Amazon Ads has rolled out quite a few updates in 2021. The Amazon advertising platform has made great progress over the past year and there were a few highlights among the new features.
We summarize our top 3 Amazon PPC highlights for you!
Top 1. Targeting Tab
The reward is great, because it has taken a long time. But finally it's here - an overview of your targets!
What does this new area in the Amazon PPC interface do for you?
- You can see all your targets here and have a wide range of filter options to identify top and low performers.
- The filtering according to the conversion rate is also very exclusive!
- However, there are still negative points for the filter, as you cannot filter by portfolios and you cannot save the filters you have created.
- The tab also supports collective processes, so bids can be quickly adjusted to mass.
- What is unfortunately not displayed yet are the search terms.
While it is nice that you can optimise via the alignment tab, it is not recommended. Without the search terms, you can only make a superficial assessment.
Our conclusion on the Alignment Tab:
We think it's great to have all our targets at a glance. However, there is still potential for improvement. The aim of the targeting tab is to save time and avoid clicking unnecessarily in each individual campaign. The expansion of the filtering and the addition of search terms are important elements, so that optimization can be more targeted.
Top 2: Expansion of Display Ads
Amazon has taken the sponsored display campaigns in hand and pushed some updates. What happened here in 2021?
- Retargeting campaigns on Amazon
- Expansion of product targeting & audiences
- Introduction of bid optimisations
- Custom images
Retargeting campaigns on Amazon
The time has come - you can start retargeting!
When retargeting was first introduced, it was only possible to retarget users from the last 30 days. However, the last 14 and 7 days were quickly added. By the end of 2021, users from the last 60, 90, 180 and 360 days can also be selected for targeting.
Expansion of product targeting & audiences
Expansion of product targeting & audiences There is also a further development for targeting in the area of product targeting. In mid / late September, the "Dynamic Segments" came into play.
Currently, you have the option to target "Similar to advertised products". The playout acts dynamically, which means that no strict category is advertised. However, it is still very unclear how exactly this new targeting option works and Amazon has not yet provided any detailed insight.
We are curious to see where the dynamic segments will develop.
Introduction of bid optimisations
Also new in the game are the bid optimisations in the Sponsored Display area. Here, Amazon optimises your bids for the statistics you want to focus on.
At the beginning you could choose between two variants:
– Optimisations to increase page visits
– Optimisations to improve conversions
Then, at the end of September, came the additional "Optimisations for visible impressions". The third bid optimisation is a special case compared to its two predecessors and should be considered separately.
Why? Because the "Optimisations for visible impressions" introduced a new billing model and a new attribution type on Amazon.
Here, the CPC model is not used as the cost type, but the VCPM (cost per 1,000 visible impressions). The focus is on the "visible" impressions part. For you, this means that the ad is in the user's visible area. Unfortunately, Amazon does not define exactly what counts as a visible impression.
Here, the CPC model is not used as the cost type, but the VCPM (cost per 1,000 visible impressions). The focus is on the "visible" impressions part. For you, this means that the ad is in the user's visible area. Unfortunately, Amazon does not define exactly what counts as a visible impression.
Custom images
You already know them from Sponsored Brand campaigns - custom images. In 2021, Amazon also introduced this feature for the Sponsored Display campaigns.
However, there is one point to criticise. There are no options to adjust the images to the different ad placements. As a result, some images don't look very aesthetically pleasing in certain placements.
Amazon can definitely make improvements here.
Ad preview Amazon Ads campaign creation Our conclusion on Sponsored Display campaigns:
You should check back here from time to time and keep an eye open for updates. Amazon pushes the campaign type very strongly and new target groups and targeting options that are ideal for promoting your products can be published. You definitely don't want to miss out on these!
Top 3. Budget Rules
We LOVE the new budget rules and the possibilities they give you!
You have two types of settings to adjust the rule: by schedule or by performance. For Schedule, you can choose between a recommended event (major events set by Amazon), such as Prime Day or Black Friday, or set a custom time period.
Once you've set the date, you set the percentage by which the budget should be increased for the period.
For performance targeting, you also set specific criteria such as ACoS, ROAS, CTR or CVR.
This setting is ingenious if you want to enable additional budget for your top performer campaigns. With your defined criteria, such as an ACoS of less than 20%, the additional budget is only released if the campaign is on target. Ingenious and absolutely recommended!
Our conclusion on the budget rules:
Short and sweet - An absolute must for every Amazon advertiser and a game changer for peak phases.
Zusammenfassung Amazon PPC Updates
2021 was an update driven year for the Amazon PPC space.
For the Sponsored Display campaign type in particular, there were numerous new targeting options and the introduction of bidding strategies. The highlight was the bidding strategy "Optimisations for visible impressions", which introduced a new billing model, the VCPM, and a new attribution type to the advertising platform.
In addition, we get insight into our data with two new tabs in the menu bar - the Budget tab and the Alignment tab. Both areas still leave room for improvement. However, the basic idea behind the two tabs is understandable and logical. With future improvements, the Alignment tab in particular can be very beneficial both personally and for the optimisation of campaigns.
Our personal highlight of the updates are the budget rules. Fittingly, they were launched before the big sale events like Black Friday and Christmas, making pushing top sellers with additional budgets a breeze. Even outside of peak phases, you can make a larger budget available for your top campaigns.
