Guide to Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads for Authors

From its 1995 humble beginnings selling books, Amazon has grown into an e-commerce giant. Yet books remain a crucial part of its identity and account for 10% of its profit. With 71% of UK readers and 67% of US readers buying books from Amazon in the past year, it's clear the platform's influence is still huge.

Another thing that’s pretty obvious: you need to stand out in this digital marketplace. To do this, you have to check a few boxes:

• Have an Amazon author central page
• Optimize your book metadata and Amazon keywords
• Launch Amazon ads

There are more types of Amazon ads, which you can find in this article, but now let’s focus on Amazon sponsored brand ads for authors. These ads boost your visibility and connect with readers who are already browsing for their next read.

A. What Are Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads?

Amazon sponsored brand advertising for authors helps shoppers discover and consider your brand by using static and video ads during their shopping journey. These ads drive traffic to your Brand Store or product detail page. With highly engaging and well-placed ads on Amazon, Sponsored Brands helps you grow your brand.

Amazon sponsored brand ads for authors are one of three advertising options Amazon offers authors, alongside the most popular Sponsored Products and the lesser-used Lockscreen ads.

The service is currently available in the following countries, which correspond to the most powerful bookmarkets worldwide:

• Europe: UK, Italy, Spain, France, Germany
• North America: Canada, United States
• Asia & Pacific: Australia, Japan
• Middle East: UAE

Your Sponsored Brands ads (display and video) may be displayed above, alongside, or within shopping results. Ads may appear on both desktop and mobile devices.

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There are three types of Sponsored Brand Ads:

1. Product Collection Ads: These ads showcase a selection of products and can be linked to a custom landing page or a Store page on Amazon. They feature a headline, brand logo, and up to three products. This type of ad is ideal for promoting a range of products or highlighting a specific product line.

2. Store Spotlight Ads: These ads are designed to drive traffic to different pages within a brand’s Amazon Store. They feature a brand logo, custom headline, and links to up to three pages within the Store. This ad type is useful for highlighting different product categories or sections of your Store.

3. Video Ads: These ads feature a video that automatically plays when the ad appears on the search results page. They are designed to engage customers with rich, multimedia content and can link directly to a product detail page or a custom landing page. Video ads are effective for showcasing product features, benefits, and usage in an engaging format.

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Requirements for Sponsored Brand Ads

To use sponsored brands ads, you have to fulfill the following requirements:

1. Eligibility

Initially, you needed at least three eligible titles published under the same author name to be able to use the Amazon Sponsored Brands advertising for authors. This recently changed, and authors can currently run video ads with just one published book.

2. Policy compliance

All your books must adhere to Amazon's ad policy for books and appear in Author Central.

3. Availability

The books you advertise must be available for purchase in the country where you're running the ads.

4. Ads management

To manage your campaigns, you need to register for an Amazon Ads account. Once registered, you'll need to sign in to the advertising console to launch and manage your ad campaigns.

B. Benefits of Amazon Sponsored Brands Ads

Amazon sponsored brand advertising for authors offers a powerful way to showcase books and author brands on the platform. Sponsored Brands video ads especially appear prominently at the top of search results and on relevant product detail pages, a prime spot for capturing the attention of potential readers.

Video ads have a more significant impact than other types of ads. Here are some numbers:

• 91% of consumers want to see more online videos from brands
• 89% say watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service
• Viewers are 95% more likely to remember a brand message from a video compared to written content

Amazon sponsored brand ads for authors can benefit them in four ways:

1. Increased visibility with high-intent shoppers

Videos appear in search results and on product pages, reaching readers through keyword and product targeting. Ads are placed for shoppers actively searching for similar content, increasing the likelihood of engagement and sales.

2. Improved brand awareness and recall

Autoplay videos help more readers discover and remember books and author brands. It narrows down to building a memorable visual experience, which your readers will remember beyond the ad.

3. Increased traffic to author or book page

Authors can link video ads to their Brand Store or individual book pages. This direct pathway from ad to purchase not only increases traffic but also streamlines the buying process, potentially boosting conversion rates.

4. Measurable brand-building efforts

The detailed metrics allow authors to refine their advertising strategy over time, ensuring better return on investment and continuous improvement in reaching their target audience.

C. How Do Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads for Authors Work?

1. Linking options

As mentioned before, Amazon sponsored brand advertising for authors offers two main options for directing potential readers after they click on your video ad:

a) Linking to your brand store

Your video ad can appear prominently at the top of search results and within the search listings, giving you maximum visibility. You can link your ad to your Amazon Brand Store, which is a free, dedicated branded website within Amazon's platform. It allows sellers to showcase their product line and brand identity in a curated, multi-page experience.

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This option is ideal for authors looking to establish their brand and promote multiple books.

b) Linking to a specific book's detail page

Your video ad will appear in shopping results and on related product pages. You can link your ad to a specific book’s detail page, which works better if you want to drive readers directly to a particular book. A book detail page on Amazon is the specific product page for an individual book, including the book's title, author, cover image, and available formats.

2. Targeting

There are two types of targeting in Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads for authors: keyword targeting and product targeting.

a) Keyword Targeting

Keyword targeting utilizes specific search terms to trigger ad display. Advertisers select relevant keywords and bid on them in an auction-based system. When a customer's search query matches or closely relates to these keywords, the ad becomes eligible for display. Amazon's algorithm considers factors like bid amount, ad relevance, and expected click-through rate to determine ad placement.

Now, when you're using keywords, you can choose how closely they need to match what people are searching for:

• Broad match: If your keyword is funny stories, your ad might show up when someone searches for hilarious books or comedy for kids.
• Phrase match: The words need to be in the same order. So funny stories might match short funny stories or funny stories for bedtime.
• Exact match: The search needs to be almost exactly your keyword. Funny stories would only match funny stories or maybe funny story.

There's also negative targeting, which lets you exclude irrelevant search terms to ensure your ad only shows up for the right people.

💡 When using keyword targeting in Sponsored Brands, broad match is more expansive than in Sponsored Products, potentially showing ads for less relevant searches. It's recommended to use broad matches with caution in Sponsored Brands campaigns or avoid them entirely.

b) Product Targeting

Product targeting allows advertisers to display ads alongside specific ASINs or product categories. Advertisers can select individual ASINs, entire categories, or use refinements like price range and star ratings. The system allows for targeting competitors' products or complementary items, using Amazon's machine learning to determine the most effective placements.

3. Bids & budgets

Let’s break them down.

Pricing models

When creating video ad campaigns, your chosen goals determine the pricing model: either cost-per-click (CPC) or cost per thousand viewable impressions (vCPM). With CPC, you pay for each ad click, while vCPM charges you for every 1,000 times your ad is viewed.

a) Bidding

You decide how much you're willing to pay each time someone clicks your ad. This is called a bid.

For example, let's say you're willing to pay 75 cents each time someone clicks on your ad. Another author might only want to pay 60 cents for their ad. Because you're willing to pay more, your ad might get put in a better spot where more people can see it.

b) Budgeting

This is about deciding how much money you want to spend on your ads overall. You have two choices:

• Daily budget

Daily budget is a cost control mechanism that sets a maximum daily spend limit for an ad campaign. It uses a pacing algorithm to distribute the budget evenly throughout the day, typically on a 24-hour cycle. The system employs real-time bidding adjustments to optimize ad delivery within the set limit. 

If the daily budget is reached before the end of the day, ad serving is paused until the next budget cycle begins. Amazon's system allows for slight overdelivery (up to 20%) on high-performance days, which is balanced out over the month. 

The algorithm factors in historical performance data and current market conditions to predict optimal ad serving times. An unused budget from one day does not roll over to the next. 

• Lifetime budget

A lifetime budget is a total spending limit for an entire ad campaign, designed to maximize ad exposure until the budget is used up. Unlike daily budgets, it can be spent quickly during high-traffic periods. 

The system uses predictive modeling to estimate how long the campaign will run based on past performance and current market trends. It optimizes bids to get the best results within the budget. 

Once the lifetime budget is reached, the ads stop running, even if the campaign was supposed to go longer. You can track budget use and see projected depletion dates in real-time to help manage your campaign.

💡 For authors new to Amazon advertising, it's generally advisable to start with Sponsored Products rather than Sponsored Brands ads.

However, Amazon Sponsored Brand Advertising for authors can be an excellent tool for scaling your marketing efforts. Once you've gained experience and success with Sponsored Products and have identified effective targets (keywords, products, or categories), it's worth exploring Sponsored Brands campaigns.

Keep in mind that Amazon sponsored brand ads for authors often require higher bids per click due to their more prominent placements and limited availability. While this can make them more expensive, the increased visibility can be valuable for authors willing to invest in broader exposure.

🔥 Learn more about ad metrics by using a tool designed specifically for authors called BooksFlyer, which allows you to set up your rules with keyword management once and then repeats them for you at a chosen frequency.

D. Launch Your Campaign

Here are the steps to start your Amazon Sponsored Brands Ads Campaign as an author.

1. Log in to Amazon's advertising console. This is your hub for all things related to promoting your books on the platform.
2. Name your campaign. This helps you keep track of multiple campaigns.
3. Set your campaign duration and budget. You can choose a daily budget (like $10 - $20 to start) or a lifetime budget (minimum $100). Consider not setting an end date initially so you can gather more data.
4. Choose your ad format. You have the three main options we talked about: product collection, store spotlight, or video ads.

If you choose Video Ads, here are some key requirements and tips:

• Recommended video length: 6-45 seconds (15-30 seconds is optimal)
• Show your book in the first 2 seconds
• Use closed captions (videos autoplay on mute)
• Include your logo at the beginning or end
• Add a clear call-to-action like Learn more or See details

5. Select the books you want to showcase. If using your Author Page (U.S. only), you can pick three books to feature. Choose books with high customer review scores to make your ad more attractive.
6. Decide on your targeting strategy. You can use:
   • Keywords related to your brand
   • Keywords related to your landing pages
   • Product targeting

7. Set your bids. Start with Amazon's suggested bids and adjust based on performance. Remember, you're competing with other authors for ad space.
8. Create your ad content. You'll need:
   • An author photo or publisher logo (at least 400x400 pixels, under 1MB)
   • A compelling headline (keep it simple and direct)
   • Custom images or video

For video ads, consider your campaign goal:

• For awareness, create content that builds an emotional connection (like a customer testimonial)
• For consideration or purchase, focus on unique features and benefits (like a product demonstration)

9. Monitor and adjust. Use Amazon's reports to track:
   • Keyword performance
   • Search term effectiveness
   • Which books are getting the most attention

Remember, your first campaign is a learning opportunity. Don't be afraid to experiment with different targeting methods, ad formats, and creative approaches. The key is to analyze your results and continuously refine your strategy.

Time to Click

Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads offer authors a powerful tool to increase visibility, build brand awareness, and drive sales in the world's largest online bookstore.

Using targeted keywords, compelling visuals, and strategic bidding, authors now have a resourceful tool to reach their ideal readers. While it may require careful planning and ongoing optimization, it is another opportunity for authors to stand out and consolidate their author brand.