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Already got the Buy Box but looking to take your sales one step further? Amazon Sponsored Products could offer the extra edge needed to get clicks on your listings and boost your profits even further.

How does it work?

Much like ads displayed in Google Adwords, Sponsored Products are essentially image ads that appear alongside other search results. In Amazon, however, the difference between sponsored posts is slightly more subtle, with only a small grey Sponsored tag appearing beside the paid for ads. These feature above, to the side or even in between other search results, leading to high visibility. They also tend to feature on the carousel of the product features page as related searches.

In order to be eligible for Sponsored Products, you must meet a few requirements; you have to be an active Seller with new product listings in an applicable category - note that used or refurbished products can not be Sponsored. Another key requirement to look out for is that your listing is Buy Box eligible. Whilst Buy Box eligible listings may seem like they need the least promotion, this requirement has a logical reason. As each advert lands at the product page for the listing you are advertising, buyers are more likely to automatically purchase the Buy Box product. If this was not your product, you would essentially be paying to advertise for someone else!

It's also important to note that buying a sponsored ad will not automatically get your product the Buy Box, and Amazon will not let ads run on non-Buy Box listings. You will be notified of this with an error in your Campaign Manager settings.

Pricing

The payment scheme for Amazon Sponsored Products is pay-per-click and auction based, meaning you only pay when a customer clicks on your advert. Two important pricing schemes to take into consideration are the bidding system and daily budget. Within the pricing for the advert, you must put down how much you are willing to pay per click. If your amount is within the highest bidders for the targeted group it will get featured as one of the sponsored ads. This means it is vital to monitor your bidding strategy to make sure it is high enough to get featured, but not so high that it is cost inefficient. You can also set an average daily budget, allowing your advert to stay within a predetermined monthly cost; once it has exceeded this it will no longer appear as an ad.

Keywords

As any Amazon seller knows, optimising keywords on a listing is essential to maximising your products' visibility. With Sponsored Products, you can decide if targeting is automatic or manual. Whilst both have their advantages, it is definitely preferential to start off automatically, as Amazon will target your ads to relevant customer searches. One of the key advantages of this is the data you are able to acquire from the Sponsored Products reports.

These inbuilt search reports will give you vital information about which search terms are performing best. You can then use this informative data to track which keywords have the best click through rate and total number of product sales. Later you will be able to adjust your keywords and advertising campaigns accordingly. You can even use this data to change the title and description of your products once you know which search terms potential buyers are using.

Once collected, you can utilise this data in manual campaigns. Instead of Amazon automatically targeting your ads, you have the choice to bid on specific keywords. This gives you more control over when your ad will appear to buyers, allowing you to gear it towards when you know it will be most successful. Another useful feature is negative keywords which can be used to ensure your product doesn't come up in an unrelated search where it may be clicked on but no sale will be made.

Is it worth it?

Generally, getting Sponsored Products is worth it, as the cost is normally relatively low, and it gives you a great insight into what search terms are working well for your products, as well as driving sales up. Another byproduct of using Sponsored Products is that it can be beneficial to your profile as a whole. Using Sponsored Products means you will get more traffic by jump starting visibility and getting a higher sell-through rate. Once Amazon is aware that your products are selling well, it is more likely for them to feature you with higher prominence in their search results.