Video ads are handy to have in your arsenal as they quickly attract and maintain the attention of shoppers,
In an era where social media has become an endless stream of reels and short videos, it makes sense to meet customers where they are at. This way, you attract your shoppers in a way that is consistent with how they use the internet.
What is an Amazon Video Ad
Amazon Video Ads are a form of sponsored brand ad used by Amazon sellers to promote products and services through video content. It allows advertisers to reach a vast audience base on Amazon-owned platforms, such as Amazon Prime Video and IMDb TV.
With Amazon Video Ads, advertisers can create and display video advertisements to engage users during their streaming experiences. These ads can appear before, during, or after whatever users are watching or within the search results. Advertisers also have the opportunity to target their campaigns based on various factors, such as user demographics, interests, and shopping behavior.
Uses & Features
The primary goal of Amazon Video Ads is to increase brand awareness, drive product consideration, and ultimately boost sales. Advertisers can leverage the extensive viewer data available on Amazon to deliver personalized and relevant video content to potential customers.
They can also utilize Amazon’s sophisticated advertising tools to track ad performance, measure key metrics, and optimize their campaigns for better results.
Advantages
1. Increase viewer engagement
A key benefit of video ads is their ability to engage a customer quickly. Unlike other ad types like sponsored product ads, video ads automatically play and can visually appeal to a customer in a way a regular product ad cannot.
Having something different for a customer to look at will significantly increase the likelihood of them stopping to engage with the content.
2. A better source of information
Product images and descriptions can explain the basics of your product, but they cannot provide the visual interest like a video.
Video ads can demonstrate your product and brand better than any single image. By presenting specific benefits and key features, a video ad will help potential customers make informed purchases and increase the chances of positive reviews and repurchasing.
3. Solid new-to-brand performance
Potential customers who are new to your brand or are browsing without intention are more likely to scroll to the bottom of a PDP.
Video ads are great for building brand awareness for your long-term goals. They can reach customers where they are through prime video and IMDb. Even though they are not always interactive, it is a solid impression on a potential customer.
Disadvantages
1. Ad fatigue is a significant concern
With the rising popularity of streaming services running off of ads, users are bombarded with a constant stream of ads. You can agree being interrupted by a perfume ad in the middle of Criminal Minds is infuriating. An oversaturation of ads can undermine the effectiveness of your ads, as viewers will become desensitized or develop negative associations with the brand.
2. Ad targeting limitations can be a drawback
Amazon possesses an immense wealth of user data, but its targeting capabilities are mostly focused on purchase history and browsing behavior. This narrow focus can result in ads being shown to irrelevant or uninterested viewers for new sellers, leading to wasted advertising dollars.
3. Lack of customization options
All Amazon Video Ads adhere to a standardized format. This is helpful for keeping unity throughout the platform, but it can limit the creativity and uniqueness of brand messaging.
This standardized approach can make it challenging for businesses to differentiate themselves and effectively convey their message in a memorable way.
However, video ads can still be very engaging and present your unique message if curated effectively. Plus, they allow for much more creativity than a regular ad!
4. Ad placement control
Advertisers using Amazon Video Ads have limited control over where their ads appear within the platform. This lack of control means that ads might be placed in inappropriate contexts or alongside competing products, diluting the impact and potentially damaging brand reputation.
It could also mean your ad could ‘impress’ a customer without them actually seeing it, depending on where it appears on the page. This can lead to potentially wasted ad spend since video ads are priced according to CPM.
5. Cost-effectiveness
Amazon Video Ads tend to be more expensive than other advertising options. The cost per view can quickly increase, especially for businesses with tight marketing budgets.
This can make it difficult for smaller businesses or startups to leverage the platform effectively, limiting their ability to compete with larger brands.
Ad Specs
How much do they cost?
Video ads can prove more expensive than other ad types. The self-service packages have a $10k recommended campaign minimum, and managed-service packages have a $50k campaign minimum. This helps sellers keep within budget and ensures they have the projected income to maintain the ads.
Ads are sold programmatically and priced via Cost Per Mille. Programmatic purchasing at its route is the use of technology to buy and sell ad space. Video advertising can aid in reach, efficiency, and transparency. But, it means everyone is bidding over the same space, and you have little control over the placement of the ads.
What are the video specifications?
All video ads on Amazon should adhere to the template they give you as it promotes platform consistency. It may seem restrictive, but there is still a lot of space for creativity and is a guiding hand to sellers who are new to advertising.
Amazon is very keen on good-quality videos, so the better the visual quality, the greater the chance your ad will win the bid space. They ask for a bit rate of 1 Mbps or higher, and for it to be compatible with desktop and mobile devices, you should keep them clear and no longer than 45 seconds.
What cannot be included?
Amazon’s video guidelines, outline what cannot be included in the videos and I have listed some of the restrictions are listed below:
- Blurry or low-quality images.
- Creative elements that interfere with Amazon’s Video Safe Zone templates.
- Customer reviews.
- Savings promotions or discounts.
- Distracting images such as flashing, spinning, blinking, and pulsating objects or text.
- Avoid any emptiness around the outside of the frame, so ensure your video encompasses all of the given fields.
Audio specs
Your video ads should be viewable and informative with or without sound, considering they will often be viewed on silent.
Amazon’s audio requirements:
- 44.1 kHz or higher sample rate.
- PCM, AAC, or MP3 codec.
- 96 kbps or higher bit rate.
- Stereo or mono format.
- Not more than one audio stream.
Steps to Create an Amazon Video Ad
Step 1
Log into your seller central account and enter the campaign manager. Select sponsored display and scroll down to choose ‘video’ in the ad format section.
You can use the brand builder templates to help with creating the video. There are other ways of creating your video, like a third-party seller or doing it yourself.
Step 2
The next step is to choose which products you want to advertise through your video. This will help Amazon know where to direct your video instead of guessing who the intended audience is.
You also need to choose the keywords you want to bid on here, like other ad types!
Step 3
Continue to follow the page and fill in the required fields. You will then come to the ‘creatives’ section.
Here you will get an outline of the video specifications and will be asked to upload your video. You will then get to preview it in various formats before you send it off for approval and make any last-minute changes.
Top 10 Tips for Successful Amazon Video Ads
1. Highlight Your Product Selling Points
You have 20 seconds to make a sale, so you should make it count and highlight the top features of your product. Without bombarding your audience with information, highlighting what you know to be your selling points will create immediate intrigue.
Show your customer why they should buy your product over your competitors! If you are not advertising a specific product, then focus on your entire brand!
2. Define Your Audience
It is always a good idea to set clear objectives for your ads, not just a target ACOS; know who you intend on seeing the ads. Research what your audience has been most responsive to so you can get a better idea of what to include.
3. Know Your Objectives
A clear understanding of what you want to achieve through your ad will help you during the creative process. It will prevent you from overloading the content with unuseful information, it is easy to want to share as much as possible within the short time frame, but sometimes less is more.
For example:
- If your campaign objective is brand awareness, focus on building an emotional connection between customers and the product. Show them who you are as a brand and what sets you apart.
- If your campaign objective is consideration or purchase, focus on a product’s key differentiators. Don’t directly call out your competitors directly, but highlight the key features of your product to make it stand out from the crowd.
- Know your audience and advertise with intention. Know what information interests your audience or what concerns they may have. Your content should always be educational, demonstrative, and product focused.
You may want to consider brand storytelling in your video ad to address your customers in a way that suits your business.
4. Optimize Your Intro
The first few seconds of any video are critical for capturing the attention of a viewer. An ad is merely an ad until it’s a video.
Find a way to entice your customer from the moment they land on the video. They automatically play, so all you need is brilliant content. This way, you are leveling up your customer experience and increasing your chance of a purchase.
5. Storytelling
Storytelling is a brilliant way to promote your brand as a whole. It is very likely that you are not alone in your category unless you are a very niche brand. Because of this, you may need to work harder to keep customers coming to you over your competition.
One way to do this is to show off who you are as a brand by telling your brand story. Perhaps share the origins of your brand to remind people of your humanity rather than a computer. Or promote a specific cause your brand supports etc.
6. Keep it Short
The optimum length for a video to make a lasting impression is between 15 and 30 seconds. This way you prevent overloading the customer and stay within the video spec guidelines.
Keep the customer’s attention by:
- Show the product in the first two seconds of the video. This is your chance to make the best first impression possible to customers.
- If it is a lifestyle product, then include the product function in the first five seconds of the video.
- Bear in mind the mobile view. Make sure the product is not too small throughout the video.
Also, videos on Amazon will automatically loop, so it maybe create an end card or make the loop seamless. It will create a positive customer experience through a pleasant video.
A seamless video can cause the seller to watch it more than once, which will increase the chance of a conversion.
7. Use a Logo
You may also want to add your logo to your video ad, as it will be a visual aid for customers to identify you on the search results page for future purchases.
Your logo is your identity and is part of your brand story. Because of this, adding your logo within a video that tells your consumer about the brand will help emotionally engage consumers with your logo.
8. Clear Call to Action
A call to action can be an effective way of prompting a customer into taking action after viewing your ad.
Amazon does have specifications for their CTAs, so take a look at its requirements to ensure you are within their guidelines.
A few accepted CTAs include:
- Buy Now
- Pre-order Now
- Shop Now
- etc
9. Closed Captions and Mobile Optimization
It has become increasingly popular for people to use their phones for casual browsing and shopping. Because of this, you want to ensure your video ads are viewable for various devices and situations.
Having your videos viewable without sound will increase the chance of shoppers allowing it to play since browsers are likely to view ads with their phones on silent. Since ads automatically play, if they aren’t viewable without sound, you will lose valuable opportunities.
If you have information in your video through voice-over or an actor, consider including closed captions in the video. It will ascertain no information is missed and keep the video accessible for anyone hard of hearing.
- Keep the text a decent font size so it can be easily viewed (around 22 points).
- Have the font color white on a black background so it is easy to see.
- Be cautious of capitalization and how it looks with your chosen font.
- Less is more, you don’t want your text to become the center focus of the video.
10. Use Keywords in the Video Title
Naturally, the better your SEO on your ad, the more relevant it will be to the audience.
The keyword in the title will help Amazon know who to target. If you are advertising toothpaste, then include that in the title of your ad and other relevant terms in the description. It will prevent your ad from appearing for audiences with no intention of purchasing, which could affect your CTR and cause you to spend more.
Getting Started
With over a decade of experience in digital advertising, we at Clear Ads have become a sought-after agency for Amazon advertising. We have helped hundreds of businesses achieve their potential because we are confident in what we do.
Our account managers are skilled in the tools required to successfully analyze and adjust your campaigns for the best results. Through the help of one of us, you can save time on analyzing data and focus on what matters most to you, your business.
We are proud that all our account managers stay up to date with their Amazon certifications. As Amazon partners, we consistently stay informed on industry changes and Amazon updates. You can rest easy knowing that we are qualified Amazon advertisers.
To find out more about how we can help your business grow and take advantage of your brand benefits, request a callback today!
