Amazon Introduces Vertical Videos into Sponsored Brand Campaigns
With more and more consumers shopping on mobile devices, vertical videos were a welcome addition on Amazon in 2024. The marketplace now allows advertisers to incorporate vertical video creatives into Sponsored Brands campaigns. This format is optimized for mobile viewing, aligning with consumer preferences on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, offering a dynamic way for brands to showcase products and tell brand stories.
Code3 Search Strategists found that clients who leveraged vertical videos along with horizontal videos lead to improved click-through rate and increased engagement. If your brand hasn’t already tested dynamic videos, now is the time.
Amazon Collaborations: Meta and TikTok
While there isn’t any control at the brand level (yet!), consumers and marketers alike were excited by a collaboration of Amazon and Meta. In early 2024, Amazon enabled a feature allowing U.S. customers to link their Facebook and Instagram accounts to Amazon. This integration allows users to make purchases directly from ads on these social media platforms without leaving the app.
As consumers, we’re all excited about this update. But for marketers, this streamlines the customer journey, potentially increasing conversion rates by reducing friction in the purchasing process. It’s important to meet consumers where they are, and in many cases, that might be another platform once they leave Amazon.
Additionally, Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) service now integrates with TikTok Shop through third-party solutions like WebBee and Connector by Silk. This allows sellers to use their Amazon inventory to fulfill orders placed on TikTok Shop, ensuring efficient order processing and consistent customer experiences across platforms. Marketers can leverage this to expand their reach on TikTok while maintaining reliable fulfillment operations.
New Grow Brand Impression Share Goal
Amazon introduced a 'Grow brand impression share' goal within Sponsored Brands campaigns, focusing on maximizing share of voice at the top of search results. This feature includes a new landing page that showcases a curated selection of at least three advertised products, enhancing brand visibility and facilitating product discovery. For marketers, this tool aids in increasing brand awareness and capturing shopper attention at critical decision-making points.
Introduction of Sponsored Brands Cost Control
Before the launch of Sponsored Brand Cost Control, advertisers needed to translate their desired goals into efficient bids across different cost types. However, now, instead of guessing what the bid should be, Amazon put cost control in place to help advertisers limit bids going over $x amount. For example, with cost control, you can set it to $1, so the CPC may fluctuate below $1 but never reach above $1. By translating goals into bids using machine learning with an optimization strategy, Amazon can help advertisers achieve their return and efficiency goals.
‘Rest of Search’ Bidding Placements Became Available
In 2024, advertisers were introduced to a new bidding option. Amazon rolled out bid adjustments for rest of search placements in their Sponsored Products campaigns. The new placement bid adjustment control for rest of search works the same as the adjustments available for top of search (first page) and product page placements. Through the new control, advertisers can adjust their bid for rest of search by up to 900%.
The new placement bid adjustment helps advertisers to balance their campaign performance across the three different placements (top of search, rest of search, product pages). If top of search is too competitive and eating into your profits, this is a great alternative to owning other placements in the SERP.
The past year had plenty of new developments, products and innovations that made a difference in strategy for brands selling on Amazon and marketers alike. The next year to come is sure to bring even more evolution on Amazon Search.