Sponsored Brand video is the most recent ad type that displays more prominently in search results than traditional Sponsored Brand ads. It was originally rolled out through a beta program and is available to all brands now. Also since January, these ads are serving on both – desktop and mobile devices.
It’s also a self-service option, as opposed to Video in Search (which must be done through an Amazon sales representative), and ads are simple to set up through the Sponsored Ads creative builder. With the strategic support, Sponsored Video ads can drive conversions and capitalize on the 64% of shoppers that purchase after watching branded videos.
Unlike other Sponsored Brand ads, SBVideo lets you feature only one ASIN, so keep that in mind when creating your video – it should be relevant to the product. After you choose your ASIN you’ll be able to upload the video.
Our suggestions and Amazon’s requirements for video are as follows:
- Know your audience. Quality Sponsored Brand video ads catch the attention of shoppers and influence them to want to learn more. For this reason, it’s crucial for brands to understand their audience when creating ads. But, regardless of a brand’s audience, Sponsored Brand videos should always include educational information and answer common questions. This type of content can help shoppers to make a purchase decision more quickly by providing information typically reserved for the product detail page.
- Keep your video brief and relevant (6-45 sec allowed). 15-30 seconds is the optimal video length. Limit your content to important selling points to limit confusion and communicate a clear message.
- Ad auto-plays without sound and runs inline in the search results with no option for full-screen viewing. This is an important point to remember when you create your video. Optimize it accordingly: make it viewable without sound and make sure any assets or on-screen text is readable on all devices.
- Loop the video. Remember that the video will loop once it ends. You can either add an end card to give the viewer time to breathe or make it a seamless transition back to the beginning of the video.
- Show your product. Research by Amazon shows that videos that feature the product in the first few seconds typically perform much better than those that don’t. Eliminate wasteful effects like fading in from black or empty starting frames.
- Lastly, do not skimp on your video. Invest wisely in a good videographer who has experience creating videos for advertising. If your budget allows for it, create 2-3 versions of an ad for the same product so you can A/B test and see what performs best.
After your video is uploaded, you can select keywords the same way you do for Sponsored Products and Brand ads. Keep these keywords highly relevant to your product so you don’t show up in unrelated searches.
Since Sponsored Brand Video ads are relatively new, there is currently limited competition in many categories. This means agile brands have the opportunity to take advantage of and potentially earn an impressive return on campaigns. Depending on your category and whether or not competitors are already using this ad type, CPC (cost per click) could be extremely low, or very high. We’ve seen a wide range. But what has been really notable is CTR (click-through-rate). CTR is normally in the 0.1-0.6% range for ads like Sponsored Products, while SBVideo has consistently had a CTR of 1-4%!
Who will benefit the most? Video has been highly successful in other ad platforms like Facebook and early results on Amazon are very promising. But for those single-product-brands it’s just a golden opportunity. As you know if a brand doesn’t have at least 3 products its regular SB ad won’t get a place on top of the search, only small banners in the bottom. So they can’t benefit from the regular SB campaign to the fullest. But with SBVideo campaigns, they have a chance to get a prominent place on a search results page.
Here at Bellavix we look forward to the development of this new advertising option and the success it will bring our clients. Don’t let the opportunity pass you by – schedule a free consultation.
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