What is a Sponsored Display Ad?

Sponsored Display ads don’t rely on keywords for targeting. Instead, it depends on customers’ interests, shopping behaviours, and whether they’ve viewed your Product’s detail page.

Here’s how it works: Amazon observes the products a potential customer views on its platform and subsequently showcases them across various Amazon pages, competitor listings, and third-party websites and apps.

If you’re an avid Amazon shopper, you’ve likely encountered Sponsored Display ads. They manifest as the products you’ve perused, magically reappearing in the margins of websites and apps where you shop, read the news, or search for recipes.

One clicks on the ad, and you’re redirected to the product listing, reigniting your purchase journey. This strategy empowers brands to make a lasting impact on potential customers.

Through Sponsored Display, brand-registered sellers can:

1. Retarget customers who’ve recently viewed their listing(s) within the past 30 days.
2. Target similar products or categories.
3. Target customers based on their interests and previous shopping behaviors 

These ads serve as a compelling way to remind potential customers about your Product, even after they’ve navigated away from Amazon. According to Amazon, sellers using Sponsored Display audiences witness up to 82% of their sales from new-to-brand customers.

How Do Sponsored Display Ads Operate?

Like other Amazon advertising tools, Sponsored Display operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model. You bid against fellow sellers for ad placements, which translates to visibility among potential customers. There’s no minimum investment required; you configure your bids and daily budget.

Sponsored Display offers three primary targeting options: product targeting, views remarketing, and audience interests.

Types of Amazon Sponsored Display Ads

• Product Targeting Ads enable you to reach customers perusing your products or similar products and categories. You can target potential customers of top competitors within your niche by showcasing your Product as an ad on their listings. For instance, if you know your competitors’ listings receive substantial traffic, you can create a coupon or slightly lower your price, then activate Product Targeting display ads. This entices customers to choose your listing over similar products. You can also target visitors to listings for complementary products.

• Views Remarketing: Views remarketing allows sellers to retarget customers who’ve previously viewed their listings. Re-engaging with customers who have shown interest in your products or similar ones in your category is often more fruitful than targeting “cold” traffic through Sponsored Products. Views remarketing will retarget audiences who’ve viewed your Product’s detail page or pages of similar products and categories. Your ads reach customers who viewed your product listings on Amazon in the last 30 days but didn’t make a purchase. 

• Audience Interests: This unique targeting option can raise brand awareness by introducing your products to new audiences who have been interested in your product category. Essentially, Amazon displays your ads to shoppers who’ve viewed products related to specific interests. Eligibility: This targeting option is exclusive to Vendors.

How do we lower the wastage of the display ads?

To minimise wastage in your Sponsored Display ads and enhance ad performance, you can follow these steps:

Step 1: Download the Sponsored Display Matched Target Report

1. Go to the sponsored ads report.
2. Select the Sponsored Display category and choose a matched target. Then, choose the date. You can go as back as 4 months here. 
3. Then run the report

Step 2: Filter Out Targets with 0 Sales

1. After the report is downloaded, as seen below
2. Look for the column that displays sales for each target.
3. Filter or sort the targets to identify those with 0 sales. These are the targets that are not contributing to your campaign’s success.

Step 3: Add Targets with 0 Sales as Negatives

1. In your Amazon Seller Central account, go to the campaign you’re optimising.
2. Go to the ad group and ad negative as shown below

By regularly reviewing your Sponsored Display Matched Target Report and adding targets with 0 sales as negatives, you can reduce wastage and improve the profitability of your campaigns. Remember that optimising your campaigns is an ongoing process, so stay vigilant and adjust as needed to achieve your advertising goals. If you would like to discuss more about optimising your Amazon Display ads, please schedule a call to discuss.