How Leading Brands Leverage Amazon DSP for Massive Growth

Amazon DSP enables advertisers to display video and audio ads on Amazon and across an extensive network of third-party websites and apps. This is significant for brands aiming to expand beyond traditional Amazon Ads, as it provides a powerful means to reach a wider audience and effectively drive conversions. By leveraging this tool, brands can enhance visibility and engagement, making it a crucial element in their advertising strategy. 

Today, we will dive into the platform's advanced audience targeting, comprehensive advertising capabilities, cross-channel reach, and more!

1. What is Amazon DSP? 

Amazon Demand-side Platform (DSP) allows advertisers to automate buying inventory from publishers' sites and manage multiple Ad Exchanges through a single interface. This streamlines the process, allowing advertisers to bid on and optimize ads in a single location.

Advertisers can access unique inventory from Amazon's O&O sites, third-party exchanges, Amazon Publisher Services (APS), and private marketplaces to effectively reach Amazon shoppers wherever they are. Amazon DSP allows for cross-device campaigns, which are essential for today's shopping habits and help advertisers meet marketing goals on and off Amazon.

DSP leverages Amazon’s first-party shopper data, such as customer demographics, purchase history, browsing behavior, and streaming habits, for data-driven targeting. This allows for highly targeted campaigns, ensuring that ads are shown to the right people at the right time, maximizing both campaign effectiveness and ROI.

2. How Does Amazon DSP Work?

Amazon DSP is a type of programmatic advertising. Programmatic advertising involves using computer software to automate the buying and selling of digital ads. This efficient method enables advertisers to show ads to the right audience at the right time, reducing ad waste. With programmatic advertising like DSP, advertisers can effectively bid on real-time impressions to target specific audiences.

DSP offers ad placements on Amazon's properties (Amazon.com, Fire TV, IMDb, Twitch) and off-Amazon (third-party websites, apps, and video content). It automates ad buying across various channels, allowing advertisers to target specific audiences and optimize campaigns in real time. This includes selecting ad placements, pricing, and using analytics to measure impact.

Amazon DSP offers two distinct service options: a managed-service option and a self-service option: 

• Managed service model: provides complete programmatic campaign management services from Amazon based on an insertion order (IO). 

• Self-service model: allows advertisers and agencies to directly use Amazon Ads to create their own campaigns without needing insertion orders (IOs) or minimums. 

Both service options have associated fees. Speak to your Amazon Ads representative for more information.

a. Advanced Audience Targeting

Amazon DSP offers advanced audience targeting features that use Amazon’s first-party shopper data. It allows custom audience segmentation based on various criteria, including:

• In-market audiences: allow advertisers to connect with consumers actively searching for specific products. 
• Lifestyle segments: target based on interests and behaviors.
• Lookalike audiences: find new customers similar to existing ones. 
• Remarketing: re-engage users who have previously interacted with products, boosting conversion chances.

b. Full-Funnel Advertising Capabilities

Amazon DSP offers full-funnel advertising capabilities, which involves the following:

• Brand Awareness: Boosting brand awareness through targeted display and video ads, reaching a broad audience on both Amazon and third-party channels.
• Retargeting: Using custom audience targeting to reconnect with potential customers who have shown interest in your brand or similar products and encourage them to complete a purchase.
• Conversion: Re-engaging audiences through targeted segments based on detailed customer data to remind users of products they viewed to drive conversions.

c. Cross-Channel Reach

Amazon DSP has a cross-channel reach that significantly expands advertising capabilities beyond Amazon's platform. It allows advertisers to reach potential customers on various websites, apps, and devices, extending their reach beyond those actively searching on Amazon. This broadens brand visibility and increases awareness among new audiences, complementing search-based advertising strategies.

d. Performance Insights and Attribution

Amazon DSP offers detailed reporting and campaign analytics that include metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, and return on ad spend (ROAS). You can track and measure return on ad spend (ROAS), determining your marketing campaign's effectiveness. Amazon DSP offers multi-touch attribution to measure ROAS across touchpoints. This allows advertisers to understand the full impact of their campaigns and adjust their strategies as needed.

3. Best Practices for Amazon DSP Success

To achieve the best results on Amazon DSP, be sure to implement these effective practices:

• Set campaign goals: Determine your objective for each customer journey stage, from awareness to consideration and conversions.
• Creative asset engagement: Tailor your content to engage your audience. Video ads excel at storytelling, while display ads are more direct. Analyze performance to enhance your approach.
• Utilizing A/B testing: A/B testing can help refine targeting and messaging. Test different elements, such as headlines or images, to see what resonates better with your audience. 
• Monitor and adjust: Track the progress of your campaigns and use the data to make any necessary changes. This can help you maximize effectiveness and achieve better results.

Q+A

Overall, Amazon DSP provides a significant competitive edge by enabling you to deliver ads to the right audience at the right moment. It effectively reaches users on and off Amazon, utilizing advanced targeting options to boost brand awareness.

With Amazon DSP, you can engage in scalable, data-driven advertising that connects you with audiences across Amazon and third-party platforms. Leveraging Amazon's first-party data allows for precise audience targeting and the creation of lookalike audiences, enhancing ad relevance and broadening your potential reach.

If you're looking to elevate your advertising game, consider exploring Amazon DSP or hiring expert campaign management. Connect with Straight Up Growth and get a free audit!

Questions:

What’s the difference between Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads?

Amazon DSP reaches customers across a wide range of premium ad-supported content on Amazon and third-party platforms. It targets audiences without depending on traditional identifiers by utilizing insights from browsing and shopping behaviors. It's ideal for enhancing brand awareness, reaching wider audiences, and effective retargeting.

Amazon Sponsored Ads promote products within Amazon's marketplace. They use keyword and product targeting to connect with relevant shoppers and offer simpler options than DSP. This platform aims to drive immediate sales and increase product visibility on Amazon.

Can brands that don’t sell on Amazon use Amazon DSP?

Amazon DSP is available to all brands to use its programmatic advertising capabilities. 

How can I measure the success of my Amazon DSP ads?

You can use campaign reporting to see success metrics, which fall into two categories:

• Industry standard: (click-through rate, return on ad spend, detail page view rate, etc)
• E-Commerce goals: Unique to Amazon (advertising cost of sale, subscribe and save, etc)

Return on ad spend (ROAS) is one of the most important marketing metrics to consider when evaluating the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns. It helps you understand how much revenue you generate for every dollar spent on ads, making it crucial for optimizing your strategy and maximizing profits.

How can I start with Amazon DSP if I’m new to programmatic advertising?

Discover the wealth of resources available for Amazon DSP. Amazon offers a variety of tools to help advertisers start their journey, including comprehensive documentation, insightful case studies, and valuable training materials.

Additionally, partnering with an Amazon advertising agency can be beneficial. Their expertise will help you effectively set up and manage your campaigns, optimize targeting and bidding strategies, and provide detailed reporting and analysis.

What types of creatives can be used in Amazon DSP campaigns?

In Amazon DSP campaigns, you can engage your audience using a mix of audio, display, online video, streaming TV, and in-store advertising. Reach them where they spend their time across various formats and devices.

Why should I spend on Amazon DSP if my brand already spends on Amazon Ads?

Amazon DSP expands your reach beyond Amazon Ads by targeting potential customers across the web, enhancing brand awareness and retargeting. This combination creates a more effective marketing strategy.