Brands of all sizes that sell on Amazon in the UK are being targeted by the launch of a new self-service advertising solution enabling them to run streaming TV campaigns to reach audiences watching content live on Twitch, and third-party streaming TV services through Fire TV apps.
The tech giant maintains that small and medium-sized brands can often be intimidated by the cost of TV advertising, and do not have the understanding of how to measure the value to justify the spend. In fact, its recent research showed that a third of small firms do not spend a single penny on promoting their business due to concerns over cost and previous ad campaign failures.
According to its own research, these marketers often lack TV-quality creative to get started. Meanwhile, media-consumption research from Axios Media Trends also indicates that streaming TV is eclipsing linear TV as the top method of TV consumption.
Amazon claims that its new tool – dubbed Sponsored TV – empowers brands to reach this growing audience with self-service controls and measurement, cost-efficient flexibility and the required creative support.
The company says that Sponsored TV campaigns benefit from machine learning–powered optimisation models informed by Amazon’s first-party shopping and entertainment data.
Brands can engage with audiences likely to be interested in specific types of content, including cooking and home-improvement programming, and reach audiences interested in products in categories sold in the Amazon store.
To help brands understand and measure campaign performance in real-time, advertisers have access to self-service campaign metrics like the number of ad-attributed branded searches and detail page views.
Sponsored TV enables brands to use the flexibility of Amazon Ads sponsored ads tools, including no minimum campaign spend, no minimum daily spend and no upfront commitments. Brands can create streaming TV campaigns in just a few clicks within the Amazon Ads console or using the Amazon Ads API.
Flywheel co-founder Patrick Miller said: “TV advertising is no longer just for the big brands. With self-serve buying and closed-loop measurements, Sponsored TV makes streaming TV advertising a cost-efficient option for emerging and enterprise brands that want to connect the entertainment and shopping journey for customers.”
Brands with existing TV-quality assets can use those same creatives in their Sponsored TV campaigns, while brands that are new to streaming TV advertising and do not have TV-quality creative can take advantage of Amazon’s creative services.
Amazon Ads offers services to build creative using a brand’s digital and social media assets at varying rates. Brands can also use their TV-quality creative across other Amazon Ads placements, including in their brand stores and other sponsored ads campaigns.
Amazon Ads vice president Ruslana Zbagerska said: “TV is an important brand-building strategy and should not be out of reach for any business.
“Sponsored TV helps brands connect with their audiences on the largest screen in the home, including those that are new to advertising. These campaigns provide efficient reach powered by our machine-learning optimisation models, enabling brands to benefit from Amazon’s first-party shopping and entertainment data to create relevant ad experiences for viewers.”
Related stories
Third of small firms don’t advertise despite the benefits
Adtech start-up targets the UK’s 5.5m small businesses
SMEs eye technology boost to usher in new era of CX
CMOs must embrace ‘less is more to do more with less’
CMOs urged to prove their worth or risk being sidelined
CMOs ‘must educate CEOs on true value of marketing’
