Selling on Amazon today means using its advertising platform. It’s a fundamental part of the business. Amazon provides a full suite of different ad types, each designed to connect with shoppers at different stages of their buying journey, from initial discovery to the final click on “Add to Cart.”
Understanding these tools is critical. Amazon’s global ad revenue is projected to reach $56.2 billion by the end of 2024, highlighting its importance for sellers. Mastering the different Amazon ad types is how you turn ad spend into a profitable investment.
This guide will break down the three main categories:
- Sponsored Products: Your primary tool for driving sales and improving organic rank.
- Sponsored Brands: Ideal for building brand awareness and showcasing your product line.
- Display & Audio Ads: Effective for retargeting shoppers both on and off Amazon.
Amazon Ad Types
Amazon offers multiple ad types, and each one serves a different purpose in how shoppers discover your products. Three (03) main formats include:
- Amazon Sponsored Products
- Amazon Sponsored Brands
- Amazon Sponsored Display
1. Amazon Sponsored Products
This is the most common ad type on Amazon. Sponsored Products are the workhorse for most sellers, promoting individual product listings directly in high-traffic areas. They are designed to blend in with organic search results, making them highly effective at capturing the attention of shoppers ready to buy.
A. Where They Appear
You’ll find Sponsored Products ads in the most valuable spots on Amazon:
- Search Results: They appear at the top, middle, and bottom of the search results page, often indistinguishable from organic listings except for a small “Sponsored” tag.
- Product Detail Pages: They also appear on competitor product pages in carousels like “Products related to this item” or “4 stars and above,” offering a chance to capture traffic directly from another brand.
B- Targeting Options
Sponsored Products offer two main targeting methods:
- Automatic Targeting: Amazon’s algorithm automatically matches your ad to relevant customer searches based on your product listing’s content. You can refine this using four sub-options:
- Close Match: Shows your ad for searches very similar to your product.
- Loose Match: Targets broader, loosely related searches.
- Substitutes: Places your ad in front of shoppers viewing competing products.
- Complements: Displays your ad to customers viewing items that go well with yours (e.g., coffee filters for a coffee maker).
Manual Keyword Targeting: You choose the specific keywords or products to target, giving you greater control over your ad spend.
- Match Types: You can use Broad, Phrase, and Exact match types to refine how your ads are triggered by search terms.
- Product Targeting (ASIN): This allows you to target specific competitor ASINs or entire product categories, like “men’s trail running shoes.”
C- Sponsored Products Ads Strategy
- Run SP Exact, Broad and Phrase for top 10-15 top relevant keywords. This ensures you cover your most important search terms with different levels of precision.
- Run an Automatic campaign to discover new keywords, then move the winners to a Manual campaign. An Auto campaign is your research tool; it provides a report of the exact customer search terms that are converting into sales.
- Use Product Targeting to place your cheaper/better product directly on a competitor’s expensive product page to steal their traffic. This is a powerful way to win over customers at the point of decision.
- Use Exact Match on your top 10-15 keywords with a high bid to force your product to the top of search results and boost organic ranking over time.
2. Sponsored Brands & Video Ads
These ads feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and multiple products. This category also includes Sponsored Brands Video, which is one of the most engaging ad formats available. Amazon Sponsored Brands are about building recognition and telling a larger brand story. You must be enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry to use them.
A. Where They Appear
Sponsored Brands occupy some of the most visible placements on Amazon:
- Top of Search: The wide banner that appears across the very top of the search results page is prime real estate.
- Within Search Results (Video): A video ad auto-plays (muted) in the middle of search results, instantly grabbing attention because it’s the only moving element on the page.
- Footer/Sidebar: These ads also appear at the bottom of search results or in the left-hand column on desktop.
B. Targeting Options
The targeting options are similar to Sponsored Products but serve a broader brand-building goal.
- Keyword Targeting: Bidding on search terms relevant to your brand and products.
- Product Targeting: Placing your brand banner on specific competitor product pages or within related categories.
- Category Targeting: Showing your ads to shoppers browsing entire categories related to what you sell.
C. Sponsored Brands Strategy
Effective use of Sponsored Brands involves controlling the customer journey.
- Use Sponsored Brands Video to show a 15-second demo of your product. Video ads have the highest click-through rate (CTR) because they stand out on a static page.
- Link your Headline Search Ad directly to your Amazon Storefront, not a single product page. This creates a competitor-free shopping environment and can increase the average order value as customers browse your full catalog.
- Bid on your own Brand Name to ensure no competitors can place a banner ad above your products when customers search for you specifically.
3. Amazon Sponsored Display Ads
This category of Amazon ad types is focused on reach. It includes Sponsored Display, Streaming TV, and Audio Ads, which are designed to re-engage past shoppers and find new audiences both on and off Amazon. Instead of waiting for a customer to search, these ads proactively find them based on their shopping behavior and interests.
A. Where They Appear
These ad formats follow customers throughout their day.
- Sponsored Display:
- On-Amazon: Appears directly under the “Add to Cart” button (Buy Box), on checkout pages, and on the Amazon homepage.
- Off-Amazon: Follows shoppers to third-party websites and apps (like Twitch or news sites) to retarget them back to your Amazon listing.
- Streaming TV (OTT): Full-screen, unskippable commercials on platforms like Freevee, Amazon Prime Live Sports, and Fire TV apps.
- Audio Ads: 10-30 second audio slots on the free tier of Amazon Music and through Alexa-enabled devices like the Echo.
B. Targeting Options
Targeting here shifts from keywords to people and audiences.
- Contextual Targeting (Display): Place your ads next to specific products or within categories that are similar or complementary to yours.
- Audiences / Remarketing (Display):
- Views Remarketing: Target people who viewed your product detail page but didn’t buy.
- Purchases Remarketing: Re-engage past customers to drive repeat purchases or introduce new products.
- Demographic & Lifestyle (TV & Audio): Target audiences based on their household interests, such as “Pet Owners,” “Tech Enthusiasts,” or “New Parents.”
C. Sponsored Display Ads Strategy
Display and Audio ads are about building your brand and re-engaging interested shoppers.
- Use Sponsored Display (Views Remarketing) to follow shoppers who looked at your listing and “haunt” them on other websites until they come back and buy. A shopper who sees a retargeting ad is 70% more likely to convert.
- Cross-Selling (Display): Target your own product pages with a different accessory you sell (e.g., advertise your socks on your own shoe listing). This protects your ad space from competitors and can increase average order value.
- Brand Lift (TV & Audio): Use Streaming TV and Audio not for immediate clicks, but to introduce a new product launch to a massive audience during peak times like Prime Day. This generates search volume that your other campaigns can then capture.
How Different Ads Work Together to Drive Sales
Each ad type plays a specific role. A successful strategy combines them to guide a customer from awareness to purchase.
- Sponsored Products: For Sales & Ranking. Use these as your foundation to drive conversions and improve your product’s visibility in search results.
- Sponsored Brands (Video): For Awareness & Education. Use these to tell your brand story and show customers why your products are the right choice.
- Display/Audio/TV: For Retargeting & Off-Amazon Targeting. Use these to re-engage shoppers who have already shown interest and to find new audiences across the web.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the three main types of Amazon ads?
Amazon offers three primary ad categories, each designed for a specific stage of the customer journey:
- Sponsored Products: The most common format, promoting individual listings in search results to drive sales and organic ranking.
- Sponsored Brands: Features your logo, headline, and multiple products to build brand awareness (requires Brand Registry).
- Sponsored Display: Focuses on retargeting and reaching audiences both on and off Amazon.
How does Amazon automatic targeting work?
In Automatic Targeting, Amazon’s algorithm matches your ad to customer searches based on your listing’s content. You can refine this using four match types:
- Close Match: Searches similar to your product.
- Loose Match: Broader, related searches.
- Substitutes: Targeting shoppers viewing competing products.
- Complements: Targeting shoppers viewing items that pair with yours.
Does Amazon advertising help organic ranking?
Yes. Using Sponsored Products is a primary tool for improving organic rank. By using Manual Keyword Targeting with “Exact Match” on your top 10-15 keywords, you can force your product to the top of search results. The sales generated from these ads signal relevance to Amazon, boosting your organic ranking for those specific terms over time.
What is the difference between Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands?
Sponsored Products appear directly in search results and look like organic listings; they are the “workhorse” for driving immediate conversions. Sponsored Brands appear at the very top of search results as a banner or video. Unlike Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands require Amazon Brand Registry and are designed to tell a brand story rather than just sell a single item.
How do I target competitors on Amazon?
You can target competitors using Product Targeting (ASIN) within Sponsored Products or Sponsored Brands. This strategy allows you to place your ad directly on a competitor’s product detail page. The guide suggests targeting competitor pages where your product is cheaper or better to win over customers at the point of decision.
What are Amazon Sponsored Display ads used for?
Sponsored Display ads are designed for reach and re-engagement. They utilize Views Remarketing to target shoppers who viewed your detail page but didn’t buy, following them on-Amazon (under the “Add to Cart” button) and off-Amazon (on third-party apps and websites) to bring them back to your listing.
How effective are Amazon video ads?
Sponsored Brands Video ads are among the most engaging formats available. They appear in the middle of search results and auto-play (muted), making them the only moving element on the page. This high visibility typically results in the highest click-through rate (CTR) compared to static ads.
