EP 20: How Does Creative Impact Your Ad Performance with Nate and Hector

It used to be that having the right keywords and launch strategy was enough on Amazon.   As the Amazon marketplace matures, creative work plays a bigger and bigger role in the success of product launches and overall advertising performance.  Cyndi interviews Nate and Hector of Marketplace Blueprint on how they integrate creative optimization to improve overall ad performance. 

Cyndi Thomason - Bookskeep.com
Nate Johnson - Marketplaceblueprint.com
Hector - MarketplaceBlueprint.com

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2:40 - How to determine if a product needs new creative work? We look at the detail page and Unit/Session percentage, similar to the conversion rate.  

3:50 Marketplace Blueprint’s process to get started with creative work. We look at existing copy looking for keywords in use, product features, and selling points, making sure it follows amazon’s preferred structure and is written with easy-to-understand language. We then move to keyword research to ensure the product is listed for the keywords relevant to its type. We always optimize for mobile, create infographics and add as many pictures and videos about the product as we have available.

6:00 Is there a significant difference between mobile and browser traffic to amazon? At least 50% of traffic comes from mobile, but it varies for each product. This data is found in the business reports on every seller account.

7:44 Which metrics are monitored to make sure a product succeeds? Unit/Session percentage is important, as well as all advertising data such as conversion rate, ACOS, impression, clicks, Click Through Rate, etc. When advertising relevant keywords to a product, but these are not converting, we look at the creative side and detail page to try to identify why the product is not converting. There is a science but also an art to this.

10:55 Does overhauling a listing means changing the direction of the ads? Not necessarily unless the product itself is changing the segment of consumers.

13:25 Do you think brand owners know their target audience or do you need to show them? Initially, they know their target audience, which is the basic starting point. Down the road, content and optimization happen based on data and research.

 15:00 Who would be ready to become a client of Marketplace Blueprint? We usually take clients with existing sales because we like to make data-based decisions. New product launches tend to be the most complicated, especially if they are new to the category; products with no existing traffic take the longest to pick up because they need to go through all stages from awareness to conversion. This is a great example of why Amazon is different from Google; people don’t search for solutions to problems on Amazon but search for the product they want to purchase.

17:00 how to evaluate if your products are a good fit for Amazon. We would look at their product group and use tools to evaluate the search volume of their top keywords. We look at the competitive landscape to evaluate whether they are a good fit.

19:40 What is the relationship between inventory levels and advertising spending? Having good communication between inventory levels and advertising is essential. Amazon will continue to advertise products in transit, and delivery times are often affected by inventory levels which directly impact conversion rates and drive up advertising costs.

25:00 How did the pandemic affect the advertising on amazon? We didn’t see any direct changes to the advertising side. Amazon is very restrictive of the content they allow and are protective of un-sustained claims.

26.40 Are you seeing any trends that are happening in the business? Not really, we have clients in different industries