unBoxed 2022: Amazon Ads announces new Sponsored Display, physical store advertising and campaign optimization capabilities

26 October 2022

Today at its unBoxed 2022 conference, Amazon Ads introduced new features and capabilities that give advertisers more opportunities for brand advertising, more control over how they manage their campaigns, and access to new performance-based campaign insights to help them move faster and drive better outcomes sooner.

“We’ve always seen our responsibility as making marketers’ lives easier,” said Alan Moss, vice president of global advertising sales at Amazon Ads. “We have to provide our advertisers the flexibility, efficiency and scale to be nimble and responsive as their needs change. We spend a lot time focused on how we can help them move faster, make more informed planning and optimization decisions, and access our products in ways that meet their varied needs, so they can direct resources to what’s driving the right outcomes and maximize the impact of every marketing dollar they spend.”

Scaling products to more advertisers

Amazon Ads announced the availability of new features and capabilities that enable more advertisers – including small and emerging brands – to use a broader range of Amazon Ads products, including:

Rewarded Sponsored Display

Rewarded Sponsored Display is coming soon to US advertisers in closed beta. Brands will be able to add an Amazon shopping credit directly into the Sponsored Display creative, and customers receive the reward by clicking on the ad and purchasing the featured product. In a 2021 Amazon Ads survey of US adult Amazon shoppers, 92% of respondents said they were more likely to take an action if offered an Amazon shopping credit, demonstrating the value and utility of this type of experience.1 This is an expansion of the rewarded ads already available across a broad range of placements, including Twitch and Fire TV, where customers can receive Amazon shopping or entertainment credits by taking the indicated action, such as watching a streamer on Twitch or signing up for a newsletter.

Sponsored Display for brands that don’t sell on Amazon

Amazon Ads is introducing Sponsored Display for brands that do not sell in Amazon’s store. This is currently offered to US advertisers in closed beta on Twitch. Previously, sponsored ads had only been available for brands that sell products on Amazon. Now, businesses that sell products and services in verticals not available on Amazon, like restaurants and hotels, can use Sponsored Display to reach the highly engaged Twitch audience.

Sponsored Display video creative

According to a third-party study conducted by Wyzowl, 73% of consumers say they prefer video ads to learn about products and services, and 88% say video ads have convinced them to make a purchase.2 However, developing video creative can be cost-intensive. Sponsored Display video creative, now generally available worldwide, empowers advertisers of all sizes, particularly small and emerging brands, to easily create video campaigns that showcase their products and stories to millions of customers on Amazon and elsewhere online. Advertisers can deliver immersive video ads – such as tutorials, demos, unboxing and testimonials – and measure campaign performance with new video metrics.

Digital Signage Ads in Amazon DSP

Digital Signage Ads in Amazon DSP, which will be available in November to eligible US advertisers via managed service, make it easier for brands to advertise within Amazon Fresh stores. With Digital Signage Ads in Amazon DSP, brands can now purchase ads programmatically, giving them more flexibility and control over where their ads are featured.

Campaigns can be scheduled based on store location, by day part or by location of the digital signage within the store. This creates more opportunities for brand discovery and will enhance the customer shopping experience by creating a wider variety of in-store ads.

Increasing efficiency and optimizing campaign performance

Amazon Ads also announced new products based on historical campaign performance models that take the trial and error out of setting up and running sponsored ads campaigns, helping advertisers move faster and drive better outcomes sooner.

Sponsored Products campaigns with presets

Sponsored Products campaigns with presets, available to US advertisers, are now automatically featured in the ads console for new products. With Sponsored Products campaigns with presets, Amazon Ads recommends campaign settings, including daily budgets and bidding strategies, that look to remove the ambiguity of starting a new campaign or launching a new product on Amazon. When advertisers log in to the ads console, they’ll see recommendations on how to set up performant, ready-to-launch campaigns – saving time and helping drive results from the onset. Amazon Ads found that campaigns launched with presets observed a 77% increase in clicks, and a 29% increase in conversions compared to campaigns that did not utilize presets.3

Performance recommendations

Amazon Ads unveiled performance recommendations, which will be generally available in 10 countries in November. Performance recommendations are in-console, actionable best practices for Sponsored Products campaigns. As advertisers utilize the ads console, performance recommendations work in the background, constantly looking for Sponsored Products campaign tips that can be adopted with one click, such as new keywords to prioritize or bid suggestions – giving advertisers in-the-moment feedback to improve campaign performance based on rigorously tested and validated best practices.

1Amazon surveys, 2021
2Wyzowl, The State of Video Marketing, US, 2022
3Amazon internal, 2022