“In its latest bid to close the gap with Google and Facebook in digital ad sales, Amazon plans to dramatically increase the available space for one of its most important formats, Sponsored Products: It could let brands run them across the internet, not just within its own properties” (Adage, July 2018)
In summary, what it means is that when a shopper types a certain keyword on Amazon, a keyword related Sponsored product ad will retarget the shopper on an external website within the Amazon marketplace. With just one click, the sponsored ad will then redirect the shopper back to the product page on Amazon.com where he can proceed with the purchase.
“This is a direct shot at Google, because what Amazon has that Google doesn’t is the ability for the consumer to click through to purchase on Amazon.com,” an agency executive says.” (Adage, July 2018)
For us, at the eBusiness Insitute’s Retail Digital Media Centre of Expertise, this means the creation of the potentially most powerful Retail Digital Media (RDM) tool for brands, as retargeted sponsored ads are a new way to influence the omni-channel journey.
What does it mean for brands?
- “Retargeted Sponsored ads” outside amazon.com combines Amazon’s best performing ad format ‘sponsored product ads’ with the power of retargeting. According to Merkle, “Sponsored Products continue to account for the vast majority of Amazon search investment, with 88% spend share in Q2 of 2018 and also drive the highest sales per click for advertisers among Amazon’s search formats[1]”. Whilst according to comScore, the percentage of users who return and complete the check-out process through retargeting increases to +26%[2]. By combining both, you might have the most powerful sales tool in Retail Digital Media (RDM).
- In addition, the new RDM tool proposed by Amazon will enable brands to influence the omni-channel journey even more and at the same time get shoppers to go back to the platform to buy. This will require brands to integrate their RDM strategies as part of their overall digital media strategy.
The tests on major brands are only expected to be running in the coming weeks but we certainly hope to see high Returns on Investments. To be continued….
As we work towards developing the Voice ecosystem, we also keep an eye on the question of whether Alexa will offer Voice advertising in the future and expand the scope of Retail Digital Media at Amazon even more. However, at the moment Amazon told Reuters “we don’t have plans to advertise on Alexa broadly.”
Do you know which teams should manage RDM? Read our infographic on RDM governance here.
Authors: Alexia André, Jordane Beller
At the eBusiness Institute, we have been studying the Retailer Digital Media space since 2015. Get in touch to know more and leverage this opportunity as a competitive advantage for your company.
Sources:
[1] Merkle Q2 2018 Digital Marketing Report, July 19th 2018, Columbia MD
[2] ComScore
Source article: Amazon to test new ground for its sponsored product ads: The rest of the internet https://adage.com/article/digital/amazon-tests-ground-product-ads/314321/
