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How to Advertise on Amazon in 2021 | The Ultimate Guide

8 min read

Courtney Cooper •

March 26, 2021

How to Advertise on Amazon in 2021 | The Ultimate Guide

Raise your hand if you purchased something on Amazon during quarantine. If you did, you’re certainly not alone. In fact, Amazon raked in $125.6 billion in sales revenue in just the last quarter of 2020. The good news is that you can still get in on this unbelievable amount of revenue because Amazon definitely isn’t going anywhere, in fact, it’s predicted that the number will only grow in 2021 and beyond. However, advertising on such a massive platform can be confusing and overwhelming for beginners, which is why we here at MuteSix have created this ultimate guide to advertising on Amazon in 2021.

Advertising on Amazon: The Basics

Advertising on Amazon is done through Amazon Marketing Services or AMS. This platform charges advertisers per click (PPC) and allows them to get their content in front of more viewers based on relevant keywords, products, and user information. To access this incredible advertising platform, you will need a Vendor Central login, Advantage Central login, Vendor Express login, or Kindle Direct Publishing account.

Benefits of Advertising on Amazon

Now that you know a bit more about advertising on Amazon, you’re probably wondering if doing so would actually be worth it for your company. After all, you have limited time and resources, so will advertising on this platform get you a solid return on investment? The short answer is yes, but there’s really so much more to it!

Here are just some of the benefits of advertising on Amazon:

Reach: As you know, Amazon has a huge reach that you can take advantage of. Amazon has an average of 215 million unique monthly visitors to the site. There are over 150 million paying Amazon Prime members worldwide that spent an average of $1,400 on the site in 2019. So if you’re looking to reach millions of users all over the world, Amazon advertising is a great option for you.

Intent: Many businesses falsely assume that advertising on social media is the most important aspect of their marketing strategy. And while advertising on these platforms does have a place within your marketing strategy, it’s important to think about intent. For example, someone scrolling through their Facebook feed isn’t necessarily looking to buy a specific product. Instead, they’re trying to stay updated with family and friends. On the other hand, users that are on Amazon are actively searching for a specific product with the intent to buy. In fact, 66% of product searches begin on Amazon and 74% of shoppers visit Amazon before other retailers when researching a potential purchase. By placing your products at the top of the list, you can take advantage of this through Amazon advertising.

Cost-effectiveness: If you think that you can’t afford to advertise on a huge platform like Amazon, think again! The structure of Amazon ads makes it accessible to businesses big and small. This is because, on Amazon, you pay per click rather than per impression. As a result, you know that you’re going to get a return on your initial advertising investment. Amazon ads also give you the option to set budgets for your campaigns so you don’t spend more than you want to, with options starting as low as $1.

Insights: Advertising on Amazon can provide you with a ton of valuable insights that you can then use to improve and grow your business. For example, you can see which products are underperforming and make the necessary changes to get everything back on track. This benefit also ties into cost-effectiveness as you can ensure that you’re spending money in areas that are going to get you a sizable return, rather than wasting your money in inefficient areas.

Different Types of Amazon Ads to Consider

Clearly, advertising on Amazon can be extremely beneficial if you do it correctly. The first step to effectively advertising on Amazon involves choosing the best advertising option, as there are several to choose from, including:

Sponsored product advertisements: This type of advertisement involves placing your content at the top of the search results, in the middle, at the bottom, or on a product detail page. No matter your exact placement, this type of ad gives you a huge advantage over competitors that are buried on subsequent pages that people barely even look at.

Sponsored display advertisements: This type of advertisement involves placing your content alongside similar products right below the “buy” button. If you’re really looking to get a leg up on your competition, this is the ad option for you! Not only can you potentially steal away people who are about to buy a competing product by offering them a better alternative, but you can also improve your brand image and awareness by essentially associating yourself with big-brand alternatives that can be extremely difficult to compete with.

Sponsored brand advertisements: This type of advertisement involves placing a graphic at the top of a search results page with information about your brand and a few of your related products. Great for brand awareness, sponsored brand ads will take the customer directly to your Amazon store to learn more and browse your amazing products.

Amazon stores: Speaking of Amazon stores, this is another great advertising feature that won’t actually cost you money! This allows you to create a unique purchasing platform within Amazon to create a one-stop-shop for customers. Having an Amazon store can also provide you with valuable analytics such as daily visitors, page views, and store-generated sales.

Amazon Advertising Best Practices to Follow in 2021

With a solid understanding of AMS and the different ad formats, it’s now time to talk about best practices to give you a full and complete picture of how to effectively advertise on Amazon in 2021.

Here are some tips and tricks to follow to successfully promote your products and brand on this incredible platform:

Use product description and details: Amazon uses a ton of data within its algorithms to give shoppers the best results. Make sure that you are being included in these results by using product descriptions and details. For example, you should be including product dimensions, materials, high-quality graphics, and real-life images and videos that show the use of your products.

Use keywords: Obviously, Amazon uses keywords to provide the best search results so you definitely want to have a good idea of the keywords you want to focus on. That being said, you should also consider the importance of exclusionary keywords in addition to inclusionary keywords. That way, you can eliminate irrelevant placement and results — saving you money in the process.

Use testing: In an ideal world, your campaign would be flawless and have no issues. However, we know that’s not always the case. One way to avoid potential problems is to test different ad formats with different products to see how they perform in practice.

Use data: We’ve mentioned data a few times but it’s definitely worth mentioning again. Sometimes it doesn’t matter how much testing you do beforehand, an ad just doesn’t seem to work. Always be sure to monitor your Amazon metrics and insights and use them to your advantage to identify issues and improve your strategy.

How to Work With an Amazon Advertising Agency

Perhaps the best thing to do to achieve the best Amazon advertising results is to work with an Amazon advertising agency that has extensive experience with this platform. Take MuteSix, for example. MuteSix has an existing relationship with the platform that allows us to get your products and brand to the top of the list.

But don’t just take our word for it! Take our client HoloGear, for example. We were able to utilize sponsored brands ads and sponsored display ads on Amazon to generate a 210% increase in revenue, 4,000 weekly average page views, and a 215% average weekly ad sales increase.

How do we do it? We begin by performing a campaign audit on what you’re doing now. We also conduct a category analysis to learn more about your specific category. From there, we provide a data-backed Amazon growth assessment and create a full-funnel Amazon advertising strategy to help you meet your goals. Finally, we optimize your campaign against key performance indicators (KPIs) and scale for continued success.

Wrap Up

Amazon experienced explosive growth in 2020 and this platform isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. As a result, Amazon should definitely be a part of your marketing strategy for 2021 and beyond. That being said, figuring out this massive platform on your own can seem impossible, which is where ad agencies like MuteSix come into play. So before you forego advertising on Amazon due to a lack of time and resources, reach out for a consultation to see how you can make your Amazon advertising dreams a reality.

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