Guide

How to build a B2B strategy with Amazon Ads

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Brands can now reach B2B audiences via Amazon Ads

For consumers, buying online is an accepted part of life, and businesses are moving in the same direction. In 2019, the global business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce opportunity reached $12.2 trillion,1 and Gartner predicts that 80% of B2B sales interactions between vendors and buyers will occur in digital channels by 2025.2 When buyers were asked which online store they use to research and/or purchase B2B products, 72% of those surveyed named Amazon Business, and 55% of them expect to increase their spending on Amazon Business next year.3

A reason for this rapid shift to B2B e-commerce is that B2B buyers are starting to display the same behaviors as consumers and now use online channels to purchase B2B products. The buyers now work directly with vendors, whereas previously they would proactively contact buyers to sell their products. This means the majority of B2B vendors no longer need to put all their efforts into reaching buyers on a one-to-one basis. Instead, they need to increase the popularity of their brand by building awareness among B2B buyers and present the right information where their target audience will see it. Online buyers will do the rest.

Brands that sell products and services to businesses require a digital strategy

According to eMarketer, 67% of B2B professionals agreed that their company invests in building its brand to make it more popular for potential buyers while they navigate digital channels to find what they need.4 B2B e-commerce is increasingly becoming a strategic revenue channel for brands, with many companies integrating this into their sales operations.

As a result, brands need to change how they promote and advertise their B2B products, and every business selling a B2B product or service should have a digital presence and an online advertising strategy to reach their customers.

Amazon Ads gives its customers the opportunity to reach B2B audiences

Amazon Ads can support brands that want to develop marketing strategies to reach B2B customers in multiple ways, using sponsored ads, display ads and Amazon Business sponsorship.

Sponsored ads include Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands, which are self-service advertising solutions that promote individual product listings on Amazon. Advertisers can target Amazon Business and B2B customers by manual keyword targeting in their campaigns, using keywords that match shopping queries that B2B customers use online, such as using keywords specifying large/bulk quantities, a B2B-specific industry (medical, educational, etc.), and using exact product names with model numbers and dimensions (if applicable). With manual keyword targeting, you can specifically select and bid for specific keywords or products you want to target.

Display ads include Sponsored Display (self-service) and Amazon DSP, which are solutions that help advertisers grow their business and brand by engaging shoppers across their purchase journey, on and off Amazon. Advertisers can target Amazon Business and B2B customers by using Amazon B2B audience segments in the advertising campaigns.

Amazon B2B audiences gives brands the opportunity to reach our B2B customers at scale, across our owned and operated inventory and across Amazon DSP. These audiences are based on Amazon first-party data and are available to any brands who wish to reach B2B customers across digital channels. Amazon Ads audience capabilities use billions of shopping and viewing signals to help advertisers reach the most relevant audiences for their businesses.

To target Amazon Business and B2B audiences on Sponsored Display, advertisers can use the audience targeting segments found within the “Business & Industry” subsection found under the main “Lifestyle” section while creating advertising campaigns.

Amazon DSP has an array of audiences available that are included within this main cluster:

B2B AudienceDescription
Top 200 selling B2B ASINReach customers who viewed or purchased at least one of the top 200 selling ASINs on Amazon Business
Small and medium businessesEngage business customers whose shopping behaviors indicate that they run small or medium-size businesses
Business ownersDrive consideration for your brand from customers who are owners or operators based on their interactions with Amazon programs such as Amazon Seller
Business membersAddress customers who are identified as likely to be business owners based on their subscription to Amazon Business
Customers with VATAddress customers who are likely to be business owners or professional freelancers based on VAT registration in their consumer or business accounts
P-Card usersReach customers who are likely to be business owners based on their registration of a P-Card in the payment options section of their account preferences
SIC code audiences:
1. Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
2. Construction
3. Manufacturing
4. Transportation, communications, electric, gas, and sanitary service
5. Wholesale trade
6. Retail trade
7. Finance, insurance, and real estate
8. Services
9. Public Administration
Reach customers of specific industry types based on their SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) code

Reach out to your Amazon Ads account executive if you want to learn more about B2B audiences available in your locale.

Case study

Samsung Business TV

In October 2020, Samsung activated a B2B campaign that included video, using the new B2B audience capabilities offered by Amazon Ads.

The video completion rate (VCR) benchmark for previous TV campaigns was 72%,* and the introduction of new audience segments allowed to achieve an average VCR of 77%, with SIC code** customers as the top performers (82% VCR).

The new business audiences allowed Samsung to reach a wider audience, enabling them to complete the campaign above goal.

The introduction of new audience segments allowed to achieve an average VCR of 77%, with SIC code customers as the top performers.
Segments:
1. Wholesale trade (SIC)
2. Retail trade (SIC)
3. Business owners
4. Transportation, communications (SIC)
5. Finance, insurance, and real estate
6. Services (SIC)
7. Users with corporate credit cards
8. VAT customers
9. Business customers
10. Top 200 B2B
11. Monitor
12. Business, retail, and science
13. Television

* Benchmarks IT market, TV category 2019, 2020
** SIC codes: Standard Industrial Classification