We have reached the zenith of convenience in both shopping and retail business. All thanks to Amazon – the largest e-commerce company in the world.

As with brick and mortar businesses, advertising is a pivotal factor that influences sales figures even for online stores.

Earlier, Google and Facebook dominated the advertising stage. Now Amazon too has come into the picture.

But, the advertising picture is painted differently with Amazon.

Being both a shopping mall and a search engine all by itself, Amazon users come with only one intent- check out the products on the online store and buy what they need. 

The user intent for Amazon can account for the double-digit conversion rate of 10% as compared to 3.26% for Facebook ads and less than 1% for Google display ads.

Amazon has come up with different types of ads aimed at influencing customers at various points along the sales funnel.

Before we move on, if you’re looking to invest in online marketing, talk to our experts to find out how you can make the most out of your ad campaigns.

Headline Search Ads, now known as Sponsored Brands are ads that are shown during the awareness stage of the funnel implying that creating brand awareness is the goal for this type of campaign.

Sponsored Brands are keyword-targeted PPC ads on Amazon that are displayed at the top of the search results page. It includes a custom logo, headline, and up to 3 products along with their images. 

It is the first line of products relevant to the search query displayed on the search result page and therefore they are bound to get noticed by the searchers.

When clicked on the product element on the Headline Search Ad, the user will be redirected to a page containing the details of that product whereas clicking on the logo, headline or ad copy will take you to a customized landing page such as a store. 

In order to ensure that your ads turn up in front of the most promising audience, the right keywords have to be bid upon. 

If you have run a Sponsored Products Ad for your brand, the data from its Search Term Reports and automatic campaign feature can be utilized for identifying the keywords that will convert. 

If not, you can rely on the standard keyword research methodologies employed for PPC ads.

The following are the main keyword categories from which keyword harvesting can be done:

• Generic Keyword

The user might be looking for a particular product, but he might not have an idea about which brand to go for. So he will just enter the type of product he wants into the search box.

For example, when searching for ‘bird food’ the following ads pop up as the headline search ad. 

This brand placed the highest bid on the keyword ‘bird food’ and hence got a placement on the Amazon SERP. 

• Branded Product Keywords

Here the customer knows what product from which brand he is looking for and therefore includes the brand name into the search.

• Competitor Branded Keywords

Amazon is a platform where there is fierce competition between brands. It isn’t surprising to see brands use the keywords of their competitors in order to stay on top of the advertising game.

In the above example, a headline search ad for Propet Women’s Shoes is displayed when searched for ‘Nike Women’s Shoes’

• Complementary Product Keywords

Some products are usually used along with accessories that complement its function such as antioxidant serums and sunscreen lotions are often used together as a part of the skincare regime. Hence, a sunscreen brand may use ‘anti-oxidant serum’ as a keyword for their ad.

Amazon has thought about everything when it comes to advertising. They have provided advertisers with powerful tools for managing campaigns and reports that give valuable data for analysing the performance and profitability of these ads. 

Unfortunately, not every business can avail the benefits of headline search ads. Sellers and vendors must meet certain criteria in order to run such campaigns. For instance, only an Amazon professional seller who is a brand owner in Seller Central can put up headline ads.

Amazon is the place where more than 310 million customer journeys begin and end. 

The prominent positioning of Headline Search Ads ensures a wider brand and product visibility for those businesses who want their products to be seen and heard.

Talk to our digital marketing experts for the best possible results on your ad campaigns. Reach us here.