PPC

Best Practices for Amazon Sponsored Products

Published

2 years ago

January 12, 2022

Best Practices for Amazon Sponsored Products

Without a doubt, listing your products on Amazon is one of the best ways to sell online and build a thriving eCommerce business, or simply build up the Ecommerce side of your brand. To get the best possible results, you not only need an amazing product selection, but you also need to manage and optimize your pages.

But you probably already know that which is why you’re looking for more advanced tips and best practices to take your brand and your ad campaigns even further.

It’s important to leverage both organic and paid content in order to bring as many people to your product pages as possible, but there are numerous complementary methods you can use to achieve that.

You can only achieve better results if you move from beginner and intermediate to advanced level, so here are steps you need to take to build even more success with sponsored products on Amazon.

Use Sponsored Brands to Take Your Brand Forward

Getting your products to rank high and in front of the right audience is something you should aspire to achieve with every campaign, but that’s not what advertising on Amazon is all about. Assuming that you have already optimized your product pages and that you know how to take product photos so that you showcase your products in the best possible light, now’s the time to start working on elevating your brand awareness on the platform.

You’re already using Sponsored Products, but are you using Sponsored Brands? Sponsored Brands is an advertising method that allows you to showcase your entire brand at the top of the search results, and not just your products. This is your opportunity to build brand awareness, but you need to do it right.

Sponsored brands can rank within specific product categories or a relevant context, and they are ideal for top-of-funnel advertising. To do this, you need to:

Use Sponsored Brands with relevant product and category keywords.
Pair your brand with other brands in your product category.
Implement a custom headline and an inspirational tagline.
Showcase the most relevant products next to your name.
You can also incorporate your product ASINs to build brand recognition as well as product visibility.

Find Winning Search Terms with Automatic Targeting

One of the best features of Sponsored Products is the automatic targeting feature. This is an excellent choice for beginners and those who are not digital marketers or PPC experts. That said, every advanced Amazon seller can leverage auto campaigns to fuel their manual campaigns and their advertising strategy as a whole.

Think of auto-targeting as a great way to boost your manual ads, and you can do that by sourcing the best keywords for your campaigns.

In order to sell online efficiently and effectively on Amazon as an advanced seller, you need to optimize your keyword strategy. Use auto-targeting for keyword harvesting alongside your basic keyword research methods.

Migrate the high-performing keywords to your manual campaigns and then start optimizing them at a keyword level. Don’t just throw your new keywords in there, instead, pair the right keyword with the specific product, category, and according to your target demographic data.

Leverage the Flywheel Effect to Boost Performance

Of course, any experienced digital marketer will tell you that paid advertising is not a set-it-and-forget-it kind of deal. In fact, advertising requires continuous optimization, but advertising on Amazon has kind of a cumulative effect.

This is known as the Flywheel effect, and it means that certain actions generate various reactions that fuel your overall brand’s performance on Amazon. Here’s how it works and how you can use it to your advantage.

You set up a campaign to boost your traffic and thus your position in search.
As you continue to rank high, Amazon will eventually give you the “Amazon’s Choice” designation.
This badge of honor will generate more visibility and awareness, getting you even more traffic and inspiring people to buy.

It’s a continuous cycle that feeds itself, but you need to keep optimizing your campaigns with the right data to generate the best results. So, be sure to leverage your CRM software to get the important customer data that will allow you to target the right people and shopping terms, and keep optimizing your pages.

You will measure the success and performance of this effect by taking a look at your total advertising cost of sale (TACoS). This tells you how your ad spending is affecting your revenue.

Reduce Ad Spend with Negative Keywords

Speaking of ad spend, beginner sellers make the mistake of focusing only on the keywords they should rank for, and not the keywords they shouldn’t rank for. This is called negative targeting and you as an advanced seller should use it to better manage your marketing budget.

Negative targeting allows you to prevent your products from ranking alongside products, brands, or categories that don’t meet your performance goals. This will also protect your brand’s reputation, especially when you’re trying to take your small business online and sell products in such a competitive marketplace.

So, what keywords should you exclude from your list?

You should exclude keywords that:

Match your products with products in the wrong price range.
Keywords that will match you alongside specific brands you don’t want to be associated with.
Keywords that receive a lot of traffic but see few conversions.
Keywords that are too generic. Avoid “top”, “best”, etc. and go with very specific search terms instead.

Advanced sellers know two important things as well:

The best shoppers with the highest chance of converting are searching for specific things. Instead of the “best headphones” they are searching for “red bluetooth headphones with excellent bass”. Apply this mindset to your unique products and categories.
Advanced sellers use the Customer Search Term Report to their advantage. Get the report, filter for spend, and find the keywords in your niche that don’t generate any sales. Add those keywords to your black list.

Set-up and Manage Your ACoS Goals

Long-term success with paid ads is not just about choosing where to invest your marketing dollars, it’s also about managing your spending on that platform for minimal financial waste and maximum returns. When you’re advertising on Amazon, you need to manage your budget and your bids carefully.

As an advanced seller, though, you need to focus on your advertising cost of sale (ACoS). The lower the ACoS, the better, of course. The key here is to have an agile ACoS strategy because lower is not always better or even possible depending on the type of product you’re selling.

When you’re launching a new product, it’s acceptable to have a higher ACoS goal until these products become more popular and start gaining traction, positive reviews, and generating enough sales. For your top-sellers, though, you should set the ACoS bar very low because these are easy to find and they have no problem generating sales.

Keep in mind that every product category and type, and even individual products, should have a unique ACoS goal. This allows you to manage your ad spend in the most cost-effective way and to allocate your advertising resources accordingly.

Over to You

Amazon is one of the biggest online marketplaces in the world, and if you’re an advanced seller or are looking to become one, you need to look beyond simple page optimization or auto-targeting.

Be sure to leverage these best practices, optimize your campaigns for maximum reach, visibility and conversion, and you should have no problem achieving better results with Sponsored Ads and Sponsored Brands on Amazon.

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How to Make a Click-Worthy YouTube Thumbnail (+Free Tools!)

Published

11 hours ago

December 7, 2023

Max

How to Make a Click-Worthy YouTube Thumbnail (+Free Tools!)

With millions of videos vying for attention, your YouTube thumbnails serve as the first point of engagement for potential viewers. These seemingly small images carry significant weight in attracting clicks and views.

YouTube thumbnails provide a snapshot of your video content, setting expectations for what viewers can expect. A well-crafted thumbnail not only piques interest but also conveys the essence of the video.

In this article, I’ll share everything you need to know about YouTube thumbnails, including tools to create them, tips to keep in mind, and other lessons I’ve learned from running my own YouTube channel.

What is a YouTube thumbnail?

A YouTube thumbnail serves as a visual snapshot of what a video contains. It appears as a small image next to the title of the video on YouTube’s search results page, related videos section, or the recommended videos section.

This image plays a crucial role in attracting potential viewers and encouraging them to click on the video. The design and content of this thumbnail often influence the decision of a viewer to watch the video or not. Therefore, it holds significant importance in the world of YouTube content creation.

YouTube thumbnail size

The best YouTube thumbnail size is 1280×720 pixels. This is an aspect ratio of 16:9. The minimum width you should shoot for is 640 pixels.

You should also shoot for a relatively small file size—under 2MB. YouTube thumbnails can be saved as JPGs, GIFs, or PNGs.

YouTube thumbnail tips

Your YouTube journey begins with a single image—the thumbnail. This seemingly small, but critically important element is the initial gateway for your viewers.

“If people don’t click, they don’t watch. So, you want to give them something to click,” said YouTube star MrBeast.

Here are some tips to create effective YouTube thumbnails.

Make them engaging

Think of your thumbnails as digital hooks to capture your audience’s attention. Make them visually striking, vibrant, and engaging.

💕 Want more tips and ideas? We’ve got 130+ for you! Get the guide >> 130+ of the Best Online Marketing Tips for Generating More Traffic, Leads, & Sales

Be consistent

Building a recognizable brand on YouTube starts with consistency in your thumbnail design. A uniform style helps viewers easily identify your content. In addition to consistency in your thumbnail design, keeping a close eye on others in your field who share your audience is a smart strategy.

Checking out what your competitors are up to can give you helpful clues about how many people click on their stuff. This helps you see how your channel’s look, content, titles, and colors stack up, so you can ensure you’re putting your best foot forward.

As you can see below, MrBeast’s thumbnails are visually striking and attention-grabbing, featuring bold colors, expressive facial expressions, and compelling imagery. He maintains a consistent style in his thumbnails, making them instantly recognizable to his viewers and helping build a strong brand presence on YouTube.

Represent your video accurately

Your thumbnail should provide an honest representation of your video. Misleading thumbnails can lead to viewer frustration and backlash.

Create an emotional impact

It’s well known that emotions are contagious. This means that watching someone else have an emotional reaction to something can cause you to have the same reaction.

Humans react to other human faces, and it’s an easy trick to get more people to click on your YouTube videos. Humans will naturally assess the emotional state of the face. When their mouth is open, it’s usually to show that they are surprised. When someone sees this surprised reaction, they are enticed to see what is so surprising.

🚨 Speaking of emotion…get our free guide >> 135 of the Best Words & Phrases for Marketing with Emotion

Learn and adapt

Continuously analyze your analytics to adapt your content and strategy based on audience feedback and changing trends.

The thumbnail below was my first to go well (in relation to my other videos). The simple title in the thumbnail, the upward arrow, society’s current fascination with ChatGPT, the length of the video, me in it—smiling and wearing something that matched the color scheme of the thumbnail. These are things I took note of as potential drivers of success for future videos and thumbnails.

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Free YouTube thumbnail makers

Here are a few YouTube thumbnail creation tools to try, including the one I use for all my thumbnails.

1. Fotor

I use an app called Fotor to create my thumbnails. Fotor is a fantastic all-in-one platform that makes thumbnail creation a breeze. It’s an easy-to-use photo editing and graphic design tool, available in web, desktop, and mobile versions. It provides a full suite of tools that cover most image editing needs, including face retouching and image-generative AI.

Fotor also includes advanced AI-powered tools such as background remover, image enlarger, and object remover, which make complex edits simple.

I created a super simple video walkthrough where I use it to create a YouTube thumbnail. Check it out here.

2. Canva

Canva is a design tool (with a free option) that can help you create impactful YouTube thumbnails. Simply navigate to the site, choose YouTube thumbnail as your design option, and find an already-created template to customize or create your own design.

Within Canva, you can adjust colors, add your own images, and brand your YouTube thumbnail with your business logo.

3. Visme

Visme is another online design tool that makes it easy to create YouTube thumbnails. Like Canva, Visme has already created templates that you can choose and customize according to your branding.

Simply choose your template, customize it, download it, and you’re all set!

Start making effective YouTube thumbnails with ease

Creating a great YouTube thumbnail is only one piece of the puzzle when it comes to effective video marketing on the site. But the right YouTube thumbnail strategy can help you build consistency, attract people to click on your videos, and increase engagement with your content.

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PPC

12 Holiday Emails for Customers (Templates & Examples!)

Published

2 days ago

December 5, 2023

Max

12 Holiday Emails for Customers (Templates & Examples!)

How to put your customers into a holiday slumber 😴 :

To our valued customers,

As the end of the year draws near, we’d like to take this opportunity to extend a heartfelt thank you to all of you for your support. Thank you for choosing us and we wish you a wonderful holiday season and happy new year!

sleepy bored face

Want to send an authentic holiday email this year that your customers will actually want to read? This is your cheat sheet!

How to use these holiday email templates

This post contains both the copy and creative you can use for your holiday customer appreciation emails. These emails are longer and more personalized—great for your most loyal customers or for businesses with a small client base. If you want shorter, more general copy, head on over to my holiday greetings and messages.

The copy is also pasted into some templates I made in Canva, which you can access with a free Canva account!

Here’s the link to the templates in Canva.

free holiday email templates in canva

Holiday customer email tips

In such a short piece of content as this, small details have big effects. Here’s how to get it right.

Express gratitude! Customer appreciation is the goal here.

Keep it short and use a conversational tone. This is an e-toast, not a live journal.
Be inclusive of all holidays, and be warm and positive, but not overly hyped—the holidays can be difficult for many people.
Make it visual with creative graphics or a team photo.
Share your growth and achievements to give customers a reason to stay confident in your business. BUT make it about them—the growth you achieved with their support. What you achieved together.
Connect it back to your mission (NOT your value prop).
Focus on the future. Speak to an ongoing relationship, but not through a CTA or sales promotion. Save that for your year-in-review email.

Words & phrases to make your holiday email message authentic

Take a gander through these words and phrases you can use that the other gajillion businesses out there aren’t using:

Instead of ‘valued customer’

Don’t call them valued, make them FEEL valued through your messaging.

Dear customers
To our awesome customers
To our customers near and far, old and new
To all of you
To each and every one of you
To the Baker & Co. family
To the SparkLife community
To you and your families
Dear customers, partners, and your families
Friends
First name (if you have a small list and can MANUALLY do it).

Instead of ‘exciting year’

It’s been a…

Lively
Rewarding
Exhilarating
Electrifying
Wild
Awesome
Zestful
Refreshing
Bustling
Bright
Spirited
Rousing
Rigorous

….year!

Instead of ‘as we approach’

Any “as we.” As we approach, enter, wind down, you know them all. How about:

Every year, I/we
If you’re like us, you are…
As the saying goes…
One of my favorite quotes is
Ask a question
Whether this email finds you ___ing, ____ing, or ___ing, we hope it finds you well!
As I sit here listening to [unique/meaningful/inclusive song name]
Exactly 11 months ago, we were…..
When we started out this year we _____. Little did we know…
Here at ___ we believe in ____, so…
One of our core values here at ____ is ____.
As I write this email, I’m watching the snow falling outside my window for the first time this year.
As it turns out…

Instead of ‘take this opportunity to’

Take THIS opportunity to remove yourselves from the mileu by using phrases like:

Words can’t describe our…
We’re reaching out to say…
We want you to know that…
We extend our deepest…
It is with pride and joy that we…

Instead of ‘thank you for your support’

Nothing wrong with this statement, but make it better with specifics.

Thank you for…

Trusting us with your ____
Using ____ for your ____ needs.
Confidence and loyalty to _____
How much you’ve [taught us, inspired us, encouraged us, etc..]
Choosing us as your ____ provider
Giving us a reason to come into work each day
Showing up to our events
Your reviews, social shares, votes
Positive vibes, enthusiasm

5 holiday email templates any business can use

To make your life easier, I’ve compiled some templates that incorporate the tips and words and phrases above. Check’em out.

If you want to You can also customize them in Canva