We get asked countless of questions daily around budgeting and how to best allocate advertising spend. In today's episode, Matt and Joe answered these common questions while sharing scenarios to help add value to sellers, no matter their stage or size. 

Episode Highlights: 

What should you set for advertising budget? [01:52]

Setting budgets to maintain profit margins [05:12]

Setting budgets to cut ACoS [07:38]

Setting budgets for product launches [12:13]

How to allocate ad spend with a tight budget [15:59]

Dr. Florian Nottorf is co-founder and co-CEO of the ABOUT YOU subsidiary ADFERENCE, an AdTech specialist that develops innovative advertising technologies for Amazon and Google Ads. Before founding Adference at the beginning of 2014, the doctor of business informatics researched scientifically excellent methods in online marketing. At ADFERENCE, Florian leads an expert team of now over 60 employees. Florian is co-host of the weekly leading German Amazon Advertising Podcast 'Vitamin A - Deine Dosis Amazon PPC'.

 In this week’s episode of The Ad Project podcast, we cover all things bid optimization, and how it relates to structuring campaigns, conversion rate, keywords, new features on Amazon and the balance between software and hands-on management.

In this podcast episode, Joe Shelerud and Matt Wiklund discuss various aspects of Amazon’s highly anticipated summer event – Prime Day.

Join us as we explore tips and insights to button up your advertising strategy your before, during, and after this crucial event. From crafting offers to leveraging marketing tactics, we provide you with a comprehensive toolkit to maximize your Prime Day success.

Key Discussions:

• Impact of deals on Prime Day performance: Running deals can significantly increase click-through rates and conversion rates, leading to higher orders. Brands that ran a deal saw a 30% increase in conversion rates, while those that didn't run a deal experienced a 13% decline in conversion rates.
• Advertising strategies for Prime Day: It is advised not to go overboard with bids during Prime Day as high traffic doesn't necessarily translate to higher conversion rates. Keeping bids consistent with the average and preparing for increased budget due to the spike in traffic is recommended.
• Post-Prime Day effects: After Prime Day, there may be a temporary downturn in traffic and sales due to a "holiday hangover" effect. However, brands that ran major promotions during Prime Day may experience higher traffic and improved organic rankings, leading to post-event sales.

As a rule of thumb, we’d rather hire a good culture fit than someone

with a deep level of initial expertise in the Amazon industry. Why? To put it simply – you can teach someone new skills, but you can’t teach them to be a good person. Company culture is something we value and prioritize above a lot of other things in our business.

Erik Swenson is the Operations Manager with Ad Advance. He manages a large team of in-house account executives and is a huge reason our company culture continues to thrive from day to day. Erik joins us for this week’s episode of The Ad Project podcast to shed some light on company culture, why it matters, how it motivates our team and ultimately produces better results for our clients.

Your key goal is not to just have good advertising metrics. It should be to have advertising that feeds into your entire business, driving solid overall sales and profitability metrics.

We had an amazing time with Mina in today's episode covering some of the core fundamentals sellers should be looking at when optimizing their campaigns. Being a seller himself, Mina shared scenarios that would typically arise when running ads, along with tips on how you can split test images, price, and optimize your ad strategy to meet your overall business goals.

Connect with Mina Elias:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mina.elias.7

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mina-elias-52313772/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/egyptian_prescription_elias/

Episode Highlights:

Core fundamentals to consider when analyzing ad campaigns    [02:38]

Case study scenarios on ad optimization                                           [07:20]

How to tell if your advertising is working                                           [18:04]

Overview

The key goal of brand building is to introduce shoppers who could

potentially be interested in your brand to learn more about your brand and

products. Over time, as you continue to work on brand building strategies, you

will see your branded search increase. This is a true indicator that these

higher funnel strategies work and can result in loyal customers with repeated

purchases over time.

In today’s episode, both Joe and Matt talked about the importance of brand

building and what sellers should be focusing on when building their brand. They

also dived deep into these upper funnel strategies, how to implement them and

what metrics to monitor when measuring their success.

Overview: 

If you've been advertising on Amazon, you're probably very familiar with Sponsored Products automatic campaigns. If you're just getting into advertising, you should become familiar with auto campaigns since these can be a real goldmine to your business. In this episode, we dive deep into how auto campaigns work, the different targeting types, and ways you can control your auto campaign performance to make sure you're not leaving any sales on the table or wasting ad spend.

Key Takeaways: 

• Everyone should be running auto campaigns
• Make sure you have separate bids for each target type: close match, loose match, substitutes, and compliments.
• Typically a close match targeting type performs better, so we recommend bidding higher for this type.
• Utilize catch-all campaigns, especially if you have a lot of products. The goal is to set a low bid and group all the products together, even if they're entirely unrelated.
• If you're just launching a product or focusing on the discovery side, then the high-bid low-bid auto campaign strategy is a great way to start.

How Sponsored Ads Auto Campaigns work: 

Sponsored ads auto campaigns work by using Amazon's algorithm to find keywords and ASINs that are relevant to your products. It is an excellent source for new product discovery, product development/improvement, listing optimization, and understanding consumer behavior. We're constantly surprised by how people search for different products, and auto campaigns let us capture that.

Sponsored Ads auto campaigns targeting types: 

• Close match: Target keywords closely related to the product.
• Loose match: Target keywords loosely related to the product
• Substitutes: Target products that are direct substitutes or products that are comparable to the advertised product.
• Compliments: Target products that would be bundled items or items frequently purchased with the advertised product.

Ways to control Sponsored Ads auto campaign performance: 

Firstly, to improve your Sponsored Ads auto campaigns' control and hit performance targets, we highly suggest separating your bids for each targeting type. This helps you find out what's most likely to convert into a sale after the click. We find that close match drives higher conversion, so we focus on boosting bids for that targeting type to drive incremental volume. This allows us to cut back bids for the other targeting types that won't convert as well.

Secondly, to control Sponsored Ads auto campaign performance is by using negative keywords and negative product targeting. You can obtain negative keywords by pulling your search term report and analyzing for poor converting keywords, then negate them. This way, those keywords will no longer trigger impressions, thus cutting wasted spend and encouraging productive spend. We walked through this in much more detail in the episode, so tune in for the details.

Using auto campaigns to feed manual campaigns: 

Using auto campaigns to feed manual campaigns is the beginning of the keyword funnel process. We recommend starting with catch-all auto campaigns since these are really easy to create with all your products grouped in a single ad group with a low bid. This generates impressions and clicks at a low CPC while producing low ACoS or RoAS.

Lastly, another way to feed manual campaigns is by using the bid-high bid-low strategy. It is best practice to set up two of the same auto campaigns with one bidding high and the other bidding low. This helps you generate targets that you wouldn't discover in other campaigns due to the high bid, which can be funneled into your manual campaigns for better control.

Episode...

Having highly relevant targets and strategic campaign structures is not the end-all-be-all when managing your ads.

Often, we see sellers focusing too much on their campaign structures and targets while taking a reactive approach to bidding, which usually results in poor advertising performance. It is important to understand that successful campaigns are designed with a step-by-step, strategic and proactive bidding approach that aligns with the overall business goals.

In today's episode, I was happy to be joined by Michael Erickson Facchin from Ad Badger to dive into various bid optimization strategies. We had a great time discussing how sellers can optimize their bids to align with overall business goals and get the most from their advertising efforts.

Topics discussed:

• Setting initial bids for new campaigns         
• The approach to bidding for a new product launch
• Overall bid adjustment strategies
• Understanding the value of the next click

Connect with Michael:

Website: https://www.adbadger.com/

Podcast: https://www.adbadger.com/amazon-advertising-ppc-den-podcast/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-erickson-facchin-b7314866/

Overview

Joe and Matt, owners of an Amazon advertising agency called Ad Advance, are obsessed over finding the most effective Amazon advertising strategies and building a system around them. In this episode, we provide a brief overview of the different Amazon advertising types and how you can use them, success stories about how sellers who took their businesses to the next level, and what to expect from our podcast series.

Key Takeaways

• Sponsored Product ads generate the vast majority of impressions, so this is a great place to start for new sellers or businesses entering the Amazon space looking to launch auto and manual campaigns.
• Once you’re brand registered, you should start running Sponsored Brand ads, especially Sponsored Brand Video ads. These ads take up a lot of real estate in search results and allow you to showcase your product in a unique light.
• Sponsored Display ads are an interesting ad type with two different forms. They provide sellers with the opportunity to re-expose their products to shoppers off Amazon or on-site while viewing similar or complementary products.

Understanding the Different Amazon Advertising Types

Sponsored Products: Sponsored Product ads generate a lot of impressions in Amazon Advertising. They appear in search results, at top of search (the first row), and in the rest of the search results. They are also sprinkled in with organic listings, appear on product pages, and most notably below the product description. On the product page, there is a carousel of related Sponsored Products that could be viable alternatives.

Sponsored Brands: After Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands would be the next ad type to launch once you’re brand registered. The classic Sponsored Brand placement would be the banner ad that typically showcases three products at the top of search results. With Sponsored Brands, you can also showcase a storefront and get more creative. There is a tagline for the copy, and you can even include custom images, lifestyle images, or product images. Our favorite brand ad type would be Sponsored Brands Video, because it takes up a large space in search results and achieves excellent conversion rates. People are naturally drawn to videos, so if you have the assets, don’t forget to use them!

Sponsored Display Ads: There are two forms of display ads: audience targeting and product targeting. Audience targeting is off-site remarketing, where you are targeting an audience off Amazon, while product targeting is shown on Amazon on similar or complementary product pages. This ad type has good visual and is usually not as competitive as other ad types.

Amazon Demand-side Platform (DSP): This ad type is like Sponsored Display with its off-site remarketing but has more control where you can specify audience attributes such as demographics, geographic data, and much more. Once your product or group of products have 5,000 plus sessions per month, DSP is a great ad type to add to your arsenal.

Episode Highlights:

• Founder’s Story [01:28]
• Our Approach [03:00]
• Seller Success Story #1: We got fired twice! [07:00]
• Seller Success Story #2: From brick and mortar to ecommerce. [11:04]
• What to Expect on Our Podcast [11:55]
• Amazon Sponsored Products Overview [13:18]
• Amazon Sponsored Brands Overview [15:07]
• Amazon Sponsored Display Overview [16:14]
• Amazon Demand-Side Program (DSP) [18:27]

Overview

Amazon seasonality is an incredibly important factor to consider when strategizing with your ads year over year, month over month, and even week by week. Understanding these trends will not only help you set realistic expectations, it will guide how you manage your ads overall. When you know there’s going to be a change in traffic or conversion rate, you can make proactive adjustments to your campaigns to capture higher purchase intent, generate more sales, or control your ACoS.

In this episode, we talk through increasing competition on the platform, overall trends with CPC and conversion rates, and the long-term challenges sellers face trying to set themselves apart using Amazon advertising.

Episode Highlights:

Intro [00:32]

Consistent long-term trend [01:30]

Comparing results year over year [07:14]

General seasonality [10:44]

Day of the week trends [15:53]

This week on The Ad Project, Joe Shelerud and Matt Wiklund take a pragmatic look at the world of advertising metrics - specifically TACOS. Joe has reservations about TACOS, and he'll explain why. Matt, on the other hand, sees its merits as a budgeting tool.

Here's what you can expect:

• TACOS, which measures ad spend as a percentage of total sales, is introduced, and Joe raises some concerns about its usefulness.
• Joe argues that TACOS can be manipulated by advertisers and lacks a comprehensive view of advertising performance.
• Matt highlights TACOS' value as a metric for maintaining budget consistency, especially during seasonal fluctuations.

They both agree that while TACOS serves a purpose, it's not the sole metric to consider. ACoS, new-to-brand customer acquisition, lifetime value, and market share provide a more complete picture of advertising success.

Joe and Matt recommend looking beyond TACOS and considering a broader range of metrics to evaluate advertising performance. For a deeper dive into this topic and a nuanced discussion on advertising metrics, listen to the full episode!

One of the major concerns about DSP is tracking the right metrics to make better informed decisions.

In today's episode, I was joined by Melissa Barnstorf, one of our Account Managers, to dive into how we're reviewing DSP performance with our clients. We tackled common questions we get asked and our strategies to help brands evaluate their overall media spend.

There are countless of opportunities using Amazon DSP. However, having solid measurements you can track is vital to ensuring that you're getting a good return.

Have you ever wondered if your brand or agency is missing out on untapped opportunities with Amazon advertising? 

This week on The Ad Project we welcome Kyle Slunick, Amazon Advertising Manager / Velocity Analyst for Melissa & Doug and Executive Advertising Coach / Director of Performance Marketing for Private Label Mastery.  

In this episode, Kyle shares valuable insights from his extensive experience with Amazon advertising, uncovering overlooked strategies and game-changing opportunities for both brands and agencies. Kyle and Joe also discuss the challenges and strategies for growing an established brand like Melissa & Doug on Amazon while maintaining brand protection. They emphasize the need to move away from metrics like ACoS and ROAS and instead focus on metrics like TACoS and lifetime value. 

A handful of opportunities discussed: 

• Adopting the proper KPI’s that align with your strategies.   
• Leveraging the "New-to-Brand" metric on Amazon to track and optimize efforts for driving incremental sales and acquiring new customers. 
• Investing in building brand equity and recognition through enhanced content, branding, and customer experience. 
• Monitoring and analyzing competitive landscape and market trends to identify new opportunities and stay ahead of the competition. 

For more tips and insights to improve your Amazon advertising strategy, tune in for the full episode!   

Connect with Kyle: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-slunick-10047a133/ 

Overview

The Amazon advertising sphere is constantly changing, and as Amazon advertising experts, we have to stay up to date so we can steer the ship in the right direction for our clients. Whether this includes changes to the reporting or targeting different audience types, being on top of these new features is key to setting yourself apart. Liran Hirschkorn and Joe Shelerud dedicated this entire episode to discussing the newest features Amazon has rolled out and how to utilize them.

How to connect with Liran:

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liranhirschkorn/

Facebook Profile: www.facebook.com/lhirschkorn

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/ecommercemindsetgroup

Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/liranhirschkorn/

Website: www.Incrementumdigital.com

Episode Highlights: 

Introductions [00:22] 

The rise of video ads [02:32] 

Sponsored Display audience targeting ads [13:44] 

Sponsored Display targeting past purchasers [23:01] 

What to expect with Amazon DSP [25:24] 

Tips on how to send traffic to your Amazon storefront [30:32] 

Where is Amazon Advertising going? [34:14] 

Understanding how to measure seasonality and actions you can take to go through the low periods can really help set you apart from the competition. 

In today’s episode, Matt and Joe spent some time talking through ways brands can accurately measure seasonality and how to be proactive.  

Key Takeaways include: 

• Analyzing your account/products to understand your seasonality 
• How to use Brand Analytics reports to measure seasonality 
• Ways to be proactive and ride the waves throughout peak periods 

With Q4 coming up, grab your pen and paper, and let’s talk through ways to prepare for peak seasons!   

Amazon Search Query Performance Report is a powerful tool that lists keywords Amazon deems relevant to a brand. It provides metrics associated with these keywords and allows sellers to view data on their brand as a whole or on specific products.

In today’s episode, both Matt and Joe dived into the report and shared tips on how brands can utilize these metrics. A few use cases are:

• Keyword Discovery
• Trend Analysis
• Measuring Brand Share
• Tracking the effectiveness of ad campaigns

The Search Query Performance Report is a valuable tool for brands to grow and improve their overall strategies. There was a lot of great information shared in today’s episode, so we highly recommend reviewing our social post after listening.

Check out the post here: https://bit.ly/3DBY1vF

As a seller, it's critical to get your products directly in front of your audience. Surprisingly, many sellers still depend solely on Amazon's organic traffic. If you're looking to take things to the next level, ad optimization and external traffic can really level up your advertising game.  

In this episode, Joe Shelerud and Victor Dwyer, an Entrepreneur, Marketer, Amazon & Advertising specialist, talk through tips and strategies for Amazon Sponsored Display ads, how sellers can drive external traffic to their listings, iOS privacy updates, and Amazon attribution. 

As the Amazon world becomes more competitive, sellers must stay in the know and find more ways to get ahead. Driving external traffic allows you to gain additional customers, build organic rankings, and much more. You'll also get the inside scoop on external traffic and how to use these findings to optimize all advertising campaigns to boost overall sales. 

Episode Highlights:  

Introduction to Victor Dwyer [00:59]  

Overview on Sponsored Display Ads  [01:38]  

What is Amazon Attribution  [05:30]  

How privacy changes on iOS affects conversion tracking and Amazon attribution [08:32] 

How Amazon sellers can generate external traffic to their listings  [19:22] 

This week’s episode of The Ad Project is all about AI (specifically ChatGPT) and why it’s changing the game of selling on Amazon.  

Joe and Jon Tilley of ZonGuru explore how AI is changing the way we approach tasks in the workplace and why it’s catching so many people’s attention - even though it has been around for years.  

More specifically, Joe and Jon discuss optimized Amazon product listings powered by ChatGPT and how utilizing this technology can increase click-through rates. Jon also shares his insights on the various other fields where AI technology is being utilized and how it has become more accessible to the public. 

Jon also does a quick overview of ZonGuru’s industry-leading keyword tool called Keywords on Fire, which focuses on keyword relevancy. 

Key Discussions:  

• The impact of AI technology in Amazon advertising. 
• The accessibility of AI to the general public. 
• The benefits and potential risks of AI. 
• The criticality of click-through rate and conversion in optimizing Amazon listings. 
• The importance of using relevant and specific keywords in listing optimization. 

A little more background on Jon Tilley and ZonGuru: 

Zonguru is a technology toolset that helps e-commerce brands and agencies scale on Amazon through data intelligence and automation. 

Jon launched ZonGuru in 2016 with the goal of creating operational tools that solve Amazon Seller challenges, driving the most significant impact on scaling revenue and profits. 

Before starting Zonguru, Jon worked for 15 years as an Advertising Strategist for prominent digital agencies in Johannesburg, London, and Los Angeles. In 2014, he launched several successful private label brands on Amazon, which eventually led him to create Zonguru. 

If you're an Amazon Seller:

Follow this link for 20% lifetime discount on any ZonGuru Plan and Period, or to access a 7 day free trial: https://zonguru.link/ADV20

If you're an agency:

Follow this link for a 21 day free trial: https://zonguru.link/ADV-EP

Learn more about ZonGuru: www.zonguru.com

Connect with Jon Tilley: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jontilley/

This week on The Ad Project, Joe Shelerud and Noah Salzl, Account Manager at Ad Advance, discuss key strategies for optimizing ads during and after major shopping events. They cover both upper funnel and bottom-of-funnel strategies to increase traffic, awareness, and conversions. Listeners will learn how to maximize their advertising efforts during these crucial periods.

Discussions include:

• Upper funnel strategies for increasing traffic and brand awareness before major shopping events.
• Switching to bottom-of-funnel strategies on the day of the event to reengage interested customers and drive conversions.
• Utilizing Amazon Marketing Cloud to target cart abandonment shoppers and offering targeted discounts through brand tailored promotions.
• Post-event strategies such as retargeting and repurchasing campaigns based on consumption patterns to maintain customer engagement.

In today’s episode, Matt and Joe spent some time covering the basics of Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), what the interface looks like, how it works, and use cases that can help brands optimize their advertising strategy.

AMC is a great reporting tool that provides meaningful analytics, tying together a complete picture of the buyer’s journey and touchpoints. Having access to these data sets will truly help advertisers and brands refine their audience targets and overall ad strategy.

There have been quite some changes with Amazon Advertising this year. There were new targeting types, new ad types, changes in the user interface of the advertising dashboard, and much more. With all the new features, sellers and brands had more opportunities to leverage advertising and develop strategies to build a long-lasting brand.

In today's episode, Destaney and Joe touched on the major shifts that happened this year and how sellers can optimize their strategies to stay on up of their advertising in 2022.

Connect with Destaney:

Website: https://betterams.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIyDW8XfX2gTWFHK_otUwAw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destaney-wishon/ 

Connect directly with Joe:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeshelerud/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shelerud

Episode Highlights

Intro [00:19]

How inventory changes affected Amazon advertising in 2021 [03:00]

Launch or ranking strategy in 2021 [08:09]

Ad types and strategies this year [09:55]

Competition in the ad space [14:25]

The rise in aggregators and its impact on advertising [16:52]

What to expect with advertising in 2022 [21:16]

How sellers can set themselves up for success in 2022 [25:59]

Summary

In this episode, the Joe & Matt discuss the differences between Sponsored Display and DSP on Amazon. They explain when to consider using each platform and the various audience targeting options available. They also compare the pricing models and creative options in both platforms. The hosts highlight the advantages of using Amazon's DSP, such as the ability to use custom creatives and access to Amazon Marketing Cloud for advanced data insights. They conclude by emphasizing the importance of choosing the right platform based on your advertising goals and budget.

Takeaways

• Sponsored Display is a self-serve platform that is easy to use and is a good starting point for testing different advertising options.
• DSP offers more control and complexity, allowing for more advanced audience targeting and the use of custom creatives.
• Amazon Marketing Cloud provides valuable data insights for measuring ad performance and optimizing campaigns.
• Consider your advertising goals and budget when choosing between Sponsored Display and DSP.
• Utilize the different targeting options and creative features to reach your desired audience and maximize ad performance.

In this episode of the Ad Project Podcast, host Joe Shelerud from Ad Advance welcomes guest Tim Jordan, Chief Community Officer at Carbon 6.

Tim shares his journey from being a firefighter to becoming a successful Amazon seller and e-commerce expert. He discusses his experience in the industry, including building and selling multiple brands, consulting for service providers, and gaining a unique perspective on the e-commerce landscape.

The episode's main focus is on driving external traffic to Amazon and the importance of leveraging it to boost organic rankings. Tim and Joe dive into Amazon's brand referral bonus and Amazon Attribution, and how they have revolutionized external traffic strategies. They highlight the effectiveness of external traffic through Google Ads and influencer marketing, emphasizing the significance of targeting a relevant audience for better conversion rates.

Tim also introduces Carbon 6's reimbursement services for buyer returns and the powerful external traffic tool, PixelMe, which has shown remarkable results in achieving high return on ad spend (ROAS).

The episode concludes with insights into the ever-evolving e-commerce industry, emphasizing the importance of Amazon as a reliable platform for generating sales and growing e-commerce brands.

We continue to be surprised about the trends we see from using Amazon Marketing Stream.

In today’s episode, both Matt and Joe dived deeper on some of the key insights and share a couple of initial takeaways from the data we’re pulling in.

• Traffic trends by the hour
• CVR and ROAS by the hour
• Key takeaways for brands focused on efficiency vs. expanding reach

This episode goes hand-in-hand with some of the visuals from our Amazon Marketing Stream article, so highly recommend checking that out!

If you’re looking to keep your same ACoS and TACoS goals year over year, it will be very difficult to grow.

With Amazon getting more competitive driving up CPC, sellers will need to have an incremental change with their advertising goals.

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Lucas Kwiatkowski to dive into key reasons we’re seeing fluctuations with ACoS and TACoS. We also highlighted ways sellers can adjust their advertising goals to battle the changes with these metrics.

About Lucas Kwiatkowski

Lucas started managing PPC over 7 years ago and loved it from the start. He still enjoys diving deep into the advertising data for all of his accounts and usually comes up with advanced PPC topics not popular within the space. Lucas is very involved with all of his clients and takes a hands-on approach to managing their business growth. He spends a lot of time making YouTube videos to help smaller sellers master the art of PPC while also teaching them advanced tactics.

Connect With Lucas:

Website: www.amznomadz.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-kwiatkowski-0017

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV1Od62QQLo9nmNMysS6wiA

Episode Highlights:

How changes with Amazon impacts TACoS           [02:03]

Key drivers behind fluctuations in TACoS              [03:45]

Analyzing TACoS                                                         [06:25]

Ad cannibalization                                                     [14:21]

Where has the most value for retargeting ads     [18:11]

Key drivers for long term growth                            [19:51]

Ways to battle high TACoS                                       [23:04]

Dive into the practical side of advertising metrics with Joe and Matt as they debunk the TACOS myth on The Ad Project. They cut through the noise to explore the limitations of TACOS and introduce a spread of alternative metrics—including Nachos, Chili, Guacamole, Tortas, Tortilla, Fajita, and Queso—each contributing a distinct perspective on advertising effectiveness.

Join Joe and Matt as they dissect these alternative metrics, breaking down their impact from the crispiness of Nachos to the heat of Fajita. This episode serves as a concise crash course in the everyday challenges of advertising analytics, offering practical insights to navigate the complex world of metrics.

One of the things we love doing the most is digging into campaigns and identifying what’s working and what’s not! 

In today’s episode, I invited Elizabeth Greene to join in discussing what to focus on when evaluating campaign performance. I’ve always enjoyed Elizabeth’s perspective and gained a lot of insights as we covered topics like:

• Assessing overall account health vs. product by product performance.
• Tools to help with account reviews. 
• Key opportunities sellers are underutilizing with their ads.

Overview: 

Previously, we covered Amazon Sponsored products and how important it is to set up a funnel structure. We discussed starting with your discovery campaigns to find high performing targets and moving those downstream to exact campaigns where you'll have a lot more control. In this episode, we dive deeper into why you may not need a funnel structure for every single manual campaign but instead have a funnel structure for each of your products. We also touched on strategies you can implement with standalone manual campaigns like brand defense, ASIN defense, and ranking campaigns to help take your business to the next level.

Key Takeaways: 

• If you are just getting started, you should focus on building your funnel structure first.
• Brand defense campaigns are manual campaigns where you add keywords related to your brand name. These don't require keywords to be filtered from auto campaigns but include your branded keywords to help protect your brand.
• We recommend utilizing manual campaigns for a specific targeted purpose like grouping products of the same color or size to boost conversion rates.
• We recommend working on setting up other manual campaigns like ASIN defense and ranking campaigns for established sellers. This can overall drive more ad sales, visibility, and profits.

Grouping Your Products: 

Looking at your general funnel structure, we recommend grouping variants together and finding common search terms for all those variants. If you have specific terms, whether by various sizes, colors, types, etc., we recommend structuring them separately into other manual campaigns. This will allow you to hit those specific targets using specific keywords and bidding to boost conversion.

Strategies To Implement With Standalone Manual Campaigns: 

1. Brand Defense Campaign Strategy: A brand defense campaign is where you add keywords related to your brand name to your campaigns. This is a standalone manual campaign since having an auto campaign won't help because they're not able to only pick your branded keywords. Taking this manual approach defends your brand from being conquested by other sellers. This allows you to retain more of your market share by kicking off competitors leeching sales from your brand.
2. Product Variations: We recommend grouping products with specific terms, whether by size, e.g., size 30 jeans or by color, e.g., white hats, in standalone manual campaigns. In these campaigns, you can add keywords that are only related to that product variation, which allows you to have more control, thus increasing conversion rates.
3. ASIN Defense Campaigns: ASIN defense is a product targeting only campaign where you target your own products in that campaign. It requires a standalone manual campaign since you'll select your own ASINs to showcase your other substitutes or other products in your line that they can be bundled with.
4. Ranking Campaigns: Ranking campaigns are used to group high relevant keywords to boost organic ranking. These campaigns require manual standalone campaigns where you'll utilize placements like top-of-search and aggressive bidding to generate more impressions and conversions. Over time as these campaigns perform, they will help to boost your organic rankings.

Episode Highlights: 

• Rehash of Sponsored Products manual campaign funnel structure [01:46]
• Funnel structure by ad type [04:06]
• Running manual campaigns without auto campaigns [05:59]
• Brand defense campaigns [06:25]
• Seller story: utilizing manual campaigns for specific product variations [07:02]
• ASIN defense campaigns [14:18]
• Ranking campaigns [17:52]

Key Takeaways:

• Advertising is an essential piece to every new product launch strategy.
• Amazon PPC can help new products with discoverability or compliment any other promotional strategies set up outside of Amazon.
• We recommend sellers be focused on sales versus minimum ad spend.
• New product launches weigh heavily on conversion rates.
• When setting up manual campaigns, utilize high converting placement settings and fixed bids while targeting your 5-20 most relevant keywords.
• If you have video assets, use Sponsored Brands video ads to gain impressions and maximize conversions.
• Auto campaigns also play an important role. It helps to help discover new search terms, which filters into the longer-term advertising strategy.

Overview

As Amazon becomes more competitive, advertising becomes more critical for new product launches. One of the common questions we get is, "What are the specifics actions one should take when advertising for a new product?" In this episode, we share our reasoning behind running ads for your new products, how advertising can help you become retail-ready, and the things you need for your launch campaigns.

What You Need to Know Before Launching Your Campaigns

1. Be Sales Focused - At this stage, we advise sellers not to be too focused on generating the lowest ACoS possible, but instead be sales-driven and focus on getting the Amazon fly wheel spinning. This means that you will be required to spend a little more to obtain sales and build social proof for your product since you're just starting out.
2. Have High-Quality Listings – Having high-quality listings can really help your conversion rate. This is one of the key factors to reducing wasted spend.
3. Keep Product Competitively Priced – When starting out, it's always a good practice to keep your products priced competitively for your category. We recommend utilizing coupons so that your products are priced lower than your competition for those initial purchases. A note of caution – be sure not to lower your price too significantly if you are in a category with a high potential for repeat purchases. It may be off putting to your customers if they go back to buy your products and find the price point to be noticeably higher.

Amazon Advertising Strategy for New Product Launches

Sponsored Products Auto Campaigns

Set up auto campaigns to help with developing your long-term strategy and discovering new search terms. While your auto campaigns won't be your main focus for launch campaigns, they help find new search terms to help build out your overall campaign funnel structure.

Sponsored Products Manual Campaigns

These campaigns will be your focus to help improve your overall ranking and drive initial sales. Here are the key things we recommend when setting up manual campaigns:

1. Keyword Targets: Allocate most of your ad spend on the first 5-20 most relevant keywords to your product. Avoid spreading your ad spend across a large number of keywords obtained from a tool, and instead focus on the ones that are most relevant to your product and will likely convert. This eliminates a lot of wasted spend and can help nail down a strategy for bidding and placement adjustments.
2. Placements: For launch campaigns, we recommend placing the ads in the highest converting placements. In our previous episodes, we mentioned that top of search placement tends to convert twice as well as other placements. For new products, utilizing top of search placement will allow you to reach your highest intent audience.
3. Bidding: We recommend using fixed bids for launch campaigns. Our main reason for using fixed...

Brand Analytics is a goldmine for your advertising.

Having access to aggregated data and competitive insights is only one piece of the puzzle. Understanding the data and implementing this in a strategy to meet your target customers' needs is what really sets you apart.

In today's episode, both Matt and I thoroughly discussed Amazon's brand analytics reports and how sellers can use this data to improve their ad strategy.

Are you ready for Q4?

In this week's episode, we talk with Kris Gramlich and Dustin Kane of Sellozo to think through key advertising strategies and general things you should be thinking through as a seller heading into Amazon's most competitive season.

About Sellozo:

Sellozo offers an à la carte, comprehensive suite of intelligent tools for Amazon Sellers. We automate the tedious stuff, analyze a wealth of data, and package it all up into intuitive reporting and tools, powered by real data and backed by exceptional support, that Amazon Sellers need.

Sellozo’s core offering, Insights & Analytics with Financial Reporting, provide Amazon Sellers an enhanced and complete view of their sales and product data, paired with both organic and sponsored sales and performance data, in an easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard.

Our Ad Automation add-on tool provides an average 70% increase in return on ad spend by fully optimizing your Amazon Sponsored Product Listings, while lowering your wasted ad spend.

The Repricer add-on makes it possible to automatically adjust product prices, based on criteria you specify, to win and stay in the Buy Box.

Finally, our Support team, which is staffed by Amazon Sellers with years of selling experience, are here to help you with all things Amazon. We’re here for all our customers and offer extended, additional support options as well.

Connect with Sellozo:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellozo/

Website: https://sellozo.com/

As we get over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday hump and further into the holiday season, there are major trends that brands should watch out for over the next four to six weeks. In today's episode, both Matt and Joe dived into some of these trends and shared tips on how to be proactive during this period.

Overall this was a great episode with a ton of takeaways on optimization strategies, timelines, and key adjustments to set you up well for the rest of Q4.

Grab a pen and paper, and let's dive in!

In today’s episode, Joe was joined by one of our Account Managers, Melissa Barnstoff, to talk through things that stood out for our clients during Prime day.  

Some of the hot topics we touched on were: 

• Running deals and promotions 
• Major items to focus on during the days leading up to a peak shopping period 
• Communication 

While it may be a bit early to start touching on Q4 prep items, brands should start planning their advertising strategies early on, so they can make the most out of these periods. 

Consumer behavior – how does it drive your Amazon ads strategy?

David Khoshpasand, Amazon Performance Marketing Manager with Hasbro, joins us on The Ad Project podcast to talk through consumer behavior and how research directly ties into marketing and a solid Amazon ads strategy.

Key Discussions:

• Consumer behavior and how it’s a dynamic process that involves several stages, including acquisition, usage, and disposal of products or services.
• The psychological core and culture's impact on decision-making.
• In terms of marketing, attention is limited, selective, and divided.
• Ads need to be in front of consumers multiple times to create familiarity and motivation.   
• Problem recognition and reference groups also influence decision-making. Using Play-Doh as an example, David discusses how low effort purchases still require marketing to push purchases down the funnel.
• How mere exposure effects and biases impact consumer behavior.
• High brand equity does not negate the need for top-of-mind advertising.
• Amazon Marketing Cloud and how it can help map out customer behavior.
• Key metrics for upper funnel advertising and brand building.

David has over a decade of marketing experience, with extensive knowledge in developing business strategies for growth. David also taught consumer behavior and marketing research at MBU, and is a natural problem-solver with a firm grasp of customers and markets.

Connect with David: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dkmarketing/

What will the future of search look like in the world of AI chatbots?

In this episode of The Ad Project podcast, we are joined by Sean Morgan, an account manager at Ad Advance, to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the advertising industry.

The conversation focuses on the recent developments from chatGPT and Bard (among others) and how search behavior might change or be disrupted as a result.

Key Points:   

• How chatbots from Google, Microsoft, and other companies are changing the market and search behavior.
• How AI neural network language models like chatGPT and Bard are improving the quality of responses and providing more factual information.
• Limitations and ethical concerns associated with the use of AI in advertising.
• How chatbots could potentially make product search easier by cutting down on the research required, and finding the best options based on specific criteria.
• The potential for integrating advertisements into the question-answer process, which could impact the accuracy of the answers provided.

Overall, the conversation is approachable regardless of your knowledge on the topic of AI and offers some valuable insights into the use of AI in the advertising industry.

We’re constantly asked to explain the difference between Amazon Marketing Stream, Amazon Marketing Cloud, and Amazon Attribution.

In this episode, Joe and Matt decided to dive deep into each of these features offered by Amazon. They touched on a quick overview for each, when sellers should consider using these features, and key information that can be obtained.

It can be challenging for brands to keep track of all the new features released by Amazon. So today, we wanted to summarize the major ones while helping brands better understand their benefits.

In our previous episode with guest Tony Miller, we walked through the nuts and bolts of how to set up your core campaign funnel structure.

This week we're taking things a step further. Now that you've got your base funnel structure built out with Sponsored Products, we talk through how to introduce other ad types to your funnel and unique strategies you can implement to take things to the next level.

A strong Amazon sponsored ads strategy starts with a solid foundation. In this episode you'll take away a handful of actionable tips to get your product specific campaigns in order, and a solid Brand and ASIN defense strategy lined out across your account.

One of the scariest situations as a seller is getting your account or products suspended. Every merchant wants to avoid getting suspended. However, more and more businesses still have to face these issues today. The key questions are:

1. How do you best handle account suspension?
2. What strategies can sellers use to get reinstated quickly?

In this episode, I was joined by Lesley Hensell from Riverbend Consulting to talk through some of the reasons accounts are being suspended and tips sellers can use to get back to selling quickly.

Connect with Lesley:

Website: https://riverbendconsulting.com/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lesleyhensell

Are you up to date on the latest developments in Amazon Advertising?

In this podcast episode of the Ad Project Podcast, we are joined by the wonderful Maarja Hewitt to dive into the ever-changing world of Amazon advertising and unpack some of the updates and features that have come our way recently.

The episode kicks off with Joe and Maarja by chatting about one of the big changes - Sponsored Product ads being shown off Amazon. They give their take on this new feature - the pros (like having more ad placements) and the cons (like not being able to turn it off and the impact on ad performance).

Joe and Maarja also talk through the Rest of Search modifier update. It's a game-changer for bidding strategies, and they spend some time breaking down why it's such a big deal. They discuss how modifying bids for rest-of-search placements can seriously boost conversion rates and make your campaigns more efficient.

In a nutshell, this episode is a must-listen for Amazon advertisers looking to stay on top of the latest trends and updates.

Established brands like The LEGO Group have an advantage of large-scale brand awareness. Understanding how to spin your advertising strategy to convert high traffic into paying customers is the ultimate goal for all brands.

In today’s episode, we were joined by Josh Justice, the Search Marketing Manager at The Lego Group, to discuss how established brands are winning with Amazon advertising.

One of the key pieces we dived into was setting overall goals for your brand and how best to allocate budgets that align with your goals.

In this week's episode, Matt and Joe tackled a common debate on branded vs. non-branded campaigns. They shared a few case scenarios and highlighted whether running branded or non-branded campaigns would help with overall sales and brand building on Amazon.

Key Takeaways

• Negative keywords or negative product targets can be used to boost campaign performance. 
• In auto campaigns since bid control is not an option, we use negatives to control campaign performance.
• In manual campaigns, our first approach is always to reduce bids to help control performance. However, we recommend using negatives to weed out any search terms or products that you absolutely do not want to show up in your broad, phrase, and category targeting campaigns.
• For exact campaigns and ASIN product targeting, we recommend pausing poor performers instead of using negatives. This allows us to quickly identify why these keywords or product targets are not generating impressions.
• Negative keywords or negative product targets can be used for keyword isolation between campaigns.
• We recommend setting top performing keywords as negatives in the auto campaigns when moving these keywords from auto campaigns to manual campaigns.
• When moving keywords between manual campaigns (phrase--> exact), we recommend doing the opposite to avoid losing keyword relevancy data.  

Overview

Negative keywords and product targets have the power to transform unprofitable Amazon campaigns into profitable ones. By adequately utilizing negative keywords and product targets, Amazon sellers can improve efficiency, ranking, ad placement, and overall sales for their products. In this episode, we cover negative keywords, product targets, and how to use them.

Amazon Ad Optimization: Using Negatives To Improve Campaign Performance

In the Amazon world, a few negatives can definitely lead to a positive. Negatives can be used to produce positive performance with Amazon ad campaigns by allowing us to eliminate unproductive spend and focus on productive spend. This allocation allows for more of your ad spend to move to keywords and product targets that produce sales.

• Adding Negatives In Automatic Campaigns:

We suggest being proactive with adding negatives to your auto campaigns by reviewing your search term report and finding search terms or themes that do not produce impressions. These search terms or product targets should be added as negative exact since this is the only controlled way to manage poor performers in your auto campaigns.

• Adding Negatives in Manual Campaigns - Our general rule of thumb: For manual campaigns, as keywords are filtered down the funnel, we suggest adjusting bids first before adding negatives. With this method, we can decrease spend on a keyword to a point where it's starting to produce a solid return.
• Adding Negatives in Manual Campaigns– Broad match, phrase match and category targeting: For broad match, phrase match, and product targeting, we suggest using specific negatives to weed out any versions of your search terms that may hurt your campaign's performance. For negative phrases, be sure to manually review these phrases since there's a fine line between optimizing for performance and completely shutting down a campaign.
• Adding Negatives in Manual Campaigns – Exact match and ASIN category targeting: For exact match keywords or ASIN product targeting campaigns with keywords or product targets that aren't performing well, pause those poor performers instead of setting negatives. This allows you to better understand why these keywords or product targets aren't performing well or generating impressions.

Using Negatives for Keyword Isolation 

When moving keywords down the funnel between our auto campaigns to manual campaigns, if we have a keyword that converts and is a strong performer, we set these keywords as a negative phrase or exact in the auto campaigns. This forces Amazon to show our...

In our opinion, Sponsored Brands paired with a well-designed storefront provide a unique opportunity for sellers to build a large brand presence while emotionally connecting with shoppers. It's been a while since we've touched on Sponsored Brands on our podcast, so Matt and I decided to revisit these ad types and share ways we're helping our clients connect more with their audience.

Key items we discussed include:

✅Sponsored Brands ad types

✅When to use each ad type

✅Key items to focus on when running Sponsored Brands video

ads

✅Incorporating Sponsored Brands ads in your advertising mix

Getting people to your storefront is really the next step to connecting with shoppers who are more in the browsing phase or looking to purchase products repeatedly. Amazon Sponsored Brands makes these connections a lot easier while also protecting your brand.

This episode is the second to come in our mini-series lining out Amazon advertising fundamentals.

Now that you've got your ad types and targeting types dialed in, how do you tie that to overall strategy?

In this episode we'll focus on our key campaign strategies including funnel strategy, primary campaigns, ranking campaigns, brand defense, ASIN defense, and a couple of backup's to earn extra brand visibility.

The next episode in this series will walk through how to structure your campaigns to implement all of the strategies we touched on today. Stay tuned!

Underutilization of placement adjustments continues to be at the top of the list whenever we discuss key opportunities during an account review.  

We're continually reviewing the stats, and looking purely on a cost versus performance basis, we're still getting a bargain for the Top of Search position. However, we see that quite a few sellers continue to shy away from utilizing these ad placements, so we wanted to dive into this on our podcast.  

In this episode, Matt and I talked more about the benefits of adjusting your ad placements, especially Top of Search, along with a few bidding strategies you can use to implement these.  

Overall, this was a fun episode and a topic we love digging into!  

New-to-brand customers are important for sellers as they represent a potential source of future revenue, particularly for products that have a high lifetime value.

In today’s episode, Matt and Joe unpacked the importance of new-to-brand customers, why you should care about new-to-brand, and how to measure it. You’ll learn how to optimize your advertising strategy using new-to-brand metrics and how brand building can maximize your lifetime value.

With valuable takeaways and metrics highlighted in today’s episode, you’ll want to listen through to the end if you’re looking to take things to the next level!

Key Takeaways: 

• There are two different ad types with Sponsored Display: Product targeting and Audience targeting.
• All brand registered sellers should utilize Sponsored Display product targeting.
• Sponsored Display product targeting ads are shown on Amazon product pages.
• Sponsored Display audience targeting ads are shown off Amazon and predominantly offsite remarketing.
• If you are using Sponsored Product product targeting, utilize all the data from this ad type and create Sponsored Display product targeting ads.
• Two main strategies we recommend with Sponsored Display product targeting are cross-promoting your own products and conquesting similar products.
• Utilize taglines with Sponsored Display ads to boost engagements and conversion rates.
• We recommend using ASINs and purchases retargeting when setting up Sponsored Display audience targeting campaigns.

Overview: 

Sponsored Display ads is another ad type in the Sponsored Ads suite. These ads are available to sellers who are brand registered and targets shoppers both on and off Amazon. In this episode, we talk through Sponsored Display ads, where these show up and strategies you can implement with Sponsored Display ad campaigns.

Type of Sponsored Display Ads: 

There are two types of Sponsored Display ads: Sponsored Display Product targeting Ads and Sponsored Display audience targeting ads. Both ad types are powerful in targeting shoppers across different stages of the buying journey and can help improve sales drastically.

Amazon Sponsored Display Product Targeting: 

These ad placements are all on Amazon. These are very similar to Sponsored Products product targeting. Instead, ads show up in unique places like below the buy box or below the description on competitors' pages. These ads are charged on a cost per click basis, similar to Sponsored Products. If you currently have Sponsored Products product targeting campaigns running, you should utilize all the data from those campaigns to set up Sponsored Display product targeting ads.

Amazon Sponsored Display Audience Targeting: 

Like how it sounds, audience targeting targets a specific audience segmented into a couple of categories. Some common strategies sellers utilize with audience targeting include ASIN retargeting, similar product retargeting, and category audience targeting, where sellers can segregate the audience by searches and purchases.

Of all the strategies mentioned, we recommend using ASIN retargeting and purchases audience targeting depending on your price. We find that purchases audience targeting converts very well for consumables or products with repeat purchases. While as a high-level approach, we've discovered ASIN retargeting to do the best among the different types.

*Note that this ad type is one of the lower performing ones and the one we recommend to sellers who have some money left over in their advertising budget. On the other hand, this ad type can be very beneficial to help build out your brand long term and help bring in customers over the long run.

Episode Highlights: 

What is Sponsored Display ads? [01:16]

Sponsored Display product targeting [02:01]

How does Sponsored Display product targeting ads perform? [06:12]

Sponsored Display audience targeting [10:04]

When to use Sponsored Display audience targeting [14:34]

Key differences between Sponsored Display and DSP [18:14]

We took a spin on today's episode and covered some of the new advertising features we'd love to see Amazon implement in 2023.

A few high on the list:

• Having global budgets for Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display ads.  
• Improving controls with Sponsored Products placement adjustments.    
• Creating custom audiences for non-endemic advertisers.
• Official reporting on organic ranking.

We also make our case for why each of these, and many more mentioned, would benefit brands in 2023.

Overall, highly recommend listening through to the end, as this was a fun episode thinking ahead for what could be in store in 2023!

Summary

We are live from Prosper Show! In this episode, Joe is joined by Jérôme de Guigné to discuss the process of expanding internationally, specifically to the European market. They cover topics such as general benchmarks for international expansion, competition and cost per click, localization and AI tools, product packaging and customization, and the importance of VAT and compliance. They also provide a step-by-step guide for selling in Europe and share where to find more information.

Takeaways

• Expanding internationally can be a huge opportunity for sellers, but it also comes with challenges and costs.
• When expanding to Europe, it's important to consider factors such as competition, cost per click, and market potential.
• Localization is crucial for success in different markets, and a hybrid approach using both translators and AI tools can be effective.
• Compliance with VAT regulations is essential, and working with a reliable partner can help navigate the complexities.
• Proper product packaging and customization are important for meeting regulatory requirements and customer expectations.
• A step-by-step guide for selling in Europe includes obtaining a VAT number, opening a seller account, and ensuring compliance with regulations.

In today's episode, Joe sits down with Jon Reynolds from Tru Niagen, a trailblazing supplement brand that specializes in NAD+ boosters within the vitamin B3 domain. Jon, who steers the commercial strategy at Tru Niagen, shares intriguing snippets from his journey into ecommerce — a dive that began in the world of logistics.

Some key takeaways from this episode include:

• Q1 Strategies Deep Dive: Jon delves into Q1 strategies, focusing on the unique positioning during this time. Highlighting the transformative potential of the "New Year, New Me" sentiment for supplement companies, he emphasizes strategic insights for ensuring advertising budgets hit the bullseye.
• Amazon Homepage Takeover: Jon provides insights into Tru Niagen's unique experience of taking over Amazon's homepage. While the process had its challenges, such as copy restrictions and differing policies, it offered an invaluable opportunity to understand their customer base without the biases.
• Metrics, Strategies & More Metrics: Joe and Jon explore key metrics and strategies like the art of balancing ROAS with other pivotal indicators, offering a fresh perspective on making more data-driven decisions.  
• Choosing the Right Agency: Jon talks about switching agencies right before Q4. He stresses the need for alignment, the importance of good tech tools, and the big wins from understanding data correctly.

Overall, this episode is a treasure of great insights, diving deep into customer-focused strategies and ways brands can stay ahead in competitive markets, like the supplements industry. It's a must-listen for all brands looking to elevate their Q4 strategies and beyond.

In this episode we are joined by Tony Miller, one of our awesome Account Executives here at Ad Advance, to talk through our staple campaign strategies and more specifically how to implement them in your account.

There are a lot of pieces we could break down, but in this episode specifically we’re going to focus on primary campaigns: how we group products together, what we use for bid types, how we determine match types, what placements to use, funnel structure and more.

In the next couple of episodes in this series, we will continue to break down our core campaign strategies and give you actionable tips to start utilizing them.  

Overview

It’s the talk of the town about how competitive it is to sell on Amazon these days. It’s also no secret that as a seller you’ll need to implement strategies and take advantage of new features to stay on top. Amazon continually provides sellers with more and more tools to establish a brand presence and connect with their customers. In this episode, Destaney Wishon from Better AMS joins Joe Sheleurd to talk through ways sellers can create and build a brand on Amazon using new features such as Amazon posts and lives. With Amazon advertising costs increasing, we wanted to touch on other ways sellers can utilize these tools to help diversify their investment on Amazon. 

Connect with Destaney:  

Website: https://betterams.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIyDW8XfX2gTWFHK_otUwAw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destaney-wishon/ 

Episode Highlights: 

Intro [00:20] 

Amazon posts and how to use them [03:07] 

Long term predictions with Amazon posts [10:52]

Highlighting Amazon new features [14:15] 

Future expectations with Amazon advertising trends [21:37] 

What should brands focus on for Q4? [27:24] 

Join Matt and Joe in this insightful episode as they dissect the top trends, providing marketers and advertisers with a concise overview of the pivotal shifts defining digital advertising in 2024.

Key Highlights:

Retail Media Growth:

• Prediction of a surge in the importance of retail media within the advertising space.
• Examples of major players like Amazon, Walmart, and Target utilizing first-party data for precision advertising.

Streaming's Growth in 2024:

• Anticipation of significant growth in streaming and its consequential impact on the advertising landscape.
• Insights into the engagement potential of streaming compared to traditional linear TV.

AI Integration in Ad Exchanges:

• Speculation on the integration of advanced language models like ChatGPT in third-party data providers to ad exchanges.
• Discussion on the potential transformative impact on audience targeting and campaign personalization.

Listen to the full episode to stay ahead of the curve in this ever-changing landscape.

In this week's episode, Joe and Matt spent some time unpacking Amazon Marketing Stream and how sellers can improve sales by taking advantage of the golden hours. 

Topics covered include: 

• A detailed explanation of Amazon Marketing Stream 
• How to utilize shopping trends throughout the day to stay ahead of your competition
• Dayparting vs. Continuous bidding 

With the launch of Stream, brands will now have access to the data they need to be incredibly strategic with their bids and win placements when it matters. 

Is your Amazon advertising strategy ready for Q4?

This week’s episode of The Ad Project is a good gut check to help brands preparing for the busiest shopping season of the year. We explain the importance of planning ahead for Q4, especially during major shopping events like Prime Day and Black Friday, and leveraging Amazon's DSP to target upper-funnel audiences to build brand awareness and engagement.

We emphasize the value of utilizing the overlap report to identify relevant audiences and stress that success is not solely measured by immediate Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) but also by considering factors such as new-to-brand percentages and lifetime value.

A couple Q4 tips from our experts:

Kick Off Upper Funnel Campaigns Early: Focus on targeting audiences that show interest in your product category and lifestyle, using the overlap report to identify relevant segments.

Implement the Tentpole Strategy: Utilize the tentpole strategy, which involves starting with upper-funnel efforts to create awareness and engagement ahead of these events. During the events themselves, allocate budget for both upper-funnel and retargeting campaigns to maximize impact. Remember that the lead-out period post-event may not be as distinct during Q4,but you can still continue to engage potential customers, especially for products like gift cards that remain relevant even after traditional holiday shipping cutoffs.

The episode highlights the significance of strategic timing, audience targeting, and the tentpole strategy for successful Q4 advertising campaigns.

In this podcast episode, Joe is joined by one of our Account Managers, Brady McDonough to discuss a case study of a brand that established long-term success and growth opportunities through having a solid campaign funnel structure. The discussion highlights the importance of laying a strong advertising foundation, getting the bottom-of-the-funnel strategy right, and establishing the basics to fuel growth opportunities in upper funnel and awareness strategies.

The key takeaway from today's episode is for sellers to build a solid advertising foundation based on their goals. Once that foundation is established and there is margin available, sellers can then leverage upper funnel strategies to help take things to the next level.

There's a lot that is unpacked in today's episode, so grab a pen and paper and let's dive in!

Building a sustainable brand starts with your customer….

Which goes beyond your competitors' performance data, search

volume, and revenue targets.

In today's episode, I was excited to have Adam Runquist as our guest to walk through the success formula for growing a brand. Adam is a trusted advisor and investor in the Amazon space. He also has a popular Youtube channel, "Adam Heist," and provides training through his program, The FBA Blueprint.

Join us for this insightful episode of The Ad Project as we welcome Josh Helmer, Account Manager at Ad Advance, to explore a compelling discussion centered around advertising strategies for specific sales events – such as Amazon’s upcoming Prime Day.

Key Discussions:

• Concept of "tent-poling" and its three phases: lead-in, main event, and lead-out.
• Case study analysis of a supplement company and the importance of understanding impression quantity for effective customer conversion.
• The power of educating the audience through frequent ad exposure and its positive impact on conversion rate.
• Strategic approaches during the lead-in period, including targeting upper funnel traffic and utilizing retargeting techniques to maximize event traffic.
• Value of segmenting the retargeting pool and customizing creatives for different stages of the customer journey.
• Audience targeting, balancing core and reach audiences, and the significance of allocating sufficient budget for retargeting efforts during high-traffic events.

Overview 

There are a number of common Seller Central issues that Amazon sellers experience and dealing with Seller Support can be time-consuming. Working with an agency to help resolve these issues can help expedite the troubleshooting process, but there are a few things you can try on your own before asking for professional assistance. In today's episode, John Cavendish from Seller Candy joins us to talk through troubleshooting issues when selling on Amazon.

Key Items Covered:

• Major issues that arise when selling on Amazon
• Ways to resolve listing suspensions
• Tips for cutting through Amazon's automated responses

About John Cavendish 

John has a vast amount of experience owning and overseeing millions in sales on Amazon. This experience and managing his own brand led him to start a full-service Amazon agency, becoming a premier Amazon channel management provider for brands to scale fast while building a supportive team. John's deep understanding of the Amazon seller experience and platform led to developing Seller Candy's concept, providing the expert Virtual Assistant experience delivered as a service.

How to connect with John:

Agency website: Seller Candy www.sellercandy.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejohncavendish/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jgcuk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejohncavendish/

Episode Highlights: 

About Seller Candy [01:57]

Major issues to look out for as an Amazon seller [04:01]

Reasons for listing suspensions [05:01]

Ways to resolve listing suspensions [07:00]

Common issues sellers are facing today [08:50]

Tips for cutting through Amazon's automated responses [11:34]

How to build a virtual team as a seller [13:18]

Upcoming challenges for selling on Amazon [17:13]

Instead of focusing just on the last touch point from your customers, Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) provides the opportunity to see the entire customer journey.

In today’s episode, I was excited to be joined by Gloria Steiner from Perpetua to talk through more use cases and ways AMC can help with our advertising efforts. The first time I’ve ever heard about Amazon Marketing Cloud was from Gloria! So, I really enjoyed having her join this discussion and getting her full perspective on the tool.

In this episode of The Ad Project, the discussion revolves around selecting the right agency for retail media advertising, particularly concerning Amazon.

The episode begins with an introduction to Jeremy Bugbee, Director of Business Development at Ad Advance. The core focus of the episode is on guiding listeners through the key questions and considerations when evaluating agencies for advertising and retail media services, especially in the context of Amazon.

Joe and Jeremy unpack topics like agency approaches, communication methods, technology utilization, staying updated with industry trends, and the importance of finding an agency that challenges and pushes for improvement.

The episode also discusses the choice between full-service agencies and individual experts for e-commerce management and the significance of selecting the right rate structure.

Overall, it provides valuable insights for brands seeking the right agency partner for their retail media advertising.

Overview

Having been in the Amazon space for many years, we know first-hand how important it is to know what not to do in order to avoid wasted spend and time when managing your ads. Over time, we’ve found there are a handful of mistakes we see sellers make with their advertising strategy and optimization. In this episode, we call out the top 3 common mistakes we see sellers make, and how to mitigate or prevent them.

Top 3 Mistakes:

1. Overcomplicating things from the start
2. Underutilizing all the features with Amazon advertising
3. Focusing on a single metric versus bigger picture

Episode Highlights

Intro    [00:38]

Steps to avoid overcomplicating ads from the start   [01:37]

Leaving money on the table by underutilizing Amazon advertising features           [10:46]  

Why focusing on a single metric vs. bigger picture may not be the best way to go [17:28]

Summary

In this episode, Joe Shelerud and Melissa Barnstorf discuss Walmart advertising and the differences between Walmart and Amazon ads. They provide tips for getting started with Walmart advertising, including leveraging top-performing keywords from Amazon. They also share a case study of a brand successfully launching on Walmart. The episode concludes with an update on brand term targeting on Walmart and the early days of Walmart advertising.

Takeaways

• Walmart advertising has similarities to Amazon advertising, but there are also key differences in terminology and platform structure.
• When getting started with Walmart advertising, it can be helpful to leverage top-performing keywords from Amazon and set up manual campaigns.
• Bids on Walmart are generally lower than on Amazon, but it's important to monitor performance and adjust bids accordingly.
• Brand term targeting is now available on Walmart, allowing advertisers to target competitor keywords.
• The early days of Walmart advertising present an opportunity for brands to establish themselves on the platform.

Overview

In this episode, Joe and Amazon advertising industry leader Destaney Wishon speak about the many creative opportunities within Seller Central, and the newest, shiniest features of Amazon DSP that allow you to put your best branding foot forward.  

Between SB Video ads, store spotlight ads, brand defense strategies and best practices to secure the best organic ranking, we’ll share tips on how to stand out from the crowd and make a lasting impact with your Amazon advertising. 

Connect with Destaney:  

Website: https://betterams.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIyDW8XfX2gTWFHK_otUwAw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destaney-wishon/ 

Episode Highlights

Destaney Wishon Intro [00:47]

Why Establish a Brand on Amazon? [01:40]

Sponsored Brands Video [02:50]

Sponsored Brands Store Spotlight [09:16]

Custom Image – Headline Search Ads [11:46]

Brand Defense [13:21]

Conversion Rate & Ranking [20:20]

Amazon DSP Opportunities [23:12]

Are you able to identify and quantify missed opportunities within your advertising campaigns?

Going through and doing account audits, we see a lot of different trends. In today’s episode, I wanted to talk with Jeremy, our Business Development Lead, to discuss some of the common trends we see when reviewing ad campaigns.

While there are some major common trends, there are also small moves that get missed quite often by sellers, which can really take their business to the next level if implemented correctly.

We spent some time diving into some of the critical things we encounter during account audits and shared strategies we use to resolve these issues.

Back to the basics.

In this mini series, Matt and Joe will be covering the fundamental pieces you should to check and double check to make sure you're in good shape with your Amazon advertising heading into Q4 - Ad types, application, and optimization and strategies.

Today's episode will cover ad types on Amazon, where they show up, which ad types you should be using and how you can utilize them to work together.

Keep an eye out for the next episode in the series with Joe and Matt!

Video advertising offers a powerful way for sellers to grow their brand and audience on and off Amazon. The different types of video ads available through Amazon advertising provide flexibility and versatility to brands, allowing them to choose the ad type that best suits their advertising goals.

In today’s episode, Joe and Erik shared some key factors to consider when creating video ads, along with sharing the benefits behind using video ads to target customers at every stage of the buyer’s journey.

Not quite sure where to start with video ads? Let’s dive into today’s episode!

Did you hear the news?

The latest update for sponsored ads on Amazon – the introduction of placement controls for rest of search. Learn how to leverage placement controls to optimize your ads, with a focus on adjusting bid multipliers based on conversion rates and ACoS. By understanding the performance variations among different placements, listeners can strategically allocate their advertising budget for maximum impact.

Tips include:

• Utilize the newly introduced rest of search placement controls on Amazon to strategically adjust bid multipliers based on conversion rates and ACoS for better ad performance.
• Group keywords or targets with consistent performance themes to optimize placement settings effectively, ensuring that bids align with the specific characteristics of each placement.
• Consider using a dynamic down-only bid strategy for campaign bidding to maintain control over CPCs and avoid the potential pitfalls of dynamic up and down bidding, while also factoring in the distinct advantages of top of search placements for higher click-through and conversion rates.

Listen to this episode to learn how the new rest of search placement controls on Amazon can help you strategically optimize your Sponsored Ads and achieve better performance.

In today’s episode, Matt and Joe spent some time diving into the key benefits and differences when advertising on Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

From the first-party data and targeted ad strategies to advertising inventory and expansive options with creatives, each platform has its own advantages that can be overlapped to help brands diversify their ad spend.

From the newsroom to tourism and marketing, our guest, Maarja Anderson Hewitt, has had a lot of experience in media and communications before taking on an Account Management role at Ad Advance.

Maarja shared her perspective on the importance of having great creatives and being able to tell a story with your ads. Both her and Joe dived into the different types of creatives, such as video ads, and ways brands can amplify their advertising using these features.

Whether you’re nailing it with creatives, looking to make improvements, or just getting started, there are many great tips unpacked in today’s episode!

Overview

Amazon is a convenient platform that allows shoppers to quickly find what they're looking for. Ranking is a critical component to being successful on Amazon since products ranked higher in search results typically get the most sales. It’s in Amazon's best interest to show products in top placements that will likely convert. However, with competition growing daily, how can sellers improve their ranking and obtain a bigger piece of the pie?  In this episode, we cover the most common questions on improving Amazon ranking and how Amazon advertising ties into it all.

Episode Highlights

Intro                                        [00:19]

What is organic ranking?        [00:57]

Key components that can affect Amazon rankings    [01:49]

Does Amazon advertising really help to improve organic rankings?          [13:41]

How to set up campaigns in Amazon to help boost organic ranking       [17:06]

What are the best resources when optimizing product listings?                [23:14]

Overview

How do you scale your ads after getting past the initial phase of setting up your

campaigns manually? Like many sellers, you’ve probably heard a lot about bulk

files. As the next step to stepping up optimizing your campaigns, we recommend

utilizing bulk files. Bulk files help with making manual moves within your

campaigns much easier while staying organized. It also allows you to analyze

your entire advertising account in one spreadsheet, saving busy

sellers/advertisers a lot of time. In today’s episode, Joe Shelerud is joined

by Elizabeth Greene from Junglr to discuss the benefits and tips when using bulk files.

How to connect with Elizabeth:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-greene-junglr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.olsongreene/

Website: https://www.junglr.com/

Episode Highlights:

Intro                         [00:26]

Where should advertisers start when using bulk sheets?       [03:28]

Benefits for using bulk files               [05:04]

Tips on how to use bulk files for Amazon ads management [08:23]

Using bulk files vs. automation software                            [14:06]

Keyword research and bulk files                                          [19:44]

You could have the best advertising strategy, but if your listings are poorly optimized, this tanks your advertising efforts.

This is a conversation we often have with sellers after reviewing their accounts. A key precursor to advertising is not only having a great product but also having a great product detail page that can help convert the traffic you're driving to your listing.

For this episode, we decided to pivot from our typical advertising conversations and go through the fundamentals of creating a well-optimized listing. It was great having David Dayon from AmazonXperts join us to share his tips on how sellers can better set up their listings to convert more traffic from advertising.

Overview

With each step you take as an Amazon seller it’s important to continually measure how things are going and analyzing what are the next best steps moving forward. While there are many reports that Amazon provides, in this episode we highlighted the key ones we think every seller should continually review to grow their business.

Business Reports

Business Reports is a great place to start as it presents an overall overview of your accounts. Business report is a combination of all advertising reports and organic metrics report. Some of the key reports offered include:

1. Sales and Traffic Report – This is a more general report which can be used to see what’s happening in your account by day, month and year. We recommend drilling down in the report to review metrics that affect sales: traffic, conversion rate and average order value.
2. Detail Sales and Traffic Report by ASIN -Even though this report is segmented by ASIN there are three different categories within the report: general sales and traffic, by parent and then by child. We recommend pulling the general sales and traffic report which provides a breakdown of overall metrics by product and therefor allows you to assess your individual product performance. 

Search Term Report

The search term report aggregates to the ad group level and highlights the search terms people are using when they click on your ads and the metrics behind these terms. This provides a great opportunity to find new long-tail keywords or other keywords that you can use to further optimize your campaigns.

The search term report also provides details on product targets. As a seller, if you’d like to know what Amazon is showing your ads for and what’s working well, then the search term report is a great spot to gather this information.

Key thing with this report is to continuously analyze your search terms to find top-performing terms or product targets.

Bulk Files

Bulk Files is another great spot to gather detailed information. This report can be downloaded for long date ranges and can be screened with or without impressions and include or exclude placement data. This file offers insight to every campaign, ad group and ad within all your campaigns (Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and some Sponsored Display data).

Main Pros:

• Bulk files can be edited to adjust bids, status of keywords or product targets, ad group etc. This can then be re-uploaded to reflect the changes you want to make in your campaigns.
• Bulk Files provides placement data and performance by placements (top of search, product page and rest of search). With this data, these fields can be easily evaluated and edited to make changes to your campaigns.

Brand Analytics Report

Brand Analytics Reports are available to any seller who is brand registered. These include:

• Amazon Search Terms report
• Demographics Report
• Item Comparison Report
• Alternate Purchase...

Different ad placements on Amazon all have their unique strengths and weaknesses. In today’s episode, both Joe and Matt spent some time diving into 2022 Q4 performance metrics, specifically focusing on Sponsored Ads performance by placements. 

There were a lot of major key takeaways unpacked in this episode that can help brands better understand the impact of placement types and how to use these metrics to make more informed decisions to maximize their ad spend.

As you listen to this episode, here are some visuals and readings:

LinkedIn post: https://bit.ly/3DRw6YK

Article:  https://www.adadvance.com/blog/sponsored-ads-perfomance-q4-2022/

Grab your pen and paper, and let’s dive in!  

In our final episode of our campaign strategy series, we're covering a number of campaign setups including but not limited to new product launch, ranking, conquesting and niche strategies like our catch-all and seeding campaigns.

Tony Miller, one of our in-house account executives, will provide actionable tips that you can apply to your own campaigns.

Connect with Ad Advance: www.adadvance.com

In this podcast episode of The Ad Project, we welcome Nick Cosgriff, Director of Business Development and Partnerships at Ad Advance. With a number of conferences on the horizon for Ad Advance to round out the year, Joe and Nick thought it would be a fun idea to discuss different conferences available for Amazon sellers and how to approach them. They also touch upon key partnerships developed through these conferences and share some takeaways.

Discussions include:

• The importance of networking at conferences and building genuine connections with other Amazon sellers.
• The value of using AI-based tools like ZonGuru for listing optimization to improve conversion rates and organic rankings.
• The opportunity to recover fees through refund reimbursement services like Seller Investigators, resulting in increased profitability for Amazon sellers. (For Vendors, use this link)

Listen to the full episode if you’re looking for ideas to leverage these opportunities and maximize your Amazon seller journey.

USE THIS LINK to get a 20% Lifetime Discount for ZonGuru: https://zonguru.link/ADV20

Overview  

Amazon Sponsored Products is definitely the goldmine to any advertising strategy. While there are many different ways Sponsored ad campaigns can be structured, there are a few key strategies we encourage sellers to implement to get the most out of their ads. In this episode, both Joe and Steven Pope (MyAmazonGuy) dived into these strategies, including auto campaigns and whether everyone should run them, keyword isolation, and takeaways for new product launches. 

Steven even shared how a product he launched recently selling up to 1000 units per month with ads one day got banned from Amazon advertising. He expressed how this was quite frustrating after trying numerous methods, including entirely redoing the copy on his listing, closing his listing, and talking with Amazon daily. During the period where he's no longer able to run ads, almost overnight, his sales were cut in half, and then over time, he lost ranking from being the number 1 seller for his main keyword to ranking at #20.  

Whether you're a new or seasoned seller, covering the most important aspects of advertising is proven to be crucial and essential to your journey and success on Amazon. 

Connect with Steven Pope  

Website: https://myamazonguy.com/  

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClUSEsDS2sdgNJfCcCM_5Uw 

Episode Highlights  

Intro..  

Should you run auto campaigns? [03:36]  

Breakdown on keyword isolation in Sponsored Products Campaign [06:10]  

Keyword Research for new product launches [09:59]  

Steven’s story on how PPC helps with SEO/Ranking [11:29]  

Steven’s approach to launching new products [19:59]  

Amazon advertising for new product launches and how to measure success? [23:01]  

There’s so much data and information available within the Amazon advertising space.

Between Sponsored Ads, DSP, Amazon Marketing Cloud, and MWS (now the Selling Partner API), it can be tough to understand where to start and the key things to consider.

In today's episode, Sreenath Reddy from Intentwise joined me today to discuss all things data and Amazon advertising! Overall it was a fun conversation and definitely worth the listen!

Summary

In this episode, Abe from XP Strategy joins the Ad Project Podcast to discuss his experience participating in an AI hackathon at the Prosper Show. The hackathon involved creating a new product and all the necessary assets within a tight timeframe using AI tools. Abe shares the challenges and successes of the hackathon, including using ChatGPT for image generation and product packaging. He emphasizes that AI is a tool that can enhance experts and provide a starting point for those who need it. The conversation also explores the future possibilities of AI in advertising and the importance of creativity in utilizing AI effectively.

Takeaways

• AI can be a powerful tool for creating new products and generating assets within a tight timeframe.
• ChatGPT and other AI tools can provide a starting point for ideation and branding.
• AI is most effective when used by experts in the field who can leverage the tool to enhance their work.
• While AI can automate certain tasks, it is not a replacement for human expertise and creativity.

Connect with Abe: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abechomali/

Overview

The last couple of weeks has been busy with Amazon advertising new features releases. We understand that it can be pretty difficult for sellers and advertisers to stay on top of all the new features, which is why we’ve decided to review the majority of the new features released in today’s episode. For each feature, Matt and Joe discussed the features use and how these can tie into your current advertising strategy.

Episode Highlights

Sponsored Products Rule Based Bidding                   [01:23]

Updated lookback windows for Sponsored Display audiences [09:17]

Forecasted impression share and impression rank for recommended keywords [11:56]

New sort by feature for recommended keywords [15:53]

Sponsored Brands bid optimization for new-to-brand customers       [16:21]

Automated Translation of Keywords [18:39]

Sponsored Display bidding updates   [22:20]

Amazon API support for Sweden [24:30]

Overview

Outsourcing any part of your business can be an intimidating step, especially if you don’t know the key pieces to look for when searching for support. When looking to choose an agency to partner with for advertising management, there are several important factors to consider when choosing one that’s right for you (or not choosing one!). In this episode, both Matt Wiklund and Joe Shelerud give you the information you need to confidently delegate your advertising so you can get back to the pieces of your business only you can do. 

Episode Highlights: 

Common questions to ask when looking for Amazon PPC support [01:13] 

How to manage results expectations [08:12] 

Understanding account management [13:07] 

Understanding their management process [16:30] 

General pricing structure [22:19] 

Summary

In this episode, Keith from Made In discusses his journey in the e-commerce space and the strategies he implemented to scale the new-to-brand customer on Amazon. He shares insights on testing incrementality, maximizing lower funnel opportunities, expanding search terms, and utilizing Amazon Marketing Cloud. Keith also compares the Walmart Marketplace to Amazon and talks about the potential for international expansion. The episode concludes with a discussion on upper funnel opportunities and where listeners can find more information about Made In.

Takeaways

• Testing incrementality on Amazon can provide valuable insights into the effectiveness of advertising strategies.
• Maximizing lower funnel opportunities, such as search terms, can lead to incremental sales and higher ROAS.
• Carefully expanding search terms and targeting specific customer segments can help optimize advertising campaigns.
• Utilizing Amazon Marketing Cloud can provide valuable data on customer behavior and attribution.
• The Walmart Marketplace is making strides in its ad platform and has the potential to catch up to Amazon's capabilities.
• Expanding internationally can tap into new markets and increase brand reach.
• Exploring upper funnel opportunities, such as video ads and prime streaming, can further enhance advertising strategies.

Key Takeaways:

• A change in sales is impacted either by traffic, conversion rate, or average order value (AOV).
• If you want to increase traffic, then advertising is a great way to do this.
• In advertising, traffic can be increased by increasing your bids, utilizing top of search placement settings, introducing more keywords, and increasing keyword relevancy.
• If you're looking to increase conversion rate, a great way to do this is by maximizing your placement and relevancy, along with adding negatives strategically.
• To increase your average order value, a great way to do this is by emphasizing products with higher price points.
• To decrease ACoS, reduce your cost per click (CPC) or work to increase your conversion rate.

Overview

Sales and ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale) are the two major metrics a seller focuses on when advertising on Amazon. As PPC experts, we get asked this question a lot, “How can I increase ad sales while lowering my ACoS?” To put it simply, it all comes down to understanding the factors that may influence sales along with those that may impact ACoS. For perfectly optimized campaigns, there’s always a trade-off between the two priorities: increasing sales and decreasing ACoS. In this episode we walk you through what those trade-offs are and the key metrics you should be focusing on whether your priority is to increase sales or decrease ACoS.

How To Increase Sales on Amazon

Whether your focus is on increasing overall sales or advertising sales, it’s crucial to always keep a close eye on your traffic, conversion rate, and average order value (AOV) since these factors can truly impact your sales.

Traffic: From an overall sales perspective, this would be the total sessions that go to your product listing pages. From an advertising perspective, this ties into your impressions and clicks that are directing shoppers to your product. One great way to improve traffic to your listing is by increasing your advertising efforts, which ultimately brings more shoppers to your listings, resulting in more sales.

Conversion Rate: Conversion rate is calculated by measuring orders/clicks. On the advertising side is really a good measure of shoppers' purchase intent. Note that many factors can impact conversion rates like keyword relevancy, product targeting relevancy, placements, and reviews. If looking to increase sales via conversion rate, assessing one of these factors is a great way to turn around sales for your products.

Average Order Value: This is the average dollar amount spent each time a customer orders one of your products. If a customer clicks on your ad, and it results in a higher average order value, then you will see a better return on your overall ad performance and sales. A great way to increase sales via AOV is by emphasizing products with higher price points.

Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS)

ACoS Formula:

Ad Spend (# of clicks x cost per click) / Ad Sales ( # of clicks x AOV x conversion rate)

Ways To Decrease Your ACoS

1. Improving conversion rate by investing in your listing quality.
2. Improving conversion rate by utilizing ad placements.
3. Improving conversion rate by increasing high relevancy keywords.
4. Decreasing your cost per click (CPC) to a reasonable point where you'll still achieve a profitable ACoS.
5. Increasing your AOV.

You'll notice that conversion rate is a standard metric between both sales and ACoS. When optimizing ads, focus on maximizing your conversion rates.

There will always be a constant trade-off with Amazon ads between sales and ACoS as these are both...

In the early days, developing a solid brand strategy included a lot of testing and iterating. However, a lot of that has changed today through experts like Kyle Kirkwood, who designs training modules to help brands grow. 

In today’s episode, Joe and Kyle discussed some key pillars to consider when managing advertising for brands. 

These are: 

• Planning 
• Activation
• Reporting and Analysis 

We dived into each of these, plus more in this episode! 

Connect with Kyle: 

Kyle currently works as the Training & Development Director at Pacvue. He is surrounded by his amazing team, who aggressively push the limits of what’s possible in e-commerce advertising. He has had the pleasure of identifying pain points for users of SaaS and creating in-depth training that helps them hit their goals and grow their businesses.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kylejkirkwood/

With Amazon Prime Day right around the corner, this episode focuses on key strategies that brands can implement when optimizing their campaigns before, during, and after the event for the best returns.

Both Matt and Joe spent time not only sharing strategies but also metrics every seller should be watching to help gauge their performance.

Amazon DSP (demand-side platform) is the new frontier of Amazon Advertising. For every seller, the key strategy is to get your Amazon Sponsored Ads nailed with an excellent optimization strategy and a well-defined funnel. Once you have your Amazon Sponsored Ads well lined out, Amazon DSP is a great next step. Currently, there are a ton of opportunities within the Amazon DSP world, as it’s an underutilized ad type with less competition than your typical Sponsored Ads.  

 In this episode, we shared a brief overview of what is Amazon DSP and a few key things you can take advantage of.

Key Take-Aways: 

• Sponsored Brands are cost-per-click ads available to sellers who are brand registered.
• In comparison to Sponsored Product ads, Sponsored Brands are an awesome way to introduce your brand to your audience.
• Sponsored Brand ads in addition to your storefront expand your brand presence and build connections with your customers.
• Sponsored Brand ads show up at the top of the search results page, within the search results page, e.g., video ads and on the product listing page.
• For landing pages, you can choose either a product collection, a product landing page, or a storefront landing page.
• Storefront landing pages tend to have a higher conversion than the other types of landing pages.
• Use winning keywords and product targets from your Sponsored Products campaigns to set up your Sponsored Brand campaigns.
• Sponsored Brand video ads tend to grab your audience's attention quicker and have excellent conversion rates.

Overview: 

There are many perks outside of protecting your brand when you are brand registered on Amazon. Once brand registered, you have access to advanced advertising options like Sponsored Brand Ads. Sponsored Brands, previously referred to as HSA (headline search ads), are cost-per-click ads that display your products, along with creative assets unique to your brand identity, including your logo, a custom tagline, or even a video.

In this episode, you’ll learn the key benefits of using Sponsored Brand ads. We also cover Sponsored Brands targeting types, landing pages, an overview of Sponsored Brand video ads, and a quick tip on how you can take advantage of Sponsored Brands placement data.

Where Do Sponsored Brand Ads Appear on Amazon? 

Sponsored Brand Ads appear in the following placements:

1. Top of Search in Search Results: This would be the banner ads showcased at the very top of the search results above listings. These display up to three products and a custom copy.
2. Sponsored Brand Impressions in Search Results: These would be video ads that show up at the bottom of the search results page.
3. Product Page Listings: Sponsored Brand ads can also show up on a product page listing as display ads with basic images in the form of "brands similar to this product" or "similar item to consider."

Sponsored Brands Best Practices: 

Take advantage of the creative element with Sponsored Brands, they can help you really stand out from your competition and highlight the features that make your products different. This includes the ability to use a custom image with your Sponsored Brand creatives, which not only can expand the size of the ad but also provides an opportunity for you to highlight unique features of your product either by using product image close-ups or lifestyle images.

One other best practice we recommend for Sponsored Brands is checking your search term reports and reviewing your top converting keywords for the products you're going to be advertising. Then, align your copy with those keywords. Consistency between your copy and the customer search terms can really help form connections with your customers, thus increasing the likelihood of a click-through or conversion.

Sponsored Brands Video on Amazon: 

It can be tough to establish a solid brand presence on Amazon with how standardized everything is. Sponsored Brand video ads are one of our favorite ways to set your product or your brand apart. Sponsored Brand videos allow sellers to showcase how their products are being used. With this preview experience, the conversion rate tends to be really high.

Sponsored Brand videos also take up a large real estate on the search results page, which allows...

Utilizing a full-funnel strategy with Amazon DSP can be a powerful tool.

However, when is the best time to implement DSP into your advertising mix?

In today’s episode, Joe was joined by Adam Mellott from Better AMS to walk through Amazon DSP, when to implement it, and how to tie it together with the other ad types.

Adam has a very unique story on how he was introduced to the Amazon space by working with authors on the publishing side, transitioning to a full-service agency, and now thoroughly enjoying his role and working with many clients at Better AMS.

It was exciting to go through the various pieces to consider when implementing Amazon DSP and a conversation we highly recommend listening to!

Macroeconomic conditions have many ecommerce brands wondering what their next move should be and when.

Amazon DSP can be an Amazing option for many and if you're an Amazon Brand with a solid Sponsored Ads foundation - the time is now. If you're an established non-Amazon brand looking to diversify their ad spend, the time was yesterday.

In this week's episode, our guest Sam Lee unpacks some essential considerations of Amazon's DSP.

Key topics include:

• Macroeconomic conditions and the impact on ecommerce brands
• When to diversify your ad mix and how to approach budgets
• How to measure success of upper funnel strategies
• Who should be utilizing the full capabilities of Amazon's DSP

Sam has been in the Amazon industry for 5 years and has a ton of experience with Amazon DSP, including building out the full DSP strategy for Thrasio. He is now Head of Growth and Amazon DSP for DLVRD Media.

Connect with Sam:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samleenkedin/

Email: sam.lee@dlvrdmedia.com

Website: https://dlvrdmedia.com/

Summary

In this episode, Joe and Sean discuss the power of first-party data in Amazon advertising. They explore the challenges and opportunities of using Amazon's DSP to target audiences off the platform. They highlight the importance of audience segmentation and tracking, as well as the benefits of using hash lists to build lookalike audiences. They also discuss the complexities of conversion attribution and the need for careful measurement. Overall, they emphasize the value of utilizing Amazon's first-party data and the potential for driving new-to-brand customers to non-Amazon websites. In this podcast episode, Sean discusses key learnings and insights from his work at Add Advance.

Takeaways

• Amazon's first-party data is a powerful tool for targeting audiences off the platform.
• Segmenting audiences and tracking conversions can be challenging but is crucial for effective advertising.
• Using hash lists and building lookalike audiences can help reach new-to-brand customers.
• Conversion attribution across different platforms requires careful measurement and de-duplication.
• Lead time is necessary for setting up tags and building audiences. Continuous learning and exploration are essential in the field of advertising.
• Stay updated with industry trends and best practices.
• Subscribe to Add Advance's mailing list and follow their content for valuable insights.

Overview:

Being a successful seller on Amazon goes far beyond having the best strategies or the highest bids. Your product listings should be calling out what your competition is not in order to set your products apart and connect with WHY your customers choose your brand.

In this episode, both Joe and Brian Johnson took a step back to discuss the importance of optimizing your listings and all the areas a seller should focus on to help improve their conversion rate by creating a unique position of value with their products.

About Brian R Johnson:

 Brian R Johnson has helped over 20,000 brands succeed on Amazon through various advertising strategies and conversion rate optimization. He offers guidance to, and partners with, sellers through his online community, Amazon PPC Troubleshooting, as well as through coaching, software, training courses, and his flagship advertising agency, Canoy Management ( a multi-service, "done-for-you: Amazon agency).

Connect with Brian:

Website: https://canopymanagement.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrianRJohnsonOfficial/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianrjohnsonppc/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianrjohnsonppc/

Episode Highlights:

Intro [0:26]

The importance of optimizing your listing [02:49]

Tips for optimizing your product listing [05:28]

How to structure AB tests on Amazon [11:58]

Revamping product titles [19:13]

Other items to focus on when optimizing your listing [26:31]

When we talk about upper funnel strategies, we speak to brand awareness and building exposure to customers who may not be very familiar with your brand or actively searching for your products. For this reason, you’ll need to either have good margins or a higher LTV to sustain these strategies.

In today’s episode, Tony and Joe spent some time going over the DSP funnel while focusing on the upper funnel strategies sellers can implement based on their stage and goals.

Understanding how to approach upper funnel strategies and critical items to consider can help brands better position themselves for success.

Understanding the nuts and bolts of working with service providers can prevent frustration and disappointments. During our journey working with clients as an Amazon advertising agency, we’ve learned a lot along with way. While we do our best to build and maintain successful relationships with our clients, there are a few that we had to learn to course correct.

In today’s episode, we’re joined by one of our Account Execs, Kylie Jarvinen, to discuss key pillars to building a successful and profitable relationship with clients within the Amazon space.

A few takeaways  we had were:

• Understanding that no information is bad information. The more we know, the more we can grow.
• Being aligned on key goals from the start
• Building trust through openness, honesty, and transparency
• A good relationship starts with good communication
• Ownership and expectations

There are so many things that we can implement with Amazon advertising.

As we're approaching Q4, it is important to have a solid structure and foundation. This is why in today's episode, both Joe and Matt spent some time picking apart key things to consider when reviewing your Sponsored Ads campaigns. By reviewing these top 5 areas, you are likely well set up for a successful Q4 and beyond!

Grab a pen and paper, and let's dive into today's episode.

We made it to our 100th episode, and we thank all our listeners, guests, and the team for making this happen!

In today's episode, Matt and Joe had a really fun time reflecting on their journey on the podcast alongside all the changes with Amazon advertising. To spice things up a bit, we included some questions we got about our journey and growth with the podcast.

This was a fun episode looking back on our growth with the podcast and the tremendous growth within the advertising space.

Overview: 

Amazon Sponsored Products manual campaigns can provide a lot of great results that drive high volume and conversions if you have a great campaign funnel structure. In this episode, we’ll talk through how manual campaigns are structured and the importance of developing a solid campaign funnel structure, the typical controls in manual campaigns, and how to utilize the different targeting types.

Key Takeaways: 

• The key components of a manual campaign are keyword targeting and product targeting.
• When setting up new manual campaigns, make sure they’re structured to have separate ad groups for broad match, phrase match, exact match, and product targeting. This helps with visibility, control, and organization of the account.
• If you already have manual campaigns running, make sure you’re continually moving your high performing keywords or product targets downstream.
• When funneling from auto campaigns to manual campaigns, it is best practice to have consistent naming conventions to better organize your campaigns.
• We recommend focusing on longer-tail keywords for broad match keywords since these typically convert better and target customers with higher intent.
• If you use product targeting category targeting, we recommend having filters to prevent them from getting really broad and wasting ad spend.

Structuring Amazon Sponsored Ads Manual Campaigns: 

We typically structure our manual campaigns in a series. First, we’ll use our auto campaigns for discovery. We move converting keywords and product targets down the funnel into the manual campaigns from our auto campaigns. Within our manual campaigns, we have ad groups for keywords (separated according to match type) and ad groups for product targets.

One of the key pieces of structuring your campaigns is using consistent naming conventions. This helps to make sure that the same products you’re funneling from your auto campaigns are grouped together in your manual campaigns. This way, your campaigns can stay organized and well structured.

In summary, our typical manual campaign for a product or product group would potentially have four ad groups: broad match, phrase match, exact match, and product targeting ad groups. We find that this segmentation helps with control, visibility, and organization of your account.

Ways to Optimize your Amazon Manual Campaigns: 

• We recommend moving your high converting keywords from auto campaigns to phrase match in your manual campaigns. Making this move to phrase instead of exact match allows us to pick up more permutations that can perform just as well as the keywords in auto campaigns or even better.
• As you move keywords from auto campaigns to manual phrase, it’s important to set them as negative phrase in the auto campaigns. This forces impressions to show up in the manual phrase campaigns, where we have more control.
• Utilizing both long-tail keywords and short tail keywords to maximize your campaign performance.
• Segment your brand defense keyword into a separate campaign. This increases visibility, budget control, and overall performance.
• When using category targeting, make sure to use filters. Otherwise, it could get really broad, resulting in wasted ad spend.

Episode Highlights: 

Benefits of Manual campaigns [01:13]

How to structure your manual campaigns [02:29]

How to group keyword match types in manual campaigns [05:50]

Moving from auto to manual campaigns [06:49]

Long-tail vs. short-tail keywords and when to use them [12:23]

A common mistake with new sellers setting up manual campaigns [14:31]

How to use broad match keyword targeting in manual campaigns [16:26]

Branded vs. Non-branded keywords...

David Stickland, President of Franklin's Popcorn, joins us on this week's episode to talk through the art of creating positive customer experiences. Dave even calls out the lessons he's learned over the last year going from a big brand to going back to working on something very small, his approach to building their current brand, and remembering how to go back to basics.

Dave has been in the ecommerce space for the last 10 years working in online retail building great brands and companies with his friend and company founder, Tal Moore. Currently Dave is building Franklin's Popcorn, a gourmet popcorn company all about great movie theater popcorn at home. Last year Dave and Tal successfully sold their 8 figure brand, an outdoor security electronics company, Guardline.

Connect with Dave:

Website: www.franklinspopcorn.com

This week on The Ad Project, we welcome Marty Weintraub from Aimclear. Marty is an entrepreneur, marketer, photographer, and speaker. He founded Aimclear®, a driven, integrated marketing agency dominant in customer acquisition, winner of 27 US Search Awards including 7X most recent Best Integrated Agency.

Credits include Airbnb, Uber, Eurail, PayPal, Venmo, eBay, Dell, LinkedIn, Etsy, Gumtree, Firestone, INC Magazine, Amazon, Carewell, Famous Dave's, Martha Stewart Omni, Intel, Travelocity, DECC, Semrush, Optmyzr, Neustar, Macy’s, GoDaddy, 3M, Siemens, Land's End, and many more. A fixture on the international conference circuit, Marty has appeared in front of hundreds of international search & social marketing conference audiences, from Jerusalem to Sydney.

In this episode, Marty discusses his agency’s approach to performance marketing, brand building, public relations, and data analytics. Marty shares his valuable insights about the current state of marketing in 2023 and its future. He notes the ongoing changes and challenges in the industry, including layoffs and shifts in resource allocation due to the rise of AI. He describes the cyclic nature of the industry, with professionals moving between in-house positions, agencies, and consultancies.

Marty also emphasizes the need for marketers to adapt to the evolving landscape and ensure their skills remain relevant in the age of AI.

Overall, this episode provides a glimpse into Marty's background and the current state of the marketing industry with a focus on the impact of AI.

Connect with Aimclear: www.linkedin.com/in/aimclear/

Connect with Marty: www.instagram.com/martyweintraub/

www.facebook.com/marty.weintraub

In this episode of The Ad Project podcast, Joe Shelerud and Maarja Hewitt explore distinctive trends observed during the recent holiday season, comparing them to previous years. A significant focus is placed on the extension of holiday deals, as major retailers like Walmart and Amazon initiated Black Friday promotions as early as November. This departure from the conventional concentrated shopping period posed challenges for both consumers and advertisers.

Key Discussions:

Extended Holiday Deals: Joe and Maarja emphasize the shift towards a more prolonged holiday shopping season, highlighting major retailers extending Black Friday deals throughout November. The elongation of promotional periods introduces uncertainty for consumers, impacting their decision-making on the optimal time for purchases and challenging traditional peak shopping days.

Advertising Strategies and Consumer Behavior: The episode underscores the significance of adapting advertising strategies to align with evolving consumer behaviors. Joe and Maarja discuss the impact of early deals on the effectiveness of traditional peak shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Additionally, they stress the need for advertisers to stay informed about seasonal trends, enabling them to proactively adjust bidding strategies and campaigns.

This episode emphasizes the importance of staying attuned to these evolving trends to optimize advertising strategies for future holiday seasons.