Amazon Display (DSP) Strategies

Before we dive into programmatic strategies that you can use on the self-service platform, It’s important to understand the basics of the Amazon’s Display (DSP) network. If you are new to display or Amazon DSP, be sure to check out our article on the fundamentals of Amazon Demand-side Platform (DSP). In this article, we are going to go over the strategies you can use to position your ads and messaging to get the results you want.

Customer’s Journey

On Amazon’s display network shoppers are found in different stages of the customer journey thanks to Amazon’s plethora of user shopping data. To reach a brand’s ideal audience, whether that be on or off of Amazon, it is important to use the tools and targeting most appropriate for where your customers are on their journey. You’ll need to know the stages of the customer decision journey to better understand customer insights.

Above is a basic diagram that outlines the customer journey as a funnel as well as the different targeting we can use to reach these shoppers. We will dive into each of these touch points and provide the different targeting methods we can use through Amazon Display.

We have two basic strategies we can leverage on DSP when considering a media buy. This would be a Brand Awareness strategy or a Sales Driven strategy. Both have their advantages.

• A Brand Awareness strategy (Upper Funnel) focuses on exposure metrics. These ad buys are for customers that want to expose a larger audience. We judge performance based on impressions, click-throughs and Detail Page Views (DPV)
• A Sales Driven strategy (Bottom Funnel) is focused on Return on Ad Spend (ROAS). These ad buys focus on retargeting potential customers, re-marketing to existing customers, and targeting in-market customers. We judge performance based on ROAS

DSP Awareness Strategy

In the awareness stage, advertisers can drive the long-term demand by reaching shoppers who have yet to engage a category. The opportunity is to showcase a solution to a problem they’ve yet to discover. In this stage, the strategy is to drive the discovery of products and own top of mind before shoppers begin to research a category. The breakdown of audiences on the network is as follows:

• Lifestyle – By leveraging lifestyle audiences, advertisers can reach an audience that regularly purchases certain products, or products within a category, and might be interested in a new offering
• In-market – Advertisers can connect with audiences in-market for items or services in adjacent aisles to drive brand awareness and consideration
• Lookalike – Advertisers can build a lookalike audience off of existing audiences, from either their own audiences or Amazon audiences, to reach new those with similar shopping behaviors
• Demographic – Using demographic parameters, advertisers can drive brand awareness from an audience who they feel will most resonate with their brand

DSP Consideration Strategy

In the consideration stage, advertisers can generate short-term demand by reaching shoppers who are considering a solution to a problem but have not been exposed to your brand. The opportunity is to reach a very relevant audience who is active in the category. By providing the right context and positioning of your product you will have an opportunity to be a consideration in that customer’s journey. The breakdown of the audiences on the network is as follows:

• In-market – By leveraging audiences in-market for a given product or category, advertisers can reach audiences likely to take action or make a purchase
• Contextual – Advertisers can use contextual audiences to drive consideration for their brand from those actively looking at competitive offerings within the category
• Re-marketing – To re-engage audiences that have already expressed interest in another brand’s similar offering, advertisers can utilize Amazon re-marketing audiences based on similar product views

DSP Purchase Strategy

In the purchase stage, advertisers can generate existing demand for their brand or competitor brands in that category. If a shopper has engaged your brand or a direct competitors brand we have the ability to engage high-intent audiences with our advertisement with the goal of an immediate purchase. The breakdown of the audiences on the network is as follows:

• Amazon Re-marketing Audiences – Using re-marketing audiences, advertisers selling on Amazon can reconnect with an audience that viewed or purchased either a promoted product or any product offered by their brand
• Advertiser Audiences – Advertisers can capture the existing demand shown off of Amazon by re-marketing to audiences via their own advertiser hashed audience, users who have visited their website via a pixel, or from their DMP’s audiences

DSP Loyalty Strategy

In the loyalty stage, advertisers can re-market to a brand’s existing audiences. Re-engaging existing customers who chose to shop on Amazon can drive loyalty from existing customers. We have the ability to target customers up to 365 days since making a purchase. This strategy can be used for repurchases, new products, line extensions, or updates to existing lines. The breakdown of the audiences on the network is as follows:

• Amazon Re-marketing – Advertisers can leverage Amazon re-marketing audiences based on brand or product purchases to reach existing audiences that have made purchases on Amazon
• Advertiser Audiences – Advertisers can leverage their own audiences via a pixel, hashed audience, or DMP to drive discovery and re-purchase from those who may be interested in additional related offerings

Conclusion

These are the basic strategies you should consider when creating your audiences and putting together your line items. Our recommendation is to incorporate a bit of each of the strategies by focusing heavily on the overall goals of your display network. For example, when we run Amazon Display ads with a sales-driven strategy focusing on ROAS. We will take 70% of our budget and push the bottom of the funnel marketing i.e. purchase and loyalty strategy. We will take the remaining budget and push consideration and awareness so we have a somewhat balanced strategy that supports experimentation.

If you are considering an Amazon Display (DSP) strategy but, you are unsure where to get started; Submit your email address on our contact us page for a free consultation. We are happy to provide guidance as you launch your display campaigns.

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