Make Your Products a Star
The old saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. We’re not sure what a video is worth exactly; what we are sure of is that Amazon Sponsored Brands videos help make your products stand out in desktop and mobile shopping results.
In this post we discuss:
What an Amazon Sponsored Brands video is
Which Amazon sellers are eligible for Sponsored Brands video
Amazon guidelines for Sponsored Brands video
Best video practices
How to make a product video
How to submit the video ad to Amazon
What is an Amazon Sponsored Brand Video
An Amazon Sponsored Brand video is a video, obviously, PPC (Pay Per Click) ad that plays automatically when 50 percent of it is on screen on the Amazon search results. The video appears next to a thumbnail of your product. As with other Amazon PPC ads, you bid on specific keywords that you expect to allow your product to show up high within Amazon search results.
The advantage is that a video amidst just images and texts is more likely to grab the attention of potential buyers. Customers get to see a product demo and it doesn’t cost you anything unless they click through the listing. According to Amazon, “Ads are keyword targeted, cost-per-click, and link customers directly to the product detail page where they can learn more and purchase.” The proverbial win-win.
Sponsored Brand video was just introduced in 2020. Not every Amazon seller can take advantage of Sponsored Brands (and many may not even know it even exists), so these video ads can put you way ahead of your competition.
Are You an Eligible Seller?
Only Brand-registered Amazon sellers are eligible to place a Sponsored Brands video ad. If you’re not already Brand-registered, there’s no cost to enroll. However, you must have a brand that has an active trademark or a pending trademark application filed through Amazon IP Accelerated in each country where you sell. There are additional requirements for an eligible brand, including that it must be in the form of a text-based word mark or an image-based design mark with text. There are a number of advantages for eligible Amazon-sellers to enroll in Brand-registry. Primarily, it’s a way to protect your trademarks as well as promote them. One of these exclusive promotions is a Sponsored Brand video.
Sponsored Brands Video Components
Required
Amazon does review and approve all video ads. The stated policy for ad approval is:
“All Sponsored Brands video campaigns are subject to Amazon’s sponsored ads creative acceptance policies. All content must be appropriate for a general audience and must comply with all laws, rules, and regulations that apply to the advertiser or the advertising content in any location where the advertisements may appear. Ads that do not meet these policies will not be accepted for Sponsored Brands video.”
Amazon requires that the video ad contain:
Product Details. The product image along with associated information from your detail page (i.e., title, star rating, review count, price, and Prime eligibility)
Video. If there is sound, a mute toggle in the lower right-hand corner is required. By default, videos always start without sound, The toggle allows the viewer to opt to turn on the sound if interested.
The video ad must also comply with the following criteria:
Content such as on-screen text cannot obstruct the user interface as defined by Amazon’s safe area template
On-screen text must be legible and a minimum 30 points in size
Any letterboxing or pillar boxing should not have black bars on any side of the video content
Must be understandable in the appropriate language where the ad is viewed
The ad clearly identifies promoted brand or product
Your ad will be rejected if it contains:
Black or empty frames at the start and/or end
Abrupt cropping at maximum video duration
Any Amazon branding or references to Amazon products and services.
Customer reviews, even if the reviews appear on Amazon
Poor video and/or audio quality
Additional video and audio specifications as defined by Amazon are as follows:
Recommended
While not required, Amazon does have recommended guidelines. By following them, your video ad is more likely to be viewed, more likely to be clicked through, which makes it all the more likely your product sells. These guidelines include the following.
On-Screen Text
Even if the video has a voiceover, use on-screen text to ensure you effectively communicate product features/benefits. This is particularly important as many potential buyers may fail to turn the sound on.
Use a sans-serif typeface, such as Helvetica, at a minimum size of 80 pixels. This ensures text is legible on smaller screens.
Display text in white on top of a black bounding box set to 80 percent opacity. Ensure text does not interfere with Amazon’s safe area template.
Best Video Practices
A good video ad that attracts buyer attention and increases your chances of click-through:
Is short (15 to 30 seconds), educational, and focused on explaining exactly what the product does and its key features, and doesn’t contain fluff.
Shows the product in operation and/or provides multiple angles of what it looks like.
Isn’t your version of Citizen Kane; keep fade-ins or dramatic readings for film school; buyers are looking to learn about the product, not be entertained by it. (Yes, there are exceptions, but they are exceptions; experiment at your own risk, and remember Amazon may reject video ads that aren’t totally product-focused.)
Automatically loops; buyers looking elsewhere may not have seen the video or not all of it, and definitely won’t see it if it has ended.
How to Make a Video
Again, a product video is not cinema verite. You can use your phone to record the product in action. Alternatively, you could take a couple of photos to assemble in a slide show. There are a variety of apps available, many of them free, to edit your raw footage and add text. Keep in mind that the file format must be .MOV or .MP4. Once you are satisfied with the production, you can set up the video ad with Amazon.
Submit Your Video Ad to Amazon
Follow the steps below to set a Sponsored Brands Video ad:
Go to Seller Central
Go to the Adverting tab
Click Campaign Manager
Click Create Campaign
Under Choose your campaign type, click Sponsored Brands
Under Settings, enter:
Campaign name
Date range the ad will run (choose No end date if indeterminate)
Daily budget (Amazon recommends that campaign budgets over $30 run throughout the day)
Select Video as the Ad format
Select the product you are advertising (you can search by product name or ASIN)
Click Upload file (you need to locate the video from the directory where you saved it); after the upload is complete you can view a preview of the video ad
Enter the keywords the video ad targets
Click Submit the review; Amazon notifies you within 72 hours if it is approved
Take a Look at this AccrueMe Video
Just to show how we here at AccrueMe value a good video presentation, take a look at this video about an Amazon seller who increased profits by 349 percent in one year. It’s not an Amazon product video, obviously, but it does give you an idea of how AccrueMe works with Amazon sellers to improve their business with an infusion of growth capital that doesn’t come with high-interest rates or the burden of monthly payments. Nor does AccrueMe ask for any permanent ownership stake.
What AccrueMe does ask for is a relatively small percentage of your profits, and only if you have profits. It’s growth funding for your business without liabilities or debts. With no strings attached.
To learn more, visit AccrueMe.com.