#1” as they won’t be approved by Amazon.
To make sure your product detail page is retail ready, hire our Amazon listing optimization services.
#7 Don’t quit midway
If you are running a Sponsored Display Ad campaign for the first time, don’t pause them in just a few weeks, just because you didn’t see desired results. Amazon suggests running display ad campaigns for at least 90 days. This also gives you more time to experiment and optimize.
Sponsored Display Ads 2022 Updates
#1: Portfolio
Portfolio lets you group and organize campaigns into collections that mirror the structure of their business with portfolios. With a portfolio, advertisers will also get advanced budget controls. When your portfolio budget is exhausted, all campaigns within the portfolio will automatically pause until you increase the budget and reactivate them.
#2: Marketplace availability
Sponsored Display Ad product targeting and audience is now available in the Netherlands, Australia, Japan, India, Mexico and Brazil.
#3: Use bulksheets to efficiently launch new campaigns
Advertisers can use bulksheets to create and optimize sponsored ads campaigns at scale. You can also find performance metrics, including cost per click (CPC), return on ad spend (ROAS), and conversion rate, to help you analyze campaign performance at the keyword level. Bulk sheets save time and minimize manual effort by letting you create and manage campaigns in bulk, create multiple ad groups and manage thousands of keywords all at once.
#4: Improved product and targeting recommendations
When submitting a list of products, advertisers will now get improved product and category recommendations from Amazon. These recommendations are ranked by their profitability of helping to increase the click-through rate of your selected advertised products. According to Amazon, advertisers who use recommendations see 17% higher impressions and 2X the number of clicks for those targets, compared to those not using recommendations.
That’s all for today
Sponsored Display Ads are a truly unique ad type because they let you retarget your shoppers and allow you to reach audiences off Amazon. When used well, it will help you increase brand awareness and recall both on and off Amazon. If you are a brand registered seller or a vendor to Amazon, including Sponsored Display Ads in your advertising arsenal is a no-brainer.
Get in touch with our Amazon PPC optimization to know how we can help you maximize and scale your advertising strategy.