In Part 3 of our series on How to be More Efficient with Your Ad Spend, you’ll discover… the BEST Amazon Ad Strategies for the Customer Buying Cycle.
Before diving into these new strategies, it’s a good idea to review Parts 1 & 2 of this series.
Part 1 covers… Are You Spending Too Much on Ads? (Managing Amazon Ad Spending).
Part 2 provides… 9 Proven Budgeting Tips to Get to Most Out of Amazon Advertising.
You should be familiar with the different stages of the customer buying cycle. This allows you to set up your ad spend budget with maximum efficiency based upon which part of the cycle your potential customer is in.
The Stages of the Customer Buying Cycle…
- Awareness / Discovery Phase – seller raises the awareness of potential customers of the existence of a problem that they may or may not know pertains to them. Ad dollars are used to target relevant audiences (sometimes wider), and then drive traffic to a solution. This solution consists of a product or line of products that solve the stated problem.
Strategy 1: How to Efficiently Budget for the Awareness / Discovery Phase.
Allocate a percentage of your total ad spend budget (20% to 25%), to target relevant audiences…those mostly likely to purchase your products.
It’s important to set a budget so that the majority of your ad spend isn’t used on unproven audiences (no track record of interest in your products.)
Start by identifying the keywords, ASINs and categories that work well for your products.
Set up Awareness/Discovery campaigns. These campaigns will ‘fuel’ the different campaigns that address the other segments of the CBC (customer buying cycle).
Next, set an ACoS Target. This is a key step because without doing so, you run the risk of having your allocated ad spend budget eaten away quickly.
Go for an ACoS Target of 100% or less. The average range usually falls between 50% to 60%.
- Consideration Phase – occurs when online shoppers are comparing your product(s) to your competitor’s. They are evaluating alternative solutions. Consideration is given to features, stated benefits, price point, reviews etc..
Strategy 2: How to Efficiently Budget for the Consideration Phase.
The goal is to place your ad front and center before online shoppers who are considering your products. You want to help online shoppers to consider your products over those of your competition.
Use an appropriate percentage of your total budget to highlight the advantages that your product(s) have over your competitors.
Identify the search terms, ASINs and categories that have converted well (generated 3 to 10 orders).
Create ad campaigns (Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsor Display) based upon keywords and ASINs in order to ‘cast a wide net’ during the Consideration Phase.
Category campaigns (with refinements), should be designed based upon your competitive advantages. The goal is to highlight advantages such as a lower price point, high star ratings, or a large number of positive reviews to “ethically steal” sales from your competitors.
An efficient budget allocation should be 25% to 40% of your total ad spend budget.
Also, set an ACoS Target no more than 60% as a rule.
- The Decision Phase – It’s purchasing time when a shopper has determined what they want. During the Decision Phase, the focus is now on the keywords and ASINs that are highly relevant to what your potential customer wants.
Strategy 3: How to Efficiently Budget for the Decision Phase.
Determine which keywords and ASINs are high impact (generate 10 or more profitable orders).
You’ll want to pursue them aggressively during this phase of the CBC, using a higher portion of your ad spend budget. They are statistically shown to deliver sales and are within your desired ACoS.
- Post- Purchase Phase – online shoppers have previously purchased your products and are searching for your brand inside of Amazon.
Strategy 4: How to Efficiently Budget for the Post-Purchase Phase.
The goal is to keep your customers returning to purchase from your brand and to reduce the likelihood that they will ‘stray’ to purchase from your competitors.
Make sure you protect your brand against your competitors possibly being shown beneath your brand name because they are advertising your brand name.
These protection types of campaigns generally have a low ACoS and should be done somewhat aggressively. Use Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display ads to do this.
Every seller’s goal should be to go after the most relevant audiences for their products in the most efficient ways possible. Knowing how to be more efficient with your ad spend is a great start.
The ultimate achievement occurs when your brand becomes a household name.
At PPC Entourage, we help turn average sellers into powerful brands through our intelligent seller tools (free trials), smarter ad management, and easy to understand data.
Think about the dreams that you have for the success of your Amazon business.
What will achieving the financial and personal freedom you desire mean to you and your loved ones?
Discover how our team can help turn your dreams into your personal reality.
