Summary

In this episode, Joe Shelerud interviews Corey Brown from buffaBRAND Marketing about AI image generation and its potential impact on advertising. They discuss the various tools available, the importance of having a strong creative foundation, and the challenges of using AI to generate realistic and effective images. They also explore the future of AI image generation and how it could change the industry.

Overall, the conversation emphasizes the need for a balanced approach to AI, leveraging its capabilities while maintaining human creativity and authenticity.

Takeaways

• AI image generation is a rapidly evolving space that intersects with e-commerce and advertising.
• There are various tools available for AI image generation, but it's important to be skeptical and use them in conjunction with a strong creative foundation.
• AI-generated images can be useful for certain types of creatives, such as lifestyle composite shots, but they may not always meet the desired level of authenticity.
• In the future, AI image generation could enable hyper-customization of creatives for different audience segments, but there may also be concerns about privacy and over-customization.
• To start using AI image generation, it's important to have a baseline knowledge, work with people who understand AI, and provide detailed prompts and information.

Summary

In this episode, Joe Shelerud interviews Dan Brownsher from Channel Key. They discuss the current state of the e-commerce space, the challenges and opportunities for brands on platforms like Amazon, and the key factors that contribute to a brand's success. They emphasize the importance of high-quality products, brand building, and maximizing total lifetime value. They also highlight the need for brands to utilize upper funnel activities and measure them correctly.

Takeaways

• The e-commerce space is still relatively early in its growth, and there are opportunities for brands to succeed.
• High-quality products, brand building, and targeting the right audience are key factors for a brand's success on platforms like Amazon.
• Maximizing total lifetime value by driving repeat purchases or cross-selling is crucial for sustaining growth.
• Brands should consider utilizing upper funnel activities, such as streaming TV and video, to create brand awareness.
• Measuring the full funnel and understanding the contribution of each stage is important for effective advertising strategies.

Connect with Dan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dan-brownsher/

In this episode, Joe Shelerud is joined by Jack Lindberg from The Mars Agency to explore the intricacies of Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) and data clean rooms. They discuss the technical and analogical aspects of data clean rooms, highlighting their significance in maintaining privacy while sharing valuable data.

The conversation delves into use cases, including ASIN purchase overlap reports and insights into customer behavior after viewing ads.

Key Points:

• Understanding the concept of data clean rooms and their role in protecting privacy.
• AMC as a unique clean room where Amazon serves as both the host and data provider.
• Use cases of AMC, such as ASIN purchase overlap reports and insights into branded keywords.
• Challenges and opportunities in the evolving landscape of digital advertising, especially with the deprecation of cookies.
• Eligibility requirements for using AMC and the importance of SQL proficiency.
• Strategic and tactical actions advertisers can take based on AMC insights.
• Leveraging AMC audiences for enhanced targeting in Amazon DSP.

Guest:

Jack Lindberg - Director of Analytics at The Mars Agency

Joe Shelerud - CEO of Ad Advance and Host of the Ad Project Podcast

Catch All and Seeding strategies are simple hacks that we typically leverage in our advertising mix. The key reason we love these strategies is that they generate solid returns on ad spend and help discover long-tail targets when reviewing your search reports.

In today’s episode, Matt and I dived deep into these strategies and answered questions typically asked about campaign structure, results, and overall performance.   

Your key goal is not to just have good advertising metrics. It should be to have advertising that feeds into your entire business, driving solid overall sales and profitability metrics.

We had an amazing time with Mina in today's episode covering some of the core fundamentals sellers should be looking at when optimizing their campaigns. Being a seller himself, Mina shared scenarios that would typically arise when running ads, along with tips on how you can split test images, price, and optimize your ad strategy to meet your overall business goals.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mina.elias.7

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mina-elias-52313772/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/egyptian_prescription_elias/

Core fundamentals to consider when analyzing ad campaigns    [02:38]

Case study scenarios on ad optimization                                           [07:20]

How to tell if your advertising is working                                           [18:04]

We get asked countless of questions daily around budgeting and how to best allocate advertising spend. In today's episode, Matt and Joe answered these common questions while sharing scenarios to help add value to sellers, no matter their stage or size. 

What should you set for advertising budget? [01:52]

Setting budgets to maintain profit margins [05:12]

Setting budgets to cut ACoS [07:38]

Setting budgets for product launches [12:13]

How to allocate ad spend with a tight budget [15:59]

If you’re looking to keep your same ACoS and TACoS goals year over year, it will be very difficult to grow.

With Amazon getting more competitive driving up CPC, sellers will need to have an incremental change with their advertising goals.

In today’s episode, we’re joined by Lucas Kwiatkowski to dive into key reasons we’re seeing fluctuations with ACoS and TACoS. We also highlighted ways sellers can adjust their advertising goals to battle the changes with these metrics.

Lucas started managing PPC over 7 years ago and loved it from the start. He still enjoys diving deep into the advertising data for all of his accounts and usually comes up with advanced PPC topics not popular within the space. Lucas is very involved with all of his clients and takes a hands-on approach to managing their business growth. He spends a lot of time making YouTube videos to help smaller sellers master the art of PPC while also teaching them advanced tactics.

Website: www.amznomadz.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-kwiatkowski-0017

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV1Od62QQLo9nmNMysS6wiA

How changes with Amazon impacts TACoS           [02:03]

Key drivers behind fluctuations in TACoS              [03:45]

Analyzing TACoS                                                         [06:25]

Ad cannibalization                                                     [14:21]

Where has the most value for retargeting ads     [18:11]

Key drivers for long term growth                            [19:51]

Ways to battle high TACoS                                       [23:04]

Amazon is continuing to find a lot more ways to motivate sellers to drive traffic from off-channel onto their platform. With countless advertising channels in the space, one of the critical issues we face is tracking performance through all stages of the buyer's journey from multiple sources.

In today's episode, we're joined by one of our Account Execs, Josh, to really talk through Amazon Attribution and how brands can implement this into their strategy to measure consumer behavior from their off-Amazon marketing efforts.

What is Amazon attribution?      [01:46]

Amazon attribution metrics        [03:44]

Options within Amazon attribution [05:13]

Naming conventions and campaign structure [10:35]

How to segment ad campaigns within Amazon attribution [13:08]

Building a brand with Amazon attribution [15:47]

Having access to first-party data on customers' purchases can revolutionize your advertising strategy. For today's episode, we're excited to have advertising expert Vitalii Khyzhniak from Profit Whales join Joe Shelerud to discuss leveraging Amazon DSP data and building an advertising ecosystem.

Key Items Covered:

• Rules of thumb when getting started with DSP
• Allocating budgets between different ad types
• Using DSP analytics to supplement Sponsored Ads

Connect with Vitalii:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vitaliikhyzhniak/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/v.khyzhniak

Instagram URL: https://www.instagram.com/khyzhniak_

There have been quite some changes with Amazon Advertising this year. There were new targeting types, new ad types, changes in the user interface of the advertising dashboard, and much more. With all the new features, sellers and brands had more opportunities to leverage advertising and develop strategies to build a long-lasting brand.

In today's episode, Destaney and Joe touched on the major shifts that happened this year and how sellers can optimize their strategies to stay on up of their advertising in 2022.

Connect with Destaney:

Website: https://betterams.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIyDW8XfX2gTWFHK_otUwAw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destaney-wishon/ 

Connect directly with Joe:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joeshelerud/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shelerud

Intro [00:19]

How inventory changes affected Amazon advertising in 2021 [03:00]

Launch or ranking strategy in 2021 [08:09]

Ad types and strategies this year [09:55]

Competition in the ad space [14:25]

The rise in aggregators and its impact on advertising [16:52]

What to expect with advertising in 2022 [21:16]

How sellers can set themselves up for success in 2022 [25:59]

Advertising costs have been increasing on Amazon. Recent statistics have shown where Sponsored Products cost-per-click increased by 26%, Sponsored Brands increased by 21%, and Sponsored Display by 55%. There are many different factors contributing to the rise, and in today's episode, we dived into each of those factors. We also shared tips on how sellers can combat the increase in costs and remain competitive with Amazon advertising.

The last couple of weeks has been busy with Amazon advertising new features releases. We understand that it can be pretty difficult for sellers and advertisers to stay on top of all the new features, which is why we’ve decided to review the majority of the new features released in today’s episode. For each feature, Matt and Joe discussed the features use and how these can tie into your current advertising strategy.

Sponsored Products Rule Based Bidding                   [01:23]

Updated lookback windows for Sponsored Display audiences [09:17]

Forecasted impression share and impression rank for recommended keywords [11:56]

New sort by feature for recommended keywords [15:53]

Sponsored Brands bid optimization for new-to-brand customers       [16:21]

Automated Translation of Keywords [18:39]

Sponsored Display bidding updates   [22:20]

Amazon API support for Sweden [24:30]

With shoppers being more strategic on how they’re spreading their dollars this season, we are forced to revise our strategy to fully take advantage of the holiday period.

Utilizing retargeting ads to target shoppers browsing around your product listings can help recover missed opportunities. In today’s episode, Matt and Joe will share ways you can get started with retargeting ads and how you can implement this in your current strategy.

What is retargeting                [01:27]

How to use retargeting for missed opportunities [02:28]

Retargeting ads placements       [03:47]

Bidding with Sponsored Display retargeting ads [06:07]

Lookback windows when setting up retargeting campaigns [09:52]

Difference between Sponsored Display retargeting and DSP retargeting [13:34]

Join Matt and Joe in this insightful episode as they dissect the top trends, providing marketers and advertisers with a concise overview of the pivotal shifts defining digital advertising in 2024.

Key Highlights:

Retail Media Growth:

• Prediction of a surge in the importance of retail media within the advertising space.
• Examples of major players like Amazon, Walmart, and Target utilizing first-party data for precision advertising.

Streaming's Growth in 2024:

• Anticipation of significant growth in streaming and its consequential impact on the advertising landscape.
• Insights into the engagement potential of streaming compared to traditional linear TV.

AI Integration in Ad Exchanges:

• Speculation on the integration of advanced language models like ChatGPT in third-party data providers to ad exchanges.
• Discussion on the potential transformative impact on audience targeting and campaign personalization.

Listen to the full episode to stay ahead of the curve in this ever-changing landscape.

The key goal of brand building is to introduce shoppers who could

potentially be interested in your brand to learn more about your brand and

products. Over time, as you continue to work on brand building strategies, you

will see your branded search increase. This is a true indicator that these

higher funnel strategies work and can result in loyal customers with repeated

purchases over time.

In today’s episode, both Joe and Matt talked about the importance of brand

building and what sellers should be focusing on when building their brand. They

also dived deep into these upper funnel strategies, how to implement them and

what metrics to monitor when measuring their success.

There are a number of common Seller Central issues that Amazon sellers experience and dealing with Seller Support can be time-consuming. Working with an agency to help resolve these issues can help expedite the troubleshooting process, but there are a few things you can try on your own before asking for professional assistance. In today's episode, John Cavendish from Seller Candy joins us to talk through troubleshooting issues when selling on Amazon.

• Major issues that arise when selling on Amazon
• Ways to resolve listing suspensions
• Tips for cutting through Amazon's automated responses

John has a vast amount of experience owning and overseeing millions in sales on Amazon. This experience and managing his own brand led him to start a full-service Amazon agency, becoming a premier Amazon channel management provider for brands to scale fast while building a supportive team. John's deep understanding of the Amazon seller experience and platform led to developing Seller Candy's concept, providing the expert Virtual Assistant experience delivered as a service.

Agency website: Seller Candy www.sellercandy.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thejohncavendish/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jgcuk

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejohncavendish/

About Seller Candy [01:57]

Major issues to look out for as an Amazon seller [04:01]

Reasons for listing suspensions [05:01]

Ways to resolve listing suspensions [07:00]

Common issues sellers are facing today [08:50]

Tips for cutting through Amazon's automated responses [11:34]

How to build a virtual team as a seller [13:18]

Upcoming challenges for selling on Amazon [17:13]

When we look back at Q4 on Amazon over the last few years, there are a number of trends we see in regards to CPC, Traffic, Conversion Rate, ACoS and more.

Knowing what we know about Q4 and how things typically play out, how can we use this information to be proactive vs reactive with our strategy?

On this week's episode, Matt and Joe will tell you what they anticipate heading into the holiday season and how to take into account 2021 specific challenges, such as inventory, when building out and optimizing your campaigns.

In our final episode of our campaign strategy series, we're covering a number of campaign setups including but not limited to new product launch, ranking, conquesting and niche strategies like our catch-all and seeding campaigns.

Tony Miller, one of our in-house account executives, will provide actionable tips that you can apply to your own campaigns.

Connect with Ad Advance: www.adadvance.com

David Stickland, President of Franklin's Popcorn, joins us on this week's episode to talk through the art of creating positive customer experiences. Dave even calls out the lessons he's learned over the last year going from a big brand to going back to working on something very small, his approach to building their current brand, and remembering how to go back to basics.

Dave has been in the ecommerce space for the last 10 years working in online retail building great brands and companies with his friend and company founder, Tal Moore. Currently Dave is building Franklin's Popcorn, a gourmet popcorn company all about great movie theater popcorn at home. Last year Dave and Tal successfully sold their 8 figure brand, an outdoor security electronics company, Guardline.

Connect with Dave:

Website: www.franklinspopcorn.com

In our previous episode with guest Tony Miller, we walked through the nuts and bolts of how to set up your core campaign funnel structure.

This week we're taking things a step further. Now that you've got your base funnel structure built out with Sponsored Products, we talk through how to introduce other ad types to your funnel and unique strategies you can implement to take things to the next level.

A strong Amazon sponsored ads strategy starts with a solid foundation. In this episode you'll take away a handful of actionable tips to get your product specific campaigns in order, and a solid Brand and ASIN defense strategy lined out across your account.

Dayparting on Amazon is a fancy term for running your ads during specific times of the day, on a schedule. For example, if you have a limited budget, you might only want to run your ads during specific times you think there will be increased traffic.

In this episode, Abe Chomali joins us to talk through dayparting on Amazon, and if it's an efficient strategy you should be utilizing for your brand. If not, what other things can you be focusing on to optimize your campaigns that will make a much bigger impact in the long run? We cover all of this and more in this week's episode of The Ad Project podcast.

Connect with Abe:

Website: www.xpstrategy.com

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abechomali/

Facebook Profile: https://www.facebook.com/AbeChomali

Instagram: https: //www.instagram.com/xp.strategy

In this episode we are joined by Tony Miller, one of our awesome Account Executives here at Ad Advance, to talk through our staple campaign strategies and more specifically how to implement them in your account.

There are a lot of pieces we could break down, but in this episode specifically we’re going to focus on primary campaigns: how we group products together, what we use for bid types, how we determine match types, what placements to use, funnel structure and more.

In the next couple of episodes in this series, we will continue to break down our core campaign strategies and give you actionable tips to start utilizing them.  

Are you ready for Q4?

In this week's episode, we talk with Kris Gramlich and Dustin Kane of Sellozo to think through key advertising strategies and general things you should be thinking through as a seller heading into Amazon's most competitive season.

About Sellozo:

Sellozo offers an à la carte, comprehensive suite of intelligent tools for Amazon Sellers. We automate the tedious stuff, analyze a wealth of data, and package it all up into intuitive reporting and tools, powered by real data and backed by exceptional support, that Amazon Sellers need.

Sellozo’s core offering, Insights & Analytics with Financial Reporting, provide Amazon Sellers an enhanced and complete view of their sales and product data, paired with both organic and sponsored sales and performance data, in an easy-to-use, intuitive dashboard.

Our Ad Automation add-on tool provides an average 70% increase in return on ad spend by fully optimizing your Amazon Sponsored Product Listings, while lowering your wasted ad spend.

The Repricer add-on makes it possible to automatically adjust product prices, based on criteria you specify, to win and stay in the Buy Box.

Finally, our Support team, which is staffed by Amazon Sellers with years of selling experience, are here to help you with all things Amazon. We’re here for all our customers and offer extended, additional support options as well.

Connect with Sellozo:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sellozo/

Website: https://sellozo.com/

This episode is the second to come in our mini-series lining out Amazon advertising fundamentals.

Now that you've got your ad types and targeting types dialed in, how do you tie that to overall strategy?

In this episode we'll focus on our key campaign strategies including funnel strategy, primary campaigns, ranking campaigns, brand defense, ASIN defense, and a couple of backup's to earn extra brand visibility.

The next episode in this series will walk through how to structure your campaigns to implement all of the strategies we touched on today. Stay tuned!

In this episode of The Ad Project podcast, Joe Shelerud and Maarja Hewitt explore distinctive trends observed during the recent holiday season, comparing them to previous years. A significant focus is placed on the extension of holiday deals, as major retailers like Walmart and Amazon initiated Black Friday promotions as early as November. This departure from the conventional concentrated shopping period posed challenges for both consumers and advertisers.

Key Discussions:

Extended Holiday Deals: Joe and Maarja emphasize the shift towards a more prolonged holiday shopping season, highlighting major retailers extending Black Friday deals throughout November. The elongation of promotional periods introduces uncertainty for consumers, impacting their decision-making on the optimal time for purchases and challenging traditional peak shopping days.

Advertising Strategies and Consumer Behavior: The episode underscores the significance of adapting advertising strategies to align with evolving consumer behaviors. Joe and Maarja discuss the impact of early deals on the effectiveness of traditional peak shopping days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Additionally, they stress the need for advertisers to stay informed about seasonal trends, enabling them to proactively adjust bidding strategies and campaigns.

This episode emphasizes the importance of staying attuned to these evolving trends to optimize advertising strategies for future holiday seasons.

George Barnett Read worked with Amazon in the UK with some of their strategic sellers for a number of years before transitioning to the consultancy side about three years ago. He now helps brands with their advertising while also spending quite a bit of time educating through his content.

George strives to read, learn and consume as much information as possible that he can share with others, and be honest about what he's learning.

In this episode, George talks through the key areas where he feels sellers should be keeping their focus, the importance of brand building on Amazon, operations, the importance of strong product images, and more.

Connect with George:

Website: https://georges.blog/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgereid23/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/amazoncreatives

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/its-always-day-one/id1525163787

Back to the basics.

In this mini series, Matt and Joe will be covering the fundamental pieces you should to check and double check to make sure you're in good shape with your Amazon advertising heading into Q4 - Ad types, application, and optimization and strategies.

Today's episode will cover ad types on Amazon, where they show up, which ad types you should be using and how you can utilize them to work together.

Keep an eye out for the next episode in the series with Joe and Matt!

Dr. Florian Nottorf is co-founder and co-CEO of the ABOUT YOU subsidiary ADFERENCE, an AdTech specialist that develops innovative advertising technologies for Amazon and Google Ads. Before founding Adference at the beginning of 2014, the doctor of business informatics researched scientifically excellent methods in online marketing. At ADFERENCE, Florian leads an expert team of now over 60 employees. Florian is co-host of the weekly leading German Amazon Advertising Podcast 'Vitamin A - Deine Dosis Amazon PPC'.

 In this week’s episode of The Ad Project podcast, we cover all things bid optimization, and how it relates to structuring campaigns, conversion rate, keywords, new features on Amazon and the balance between software and hands-on management.

Jon Derkits of Forum Brands joins us on The Ad Project podcast this week to talk through his experience strategically purchasing and growing Amazon FBA brands. Jon personally has an impressive background working for Amazon directly, where he led the third-party marketplace for consumer electronics on the Amazon Canada side of the business. Features like north American remote fulfillment subscribe and save and seller fulfilled prime all came out of his team during his time at Amazon.

Jon notes that empowering Amazon brands to grow was probably the highlight of his time at Amazon. Now with Forum Brands, Jon still gets to engage with sellers, help them build, kick start the next chapter of their lives by taking their business off their hands and continuing their legacy.

How do people who are looking to potentially sell their brands really help to increase their valuation or help to set themselves apart? How do you figure out who to reach out to if you're looking to sell your brand? Tune in for answers to these questions and much more.

Myth or Fact? Amazon DSP is only a fit for sellers who aren’t already using another DSP, such as Google or Facebook.

There are a handful of common myths we hear about Amazon DSP time and time again. Being that Amazon DSP is such an incredible opportunity for most sellers, we thought it would be a good idea to dive into each of these misconceptions and give our perspective. Now is a great time to start with DSP, to do a lot of tests and trials and see what really works for your brand. Don’t let these myths stop you!

It’s the talk of the town about how competitive it is to sell on Amazon these days. It’s also no secret that as a seller you’ll need to implement strategies and take advantage of new features to stay on top. Amazon continually provides sellers with more and more tools to establish a brand presence and connect with their customers. In this episode, Destaney Wishon from Better AMS joins Joe Sheleurd to talk through ways sellers can create and build a brand on Amazon using new features such as Amazon posts and lives. With Amazon advertising costs increasing, we wanted to touch on other ways sellers can utilize these tools to help diversify their investment on Amazon. 

Website: https://betterams.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIyDW8XfX2gTWFHK_otUwAw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destaney-wishon/ 

Intro [00:20] 

Amazon posts and how to use them [03:07] 

Long term predictions with Amazon posts [10:52]

Highlighting Amazon new features [14:15] 

Future expectations with Amazon advertising trends [21:37] 

What should brands focus on for Q4? [27:24] 

Having been in the Amazon space for many years, we know first-hand how important it is to know what not to do in order to avoid wasted spend and time when managing your ads. Over time, we’ve found there are a handful of mistakes we see sellers make with their advertising strategy and optimization. In this episode, we call out the top 3 common mistakes we see sellers make, and how to mitigate or prevent them.

1. Overcomplicating things from the start
2. Underutilizing all the features with Amazon advertising
3. Focusing on a single metric versus bigger picture

Intro    [00:38]

Steps to avoid overcomplicating ads from the start   [01:37]

Leaving money on the table by underutilizing Amazon advertising features           [10:46]  

Why focusing on a single metric vs. bigger picture may not be the best way to go [17:28]

Amazon is a convenient platform that allows shoppers to quickly find what they're looking for. Ranking is a critical component to being successful on Amazon since products ranked higher in search results typically get the most sales. It’s in Amazon's best interest to show products in top placements that will likely convert. However, with competition growing daily, how can sellers improve their ranking and obtain a bigger piece of the pie?  In this episode, we cover the most common questions on improving Amazon ranking and how Amazon advertising ties into it all.

Intro                                        [00:19]

What is organic ranking?        [00:57]

Key components that can affect Amazon rankings    [01:49]

Does Amazon advertising really help to improve organic rankings?          [13:41]

How to set up campaigns in Amazon to help boost organic ranking       [17:06]

What are the best resources when optimizing product listings?                [23:14]

Outsourcing any part of your business can be an intimidating step, especially if you don’t know the key pieces to look for when searching for support. When looking to choose an agency to partner with for advertising management, there are several important factors to consider when choosing one that’s right for you (or not choosing one!). In this episode, both Matt Wiklund and Joe Shelerud give you the information you need to confidently delegate your advertising so you can get back to the pieces of your business only you can do. 

Common questions to ask when looking for Amazon PPC support [01:13] 

How to manage results expectations [08:12] 

Understanding account management [13:07] 

Understanding their management process [16:30] 

General pricing structure [22:19] 

Dive into the practical side of advertising metrics with Joe and Matt as they debunk the TACOS myth on The Ad Project. They cut through the noise to explore the limitations of TACOS and introduce a spread of alternative metrics—including Nachos, Chili, Guacamole, Tortas, Tortilla, Fajita, and Queso—each contributing a distinct perspective on advertising effectiveness.

Join Joe and Matt as they dissect these alternative metrics, breaking down their impact from the crispiness of Nachos to the heat of Fajita. This episode serves as a concise crash course in the everyday challenges of advertising analytics, offering practical insights to navigate the complex world of metrics.

Being a successful seller on Amazon goes far beyond having the best strategies or the highest bids. Your product listings should be calling out what your competition is not in order to set your products apart and connect with WHY your customers choose your brand.

In this episode, both Joe and Brian Johnson took a step back to discuss the importance of optimizing your listings and all the areas a seller should focus on to help improve their conversion rate by creating a unique position of value with their products.

 Brian R Johnson has helped over 20,000 brands succeed on Amazon through various advertising strategies and conversion rate optimization. He offers guidance to, and partners with, sellers through his online community, Amazon PPC Troubleshooting, as well as through coaching, software, training courses, and his flagship advertising agency, Canoy Management ( a multi-service, "done-for-you: Amazon agency).

Website: https://canopymanagement.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BrianRJohnsonOfficial/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianrjohnsonppc/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brianrjohnsonppc/

Intro [0:26]

The importance of optimizing your listing [02:49]

Tips for optimizing your product listing [05:28]

How to structure AB tests on Amazon [11:58]

Revamping product titles [19:13]

Other items to focus on when optimizing your listing [26:31]

Amazon seasonality is an incredibly important factor to consider when strategizing with your ads year over year, month over month, and even week by week. Understanding these trends will not only help you set realistic expectations, it will guide how you manage your ads overall. When you know there’s going to be a change in traffic or conversion rate, you can make proactive adjustments to your campaigns to capture higher purchase intent, generate more sales, or control your ACoS.

In this episode, we talk through increasing competition on the platform, overall trends with CPC and conversion rates, and the long-term challenges sellers face trying to set themselves apart using Amazon advertising.

Intro [00:32]

Consistent long-term trend [01:30]

Comparing results year over year [07:14]

General seasonality [10:44]

Day of the week trends [15:53]

Amazon TACoS is a metric that tends to be put on the backburner when it comes to measuring success on Amazon. But, why? Understanding what this metric means and using it to set big picture goals can significantly help sellers set themselves up for success.

 In this episode, Joe Shelerud and Lucas Kwiatkowski dive into TACoS, organic ranking, and how to properly prepare your brands for sale.

Lucas started managing PPC over 7 years ago and loved it from the start. He still enjoys diving deep into the advertising data for all of his accounts and usually comes up with advanced PPC topics not popular within the space. Lucas is very involved with all of his clients and takes a hands-on approach to managing their business growth. He spends a lot of time making YouTube videos to help smaller sellers master the art of PPC while also teaching them advanced tactics.

Website: www.amznomadz.com

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucas-kwiatkowski-0017

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCV1Od62QQLo9nmNMysS6wiA

Intro [0:28]

Understanding TACoS [02:46]

What TACoS target to shoot for? [05:18]

What to do if you’re already ranking at the top organically? [13:47]

Different types of ads management [17:33]

Key things to look at when preparing your brands for sale [22:10]

With only a few days to Prime Day 2021, most sellers would’ve already planned what deals they’re running, set up coupons, and had conversations with their advertising team. The summer months are usually low for traffic across all e-commerce platforms, as people are focused more on being outside, soaking up the warmer months. Amazon sees this as an excellent opportunity to bring attention back to their platform by offering skyrocket deals over two days. In this episode, both Matt Wiklund and Joe Shelerud recorded a live episode where they talked through strategies to ensure sellers set up themselves for success during the two-day event.

Main content covered in this episode:

• Lead-In to Prime Day
• CPC & Conversion Rate Trends
• Inventory & Product Mix
• Budget & Bid Adjustments
• Post-Prime Day Strategies

Intro [00:23]

Introduction on expectations around Prime Day [01:29]

Key metrics to watch on Prime Day [06:10]

Recommendations on how to make Prime Day a success [11:07]

Things to consider after Prime Day [18:52]

Q&A Session [24:32]

How do you scale your ads after getting past the initial phase of setting up your

campaigns manually? Like many sellers, you’ve probably heard a lot about bulk

files. As the next step to stepping up optimizing your campaigns, we recommend

utilizing bulk files. Bulk files help with making manual moves within your

campaigns much easier while staying organized. It also allows you to analyze

your entire advertising account in one spreadsheet, saving busy

sellers/advertisers a lot of time. In today’s episode, Joe Shelerud is joined

by Elizabeth Greene from Junglr to discuss the benefits and tips when using bulk files.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-greene-junglr/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/elizabeth.olsongreene/

Website: https://www.junglr.com/

Intro                         [00:26]

Where should advertisers start when using bulk sheets?       [03:28]

Benefits for using bulk files               [05:04]

Tips on how to use bulk files for Amazon ads management [08:23]

Using bulk files vs. automation software                            [14:06]

Keyword research and bulk files                                          [19:44]

The Amazon advertising sphere is constantly changing, and as Amazon advertising experts, we have to stay up to date so we can steer the ship in the right direction for our clients. Whether this includes changes to the reporting or targeting different audience types, being on top of these new features is key to setting yourself apart. Liran Hirschkorn and Joe Shelerud dedicated this entire episode to discussing the newest features Amazon has rolled out and how to utilize them.

LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liranhirschkorn/

Facebook Profile: www.facebook.com/lhirschkorn

Facebook Group: www.facebook.com/groups/ecommercemindsetgroup

Instagram Profile: https://www.instagram.com/liranhirschkorn/

Website: www.Incrementumdigital.com

Introductions [00:22] 

The rise of video ads [02:32] 

Sponsored Display audience targeting ads [13:44] 

Sponsored Display targeting past purchasers [23:01] 

What to expect with Amazon DSP [25:24] 

Tips on how to send traffic to your Amazon storefront [30:32] 

Where is Amazon Advertising going? [34:14] 

According to Amazon, 64% of customers go through multiple channels before making a purchase, and only 4% of shoppers instantly make a purchase.

Amazon DSP allows shoppers to take full advantage of the advanced audience targeting tactics to assist shoppers in moving from consideration to conversions.

In this episode, Matt and Joe speak to all the different audiences and strategies available with Amazon DSP, their key benefits, and their position in the funnel. After listening to today's episode, you will understand the vast potential of stacking audiences with DSP and how you might be able to utilize these concepts with products of your own.

Intro on DSP strategies [00:20]

ASIN repurchases audience strategy [01:53]

Cross purchases                      [06:20]

ASIN retargeting        [09:00]

Competitor retargeting           [12:16]

Pixel targeting [16:55]

Hashed Audience        [19:52]

Competitor Purchases [22:51]

In-market and Lifestyle targeting       [25:24] 

Sponsored Display is a self-serviced ad type, while DSP is a managed-service ad type by either Amazon or third-party agencies.

Bottom of the funnel strategies with Sponsored Display ads includes retargeting, display views, and product targeting strategies.

Sponsored Display audience targeting is a more top-of-funnel strategy that can be stacked on your already working bottom-of-the-funnel strategies to help you get the most out of your Sponsored Display ads.

Top of funnel strategies are not ACoS, and ROAS focused. Instead, sellers should focus on traffic-oriented metrics like detailed page views, sessions, click-throughs, and new-to-brand metrics.  

The top benefit to Sponsored Display ads over DSP is instant accessibility to every brand registered seller.

DSP allows for an extensive range of customization, not allowed with Sponsored Display ads, and can be accessible to sellers through third-party agencies like Ad Advance.

With all the new features Amazon has rolled out with Sponsored Display ads, one of the major questions we get asked is, “Do we still need DSP?” Sponsored Display vs. DSP ads continues to be a trending topic with so many similarities yet vast differences between the two. In this episode, Matt and Joe talk through the two ad types and highlight the best strategies and metrics to track for each.

Sponsored Display New Features       [0:53]

Key metrics to monitor                       [03:51]

Differences and Overlapping between Sponsored Display and DSP             [07:31]

Audience Targeting: How to implement Sponsored Display categories          [16:16]

As a seller, it's critical to get your products directly in front of your audience. Surprisingly, many sellers still depend solely on Amazon's organic traffic. If you're looking to take things to the next level, ad optimization and external traffic can really level up your advertising game.  

In this episode, Joe Shelerud and Victor Dwyer, an Entrepreneur, Marketer, Amazon & Advertising specialist, talk through tips and strategies for Amazon Sponsored Display ads, how sellers can drive external traffic to their listings, iOS privacy updates, and Amazon attribution. 

As the Amazon world becomes more competitive, sellers must stay in the know and find more ways to get ahead. Driving external traffic allows you to gain additional customers, build organic rankings, and much more. You'll also get the inside scoop on external traffic and how to use these findings to optimize all advertising campaigns to boost overall sales. 

Introduction to Victor Dwyer [00:59]  

Overview on Sponsored Display Ads  [01:38]  

What is Amazon Attribution  [05:30]  

How privacy changes on iOS affects conversion tracking and Amazon attribution [08:32] 

How Amazon sellers can generate external traffic to their listings  [19:22] 

Amazon DSP (demand-side platform) is the new frontier of Amazon Advertising. For every seller, the key strategy is to get your Amazon Sponsored Ads nailed with an excellent optimization strategy and a well-defined funnel. Once you have your Amazon Sponsored Ads well lined out, Amazon DSP is a great next step. Currently, there are a ton of opportunities within the Amazon DSP world, as it’s an underutilized ad type with less competition than your typical Sponsored Ads.  

 In this episode, we shared a brief overview of what is Amazon DSP and a few key things you can take advantage of.

Summary

In this episode, Joe Shelerud interviews Dave Katz from Amazon Ads. Dave is a marketing technology strategist at Amazon Ads. He guides developers, product teams, and data practitioners to build scalable and effective technology. He has over 15 years of experience in the advertising technology industry working on both the buy and sell sides. As a former marketing analyst, Dave led the adoption of full-funnel attribution analytics for multiple large consumer and business brands.

Key discussions in this episode include the evolution of the digital advertising space, the impact of privacy changes on advertising, and the shift towards first-party data and retail media. They also explore unique ad placements on Amazon-owned properties and the power of Amazon Marketing Cloud. The conversation highlights the focus on customization and democratization of technology, as well as the continuous improvement and customer focus at Amazon Ads.

Takeaways

• The digital advertising space has evolved from ad networks to real-time bidding and demand-side platforms, with a focus on performance metrics and optimization.
• Privacy changes, such as the removal of cookies, require advertisers to find alternative ways to measure and optimize their campaigns.
• First-party data and retail media are becoming increasingly important in the digital advertising landscape, allowing advertisers to target relevant audiences and measure the impact of their advertising.
• Amazon offers unique ad placements on its owned properties, such as streaming services and Twitch, providing advertisers with access to a diverse and engaged audience.
• Amazon Marketing Cloud is a powerful tool that allows advertisers to analyze and measure the impact of their advertising across Amazon's platforms.
• The focus at Amazon Ads is on customization and democratization of technology, allowing advertisers to build unique capabilities and optimize their campaigns.
• Continuous improvement and a customer-centric approach are key principles at Amazon Ads, with a focus on gathering feedback and iterating on products and features.

Overview

In this episode, Joe and Amazon advertising industry leader Destaney Wishon speak about the many creative opportunities within Seller Central, and the newest, shiniest features of Amazon DSP that allow you to put your best branding foot forward.  

Between SB Video ads, store spotlight ads, brand defense strategies and best practices to secure the best organic ranking, we’ll share tips on how to stand out from the crowd and make a lasting impact with your Amazon advertising. 

Connect with Destaney:  

Website: https://betterams.com/ 

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIyDW8XfX2gTWFHK_otUwAw 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/destaney-wishon/ 

Episode Highlights

Destaney Wishon Intro [00:47]

Why Establish a Brand on Amazon? [01:40]

Sponsored Brands Video [02:50]

Sponsored Brands Store Spotlight [09:16]

Custom Image – Headline Search Ads [11:46]

Brand Defense [13:21]

Conversion Rate & Ranking [20:20]

Amazon DSP Opportunities [23:12]

• It’s a huge advantage for sellers to get on top of Amazon’s new features early. Not only will you beat the competition but getting in early usually results in favorable CPCs and/or winning top placements. 
• Amazon continues to add new targeting methods, new ways to bid, and new ways to reach different audiences. 
• New features always provide better ways for sellers and advertisers to gain more control of their ads. 
• Sellers and advertisers should always assess how a new feature will impact strategy and audience. 
• Not all of Amazon’s new features will be widely communicated. Sellers need to pay close attention to their ad consoles for updates. 
• If you don’t see incredible results right out of the gate, don’t give up on the new feature. Always test these new features repeatedly since Amazon is continuously fine-tuning these tools. 

Ever wonder what the future of Amazon advertising looks like? If you’re a seller or an advertiser from 2014, you know first-hand that the Amazon advertising we know today is nothing like a few years ago or even a few months ago. The advertising world is ever-changing, and we wanted to do a walk-through of Amazon’s journey in this episode, to help highlight some of the ways we can take advantage of them. 

Recap of Ad Advance Story  [01:40] 

Key thing sellers must do as Amazon evolves  [04:16] 

Where was Amazon Advertising in 2014  [05:11] 

The next major ad type after Sponsored Products  [06:56] 

How Sponsored Product Ads developed  [09:02] 

The Evolution of Sponsored Display  [13:39] 

Developments with Sponsored Brands  [17:17] 

Amazon Sponsored Products is definitely the goldmine to any advertising strategy. While there are many different ways Sponsored ad campaigns can be structured, there are a few key strategies we encourage sellers to implement to get the most out of their ads. In this episode, both Joe and Steven Pope (MyAmazonGuy) dived into these strategies, including auto campaigns and whether everyone should run them, keyword isolation, and takeaways for new product launches. 

Steven even shared how a product he launched recently selling up to 1000 units per month with ads one day got banned from Amazon advertising. He expressed how this was quite frustrating after trying numerous methods, including entirely redoing the copy on his listing, closing his listing, and talking with Amazon daily. During the period where he's no longer able to run ads, almost overnight, his sales were cut in half, and then over time, he lost ranking from being the number 1 seller for his main keyword to ranking at #20.  

Whether you're a new or seasoned seller, covering the most important aspects of advertising is proven to be crucial and essential to your journey and success on Amazon. 

Website: https://myamazonguy.com/  

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UClUSEsDS2sdgNJfCcCM_5Uw 

Intro..  

Should you run auto campaigns? [03:36]  

Breakdown on keyword isolation in Sponsored Products Campaign [06:10]  

Keyword Research for new product launches [09:59]  

Steven’s story on how PPC helps with SEO/Ranking [11:29]  

Steven’s approach to launching new products [19:59]  

Amazon advertising for new product launches and how to measure success? [23:01]