Advocacy campaigns, with brand keywords on Amazon
Very few vendors take advantage of an ASIN advocacy and cross-promotion strategy. In this post you will see why use it.
Alexis Montañes 3 min read
Table of contents
Most of Amazon’s ad impressions come from product pages, however, very few sellers leverage an ASIN defense/cross-promotion strategy.
1. ASIN advocacy with Sponsored Products
Creating advocacy campaigns with spondored products and cross-promotion is fairly straightforward, as you have a list of predetermined targets. Here are some different ad group strategies we can choose from:
Focus on all products
Usually you bid less than in other ad groups. There are many product page placements, so it can help to fill more of the carousel with our own branding. If the products are very similar, this may be the only ad group needed.
Main product focus
Top products with high ratings. Strong offers with good conversion rates. The goal is to put top products in front of shoppers who won’t engage with weaker offers, while displacing competitors with strong offers.
Substitution approach
This will be our strategy when we have enough different ads for one type of product. Direct substitutes perform better than more diverse cross-category ads/targets.
Complementary approach
We use this strategy to complement substitute products. It is usually used when there are not many substitutes and it is not possible to fill the cart with products of the same category.
2. ASIN advocacy with Sponsored DisplaySponsored Display
A great opportunity that most marketers miss is to leverage Sponsored Display’s product segmentation for ASIN defense/cross-promotion. Because SD placements are so prominent, conversion rates are extremely high. As an added bonus, there are not as many marketers leveraging Sponsored Display, so the CPC is usually lower than other ads.
Leveraging sponsored display for cross-promotion is relatively straightforward: We mirror Sponsored Products campaigns. Doing so provides two benefits: 1. Ease of creation - we have already designed Sponsored Products campaigns, so we reuse the same structure; 2. Data integration - when SP and SD campaigns, ad groups, ads and objectives are aligned, performance can be evaluated (combine data to make better decisions).
3. ASIN advocacy with Sponsored Brands
There are fewer Sponsored Brands product targeting positions than Sponsored Products, but Sponsored Brands cross-promotional campaigns still tend to perform well. As with Sponsored Ads, we have found that fewer marketers and agencies are taking advantage of Sponsored Brands product targeting.
The most successful Sponsored Brands product placement appears under the heading “Brands related to this category on Amazon” on product pages. It is recommended to leverage stores rather than product collection landing pages for cross-promotion, as stores allow for more exclusive content that helps convert users into buyers.
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FAQ: ASIN Advocacy and Cross-Promotion
What is ASIN advocacy/cross-promotion on Amazon?
It’s a strategy of running ads on your own or related product pages to defend against competitor ads and cross-sell within your own catalog, using a predetermined list of target ASINs. Most of Amazon’s ad impressions come from product pages, yet very few sellers actively leverage this defense.
What’s the difference between the “main product focus” and “substitution” ad group strategies?
Main product focus targets top-rated, high-converting products to capture shoppers who wouldn’t engage with weaker offers while displacing competitors. The substitution approach instead targets one type of product with several direct substitute ads, since direct substitutes convert better than more diverse cross-category targets.
Why use Sponsored Display for ASIN defense instead of just Sponsored Products?
Sponsored Display placements are prominent, which drives extremely high conversion rates, and because fewer marketers leverage SD for cross-promotion, its CPC tends to be lower. Mirroring your existing Sponsored Products structure also makes it easy to set up and lets you combine data across both ad types for better decisions.
Where does the most effective Sponsored Brands cross-promotion placement appear?
The most successful placement is the “Brands related to this category on Amazon” section shown on product pages. Sponsored Brands has fewer targeting positions than Sponsored Products, but campaigns placed here still tend to perform well.
Should I use a product collection page or a Store for Sponsored Brands cross-promotion?
Stores are recommended over product collection landing pages because they allow for more exclusive, brand-specific content that helps convert visitors into buyers.