How Google ads can boost your Amazon store

Succeeding on Amazon means not only coming up with a great product that people want, but also competing with the immense crowd of other sellers. Google Ads offers one of the best ways to stand out and attract customers to your store. Advertising on Amazon’s site may seem the most intuitive solution, but bringing potential buyers from Google can result in noticeable sales growth. Before you start paying for ads though, you should understand the ins and out of this process and how it can benefit your business.

Table of Contents:

• Why Google Ads?
• Amazon Rewards Stores That Bring In New Traffic
• How do Google Ads work?
• The unique perks Google Ads offer
• Tools to Boost Your Google Ads Performance
• Fund Your Google Ads Campaigns

Why Google Ads?

A large chunk of eventual Amazon customers start their journeys on Google. This 2018 study by Google found that 53% of eCommerce shoppers did research before making a decision on what to buy. Since most people use Google for this, it is the best place to catch the eye of potential customers. Targeting them on its platform, before they enter a marketplace like Amazon through a link to another product, can strongly influence their decision to buy from your store or not. Google Ads are also a more effective way to advertise than through other platforms, offering an average ROAS (Return On Ad Spend) of 2:1. That means you have a good chance of earning around $2 for every $1 you spend.

“What I noticed is that a lot of those cheapy customers were coming from Facebook, whereas all of the bigger customers were coming from Google,” says eCommerce veteran and blogger Steve Chou. He centered his ad campaigns around customers coming from Google and saw a significant rise in sales. According to him, people on Google tend to be more focused on what they want, whereas ads on social media sites like Facebook have to pique the interest of a potential customer. A social media user who is being advertised to is not as likely to buy as someone who is already on the lookout for a certain product.

Amazon Rewards Stores That Bring In New Traffic

It is significantly in Amazon’s interest when retailers on its platform run ads elsewhere that bring potential customers to its site. First off, it means they aren’t going to Walmart or Shopify and second, even though they came through a link to one product, they are now seeing many related ones that they might buy as well. Perhaps they put your product in their cart, but then decide to add something else so they spend above $25 and qualify for free shipping.

It is for these reasons that Amazon rewards stores that bring new users to its site, including through Google Ads, with a higher ranking on its search engine. That means that even if you were theoretically only breaking even from running ads on Google, you’d be building long-term growth by increasing your store’s prominence on Amazon. That means a higher keyword ranking, more visits to your store, and, ideally, more sales. If you are enrolled in Amazon’s Brand Registry and sell in the US, you can even get a referral bonus. That means up to 10% cash back for each sale made to someone that came through your ads.

How do Google Ads work?

Most of the time you bid on Google Ads on a CPC (Cost Per Click) basis. This means you only pay if someone clicks on your link. Businesses set up their campaigns by targeting keywords, for example, “soccer shoes” and “soccer cleats” so their ads appear in front of a relevant audience. Since other companies will also be targeting these keywords, each company bids on the ad space they want. This means putting in the maximum amount they are willing to spend to have their ad appear in a certain place. When a customer types in relevant keywords, Google sorts the ads they see by each company’s bid.

The unique perks Google Ads offer

Building lists

Google Ads allows eCommerce sellers to create a list of people that have either already bought their products and are likely to do so again, as well as those whose profile makes them a likely potential customer. Amazon doesn’t provide any information regarding customers on its marketplace, such as emails, phone numbers, or data regarding their digital habits. A seller has no way to market to them, even though this group of people is one of the most likely to buy from their store.

Amazon giving you no way to reach out or target them with marketing means you need to hope they come back on their own. Google Ads make it possible to track the people that go to your store and follow and analyze their online behavior. Gathering a list of emails allows you to reach out to past or potential customers for deals, promotions, product launches, review requests, or newsletters to build your brand. Doing so can be highly effective and help you build a community that is eager to engage with and buy from your company.

Location targeting

Google Ads gives sellers the ability to extensively target their ads according to geographic location, which isn’t possible on Amazon. This offers several benefits, such as being able to target areas you know you already have a susceptible audience or being able to focus on locations where you want to increase your audience. That means a whole world of possibilities regarding market research, as you can start offering products and building campaigns that you have found will do well in a certain location. Campaigns can also be customized to appeal to the demographics that live in a certain area.

Funnel traffic

Funnel traffic with Google Ads means presenting a potential buyer with different types of ads depending on the stage of the purchasing journey they are in. You can target customers that are still googling broader terms before zeroing in on the product they want. With Google Ads, you can get your products into the ad section at the top of the page. Having a person see your product at this early stage can have a strong influence on their decision to buy it. After having created brand awareness, you will want to tell customers about your product and how it fits their needs. A video ad can achieve this well.

In the final stage, it’s time to get them to go through with their purchase. This is done with a CTA (Call To Action), displaying prices, and generating trust, for example through quotes from previous customers. Understanding what part of the conversion funnel your audience is in can give you better insight into which ads are likely to have the strongest impact.

Keeping up with competitors more effectively

Running ads on Google gives you the opportunity to target competitor search terms. So, when someone searches for a competing brand you can ensure they also see your product. While this can be a very effective strategy, the price for these keywords is also usually higher than average. You should also make sure not to use competitors’ brand names in your ad copy. However, targeting competitor search terms well can help you boost sales and stay ahead of competing brands.

Intuitive Platform

Google Ads makes the process of creating and targeting your ad campaigns pretty straightforward. It has a small learning curve, especially if you have experience with Amazon PPC ads, so you can learn by doing relatively easily. Once you launch your first campaigns you will see how your keywords are performing and develop an understanding of how to tweak them to convert even better. Also, Google Ads don’t need a lot of upkeep, like, for example, ads on Facebook would. After you set them up they run on their own, meaning you can focus your energy elsewhere.

Retargeting Ads

Since Google is the biggest ad network around, reaching 90% of internet users, you have unmatched possibilities to retarget potential customers. That means being able to follow the digital journey of people that engaged with your site or clicked on your content and show them more ads to bring them to your store. Up to 97% of visitors to a site will leave without buying anything.

One reason is that they often don’t know the brand, which is something you can change by retargeting them afterward, as they visit other websites or google relevant keywords. And the best thing is that you can tailor how you want to target them, at what time of the day, at what frequency, and with what kind of ads. These campaigns can be far more effective than normal PPC ads since the customer has already had some form of contact with your brand.

Tools to Boost Your Google Ads Performance

If you want to step up your Google Ads results, you might want to check out tools like AMPD. This platform is specialized in helping you run more effective Google advertising campaigns to drive traffic to your Amazon store. It does this by giving you several tools to monitor how your keywords are performing and how you can optimize them. Additionally, it can identify what keywords are most relevant for your store, to entice the biggest and most relevant group of potential customers.

Fund Your Google Ads Campaigns

Establishing yourself in the competitive world of eCommerce is hard. Every online retailer is fighting for consumers’ attention however they can, with each inch of ad space being heavily contested. That means you need capital to set up marketing campaigns to make some waves.

One way to gain the necessary funding is an 8fig Growth Plan. It entails getting continuous cash injections aligned to your supply chain that you can use to advance your business. This can be in the form of expanded ad campaigns or by launching a new product, the choice is yours. Each plan is customized to your business operations so that your cash flow isn’t impeded. You also gain access to 8fig’s platform, which makes the overseeing and planning of your supply chain clear and intuitive. Sign up with 8fig today and start your own Growth Plan.