Advertising on Amazon has changed a lot this past year. Many new beta roll outs, like Beta Display last week, have been implemented. Amazon could catch upto Google’s functionality very soon as a result. They are still way behind.
One recent change we noticed today was keyword modifiers for Broad Match now work. This is something Google long ago pioneered for Adwords.
A keyword modifier forces some logic behind the use of the keyword. From Amazon’s help file:
“Broad match modifiers can be added by adding the plus symbol “+” in front of the keyword. For example, if you use the keyword “+men shoes” with a broad match, then the ad will only match to searches that contain the word “men”. The ad may match to “men sneakers” or “running shoes for men” but not to any search term that does not contain the word “men,” such as just “sneakers” or just “running shoes.”
You can use Broad match modifiers when adding or editing keywords in the campaign builder, Campaign Manager, bulksheets, or through the ad API.”
This mean that the + sign can force the broad match to always include a select phrase when matching it. This doesn’t help phrase or exact match because those are already in essence keyword modifiers. But if you have 3+ words in a chain, and you want to rule out a certain audience pool on the broad match, simply + whatever keyword you want to be forced to be in use. Using +Men or +Women will force that keyword in use during a broad match comparison.
Amazon has increasingly been making ads more efficient, and I expect many more changes.
Recently we’ve seen campaigns where we have chalked full of keywords, have been getting fewer impressions, versus campaigns with less keywords. Our agency strategy has been to put in hundreds of keywords, use all 3 match types, let the algorithm do its thing, and double down on what works and slough off what doesn’t. This strategy no longer works with recent changes.
When it comes to the performance of an ad, it’s not about the quantity of keywords added on a campaign, but the quality of them. It’s better to invest higher on keywords that are more relevant to the item being advertised than a lot of keywords that are not relevant at all. This is because you might have many keywords that are pretty similar between them but not all of them will work because these are considered as “duplicate keywords”. It’s better to add keywords that are directly relevant to product (meaning that they must be keywords that are added on the items detail page) and bid high on these particular keywords to increase the chances of better visibility.
When you have duplicate keywords (using the same words), they will compete against each other and even blocking the traffic of those potential keywords that could help the campaign perform better. Hence the importance of the match type as this helps you to fine-tune which shopper search queries your ads are eligible to show against.
You may want to set up a keyword as Phrase or Exact match if, for example, the keyword is related to your item but also happens to be too general or easily confused with another type of product or with a different use because of a close variation. Otherwise, we recommend you to go with Broad so that way your keyword will be more accessible and will cover misspellings and related variations. Consequently, you won’t have to repeat the keywords.
Sometimes when Amazon takes down product, it requires an email to one of the specific departments to get it reinstated. Amazon Support will typically direct you to which team to contact.
List of Teams to Email:
Notice Dispute Team
Listing Evaluation Team
Product Compliance Team
Jeff Bezos Executive Team
Below are the email drafts that you can send to the respective teams regarding the product takedowns. Listed next to each draft is the email address of the team it should be sent to. Feel free to edit them anyway you like. Let me know if you need any more information.
We are contacting you in response to the takedown of our product ASIN: XXXXXXX. The reason given was that our product was found to contain restricted ingredients. We assert that this product does not contain any restricted ingredients and have attached the certificate of analysis for ASIN: XXXXXXX as proof that this product is in full compliance with Amazon Policy. We, therefore, request that you reinstate our ASIN immediately and allow us to continue to sell.
Our ASIN: XXXXXXX was again taken down under false pretenses. There was a product detail page violation claim regarding the brand we have listed. This is a false claim as we are brand registers on the brand of both of these products. We have the correct brand labeled as is apparent on the product packaging. We have provided the requested invoice as proof that we own the product we are selling. This ASIN is in full compliance with Amazon Policy. Therefore, as brand owners and registers, we request that our ASIN be reinstated.
Sincerely,
[Your Company]
Letter to Jeff Bezos – (Goes to [email protected]) – For emergencies and critical issues you can email Jeff Bezos’s executive team directly. You this option sparingly. Response time is between 2-3 weeks
Jeff,
We have reason to believe that our brand or account is being targeted by false claims of policy violations. Over the last few months, we have had almost 20 different products removed from the catalog. Listed below are all of the Case IDs from the product takedowns we have had to fight. The reason for half of the takedowns was for having the incorrect brand listed. This was not true as we are brand registered for all of the brands listed on our products. We have fought hard with Amazon to get these listings reinstated. Each time we were able to prove that we were and had always been in full compliance with Amazon Policy. As you know, these product takedowns are detrimental to our sales momentum. These takedowns seem to be occurring on a regular basis without rhyme or reason. We have done everything on our end to satisfy Amazon’s requests and have not received any recompense. Therefore, as brand owners, we request that an investigation be opened up to determine who is making these false claims and put an end to it.
This was just announced today. Previous to 9/12/19 only about 2% of accounts had access to this on Seller Central. As of 9/12/19 every single account has access to it.
With all beta things on Seller Central, test small when you start If you need help setting this up, reach out to us.
Introducing Sponsored Display βeta
Today we launched Sponsored Display βeta, a new self-service advertising solution that helps advertisers grow their business by reaching relevant audiences both on and off Amazon.With this launch, advertisers are able to access Product Display Ads audience and product targeting features within Sponsored Display. All Product Display Ads campaigns are now part of Sponsored Display without any additional action required.
How to Set Up Inventory Quantity Alerts on Amazon Seller Central
1.Log into Seller Central
2. Hover over the Inventory tab and select Manage FBA Inventory
3. Select which listings that you want to set up replenishment alerts for
4. Click on ‘Action on # selected’, then click on ‘set replenishment alerts’, Click on ‘Yes, continue’
5. On this page you will select when do you want to be alerted with two options: When fulfillable quantity reaches (Units) or When Weeks-of-Cover reaches (Weeks)
When fufillable quantity reaches (Units): Use this if you want to be notified whenever your quantity reaches that number.
When Weeks-of Cover reaches (Weeks): Use this if you want to be notified when you want to take into account of how many weeks it would take for the product to reach Amazon’s fufillment center.
6. Click save and you are set!
Tips:
The gold bell will indicate that alerts are set up for that listing but the alert threshold has not been reached.
The red bell indicates when your alert threshold for that product has been reached.
Ex. In this case, we’ve set up our alert threshold to notify us when it hits 20 and below. Row 4 in the image is showing that this product has passed the 20 we’ve set.
How to Download an Amazon FBA Report on Seller Central
Log into Seller Central
Hover over the ‘Reports’ tab and click on ‘Fulfillment’
Look for ‘Inventory Reconciliation’
Click on the download tab, select the date that you want, then click download
Once that file is open, you will see information for each ASIN, from the start to end quantity of the select dates, how many sold, removed, return, etc.
