To the B2C advertiser, advertising on Amazon seems like a no-brainer. High Intent users ready to buy, with 75% of shoppers expressing that they regularly use the channel to make online purchases.
However, over the last couple of years, Amazon has been evolving its advertising solution to beyond their owned properties and have quietly created a powerful Demand Side Platform. That is taking the programmatic world by storm.
Now under the “Amazon Advertising” umbrella, the Amazon DSP provides a unique offering to B2C marketers with the integration of its own 1st party behavioral data, exclusive Amazon inventory, and the ability to track media spend to sales on Amazon itself. The final piece alone, proving a tremendous amount of valuable insight and performance data.
While it does not have all the bells and whistles of the major DSPs (Display & Video 360, Mediamath, The Trade Desk), it offers the same basic offerings of display and video inventory across a large network of exchanges and publishers (Not just Amazon properties) with the ability to layer on owned 1st party data, 3rd party data, and of course, Amazon’s own proprietary audiences.
A Deeper Look:
With Amazon’s unique selling point – insane intent signals, advertisers can meet customers exactly where they are in the buying cycle.
Prospecting:
- Amazon In-Market audiences – A different take on the similar products feature of remarketing. Does your product align with other purchase intent? I.E Apple Watch buyers may be convinced to use your running shoes or athletic gear
- Amazon Lifestyle audiences – Similar to the Google Affinity audiences, these are a broader categorization of customers, that may align with your product offering.
- 3rd party Data segments – Like all DSPs, Amazon provides users with access to 3rd party behavioral segments (at an added CPM) to layer onto existing audiences, or target segments not available in Amazon’s owned data.
Remarketing:
- Standard Pixel Based remarketing – The old-school site visitor reengagement
- Product Remarketing – Customer viewed a product page on Amazon but did not buy
- The Cross-Sell – Grow brand loyalty by introducing recent customers to other product lines
- Similar Products remarketing – In a competitive field? Know people are comparing? Target them with a specific offer.
Drawbacks:
While Amazon has shown great value and performance, there are drawbacks still. It is still a new product, that is not fully built out. The UI is clunky & creatives can take up to 48 hours to be approved, and it does not have quite all the features of a robust DSP.
What’s Next:
Amazon is continually showing that it is the only company that will consistently compete with Google and Facebook, and is already becoming a leading DSP despite the drawbacks. 41% of advertisers are using Amazon DSP according to a Digiday survey last summer. They are in talks to buy the struggling Ad Server Sizmek, which will allow them to add another piece of the ad tech stack options and compete directly with Google even further.
Final Thoughts:
Have you used Amazon DSP? Would you use it? Let us know @ppchero!
Still overwhelmed at the thought of getting started on Amazon DSP? Tune in to our next webinar: Drive New Customers and Incremental Gains with Amazon DSP.