Selling on Amazon? Amazon Vendors are vastly different than Amazon Sellers.

[Vigilante]

Thanks for the links, I have brand registry for all the brands I have already. I wasn't aware you could get access to AMS via that however. I have only ever seen the AMS main signup page that the OP posted which has different requirements.

It's been a few years since we did it, but I will see what I can find for you. I think when we got brand registry, that is where we got the vendor access for AMS. I will go back and see what I can find for 'ya.

 

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[Vigilante]

Thanks for the links, I have brand registry for all the brands I have already. I wasn't aware you could get access to AMS via that however. I have only ever seen the AMS main signup page that the OP posted which has different requirements.

Found a bread crumb trail
https://ams.amazon.in/faq

(note, that is from India but process is similar)

By the way, if you have multiple brands in the brand registry, they all tie together in one unified Amazon Marketing Services account.

 

[biophase]

Do you mean sponsored products? Yes you can use the sponsored products marketing tool with Amazon as a seller but your ads will be displayed BELOW search results....if you want your ads to appear at the top of the page rather than appear below search results, in the right column on search results pages, or in an ad placement on detail pages you will need an advertising account available only to Vendors.

Troy,

I just don't understand how you say that you are an expert yet are 100% wrong in some of your posts. Are you talking about these ads below? How do you not know this very simple piece of information? All my ads appear above the search results. Sponsored ads will get you there.

 

[Vigilante]

The upside is that I have learned through this train wreck of a thread that there might be an advertising vehicle available to me for Amazon that I am not using. I need to discern how it is different from the standard Amazon PPC, but I might have stumbled upon (learned!) something. I will post if I learn more. I think it might be redundant to sponsored ads / ppc campaigns in FBA or otherwise as the desired results he gets I already get, but I will explore if there is a better back door through the Amazon Marketing Services account we have.

And no, with that brand we are not an Amazon vendor but the access was granted once we got the brand registry.

Up until now, I thought the main benefit of our Amazon Marketing Services account was a brand specific URL and customized Amazon branding page.

 

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[Vigilante]

One thing I appreciate about @biophase is he can do with one picture what I use 1,000 words to fail at explaining.

 

[Vigilante]

So there are different types of searches in Amazon Marketing Services. I haven't watched all three of these yet, and I need to get better educated when time permits about what the results expectations are for each.

Watch our Sponsored Products,Headline Search Ads, and Product Display Ads videos in the AMS YouTube channel.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

Thread is turning out to be quite educational, despite the rough start.

 

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[Vigilante]

Thread is turning out to be quite educational, despite the rough start.

Like usual. Diamonds from coal.

 

[LightHouse]

The upside is that I have learned through this train wreck of a thread that there might be an advertising vehicle available to me for Amazon that I am not using. I need to discern how it is different from the standard Amazon PPC, but I might have stumbled upon (learned!) something. I will post if I learn more. I think it might be redundant to sponsored ads / ppc campaigns in FBA or otherwise as the desired results he gets I already get, but I will explore if there is a better back door through the Amazon Marketing Services account we have.

And no, with that brand we are not an Amazon vendor but the access was granted once we got the brand registry.

Up until now, I thought the main benefit of our Amazon Marketing Services account was a brand specific URL and customized Amazon branding page.

I have not tried it, but I think it was targeted at larger brands that wanted to advertise even though they are not the direct sellers. Like a franchisor would do for a franchisee. With that, and remember i have never used it, I would imagine the difference would be that you can target any keywords and show up ala adwords, vs sponsored products which will only show up to relevant keywords that you have added.

 

[Greyson F]

So there are different types of searches in Amazon Marketing Services. I haven't watched all three of these yet, and I need to get better educated when time permits about what the results expectations are for each.

I'm confused on the foundational differences being discussed here. I know what an Amazon Seller Account is, and am familiar with FBA, but what was Troy discussing? What do vendor accounts specialize in? And what is the Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) referring to... all PPC, Troy's "special" PPC?

 

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[Vigilante]

The thread was all over the maps, so you can pick and choose a few gold pieces from within it.

Troy was discussing becoming a vendor, selling products to Amazon as a vendor much like Sony or Samsung might, instead of being a seller on Amazon's platform and selling individual units directly to end consumers over Amazon.

 

[Greyson F]

The thread was all over the maps, so you can pick and choose a few gold pieces from within it.

Troy was discussing becoming a vendor, selling products to Amazon as a vendor much like Sony or Samsung might, instead of being a seller on Amazon's platform and selling individual units directly to end consumers over Amazon.

I assume that aiming to become a vendor is unrealistic and more corporate-oriented? AKA Lack of the Commandment of Control?

I'm actually looking for more Gold/AMA threads on this forum for Amazon selling. I have a lot of threads on importing currently in my bookmarks, and I've found one or two of @biophase 's e-commerce AMA's, but I haven't as of yet seen any resources that kind of walks through the back-end process of Amazon Selling.

Even Youtube Tutorials and Walkthrough's skip the back-end fulfillment, Inventory Management, and initial Bookkeeping that would be required starting out.

 

[Vigilante]

Congratulations!

XXX’s page at Amazon has been approved and is now live. To see the page, visit http://www.amazon.com/XXX

Now that it is live, you can advertise your page above search results at Amazon with keyword targeted Headline Search Ads. Drive sales by reaching the right shoppers with highly relevant ads.

Create your ad today.

Sincerely,
The Amazon Marketing Services Team



*** I have to explore this more. It seems I can drive my overall branding page as an ad above search results. So, thanks OP! Wasn't what you thought it was, but might have opened my eyes to something in my tool box that I didn't even realize was there ***

 

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[ddall]

Congratulations!

XXX’s page at Amazon has been approved and is now live. To see the page, visit http://www.amazon.com/XXX

Now that it is live, you can advertise your page above search results at Amazon with keyword targeted Headline Search Ads. Drive sales by reaching the right shoppers with highly relevant ads.

Create your ad today.

Sincerely,
The Amazon Marketing Services Team



*** I have to explore this more. It seems I can drive my overall branding page as an ad above search results. So, thanks OP! Wasn't what you thought it was, but might have opened my eyes to something in my tool box that I didn't even realize was there ***

Vig,

I've seen these ads before and had wondered about them before concluding one must be a vendor and not seller. I am brand registered, can you advise what you filed out to receive the above email from Amazon? Thanks

 

[AllenCrawley]

Congratulations!

XXX’s page at Amazon has been approved and is now live. To see the page, visit http://www.amazon.com/XXX

Now that it is live, you can advertise your page above search results at Amazon with keyword targeted Headline Search Ads. Drive sales by reaching the right shoppers with highly relevant ads.

Create your ad today.

Sincerely,
The Amazon Marketing Services Team



*** I have to explore this more. It seems I can drive my overall branding page as an ad above search results. So, thanks OP! Wasn't what you thought it was, but might have opened my eyes to something in my tool box that I didn't even realize was there ***

A group of us just learned about this this week. As soon as we get home I'm diving in.

 

[JonnyC]

My brand is registered but I haven't seen any information on AMS registration. I just see 5 options:

https://ams.amazon.com/selectAccountType/ref=ams_home_intro_register

• I have a Vendor Central login.
• I have an Advantage Central login
• I have a Vendor Express login.
• I want to request an invitation to represent a vendor.
• I have a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account.

Any ideas on where to go? Might just request a call from Seller Central and ask them.

 

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[Greyson F]

What is this new toy doing that was normally unavailable to you guys as sellers?

 

[Vigilante]

Vig,

I've seen these ads before and had wondered about them before concluding one must be a vendor and not seller. I am brand registered, can you advise what you filed out to receive the above email from Amazon? Thanks

This was just from an update to my Amazon Marketing Services custom page (I added a new product video) but it has been a few years since we got access. Watch this thread though, or others from @AllenCrawley as it sounds like he is about to make this happen for his companies, and he will give you some fresh perspective when he navigates the gauntlet of how to get access to Amazon Marketing Services.

Someone could also shoot a note to seller support, but half the time they have zero idea what you are even talking about, so you might get the wrong information back if you catch the wrong kid in India on the wrong day.

 

[Vigilante]

What is this new toy doing that was normally unavailable to you guys as sellers?

To be determined. So far, we have a custom Amazon landing page, ability to add a product video to that, and access some PPC services that are similar to sponsored ads or PPC ads through seller central.

 

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[Ramble On]

My brand is registered but I haven't seen any information on AMS registration. I just see 5 options:

https://ams.amazon.com/selectAccountType/ref=ams_home_intro_register

• I have a Vendor Central login.
• I have an Advantage Central login
• I have a Vendor Express login.
• I want to request an invitation to represent a vendor.
• I have a Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) account.

Any ideas on where to go? Might just request a call from Seller Central and ask them.

I just submitted for registration.

Select "I have a Vendor Central login"

Click "Next"

It will automatically pull up your Amazon login information.

After signing in it asks for your brand name.

Fill that out and submit.

After an email verification it indicates it usually takes 24 hours to get approved but sometimes takes up to 3 days.

 

[Vigilante]

I just submitted for registration.

Select "I have a Vendor Central login"

Click "Next"

It will automatically pull up your Amazon login information.

After signing in it asks for your brand name.

Fill that out and submit.

After an email verification it indicates it usually takes 24 hours to get approved but sometimes takes up to 3 days.

I was just going to ask if anyone has just tried to register. Speed+

Could be the start of something great. When someone takes the time to dissect the PPC options and understands if it gives you different positioning than through Seller Central, please update. Right now, it looks like the "headline search results advertising" might give you the ability to position the entire brand, instead of just an item, at the top of the search results.

 

[James Fake]

you might get the wrong information back if you catch the wrong kid in India on the wrong day.

Ain't this the truth!!

 

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[Greyson F]

To be determined. So far, we have a custom Amazon landing page, ability to add a product video to that, and access some PPC services that are similar to sponsored ads or PPC ads through seller central.

Okay, and do those landing page services interact with any custom company domains, or is it subdomained by Amazon?

I would assume that Amazon Landing Pages wouldn't be very effective, or as effective as independent landing page services that allow you to customize the domain and directories. I experimented with an A/B Landing Page SaaS a couple of months ago to see how they work, and I feel like you could do a lot on those, even with multiple products.

 

[Vigilante]

Okay, and do those landing page services interact with any custom company domains, or is it subdomained by Amazon?

I would assume that Amazon Landing Pages wouldn't be very effective, or as effective as independent landing page services that allow you to customize the domain and directories. I experimented with an A/B Landing Page SaaS a couple of months ago to see how they work, and I feel like you could do a lot on those, even with multiple products.

Amazon.com/yourbrandname

 

[JonnyC]

I just submitted for registration.

Select "I have a Vendor Central login"

Click "Next"

It will automatically pull up your Amazon login information.

After signing in it asks for your brand name.

Fill that out and submit.

After an email verification it indicates it usually takes 24 hours to get approved but sometimes takes up to 3 days.

Thank you!

I feel silly, but I'm always worried about doing anything new with the account.

 

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[Ramble On]

Thank you!

I feel silly, but I'm always worried about doing anything new with the account.

Not a problem. At my age I don't have any time to waste. I just jump first and ask questions later.

Thanks to the others in this thread that brought out this info.

 

[JonnyC]

Not a problem. At my age I don't have any time to waste. I just jump first and ask questions later.

Thanks to the others in this thread that brought out this info.

Just signed up too! Let's see what they say

 

[LightHouse]

I just submitted for registration.

Select "I have a Vendor Central login"

Click "Next"

It will automatically pull up your Amazon login information.

After signing in it asks for your brand name.

Fill that out and submit.

After an email verification it indicates it usually takes 24 hours to get approved but sometimes takes up to 3 days.

Thanks for posting this, I was looking into about 4 months ago and never just clicked sign up to see where it would take me... now i feel kinda silly!

 

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[amp0193]

@Vigilante

Well, the cat's out of the bag on this. I heard that Scott Voelker had a guest on recently that mentioned using the Vendor Express backdoor to get to AMS, and now it's being posted about here. There will probably be untapped profits here for a bit, but it'll be swamped with people in the near future, just like Sponsored Products is now.

I had an awesome headline banner ad above the search results in my highly competitive niche for months, but recently new people have come in with higher bids and i'm getting fewer and fewer displays. Here's a screencap of a campaign I ran:

The average CPC was SIGNIFICANTLY lower than Sponsored product ads. An example: To get on the first page for sponsored products with my main keyword, you needed to bid $1.50. My average CPC for displaying at the top of the page for the same keyword was $0.20.

I will say that click traffic to the headline ads is much less than a regular in-line sponsored product ad. It will net you extra sales, but it probably won't be life-changing.

Also, you can't run reports on your campaigns, and you get less insight into campaign performance than you do with Sponsored Products. There is no "automatic" campaign option.

Could be the start of something great. When someone takes the time to dissect the PPC options and understands if it gives you different positioning than through Seller Central, please update. Right now, it looks like the "headline search results advertising" might give you the ability to position the entire brand, instead of just an item, at the top of the search results.

There are three options for placement.

Headline above the search results: This links to your brand page that you can set up with custom media, feature different product collections, highlight popular products, etc.

On the side of a detail page all the way on the right hand side, underneath the "Other Sellers on Amazon" box: For these you can target the pages of specific ASINs you want to display on, or you can display by "interest based". I tried these and found them to be incredibly ineffective and unprofitable. The CPCs were higher than my headline ads, and the conversions were way lower. I may try playing with these again, but I haven't had any luck so far.

And then the other option is running regular sponsored product ads, like you all already do.


The only downside is that you get a Vendor Express rep that will breathe down your neck by phone and email wanting to know when you're going to ship in product. Just email them back a reason why you are delaying your decision to do so for a few months, and that keeps them at bay while you run AMS ads. Maybe there will come a point where they shut down my Vendor Express account because of inactivity.


If I remember, the Vendor Express account was a little weird to get set up, and I did it last year so I'm not sure I would be much help to you all trying to figure it out. Just know that it exists, it works, and you don't have to be a vendor to use it.

tell ya what folks...why don't you go ahead and try to get an account with them...Ill make the Crow for me to eat if you can without being a Vendor.

When you're done with that crow @Troy Mangone I'd be interested to hear about how you are able to help your clients negotiate favorable terms with being a vendor to Amazon.com.

 

[amp0193]

Here's another cool thing about AMS: Audience Insights.

It's not super detailed, and there isn't anything more that what I shared in those pictures, but it did give me a starting point for my Facebook ad targeting.


If anyone is interested, I did attach the AMS User Guide to this post. It kind of breaks down what all you can do.