Caitlin Jeansonne presenting on Winning Strategies for Amazon Marketing Services at SMX Advanced 2017 in Seattle

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Caitlin Jeansonne, MMI Agency
Winning Strategies For
Amazon Marketing Services

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Caitlin Jeansonne
• Social Media Director at MMI
Agency in Houston
• Background in SEM, Content,
Social Media, Influencer
• Cat lady, comic book nerd
• 86 Amazon Prime orders last
year
• My Echo Look landed on my
front porch as I was on the way
to Seattle!

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Why are we here today?

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Titans of the internet

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Searches are Getting Smarter

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Showrooming

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Behavioral evolution
Oct 2015
Any guesses?
Percent of online shoppers who begin their
search for product information on Amazon…

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Behavioral evolution
Oct 2015
Percent of online shoppers who begin their
search for product information on Amazon…

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Brand
Huggies
Pampers
Product
Diapers
Baby wipes
Research
Diaper rash
Newborn care
Keyword types

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Amazon’s channels

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• Everyday purchases and
one-time buys
• Subscribe and save
• 101 million monthly visitors
• National distribution
• Spends ~$500/year
Amazon

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• Home delivery of full line of
groceries
• Next day and early morning
delivery
• $299 annual fee
• Available in Seattle, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, New
York City and Philadelphia
Amazon Fresh

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• Launched in 2014
• Prime members only
• Box of items delivered for a flat
$5.99 delivery fee per box
• Allows you to purchase groceries
and household products that are
traditionally cost prohibitive to ship
• National distribution
Prime Pantry

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Amazon’s loyalty programs

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• $99/year
• Free two-day shipping on
Prime items
• Exclusive access to movies and
TV shows, ad-free music,
unlimited photo storage and
Kindle books
• Spends ~$1,350/year
Prime

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• $99/year
• Free two-day shipping on
Prime items
• Save 20 percent on diaper
subscriptions plus additional
family-centric discounts
• Spends ~$2,250/year
Prime Family

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• $49/year
• Free two-day shipping on
Prime items
• Exclusive access to movies
and TV shows, ad-free music,
unlimited photo storage, and
Kindle books
Prime Student

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Amazon Marketing Services (AMS)

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AMS drives traffic and captures
engaged customers with highly
targeted ads.
• High-visibility placements across
desktop and mobile
• Target by keyword or product
• Cost per click
• Easily manage campaign costs and ROI
• Optimize performance with detailed
sales reports
What is AMS?

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Pros
AMS vs AdWords comparison
Cons
• Lower CPCs (up to 10x)
• Bottom of the funnel
• Measureable ROI
• Long-term value
• Low competition (for now)
• End to end
• Lower volume
• Less creative control
• Very manual

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AMS ad types
Product Display Ads
On detail pages
Shopper-interest and product-
targeted
Headline Search Ads
Above search results
Keyword-targeted
Sponsored Products
Within search results
Keyword-targeted
Maximize your impact by using all three together.

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Product Display Ads
AMS Products by Funnel Stage
Headline Search
Sponsored Product

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Product Display Ads
Drive brand and product awareness with
shopper-interest and product-targeted ads.
• Where: Related product detail pages, below
the fold on search results pages, on offer
listings and customer review pages
• How: Target by product or shopper
interests (product-based)
• Who:Vendors
• Reporting: Campaign-level sales reporting
• Creative: Custom text headline

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Product Display Ads
Best practices
• Advertise products with good customer
reviews or A+ detail page content
• Keep the box checked to expand targeting
to other related products to increase
impression volume
• Preview your ads to confirm the logo is clear
and legible

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Headline Search Ads
Drive sales and brand awareness with keyword-
targeted ads above search results.
 Where: High visibility placement (above
search results) that drives traffic to brand
store or custom Amazon landing page
 How: Keyword targeted ads
 Who: Vendors
 Reporting: Keyword-level sales reporting
 Creative: Custom text headline, Can
advertise up to three products within the ad
itself

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Headline Search Ads
Best practices
 Target keywords relevant to the products
on your ad’s page
 Use phrase match to maximize the
impressions for your ad
 Create engaging headlines to encourage
shoppers to click
 A minimum run time of 1 month is
recommended for testing

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Sponsored Products
Drive sales with keyword-targeted ads within
search results.
 Where: Ads can appear within search results
or below the fold on product detail pages
 How: Reach a qualified audience further in
the purchase funnel with ads targeted to
customer searches on desktop and mobile
 Who: Sellers andVendors
 Reporting: Product and keyword level sales
reporting to measure ROI
 Creative: Product information in line with
surrounding organic results

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Sponsored Products
Best practices
 Use keyword suggestions. Then optimize
future campaigns based on performance
 Target keywords relevant to the products
you are advertising
 Use the category bidding guide on AMS to
set your bid

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Before we get too far:
Relevancy, Relevancy, Relevancy

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Step 1: Get your house in order

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Relevance is Key
Before beginning an AMS campaign, do this:
 Product detail pages are optimized for
search and user experience with best-in-class
content
– Copy
– Images
– A+ pages
– Good reviews
– Correct variations
– Coupons applied (if applicable)
 Ensure products are in stock and
optimized for user experience (great
images and content)
 Use the same high-traffic keywords for
both organic search optimization and paid
media

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Amazon Optimization Resources:
http://bit.ly/SEOforAmazon

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Let’s Look Step by Step

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Targeting

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Yes
AMS vs. Other Platforms
No
• Target by keyword
• Target by product
• Target by product category
• Demographic targeting,
lifestyle, life stage
• Interests, behavior
• Retargeting

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Keywords

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Yes
AMS Keywords
No
• Product-Focused Keyword
• Shopping mindset
• Match types (Broad, Phrase, Exact)
• Can add Negative keywords for
Sponsored Products
• Can mine for keywords in Query
Reports
• Question-based searches
• Lifestyle content
• Stay away from keywords:
Coupon, Sale, Best

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Brand
Huggies
Pampers
Product
Diapers
Baby wipes
Research
Diaper rash
Newborn care
Pass/Play by Keyword Type

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AMS Keyword Research
On Amazon, consumers are searching for product,
brand and category related keywords
If additional keyword research is needed:
 Start with Google and identify high-
traffic, product-related keywords
 Use those keywords to mine for
additional keywords on Amazon using
two tools:
– Amazon’s search box autosuggest
– The AMS Headline Search search
volume tool

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Do this: Use
the AMS
Headline
Search search
volume tool

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Bidding/Optimization/CPCs

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CPCs much lower than other platforms
• CPCs can be as little as 10x lower
• CPC bid, default starts at $0.50
• Auction: pay $0.01 more than the last bidder
• Relevancy matters, but no official score like Google/Facebook

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Average Winning CPC Bid by Category

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Creative

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Creative Considerations
• Ads pull through Amazon
product listing details, product
image, ratings
• Optimization matters
• Ratings matter
• Can customize headline and
some ad text
• Content feels native to the
platform

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Reporting

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AMS Reporting vs. Other Platforms
 Download detailed campaign
reports to measure campaign spend,
ROI, impressions, conversions,
clicks, ACoS, etc.
 Gain insights on keyword
performance and relevance and use
to optimize campaigns and product
detail page listings in real time
 No API currently exists, manually
extract data

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Key takeaways

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Keys to success
• Now is a great time to get into AMS!
• Bottom-of-the-funnel channel with low CPCs
• Low competition (for now)
• Begin by getting your Amazon house in order
• Relevancy is key
• Include keywords in paid and organic

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