For many diligent e-tailers who started preparing for the 2015 holiday shopping season before their 2014 holiday shipments left the warehouse, Amazon’s upcoming pay per click ad changes have derailed some planned holiday ad campaigns. Luckily, there’s still time for nimble, adaptable online businesses to switch gears and take advantage of new Amazon ad opportunities for the 2015 retail holiday season.
Amazon recently announced they are discontinuing Amazon Product Ads and Text Ads effective October 31, 2015. For many companies, Amazon Product Ads provide an opportunity to have visibility on Amazon without selling in the Amazon marketplace. The Amazon pay-per-click product ad displays a relevant product from the online retailer’s product feed to an Amazon shopper. When the shopper clicks on the ad, the shopper is taken to the merchant’s website to order. For some merchants, this is a significant source of revenue that will no longer be available.
Are You Prepared For Amazon Product Ad Changes?
Here are some questions for you to assess how this change will affect your bottom line and determine your next steps.
How Much Revenue Do Amazon Product Ads Drive For Your Site?
Many smaller retailers have had great success and increased revenue from Amazon Product Ads. Take a look at your revenue sources and determine the percentage of your sales attributed to Amazon Product Ads.
Can You Replace This Revenue With Other Amazon Advertising?
Amazon briefly had a text ad program in beta. These ads were going to replace some of the ads Google was providing on Amazon. After a very short testing period, Amazon announced the program will also be discontinued on October 31, 2015. At this time, ads from third party such as Google Adwords and Bing will continue to show.
If you are opted into Google search partners, your ads will automatically appear on Amazon when it wins the bid/relevance. Since Google does not provide insight into their partners, the only optimization you can do is opt in or out. For Bing, you can optimize based on the site. We recommend reviewing Bing’s search partners in the coming months to see how Amazon changes affect results.
Amazon Sponsored Ads
The Amazon Sponsored Ad program for merchants who sell on the Amazon marketplace will continue. These sponsored ads will have a stronger visibility when the product ads are discontinued. The pay per click sponsored ad takes a shopper to the Amazon marketplace listing rather than the merchant’s website. For online merchants who sell on Amazon, these ads help shoppers find your product, giving you the advantage over your competitors in the marketplace.
Are You Utilizing All Profitable Amazon Opportunities?
Your visibility on Amazon is an important point to consider. In a recent study, it was found that 39% of consumers start a search on Amazon, while only 11% start on Google. Questions to consider if you haven’t already:
- Should you sell directly on Amazon?
- Is it profitable to participate in sponsored ads to drive more volume on Amazon?
- Have you planned for the decline of sales from Amazon product ads?
- Are you opted into search partners for Google and Bing to have visibility on Amazon with text ads?
- Have you looked at Bing’s performance on Amazon within their search partners?
Need help answering these questions? Cajam Marketing paid search specialists can help you sift through your sales data and come up with the most profitable plan for your holiday season and beyond.
