Effective ASIN Defense Strategies
Maximize your brand's visibility and protect your products on Amazon with effective ASIN defense strategies.
Alexis Montañes 3 min read
Table of contents
Most Amazon advertising impressions come from product pages, however, very few sellers take advantage of an ASIN defense and cross-promotion strategy.
1. ASIN Defense Strategies with Sponsored Products
Creating defense campaigns with spondored products and cross promotion is quite straightforward, as it has a predetermined list of targets. Here are some different ad group strategies that we can choose from:
Focus on all products
Typically bids less than other ad groups. There are many product page locations so it can help to fill up the carousel more with our own brand. If the products are very similar, this may be the only necessary ad group.
Focus on main product
Top-of-the-line products with high ratings. Strong offers with good conversion rates. The goal is to get star products in front of buyers who are not committing to weaker offers, while pushing competitors with strong offers aside.
Substitute focus
We will use this strategy when we have enough different ads for one type of product. Direct substitutes perform better than more diverse cross-category ad/targets.
Complementary focus
We use this strategy to complement substitute products. It is usually used when there are not many substitutes and the cart cannot be filled with products from the same category.
2. ASIN Defense Strategies with Sponsored Display
A great opportunity that most sellers miss is taking advantage of Sponsored Display’s product targeting for ASIN defense/cross promotion. Because SD locations are so prominent, conversion rates are extremely high. As an additional advantage, there are not as many sellers taking advantage of Sponsored Display, so the CPC is typically lower than other ads.
Taking advantage of Sponsored Display for cross promotion is relatively easy: We reflect Sponsored Products campaigns. Doing so provides two benefits: 1. Ease of creation - we have already designed the Sponsored Products campaigns, so we reuse the same structure; 2. Data integration - when SP and SD campaigns, ad groups, ads, and targets are aligned, performance can be evaluated (combining data for better decision making).
3. ASIN Defense Strategies with Sponsored Brands
There are fewer product-targeting positions for Sponsored Brands than for Sponsored Products, but Sponsored Brands cross promotion campaigns still tend to work well. As with sponsored ads, we have observed that there are fewer sellers and agencies taking advantage of Sponsored Brands product targeting.
The most accurate product placement for Sponsored Brands appears under the “Customers also bought” section on the product detail page. This placement is advantageous because it is immediately next to the product. However, it is also more expensive because it is a prime location.
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FAQ: ASIN Defense Strategies
What is ASIN defense on Amazon?
ASIN defense is an advertising strategy where a brand uses its own product pages as ad placements, running defense and cross-promotion campaigns so that shoppers who land on one of your listings keep seeing your other products instead of a competitor’s. Most Amazon advertising impressions happen on product pages, yet very few sellers actively defend that real estate.
Which ad group strategies work for ASIN defense with Sponsored Products?
Four approaches cover most catalogs: focusing on all products (lower bids, fills the carousel with your own brand when items are similar), focusing on the main product (pushing top-rated, high-converting items in front of buyers considering weaker offers), substitute focus (used when you have several ads for one product type, since direct substitutes outperform diverse cross-category targets), and complementary focus (used to round out substitutes when there aren’t many, or when the cart can’t be filled from the same category alone).
Why is Sponsored Display a good fit for ASIN defense?
Sponsored Display product targeting sits in prominent page locations, which drives extremely high conversion rates, and because fewer sellers take advantage of it, CPCs tend to run lower than other ad types. It’s also fast to set up: mirroring your existing Sponsored Products structure gives you both ease of creation and aligned data for combined performance analysis.
Where does Sponsored Brands cross-promotion appear, and why does it cost more?
The most effective Sponsored Brands placement for cross-promotion sits under the “Customers also bought” section on the product detail page — right next to the product itself. That proximity makes it a prime, high-visibility position, which is also why it tends to be more expensive than other Sponsored Brands placements.