Amazon DSP Capabilities & Integrations with Sponsored Ads
Amazon is now the third largest digital ad platform in the US. While advertisers typically first think of Amazon Sponsored Ads, Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) is a necessary complement to maximize sales on and off amazon.com by addressing a few limitations of relying on Amazon Sponsored Ads alone. Amazon DSP allows advertisers to programmatically reach audiences both on Amazon sites and apps as well as through publishing partners and third-party exchanges, and can fill targeting gaps where Sponsored Ads are unable to reach consumers. When top-of-funnel Sponsored Ad spend reaches a level of diminishing returns, Amazon DSP can be a more efficient prospecting tactic. Most importantly, with Amazon DSP, advertisers can sustain top-of-mind consideration to those that are not actively searching for products on Amazon at that point in time.
There are a number of capabilities advertisers can take advantage of to leverage Amazon DSP which complements their Sponsored Ads strategy. Let’s start with what Amazon DSP has to offer.
The Power of Amazon’s Data and Targeting
Amazon has over 300 million users with 100 million prime members alone, so access to these individuals’ devices and cookie IDs is unprecedented. Also, amazon.com commands almost 50% of the entire eCommerce market. With this 1st-party deterministic data, the targeting capabilities can only be rivalved by Google and Facebook.
Amazon DSP capabilities fall into two buckets:
1. Audience Targeting - Amazon now allows advertisers to remarket to audiences of past purchasers, category viewers, and even specific ASIN viewers. Amazon also has behavior-based segments of engaged shoppers. In-market audiences target shoppers who are browsing items in specific categories, while lifestyle targeting reaches shoppers who show consistent interest in brand-relevant categories. They also have look-a-like segments of shoppers who exhibit similar behavior to brands’ customers.
2. Inventory Access - Amazon now allows advertisers to target all of the audiences listed above on properties across the web outside of Amazon owned properties—think nytimes.com or espn.com. Amazon also has made its owned properties available for programmatic buying, including amazon.com and imdb.com. They will be opening up Kindle Fire inventory for self-serve buying in the future as well.
The Right Integrated Strategy
By leveraging Amazon DSP data, marketers can create and target granular audiences to reduce wasted spend by focusing on in-market customers. By setting up ASIN-level targeting, brands can stay in front of users who have yet to purchase their products. Advertisers can also serve ads to users who are looking at competitor products for an opportunity to sway their decision.
Amazon recently rolled out a beta that allows advertisers to target audiences based on brand or product-relevant keyword searches in the Amazon search box. This indicates that Amazon will continue to innovate and provide advertisers with tactics that can leverage search data to enhance holistic programs, including DSP.
Finally, just as running an effective programmatic advertising program has an observable impact on organic search impressions, running Amazon DSP alongside Sponsored Ads drives a quantifiable lift in organic search volume on Amazon. For a lifestyle and nutrition brand, with 6 months of sustained DSP spend, organic impressions increased by 22%.
The ability to leverage learnings from each Amazon tool makes your marketing dollars more efficient. Contact Rise to learn more about the impact of leveraging Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads on your Amazon advertising program.