Click-through rates are one of the most insightful metrics that every Amazon seller should be familiar with and monitor.
A seller’s click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who view his or her product on search results pages that end up clicking onto their Amazon product detail page.
Click-through rate can be used to gauge how well a seller’s PPC ads, keywords and organic listings are performing.
CTR can be expressed as the total number of clicks an ad gets, divided by the total number of impressions (clicks ÷ impressions = CTR).
Sellers who proactively implement strategies to increase their click-through rates on Amazon can realize both higher sales and profits, as a high click-through rate can result in higher conversion rates, as well as lower Ad Spend.
A high CTR sends more traffic to a seller’s listing and therefore offers more opportunities for sales. It suggests how strong their product offering is (price, value, trustworthiness, etc.).
Click-through rates can reveal to sellers at a glance whether they are targeting the right audiences by showing them which Ads are attracting more clicks.
A high CTR indicates that their ads are relevant to online shoppers’ searches and that they have chosen the right keywords. On the other hand, sellers that have low CTRs should reexamine their keywords and test new ones.
A good click-through rate is generally considered to be anything over 0.5%, while a CTR rate of 0.3% or lower is a sign that the ad campaign needs attention. It is possible for Amazon ad campaigns to achieve CTRs as high as 2% to 3% utilizing careful marketing strategies.
The Amazon PPC ad type (Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display) used by a seller affects the click-through rate.
In general, Sponsored Products Ads have a higher CTR than Sponsored Brands Ads, and they in turn, usually produce higher click-through rates than Sponsored Display Ads.
Automatic Sponsored Products campaigns target ads to relevant online shoppers' search terms. They help to find the right keywords to run successful manual campaigns.
Pro Tip: Let these automatic campaigns run for two to four weeks before analyzing them, then take a look at your search terms with the highest click-through rates to use in manual Sponsored Products campaigns.
Bonus Tip : In your Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands ad campaigns, make sure that you are focusing on the most relevant keywords for your products. Narrowly focused keywords can help your ads align with online shopper’s searches more effectively to improve your click-through rate.
By analyzing which keywords receive high impressions and few clicks, you can deduce that these keywords may be too generic and not targeted enough to an appropriate audience. Pause these campaigns and bid on more specific keywords that drive quality traffic to your listings.
While low CTR means either a seller’s product offering isn’t compelling to the online shopper, or it’s not relevant to what they are looking for, it can also be caused by another major reason…Ad position.
Ad position may possibly be the most important factor affecting a seller's click-through rate. It's a matter of online shoppers' behavior. Customers almost always click on the ads located at the top of the page. Those sellers with ads located near the bottom of the page will generally have poorer click-through rates than those near the top, or mid-page.
Typically, Exact Match delivers a stronger click-through rate than Phrase Match or Modified Broad and Broad Match types.
Exact Match targets highly relevant keywords, Phrase Match uses relevant keywords, but Amazon may use similar versions of those relevant keywords.
With Broad Match, the online shopper's search terms can contain your keyword or synonyms in any order and has the widest reach of any match type. However, this gives you the least amount of relevancy, diving your CTR down.
Pro Tip : For relevant keywords with low click-through rates in Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns add these keywords in Exact or Phrase Match to drive more qualified traffic to your ads.
Bonus Tip : Consider pausing Broad Match keywords with low click-through rates and applying Exact and Phrase matches to the keywords most relevant to your products.
Online shoppers who are familiar with and like a seller’s brand are much more likely to click on one of their ads, which helps increase the seller’s overall click-through rate.
A higher click-through rate often indicates that a seller's ad is relevant to online shoppers. Targeting relevant keywords helps to increase click-through rates.
The most relevant keywords for any seller are their Branded keywords. Branded keywords are the search terms that include your brand or company name. Branded keywords tend to have the highest click-through rate percentage, followed by Highly Targeted keywords, and Discovery keywords.
Targeting Matters – what a seller targets with Product Targeting also influences their CTR percentage. Targeting your own Brand ASINs promotes a higher click-through rate, as does targeting Converted ASINs (found in Search Term reports), Refined ASINs/Categories, and Research ASINs/Categories to a lesser extent.
Customer Buying Cycle Matters – Sellers targeting shoppers during the Post Purchase phase of the Customer Buying Cycle should experience a high click-through rate because these targeted individuals are already familiar with their brand/products and trust them. Likewise, during the Decision phase, when online shoppers are primed to buy, the click-through rate will be high.
During the Consideration phase, the click-through rate will be lower than in the Post Purchase and Decision phases. The Discovery/Awareness phase will have the lowest click-through rate because these online shoppers are least familiar with a seller's brand and products at this stage.
Everything that an online shopper sees at first glance can impact the click-through rate percentage. Sellers who wish to increase their CTR percentage, should seek to improve the following areas:
Title – narrowly focused keywords in your product title help your ads match online shoppers' searches and can increase your CTR percentage. Also, be sure to indicate how the product will benefit or solve a specific problem for those people who purchase it in the title.
Pro Tip: Take time to identify which keywords get high impressions but few clicks. This will tell you which keywords are too generic for your title.
Image – Images that highlight the product and look appealing to a shopper always invite more clicks than a product ad with poor-quality images. Your main image should accentuate all of your product’s features and show good detail so that online shoppers are not left asking questions. If possible, your image should tell a story and build an emotional connection (as long as the image follows Amazon image guidelines).
A professional looking image increases your product’s perceived value and instills confidence in the consumer for your brand’s quality. A high quality, descriptive picture also entices buyers to click and learn more about your product.
Badges/Coupons – Coupons that offer a good discount and badges like ‘Amazon’s choice’, ‘Best Seller’ will catch the attention of online shoppers, influencing them to click on a product that is accompanied by them.
Reviews – An online shopper will undoubtedly click on a product that has several reviews over a product with few or no reviews. How many reviews a product has is important, and the more it has, the better the click-through rate will be.
Price - Price is a major factor for driving clicks to your listing or for driving clicks away. Online shoppers are drawn to click on a lower priced product that ranks next to your higher priced product. Price your products competitively. The goal is to have a price that will turn a click into a purchase.
Pro Tip: Don't reduce the listing's price without considering the profit margins, sourcing price, etc., just because your competitor has a lower price. When this occurs, implement other strategies that will help ensure that you get the most clicks possible.
Build Awareness - Raising awareness about your products and brand helps to build a relationship between your products/brand and consumers' perception of them. Brand advertising is key to building trust and emotional connections with consumers, which is vital for any seller looking to improve their CTRs through advertising.
Grab Real estate - "Swarming" your competition by utilizing the different types of Amazon advertising available, will help you to show up in as many locations on the results page as possible. The more real estate taken by your ads, the better the likelihood online shoppers will click on your ad, which fosters better click-through rates.
Custom images/Copy/Compelling video - Delivering your brand’s messaging and convincing online shoppers to buy your products through a compelling video shown on the search results allows you to take up more real estate on the search results page and can lead to a boost in your click-through rates and sales.
Adding custom image creatives to your Sponsored Brands ads, help to make your ads more likely to engage online shoppers browsing on Amazon, causing your CTRs to improve. This could be achieved with as little as your smartphone.
Creating a listing that is compelling, unique, and persuasive is the easiest way to help increase your CTR percentage and increase your conversions.
Build an army of relevant ads based on search terms – Create ads that contain long tail search terms that are specific to what online shoppers are looking for. When shoppers search for a particular product, they are more likely to click on a product that matches the intent of the search term entered by them, helping to increase click-through rates.
Incorporating these tactics to improve click-through rates enables you to drive more relevant shoppers to view your listings. By optimizing your click-through rate by campaign, your ads will become more relevant to each shopper’s search query, which can help to an increase in conversions, allowing you to see the direct impact of ads on your overall business.
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