January 04, 2023

How to Improve Conversion with Amazon Retargeting - SA and ADSP

How to Improve Conversion with Amazon Retargeting - SA and ADSP

Unless people are hardcore fans of your products and are out to make some purchases every time they browse Amazon, you can’t expect them to buy from you immediately. Most consumers are window shoppers who don’t make buying decisions instantly. Instead, they spend a few days thinking about whether to buy your product — and in those few days, they might find another product that serves a similar purpose.

In this case, the best you can do is remind them of the products they were viewing. And what’s a better way to remind customers than through retargeting advertisements? Let’s dive into the types of Amazon marketing and retargeting ads and how you can maximize them for optimal brand visibility and business profit.

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What Are Amazon Retargeting Ads?

Around 98% of online traffic to your product listings on Amazon doesn’t convert into customers immediately. But the low conversion rate isn’t because your marketing and advertising strategies fail. You need to show the same ad to customers repeatedly before they take action. That’s where retargeting comes in.

While browsing on Amazon, you may have seen ads for the items viewed a few days ago. Those ads target users who have previously interacted with your brand or products — these people are the most likely to be repeat buyers or to purchase something from you.

The platform’s retargeting ads allow your business to expand its audience and increase sales. People who shop online aren't ready to purchase immediately. Retargeted ads let you remind your audience about your listings and invite them to think again. This reminder is often the final push your audience needs to make a purchase.

As a result, you get a good return on investment from retargeted ads.

What Is Amazon Remarketing?

Amazon remarketing is a fairly popular type of digital marketing in which advertisers show targeted advertisements to users who have visited their website or a specific page but haven’t purchased a product or made a call to action yet. It's an excellent way to reach people who are already interested in your brand or business.

It's called “re”-marketing because you're contacting previous customers or visitors. You may also consider it a second chance to convert, upsell, or retain customers. However, while the terms “retargeting” and “remarketing” are sometimes used interchangeably, there are some significant distinctions between the two.

Retargeting vs. Remarketing on Amazon

The main difference between retargeting and remarketing is in the strategy. Retargeting shows ads to potential customers based on cookies. Meanwhile, Amazon remarketing gathers user information to create lists and activate marketing and sales strategies.

Both retargeting and remarketing work well on their own — you can use the Traffic Insights tool for Amazon to measure their ROI. However, combining the two might be the most effective way to increase digital marketing activity and boost profits.

Together, they can maximize the following benefits:

  • Boosting brand awareness and visibility
  • Keeping your brand engaged with the target audience
  • Increasing conversions on your online store or ecommerce site
  • Getting the attention of competitor brands’ customer base

What Are the Types of Retargeting on Amazon?

Your retargeting efforts can be split into two: Amazon Sponsored Display (SD) ads and Amazon Demand Side Platform (DSP) retargeting ads.

Many advertisers recommend SD ads because they are more accessible and cost less — They are ideal for small and growing businesses that want to connect with a specific customer base. This doesn’t automatically make SD the best choice, though. It would ultimately still depend on your goals and needs as a business.

Let’s delve deeper into these two types of retargeting ads.

Amazon Sponsored Display ads are versatile. They can appear on Amazon’s home page, product pages, and search results. They can also appear off the platform — the target audience has a chance of encountering them on third-party websites and apps. They essentially act as Amazon pay-per-click ads for brand awareness and remarketing. The below image shows a sponsored display ad on the home page.

How SD Ads Work

You have two targeting options: Product and category targeting and audience targeting. For the first option, you can either focus on a specific product or an entire category to promote. These will be highlighted on the Amazon retargeting ads.

Audience targeting lets you connect with new customers or retarget existing customers on and off the platform. You can opt for custom audiences to have better, more refined control over your audience. Meanwhile, Amazon's audience targeting includes various elements, such as lifestyle and interests.

SD Ad Pricing

As for the pricing, these retargeting ads have a $1 minimum spend requirement. It’s also straightforward — you will only get charged for every quality click on your display ads.

Sales from display ads are measured through a 14-day window for click-through attribution. This means it counts any sale from a user who comes back up to 14 days after clicking on your ad. You can drive better results with the Amazon PPC Optimizer for Amazon.

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Can Anyone Use Amazon SD to Bring in More Customers?

Any seller or vendor enrolled in the Brand Registry can use SD ads. It’s also available for agencies working with clients selling Amazon products. Moreover, because these ads are auto-generated, you don’t have to consider the overall ad design. You can add a logo and headline if you want to.

Amazon Demand-Side Platform Retargeting Ads

Amazon Demand-Side Platform (known as DSP) is a sophisticated, programmatic platform that helps you reach a specific audience and boost visibility on high-quality and high-traffic websites. It lets retailers purchase audio, video, and display ads on Amazon and third-party platforms. The image shows a DSP ad with video playing on the deals page.

How Demand Side Ads Work

Your demand-side ads are visible on mobile, desktop, and the retailer’s devices. It includes platforms such as the retailer’s mobile app, IMDB, Twitch, Kindle, Alexa, and Fire TV. Video ads appear on Amazon sites and devices. They can also run across other online platforms. Meanwhile, audio ads are currently in beta testing on Amazon Music.

Amazon DSP pricing

One of the best things about Amazon DSP’s algorithm is that it helps you find the most suitable ad placements for your budget and target audience. These retargeting ads also assist in securing the best bids for the said placements. The managed service — which already includes consultation, assistance running programmatic ads, and access to the DSP inventory — has a minimum $35,000 ad spend requirement. It’s definitely worth the price, though. If you’d like some help running these ads without the high minimums, you are always welcome to talk to our friends at Proventus.

Who Can Use Amazon DSP for Retargeting Campaigns?

Amazon DSP is accessible to advertisers who already sell on the platform and those who don’t. Advertisers also have the option of managing the display ads themselves or letting the retailer manage the ads for them.

Unlike auto-generated SD ads, Amazon DSP ads give you the freedom and creativity to design your ads. You may opt for custom retargeting ads or choose among several creative templates for your display and video ads. You can also use the existing product image or provide a unique image for the ad.

DSP ads are available on desktop and mobile platforms as static display ads. Other dimensions include DSP video ads and mobile app static banner ads. SD ads are only shown within Amazon in a fixed format.

Furthermore, you can filter your Amazon DSP targeting options based on the following factors: In-market targeting, lifestyle targeting, demographics, remarketing, audience lookalike, advertiser audiences, and custom audiences. SD Ads have limited targeting options.

How to Set Up Your Amazon Retargeting Ads?

Setting up retargeting on Amazon is relatively simple. Here’s a quick guide:

  • Start a campaign. Specify the campaign name, estimated budget, and duration
  • Choose “Sponsored Display” as it is easier to explore — this is something we will dive into later on in the article
  • Choose “Audiences” as the targeting option to filter the users and visitors who can see your retargeting ads
  • Add any product you want to your campaign. You can focus on one or a handful of products. Or you can promote multiple products in one campaign
  • Set competitive bids and wait for the retargeting ads to work their magic

How to Improve Your Amazon Retargeting Ads?

Now, improving your Amazon retargeting ads is another thing entirely. You’re more likely to get better results when you apply the following tips:

  • Understand the buyer’s journey and what would convince them to buy from you
  • Improve your audience targeting by being specific with who you want to reach
  • Balance the frequency of your ads — too many ads within a period would turn off potential customers. Spread them out too far apart, and they won’t seem relevant
  • Use Facebook and Google to expand your reach and gather more leads
  • Implement retargeting ads alongside organic digital marketing and advertising, so your brand doesn’t appear to only hard sell to the audience

Retargeting ads using Google and Facebook

Everyone has experienced going on Facebook and seeing ads for items they viewed on another website or online platform. Similarly, when you use their search bar, Google shows relevant ads — most often of things you’ve considered before.

The ads usually feature products or brands you have previously explored or interacted with online. Their resurfacing on your online space is possible due to Facebook and Google retargeting efforts — digital marketing tactics that the most competitive and successful businesses use. But how exactly do each of these work?

Let’s look into retargeting efforts from the viewpoint of Amazon sellers.

Facebook Retargeting for Amazon Sellers

There are various ways to retarget your customers on Facebook.

If you have access to it, you can review past order data to retarget leads and visitors to your Amazon landing page or ecommerce website. Your retargeting efforts will reflect on the improved performance of your Facebook Ads, as they target quality leads — particularly those who have already interacted with your online product listings.

Amazon retargeting ads are a powerful addition to your existing digital marketing strategy because they are shown to people who are already familiar with your products. These include previous customers and those who previously showed interest in your brand. They’re at least curious about what you sell and are more likely to buy them.

How to set up your Facebook retargeting strategy

You can set up the Facebook retargeting campaign for your Amazon business by tapping your previous and existing customers. This makes it easier to gain an audience when you introduce a new product or when you want them to make a repeat purchase.

Alternatively, you can start Facebook retargeting by tapping landing page visitors. Put the retargeting code on your landing page to effectively drive traffic and retarget them.

Here are some tips on successfully setting up your Facebook retargeting strategy:

  • Define your goals and what you want to accomplish with the campaign, such as driving traffic to your website or sending visitors to a specific landing page
  • Retarget past buyers and existing customers on Amazon. Upload your customer database to Facebook, then create a custom audience for your retargeting ads
  • Apply customer segmentation to your retargeting campaign. Split them based on the products they buy and what you want to promote to specific demographics.

Google AdWords Remarketing for Amazon Sellers

Google Analytics and Google Ads use different transaction dates to observe consumer behavior. The date and time of conversion-driven clicks are tracked in Google Ads reports. Meanwhile, Google Analytics uses the actual conversion's date and time. However, they work together to help you find ways to keep your audience engaged.

For example, a Google Analytics tool called remarketing list for search ads (RLSA) allows you to reach the audience who have previously interacted with your website.

How to Set up Retargeting on Google Analytics

Google Analytics can be set up to make Amazon remarketing lists based on how people use your website. It also allows you to import data from other sources. Google, then, retargets the lists you set up once they have at least a thousand unique visitors.

You can implement target keywords unique to each remarketing list, then create custom advertising campaigns. Google displays a unique ad on top of the search engine results every time a member of the list types in the target keyword.

Why Should Your Amazon Store Invest in Google Remarketing Efforts?

Your retargeting efforts can lead to previous Amazon site visitors seeing your ads on display when they use Google for their search engine activity. This reminds them of products they were previously viewing on your online store. And it might just be the nudge they need to finally add it to their cart and make a purchase.

Google retargeting also helps you reach a wider audience because of the search engine giant’s reach— you can tap visitors through various Google platforms, including YouTube.

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Conclusion

Buying decisions are not made in just one page visit. You have to remind customers about your products to build brand familiarity and confidence. Retargeting and remarketing are strategies you can use to convince customers to purchase your products. Even with a limited advertising budget for your Amazon store, you can maximize your marketing campaign, reach more people, and increase sales through retargeting.

Explore the benefits of retargeting and remarketing. Then, watch them boost your conversions and bring in optimal ROI!

Read More: Retargeting is just one method of boosting sales on Amazon. Learn more about sponsored product ads and run them like a pro.