Operations and advertising strategies for standard ASINs

Question 1

Answer

There are significant differences between standard and non-standard Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs) in terms of product characteristics, consumer perception, and competition level. Therefore, both operations and advertising strategies need to have different approaches.

Question 2

How to identify standard ASINs

	Standard ASIN	Non-standard ASIN
Appearance & specifications	Has clear specifications and models; products have highly similar styles and appearances.	No unified market standards or clear specifications; products have significant visual differences.
Features	Strong functionality with practical uses.	Weak functionality; products attract consumers more through style.
Consumer perception	Consumers have sufficient understanding and knowledge of the product, with clear purchase intent.	Uncertain shopping intention; shopping needs are heavily influenced by personal preferences and consumer sentiment.
Competition level	Intense competition among homogeneous products.	Styles and designs cater to different consumer segments, resulting in less competition.
Seasonal impact	No significant seasonal impact.	Relatively obvious seasonality.
Profit margin	Relatively transparent profit margins.	Can design and present unique selling points based on product features and consumer needs, increasing profit potential.
Target audience	Wide range of target audiences.	Has a more defined target audience; high conversion rates are achieved when products meet the specific needs of the target audience.
Traffic sources	Usually only one or a few traffic entry points to search for products in the category.	Multiple traffic entry points to search for individual products.
High-performing search terms	Sales are concentrated on a limited number of keywords.	Converting keywords are more scattered, with a wider range of keywords and attributes to choose from.
Cost per click (CPC)	Relatively high.	Relatively low.

Answer

You can determine whether your product is a standard ASIN by using the table below:

Question 3

Operations strategies

1. Improve conversion rate

Conversion rates can be improved through these three tactics:

Product selection

Identify product use cases and engage customers, then focus on promoting high-potential items aligned with category trends and demand opportunities.

Discounts and promotions

Stimulate consumer purchases through competitive pricing and promotional discounts.

Visual appeal

Use high-quality product images and videos to increase consumer viewing time and promote order conversion.

2. Use advertising to drive organic traffic

Use advertising to steadily improve organic ranking. Once organic placement improves and order volume increases, gradually reduce bids and optimize advertising cost of sales (ACOS). Before launching advertising campaigns, complete the following actions:

Select targeting mode

Different advertising objectives require different targeting modes. Refer to the following recommendations:

Objective	Targeting mode
Drive traffic and increase sales	Automatic targeting and manual targeting
Improve ranking	Keyword targeting
Expand keywords	Keyword targeting, automatic targeting
Increase related traffic	Product targeting, automatic targeting
Profitability	Low-bid automatic targeting for opportunity capture

Identify primary keywords for each stage

Keyword operations need to be advanced in phases, with clear primary keywords identified for each stage. Keywords are categorized by two characteristics: traffic volume and relevancy.

Categorized by traffic:

ABA search frequency rank	Suitable primary keywords
0–20,000	High-volume keywords
20,000–50,000	Upper-medium priority keywords
50,000–100,000	Lower-medium priority keywords
Over 100,000	Long-tail keywords

Categorized by relevance:

Keyword search results characteristics	Relevancy
Having 6–10 similar products in top 10 organic positions	High relevancy
Having 3–5 similar products in top 10 organic positions	Medium-high relevancy
Having 0–3 similar products in top 10 organic positions	Low relevancy
Products in top 10 organic positions are neither similar nor related (complementary) products	No relevancy

When allocating your advertising budget, consider prioritizing your keywords based on relevance and search volume. With larger budgets, focus on highly relevant keywords that receive significant traffic. With smaller budgets, begin with highly relevant keywords that receive moderate traffic.

Answer

Standard ASINs typically have highly similar appearances, clear consumer purchase intent, and functional attributes that outweigh personal preferences. Their sales are concentrated on specific keywords with relatively high CPC. Therefore, there are two key strategies for operating standard ASINs:

Question 4

Advertising strategies

1. High-performance approach

This strategy suits advertisers with sufficient budget and healthy cash flow. It combines multiple advertising solutions to help increase visibility for your most valuable search terms. Note that this approach requires higher investment and may initially show higher ACOS.

2. Balanced and steady approach

This strategy suits advertisers with limited budgets. It uses multiple ad types to help maintain efficient ACOS while building organic visibility over time. While this approach may show slower initial results, it helps create a sustainable foundation for long-term growth.

Targeting with primary search terms

This helps improve visibility for your main search terms while maintaining efficient costs. Focus on achieving stable placement rather than pursuing top positions.

Targeting with specific, detailed search terms

These terms often face less competition and may help drive consistent sales. Consider building visibility for multiple specific terms before shifting focus to broader terms. This approach may help reduce costs when you later expand to more competitive terms.

Targeting with diversified campaign types

Combine automatic campaigns with product targeting to help expand your reach. This multi-faceted approach helps connect with shoppers through various touchpoints.

Answer

Here are two suggested advertising approaches for standard ASINs. Consider these proven advertising strategies and choose the one that best aligns with your business goals and circumstances: