What is Amazon PPC? 

Amazon Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a platform offered by Amazon and which works in a similar way to Google’s Pay-Per-Click advertising service, Google Ads. 

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This platform uses keyword targeting to create ads for your product listings so that they appear in Amazon’s search results. These ads allow you to get your products on Amazon in front of customers who are ready to make a purchase and you pay every time someone clicks on your ad. 

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Ad campaigns allow you to display your products to potential customers more often in specific locations on the search results pages to help increase visibility of your products on the platform. Depending on the ad type you choose, your ads can be shown in varying positions with different degrees of visibility. 

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Customers search for products with the intention to buy on Amazon more than on other search engines such as Google. As your product listings are displayed more often to those who intend to buy, you can boost your sales and revenue by using Amazon. 

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How does Amazon PPC work? 

Amazon PPC allows you to use a variety of targeting methods using keywords, categories, brands or products or remarketing on external websites to make sure that your ads reach the right audience. You can use either a manual campaign in which you choose the keywords to target for your ads, or an automatic campaign in which Amazon decides where to show your ads based on keywords it identifies from your product listing. 

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The main way to optimise your ad campaigns is through conducting keyword research to find out what customers are searching for on Amazon. This will allow you to optimise your campaigns and use keyword targeting to drive customers to your product listings. You can also add negative keywords to your campaigns to prevent your ads from showing for searches that are not relevant to your business and to optimise your ad spend. 

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Keyword match types work in the same way as Google Ads:

• Broad match - search terms that contain all components of your keyword in any order 
• Phrase match - search terms that contain all components of your keyword in the same order 
• Exact match - search terms that match your keyword exactly 

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When you receive an order for a particular product through PPC, Amazon then indexes those keywords to your product. This allows you to rank organically for keywords that you choose. As a result, one of the main advantages of Amazon PPC is that it allows you to boost sales and gain a higher organic ranking once you have gained enough exposure. 

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Amazon has a range of ad types you can choose from depending on your goals and the platform will allow you to control and scale your daily budget, as well as analyse how ads have performed with a range of reports allowing you to track your ad spend and ROI. 

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To understand Amazon PPC ads properly, knowing more about the ad types available and how they work can help. 

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Amazon PPC ad types 

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• Sponsored product campaign - these ads can be used to direct traffic to your product detail pages. Similarly to Google Ads, ads are targeted using keyword and ASIN information to align your ad placements with specific search terms or product categories. These ads appear in two locations: within the search results and on Amazon product detail pages as part of an ad carousel near the top of the page.
• Sponsored brand ads - these are keyword and product-driven ads. They allow you to promote a headline, brand logo and up to three product in the top spot above Amazon search results. You can then direct shoppers to your Amazon store page or a custom landing page on Amazon.
• Amazon sponsored display ads - this is the newest type of ad available on Amazon. It allows you to direct customers to your product detail pages and they appear on Amazon as well as external sites which are based on your customer’s browsing history and behaviour. 

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When you run Amazon ad campaigns, you are allocated with ad space through an auction based system based on relevant keywords and your products. You bid a certain amount for your keywords and Amazon will rank your ads according to your bid and your competitor’s bids. The seller with the highest bid will usually have the best chance of being in the top position. 

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Alongside your bid, other factors are taken into account in relation to the position of your product. Amazon takes the customer journey into account so will look at the following factors, in the same way as the Quality Score works on Google Ads:

• Return rate 
• Customer satisfaction 
• Customer experience 

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Why use Amazon PPC for your business?

Amazon gets millions of searches every month. People search for short product terms as well as longer phrases. Whatever they’re searching for, they have all come to Amazon to do one thing. Buy a product. 

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Unlike searchers who are using Google, Amazon searchers are not looking for new ideas. They’re ready to buy and all they want to do is search, find the product they want and buy it. Amazon gives you access to millions of customers who are at the bottom of the funnel. 

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Amazon PPC ads are effective because they put your products in the places where the most shoppers are. Data shows that nearly half of Amazon shoppers do not look past the second results page, much like a Google search. If you can display your products on the first page of the search results or a highly ranked product page, it’s easier for customers to find and purchase your products. 

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Benefits of investing in Amazon PPC 

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• Increase the visibility of your products - when you pay for your products to be advertised on Amazon, they will appear above the organic results and make sure your products are at the top of the results when customers are looking to buy your product. 
• Control seasonal campaigns - some of your products might only be available or popular at a certain time of year. In this case, Amazon PPC can allow you to promote your products for a limited period time and react to seasonal conditions. 
• Promote new products - if you add new products to your Amazon shop, they will have low sales figures so the chances of them appearing highly in the organic search results is very low. Paying for Amazon ads will not only help you appear on the first page quickly, it will help to boost sales and allow you to appear higher in the organic search results. 
• Protect your top positions for successful products - you are likely to have a top selling product which appears on the first page of the organic search results. A growing number of retailers appearing on Amazon can make it more difficult to keep these top positions. Amazon PPC can help you to keep appearing on page one, protect your sales and protect your top spot. 
• Better return on investment - Amazon is a retail platform so anyone searching on the platform is looking and ready to buy specific products. Your ads are much more likely to convert when customers are already looking for your product. 
• Growing customer base - Amazon’s user base is growing and spending more every year. This provides you with a captive customer base that you can target. 

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On Amazon, cutting through the noise can be difficult as there is so much competition. The easier you make it to find your products, the easier it will be for customers to find your products and the more likely you will be to make a sale. 

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Utilising the Amazon PPC platform will help with product exposure and helping to drive sales for your business. 

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