Admittedly that’s an ambitious title.  How would one even define “mastery” of Amazon Sponsored Ads?  Running ads is almost like playing a sport — say, football — and while one can win individual games, ultimate mastery of an entire sport is an elusive concept.  One can always get better, but how do you define a master? In this same way the mastery of Amazon Sponsored Ads is a bit like the mastery of football; there is no definite ceiling.

A better mantra might be “Always improving”, and here at ManageByStats we see it as our purpose to help you do exactly that.

Let’s first take a look at the beast we’re out to master.

The Rise Of Amazon

Amazon Sponsored Ads have been coming on strong.  Over the last year in particular Amazon has been refining their service, adding more and more users to it and now, at the time of this writing, most every Amazon seller is using Sponsored Ads to some greater or lesser degree.

In fact, Amazon’s dominance is spreading, and as the #1 platform for online retail that dominance is beginning to impact other major internet players — Google and Facebook chief among them.  Although the two giants continue to grow, they’re predicted to capture just 48% of new digital ad dollars in 2018, versus the 73% of new dollars their digital duopoly claimed in 2016. Amazon is creating this impact.

What’s most interesting is that Amazon is winning the game by winning in its own little universe, a universe that it created.  You wouldn’t be wrong to call Amazon an internet within the internet. A universe that’s so pervasive it accounts for a large enough degree of search volume for Amazon to be challenging the two most dominant global internet ads companies.  Testament to the statement “Everyone shops on Amazon”.

On the flip side of that, and more to the point of the game we’re playing, more and more people sell there as well.

A Captive Audience

Shoppers aren’t the only ones living and breathing in the Amazon universe.  Millions (yes millions) of third-party sellers occupy that space, and while many of them also sell elsewhere, Amazon is the bread and butter for most.

For Sellers, then, Amazon is the perfect setup.  At least as far as marketing. Shoppers do browse on Amazon, but in nearly every case they’re there for one thing: To find the item they came to buy and buy it.  They’ve already made up their mind to purchase “Item X”. They want it, they came to Amazon to find it and to get it.

This makes marketing, as a concept, much easier in the Amazon universe.

Rather than spending a lot of effort to woo customers and convince them they want your product (as you need to do elsewhere), on Amazon you just need to come up when people are looking for that item.  They already want it, now they’re just out to find it. In other words, if you have Item X, all you need to do is be the listing that ranks highest for the keywords they use to search. They’re there to buy.  They just need to find you.

Simple, right?

The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Amazon Sponsored Ads are at once simple enough, at least in concept, while bringing with them a whole, unique set of challenges.

• The Good = as stated, the front-end of marketing is streamlined on Amazon.  Customers are already there to buy, you just need to rank for the search words that will lead them to your product.
• The Bad = knowing what keywords to rank for, how much to bid and other factors can get daunting fast, especially with multiple products.
• The Ugly = okay, not exactly ugly, but it can feel like it.  Fact is, everyone in your space, all your competitors, are vying for those same conversions.

That simple concept gets complicated in a hurry.

What it if there were a tool to help make this a whole lot easier?

Help Is Here

ManageByStats has been developing a tool for this very purpose, and if you’re already using ManageByStats to manage your Amazon business, it’s available now.  Designed to automate tasks that otherwise take up valuable time, as well as adding features that give you oversight and insight in ways never before available, the Amazon Advertising Manager is here to help.

Manage your campaigns effectively, with full control and easy views from the big-picture down to detailed specifics, with additional tools and features you don’t find in the Amazon interface.  See what’s going on, where you’re succeeding, where you’re struggling, and make the changes you need to drive your sales.

And what if there were training?

MBS University

Turns out ManageByStats offers training too.  In fact, our premier course is on this very subject:

How To Become An Amazon Sponsored Ads Pro!

Sounds a bit like the title of this post.  Over the course of 27 videos we take you from amateur to pro, with guidance from an expert in Amazon PPC.  That knowledge, paired with the new Advertising tool, should give you what you need to achieve true mastery.

 

Conclusion

As an advertiser on Amazon you enjoy a captive audience, while at the same time being in the midst of what is perhaps the most competitive bid and ranking system there is.

Becoming a master in that environment becomes easier with a little help, and ManageByStats is here with the tools and the training you need.

All the best,

The ManageByStats Team

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#AmazonTraining