What is the difference between Amazon’s DSP and Sponsored Ads?
Amazon has two types of advertising solutions that registered Amazon sellers can use to promote their products or services. The go-to advertising solution from Amazon is their Advertising Console. Within this, there are 3 different types of advertising:
- Sponsored Products
- Sponsored Brands
- Sponsored Display (similar to the Amazon DSP advertising solution)
These 3 advertising solutions are primarily used by sellers using seller central and vendor central accounts. This is entirely different from Amazon’s DSP demand-side platform. It is more similar to other demand-side platforms such as Facebook and YouTube. This standalone product allows advertisers to use 3rd party websites, video, and Twitch (Twitch advertising is only available through Amazon's DSP) for those of you interested.
Why would you use Amazon’s DSP?
If you’re looking to reach different audiences at various stages of their journey then this is for you. You’ll have the tools and advertising platforms to reach shoppers through the following stages:
- Awareness
- Consideration
- Purchase Intent
- Purchase Experience
- Purchase
Amazon has a lot of data, this data can then be used to accurately target shoppers precisely at each stage of their shopping journey. With this in mind, the way in which you can target people differs greatly. Amazon calls it their ‘Inventory’ and these are your options to choose from when looking to set up advertising campaigns:
Amazon Owned & Operated - These are websites and Apps that Amazon has control of which are exclusive to the DSP and not accessible through any other platforms. This does include Amazon’s retail websites including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, and so on. Furthermore, Amazon owns IMBD another large website to leverage.
Amazon Publisher Services - Highly rated websites that are owned by leading publishers known as Amazon Publishers Services. These placements go to the highest bidder alongside additional checks and verifications on what your ad consists of and how its going to be shown.
Third-Party Exchanges - Sites that are not owned or operated by Amazon but are connected to popular ad exchanges that are also used on other demand-side platforms such as Google Authorized Buyers.
Depending on your desired marketing goals will determine which inventory source you will choose.
Where do my ads appear?
Programmatic advertising is buying and selling of digital advertising inventory. This is space given to ads on any given website. You’ll be able to choose video ads, audio ads, and on-page banner placements. These placements will be featured on Amazon Music, Amazon’s online store, and Twitch to name a few (there are plenty more for you to choose from).
A common question we get asked is “How do we advertise on Twitch?” or “How can we advertise on Amazon Fire TV?” And to answer that question: “You can only advertise on Amazon O&O inventory through Amazon's Demand Side Platform.”
Amazon Music: Build awareness through audio ads, and insert timed audio promotions.
Twitch, Freevee, and Fire TV: Display your video either before or in the middle of streamed media content.
Amazon Online Store: Display creatives directly on Amazon.co.uk in unique placements only accessible through Amazon DSP.
How do I set up Amazon DSP campaigns?
This is open to all, even if you're not selling products on Amazon, you have the ability to advertise directly on Amazon and link back to your eCommerce site or landing page.
There are two options for you to consider. One is self-service where you create the ads. The other is a managed service where Amazon creates the ads for you. There are costs involved for both options:
- Self-service Amazon DSP access (minimum ad spend) $12,000 per month
- Managed Amazon DSP service (minimum ad spend) $35,000 - $50,000 per month
These options are open to any advertiser. You don't have to have a Seller Central or Vendor Central account to run ads through Amazon's Demand Side Platform.
The self-service option requires additional certification and legwork to set up - it’s not a case of just opening an account and away you go. A DSP specialist is required, someone who knows exactly what to do and where to allocate your budget.
An Amazon-managed service is also a good option if your marketing budget allows it. It's important to remember that using a DSP advertising solution is always based on how much money you’ll make, and what impact your ads have by looking at impressions.
DSP Considerations
Be aware your $12,000 marketing budget could be eaten away on impressions only, increasing your product/brand awareness as opposed to Sponsored Ads where you’re looking to make a conversion.
DSP is very much a Brand awareness module which won;t have a direct ROI measurement often. You should see indirect value but may not always be able to directly colorate the spend to the sale.
Measuring campaign performance can be done with the DSP and is very detailed and in-depth. There are standard industry-led metrics alongside Amazon-proprietary metrics such as detail page view rate (DPVR), add-to-list (ATL) counts, and new-to-brand (NTB) metrics. These all provide you with important metrics against your desired marketing goals.
To summarise
Amazon's DSP and Amazon's Sponsored Ads are completely different, providing different marketing solutions to advertisers. It is vital that an experienced Amazon DSP specialist plans and executes your marketing strategy to ensure budgets are spread in the right areas.
With proper planning and specific goals, Amazon's DSP is a great platform to help reach audiences that aren't available using Amazon Sponsored Ads. Here at eManaged, we can help achieve your marketing goals using advertising solutions.
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