4 Strategies for Effectively Advertising on Google, Facebook, and Amazon
There's now a more distinct line separating Google, Facebook, and Amazon.com advertising strategies based on what stage of the purchase cycle a customer belongs to.
When it comes to e-commerce, Amazon is one of the highest-intent, lowest-funnel forms of advertising you can have in your media mix. Think about it: 100 percent of people go to Amazon to do one thing — buy something. So if you advertise to them, there's a high probability that they're ready to buy. When someone searches on Google, however, they sometimes want to buy something, but might also just be looking for information. Google is low funnel to midfunnel. And Facebook users might want to buy something, but there's no guarantee; this is a little higher funnel than Google.
It’s important to use all three channels to build upon the customer’s journey as a whole. Here are some tips that might help when thinking about the three channels together:
1. Understand each platform’s limitations.
Amazon’s advertising platform is limited when compared to Google or Facebook. Employing a detailed and strategic campaign structure, such as search term isolation, will help you stand apart from your competition. On the other hand, it's difficult to track "halo" sales on Facebook and Google. Because the platforms don’t communicate with one another, it’s difficult to know whether a customer who clicked on your Facebook ad but didn’t purchase ended up coming back to a Google ad and converting. Amazon’s closed system makes halo sales reporting easy and can help advertisers measure the true impact of ad campaigns.
2. Keep purchase intent top of mind.
When you want to drive initial clicks and discovery — think “prospecting” your target audience — Facebook and Instagram have the most scale. This is particularly true when you need visuals to illustrate a product, such as in fashion, beauty or consumer electronics. Facebook and Instagram are where that discovery of visual content typically starts. Traditionally, Google and Amazon are lower-funnel channels (i.e., people are searching for something related to your product or brand). Facebook, on the other hand, is where you take “signals” from a consumer and show her something to pique her interest.
As a result, your keyword research should encompass both channels, but also nod to the differences in each. For example, on Google you might want to bid on questions around your product, such as “Can you drink essential oils?” On Amazon, however, you might want to focus only on product keywords like “lavender essential oils.” The idea is that, in many cases, the consumer became aware of the product or brand on Facebook, did their research on Google, and is now ready to buy on Amazon. But there's more to be done than just carrying over keywords from Google or Facebook and adding them to Amazon. Use Amazon-specific tools and find keywords that are lower down your product’s purchase funnel.
3. Stay ahead of the curve.
Immediately test new features for each system when they come out. Currently, Facebook and Google ads have more features than Amazon to help performance. For example, by using advanced targeting options, advertisers can get away with a less structured campaign architecture. On Amazon, the simplicity of its advertising platform means it’s important to have the best campaign structure in order to stand out from competitors. Amazon is getting more competitive by the minute, however. Make sure you’re following the blogs and looking at new features that are released so you don’t have to play catch-up.
4. Analyze your performance based on the platform.
You should constantly analyze how you and your competitors are doing. Facebook and Google give you seven-day look-through attribution, but Amazon can give you better data. The metrics for Facebook and Google don’t give you revenue right away because the transaction doesn’t happen on those platforms. By default, they give you impressions, clicks, add-to-carts, etc. Amazon is more focused on purchases because it’s often the most important metric to Amazon advertisers.
Your marketing and advertising strategies must be adapted to fit the nuances of each platform. Don’t try to use your Google or Facebook strategy on Amazon because it won’t work. In order to best use one or more of these digital advertising systems, marketers must understand the nuances of each channel, follow what the experts are saying, and, most importantly, try to meet customers where they are at each stage of the buyer's journey.
Trevor George is the founder and CEO of Blue Wheel Media, a digital marketing agency. He's also the president of Trevco, a leading licensing company.
Trevor George is the founder and CEO of Blue Wheel Media, a digital marketing agency. He is also the president of Trevco, a leading licensing company.
Over the past decade, Trevor has helped drive numerous digital marketing initiatives, which resulted in American Business Awards wins for Blue Wheel Media, including 3X Marketing Campaign of the Year in 2018, Company of the Year in 2017, and Most Honored Interactive Agency, its Grand Stevie, in 2017.
Recently, Trevor has become one of the largest third-party sellers on Amazon in the U.S., catapulting Trevco into an eight-figure business on Amazon in less than two years. Trevor puts a heavy focus on the Amazon Advertising division at Blue Wheel Media, which helps major global brands achieve massive scale through an advanced strategy called “search term isolation” coupled with technology.
