Amazon PPC - Grow Brand Impression Share Explained (Sponsored Brands)

Amazon PPC: Grow Your Brand Impression Share with Sponsored Brands (Simple Guide)

Hey everyone! Ever wonder how to get your brand noticed by more shoppers on Amazon?

If you're an Amazon seller looking to build brand awareness, then this article is for you!

I recently chatted with Szymon Sekski, the founder and CEO of AMZ Guardian, on my YouTube channel.

We dove deep into a powerful new feature within Amazon PPC called "Grow Brand Impression Share" specifically for Sponsored Brands.

It's like a secret weapon for getting your brand out there, and I'm excited to share all the juicy details with you.

Read my chat with Szymon to learn how this new feature works and how you can leverage it to boost your brand visibility on Amazon!

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Vova: Hey everyone!

Today, we're gonna dive deep into a brand new feature within the world of Amazon PPC: Grow Brand Impression Share.

We'll be taking a step-by-step look at how to access it, understand what it does, and explore how it can potentially supercharge your Amazon PPC efforts.

Let's hope this translates into even more success for your Amazon business!

Joining me today is Szymon, the Founder and CEO of AMZ Guardian.

Their team is known for helping sellers with seven and eight-figure businesses unlock the full potential of Amazon PPC.

They handle their PPC campaigns entirely, taking the reins and running them for maximum efficiency.

If you fall into this category, I'm adding a button below that will let you schedule a free consultation with Szymon to see if his services are a good fit for your business.

Book a 45-Minute Free Consultation with AMZ Guardian

But don't worry if you're a smaller seller just starting out!

I've got tons of free resources available on my channel, designed to help you improve your Amazon PPC results and grow your business.

Access My Playlist of Amazon PPC Tutorials Now!

And hey, maybe one day you'll reach that seven-figure mark and need some expert PPC help – that's where Szymon comes in!

So, Szymon, welcome back to the channel! We're excited to have you here today.

Szymon: Thanks Vova! I'm really excited to talk about this brand new feature in Amazon's Sponsored Brands program.

Being in beta testing, it's not available to everyone yet, but Amazon is rolling it out to a select group of accounts.

Luckily, we have access to it in a few of our accounts, and the one I'm gonna use today is among them!

In today's article, we'll be diving deep into the Grow Brand Impression Share feature.

We'll explain what it does, how to use it, and the potential benefits it offers.

We'll also cover some important things to avoid to make sure you don't waste money or run into any issues while using it.

So, buckle up – this is a new and exciting development in the world of Amazon PPC!

Vova: Excellent! So, Szymon, let's jump right in.

How do we actually find this "Grow Brand Impression Share" feature?

Walking us through the steps to access it will be a great first place to start.

Then, we can explore its functionalities and see it in action.

Szymon: Alright, let's take a look!

Here on the screen, you see one of our Amazon Seller accounts.

Finding the "Grow Brand Impression Share" feature is pretty straightforward.

Whenever you're setting up a new campaign in Seller Central, you'll see a button called "Create Campaign."

Clicking that button brings you to a screen with three campaign types: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display.

Today, we'll focus on Sponsored Brands.

So, I'll go ahead and click on "Continue" to create a sponsored brand campaign.

Here's a closer look!

As you can see on the screen, it seems similar to the campaign creation process within Seller Central.

Everything looks the same except for a new addition – the "Goals" section.

Traditionally, Sponsored Brand campaigns have operated on a cost per click (CPC) model, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.

However, with the introduction of the "Grow Brand Impression Share" feature, things get interesting!

Selecting this option switches your campaign to a cost per thousand viewable impressions (VCPM) model.

In simpler terms, you'll be charged based on the number of times your ad is shown, rather than the number of clicks it receives.

For those familiar with Sponsored Display ads, the VCPM model might seem like old news.

It's been around in that campaign type for a while now.

But its arrival in Sponsored Brands is a fresh development!

Another interesting point to note is the "Bidding" feature.

When you have the campaign set to "Drive Page Views" with CPC, you see a Bidding section on the screen.

However, that disappears when you switch to the VCPM option. 

This new VCPM model in Sponsored Brands is quite different from the traditional CPC approach.

Previously, you had a feature called "Top of Search Adjustment."

This allowed you to prioritize your ad placement by bidding lower for positions other than the top of the search results.

Basically, it was like you were willing to pay Amazon a bit less to show your ad at the top of the search results.

However, with the VCPM model, this feature disappears.

That's because Sponsored Brand ads have a limited number of potential placements to begin with.

Under the CPC model, you could make a top-of-search adjustment, such as decreasing bids by 30% for placements other than the top of search.

This allowed you to prioritize appearing at the top of search results.

With the VCPM model, this feature is no longer available. However, it's not a major drawback since there aren't that many spots your ad can appear in anyway.

That's one of the key differences between these two campaign goals.

Here's another key difference to consider!

Traditionally, Sponsored Brands campaigns have allowed you to target specific keywords.

This means if you've identified keywords where your products perform well in Sponsored Products campaigns, you can "graduate" those keywords to Sponsored Brands and target them directly.

This lets you focus your ad on searches containing those specific keywords.

On the other hand, Sponsored Display campaigns function differently.

Targeting in Sponsored Display relies on ASINs.

So, you can target your own ASINs as well as those of your competitors.

Since Sponsored Display placements often show up on product pages, this targeting approach makes perfect sense.

The exciting part about the new VCPM model in Sponsored Brands is that it now allows your ads to appear on the search page based on relevant keywords – similar to how Sponsored Products campaigns work.

This is a significant shift from the ASIN-based targeting of Sponsored Display.

Now, before we move on, I want to highlight something important.

I'm switching to a different account that we manage to show you some real-world results with VCPM in Sponsored Display (remember, this is not Sponsored Brands yet).

The purpose is to demonstrate how effective this strategy can be.

So, here's what we achieved in the last 30 days: over $52,000 in sales with a fantastic 2.8% Advertising Cost of Sale (ACOS).

These impressive results were achieved from using VCPM in Sponsored Display with an offensive strategy.

We specifically targeted competitor ASINs to reach new potential customers who might be interested in similar products.

This approach aims to expand your reach and capture a wider audience.

By contrast, in a defense strategy, you wouldn't typically target your own ASINs in Sponsored Display campaigns.

The logic is simple: someone already browsing your product page is likely considering a purchase anyway, so there's no need to pay for that impression.

However, with Sponsored Brands and the new VCPM model, things shift a bit.

Here, the focus is on targeting relevant keywords, similar to Sponsored Products campaigns.

This means your Sponsored Brand ads will appear on search pages based on those keywords, potentially reaching a different audience compared to Sponsored Display placements.

Vova: I had a question, Szymon.

Since we're now using a VCPM model, it means we pay whenever someone sees our ad.

But unlike the previous click-based system, there's no bidding option displayed here.

So, how exactly do we determine the cost?

Szymon: That's a key point, Vova.

With VCPM, you're right – we pay whenever someone sees our ad, regardless of whether they click on it.

This differs from the previous click-based system.

The downside is that you might pay for impressions even if someone doesn't notice your ad at the bottom of the page.

However, there's a silver lining!

While bidding isn't displayed directly here, the concept still applies.

Amazon uses an automated bidding system that takes several factors into account, including the specific product, its category, and current advertising trends.

This system calculates the most suitable cost for each impression based on the likelihood of it leading to a sale (conversion potential).

For example, look at the screenshot below where Amazon has suggested bids.

In the first case, they're suggesting a cost of $105 for a thousand impressions, which translates to roughly 10 cents per view.

Again, it's important to remember that this feature is still in beta testing.

As with most new features rolled out by Amazon, there's always a learning curve.

The initial suggested bids might not be optimal, and they'll likely be adjusted over the coming weeks and months as Amazon gathers more data. 

So, it's best to approach VCPM with a cautious optimism, understanding that there's still a learning curve involved.

If any of our viewers or readers have already experimented with VCPM for Sponsored Brands, we'd love to hear your feedback in the video comments!

Your experiences and insights will be valuable to the community.

Now, let's take a closer look at placements, which refers to where your ads appear on Amazon.

There's a clear distinction between Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display in this regard.

Take a look at these placements on the screen.

So, this is a product page, (I apologize though if it happens to be your product…)!

We can see the clear difference between where Sponsored Display and Sponsored Brands ads appear.

Sponsored Display ads can show up in various locations throughout a product page.

Scroll down a bit, and you'll see some highlighted sections – those are Sponsored Display placements.

They can appear in multiple areas, including below product descriptions or even next to videos (although the video itself wouldn't be part of the ad).

Now, if we move down the page further, you might see a carousel of similar products.

That section is actually a Sponsored Products ad, not Sponsored Display.

Finally, near the bottom of the page, you'll see a branded area showcasing a different product from the same brand.

That's a Sponsored Brand ad.

This is typically one of the few placements for Sponsored Brands on a product page itself.

If we scroll down even further, you'll see more Sponsored Display placements.

As you can see, product pages tend to be dominated by Sponsored Display ads.

Here's another example of a Sponsored Display ad on the page.

Now, let's switch to a search page.

Sponsored Brand ads typically appear at the top of search results, making them very prominent.

This is the prime position where potential customers will see them first.

As you scroll down the search page, you might see Sponsored Display ads on the side.

Sometimes, a Sponsored Brand video ad might appear in the middle of the page.

Scrolling further down, you'll see more Sponsored Display placements on the side.

In some cases, there might even be another Sponsored Brand ad towards the bottom of the search page, but in this example, the page is dominated by Sponsored Display ads.

So, what's exciting about the new VCPM feature for Sponsored Brands is that it allows your ads to appear in these premium placements, particularly the top of search results which traditionally offer high visibility.

Vova: That's interesting!

So, with VCPM, it sounds like you can potentially pay very little per impression, if I'm understanding this correctly?

Szymon: Exactly, Vova. That's the potential right now, at least in theory.

We're certainly excited to see how this plays out in practice.

I'll share more content and results as we gather more data on VCPM performance in the future.

Vova: Perfect! And for all those reading, don't forget to check out AMZ Guardian, Szymon's agency. If you're a larger seller, maybe doing seven or eight figures in sales and you'd like to hand off your PPC management, then AMZ Guardian can help!

I've snagged a chance for you to book a 45-minute free consultation with Szymon to see if he's a good fit for your needs.

So. don't miss out!

Book a 45-Minute Free Consultation with AMZ Guardian

This content is especially useful for those of you who are newer sellers, maybe in the four to six-figure range and just starting out with Amazon PPC.

Hopefully, as your business grows, you'll reach a point where you might consider outsourcing your PPC management – and that's where Szymon and AMZ Guardian can step in!

As I mentioned earlier, I have a playlist of video guides that includes more of Szymon's Amazon PPC tutorials.

It's all meant to help you improve your results and achieve your business goals on Amazon. 

Access My Playlist of Amazon PPC Tutorials Now!

Now, is there anything else you'd like to add to wrap up the topic, Szymon?

Szymon: That sounds like a perfect wrap-up, Vova.

We'll save the rest of the discussion for another day.

Vova: Excellent! Thanks again, Szymon, and thanks to everyone for joining us today. We hope you have a productive day ahead!

Szymon: Thanks everyone, and happy selling!

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The Final Click

So, we've reached the end of the article on Sponsored Brands and growing your brand impression share on Amazon.

Here's a quick recap:

1. We learned about the new VCPM option for Sponsored Brands, which means you pay per thousand impressions your ad receives, instead of just per click.

2. This lets your ads appear in more prominent placements, potentially reaching a wider audience.

3. It's still early days for VCPM, so the ideal cost per impression is being figured out, but there's a chance it could be a cost-effective way to get your brand seen by more shoppers.

Until next time.

Best,

Vova :)