As an Amazon seller, you’re constantly seeking new ways to gain an edge over the competition and drive more sales for your products. While Amazon’s sponsored ads have become a staple for many brands, there’s another advertising solution that can take your marketing efforts to new heights: Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) with TurnKey Product Management.

What is Amazon DSP?

DSP stands for Demand-Side Platform, and it’s a programmatic advertising platform that allows you to run display and video ads both on and off Amazon’s platform. DSP is available either through a third-party provider like TurnKey or directly through Amazon. With DSP, you can reach, educate, and re-engage customers across a vast network of websites and apps, leveraging powerful audience targeting options that go far beyond traditional sponsored ads.

One of the key advantages of Amazon DSP is its ability to target customers based on their past behavior, interests, and demographics. Unlike sponsored ads that primarily focus on real-time searches, DSP lets you tap into Amazon’s vast trove of customer data to serve ads to highly relevant audiences at the right time and place.

Qualifying for Amazon DSP

While any Amazon seller can technically qualify for DSP, your targeting options may be limited based on the size of your audience. To take full advantage of DSP’s retargeting capabilities, which is often the most effective strategy, you’ll need to meet certain criteria related to your listing traffic and product reviews.

Although Amazon doesn’t disclose a specific threshold, if you have at least 3,000 unique visitors to your listings within the last 90 days, your listing views audience will likely be eligible for targeting. Additionally, your listings must have at least 15 reviews to display DSP ads. With TurnKey Product Management we can test DSP ads for as low as a $500 ad spend.

Amazon PPC vs. Amazon DSP:

Understanding the Difference If you’re familiar with Amazon’s sponsored ads, also known as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, you might be wondering how DSP differs from the platform’s traditional advertising solution. Here’s a quick breakdown:

Amazon PPC Ads:

  • Cost-per-click (CPC) basis: You get charged when someone clicks on your ad.
  • Focused on real-time searches and competitor product views.
  • Limited targeting options for display ads, remarketing, and similar products.

Amazon DSP:

  • Cost per 1,000 impressions (CPM) basis: You get charged when someone views your ad.
  • Focused on audience past behavior targeting, allowing for precise and granular segmentation.
  • Highly detailed targeting capabilities for display, remarketing, and targeting competitor products.

Types of Amazon DSP Ads

Amazon DSP offers several ad formats to suit your marketing goals, ranging from traditional display ads to engaging video content, here are our favorite ad types at TurnKey:

  • Dynamic, Responsive eCommerce Ads: These ads link directly to your Amazon product pages and automatically update based on your listing content, including title, primary image, active deals, and current star rating. You can also customize components like brand logos, headlines, and images to make your ads more eye-catching and effective.
  • Static Image Ads: These are the more traditional display ads that require you to provide a complete ad image for each size. While they lack the dynamic features of responsive ads, static image ads can still be effective for driving brand awareness and traffic to your listings.
  • OTT Video Ads: OTT (over-the-top) video ads are full-screen video ads that appear before, during, or after video content on TV and streaming platforms. These non- clickable ads are primarily designed for building brand awareness and creating a lasting impression on your target audience.
  • Online Video Ads: (OLV) Online video ads, or OLVs, are clickable video ads that play within display ad placements on websites. These ads are ideal for driving traffic to your Amazon listings or brand website while also promoting your products in an engaging and memorable way.

When Does Amazon DSP Make Sense for Brands?

    Here at TurnKey we have seen Amazon DSP be a game-changer for many brands!

    Here are some situations where leveraging DSP can be particularly beneficial:

    • Expanding ad reach beyond Amazon’s core PPC campaigns to reach new audiences across the web.
    • Leveraging Amazon’s vast customer data to reach highly relevant, engaged audiences with targeted messaging.
    • Advertising to customers both on and off Amazon, ensuring your brand stays top-of-mind throughout the customer journey.
    • Reaching existing customers for repeat purchases, cross-selling complementary products, or increasing subscription sign-ups.
    • Staying ahead of the competition by accessing exclusive ad inventory that your competitors may not be utilizing.
    • Building brand awareness and driving consideration through high-impact video ads.

    DSP Targeting Capabilities:

    Precision at Your Fingertips One of Amazon DSP’s biggest strengths is its advanced targeting capabilities, which allow you to precisely reach your ideal customers based on a wide range of criteria. Here’s an overview of the platform’s targeting options that we use at TurnKey:

    • Remarketing: Re-engage shoppers who have shown interest in your products within the last 90 days (listing views) or 365 days (purchasers). You can even exclude audiences that have already purchased certain products recently.
    • Device Targeting: Divide desktop and mobile traffic, adjusting bids based on performance on each device type – a capability not available in Amazon’s Seller Central PPC advertising.
    • Demographics: Target audiences based on gender, age range, household income, presence of children, marital status, education level, and more.
    • Contextual Behavior: Reach shoppers actively searching for or viewing products in real-time during their shopping journey.
    • Geotargeting: Target specific geographic locations or adjust bids based on location seasonality.
    • Behavioral Audiences: Leverage past shopping behaviors within relevant product categories to deliver ads on and off Amazon.
    • Lifestyle Audiences: Reach shoppers with broad, long-term interests like “tech enthusiasts,” “outdoor adventurers,” or “healthy lifestyle” advocates.
    • In-Market Audiences: Target customers actively researching or shopping for specific products or categories, based on their recent browsing and purchase behavior.
    • Customer Lists: Upload your email lists or website visitor data to create custom audiences, ensuring your ads reach your existing customer base.

    The power of Amazon DSP lies in its ability to combine and layer these targeting options, allowing you to pinpoint your ideal customer persona with incredible precision. Embrace the Power of DSP with TurnKey Product Management While Amazon offers DSP directly to brands, the minimum ad spend requirements of over $50,000 can be prohibitively high for most sellers. That’s where TurnKey Product Management comes in.

    At TurnKey, we can help you leverage the power of Amazon DSP with a more accessible entry point, allowing you to test the waters with ad spends as low as $500 per month. Typically, it takes only two months to determine if DSP is a worthwhile investment for your brand, based on the performance and return on ad spend (ROAS) you’re able to achieve.

    If it doesn’t get great results, then we can end the test immediately. But because around 2/10 brands are advertising on DSP, there is far less competition, and so the ROAS can often be as much as 5x higher than on PPC Ads. We have a few clients who have achieved over 23x ROAS.

    Moreover, with DSP’s relatively low competition compared to Amazon’s sponsored ads, you can gain a significant competitive advantage by being an early adopter of this powerful advertising platform.

    If you meet the eligibility criteria (at least 3,000 unique listing visitors in the look-back window and listings with 15+ reviews), reach out to TurnKey to learn more about how Amazon DSP can supercharge your marketing efforts and drive more sales for your brand.

    About TurnKey Product Management:

    Jeff and Jenna Lieber from TurnKey Product Management provided this article. TurnKey is an Amazon consulting company that sells over 8-figures in revenue for its clients each year. Whether you’re just starting or are an Amazon expert, TurnKey can help take your sales to the next level. Visit TurnKey’s website for free resources and training on how to scale to 8+ figures on Amazon. Plus, you can contact TurnKey there to help scale your business.