The Amazon video advertising ecosystem is growing. From the retail site to its live-streaming platform, Twitch, Amazon offers plenty of opportunities for brands to reach shoppers. The 2024 announcement that the company would offer Prime Video Ads expanded an already thriving ad ecosystem.
Amazon is an online sales juggernaut, responsible for more than 37% of the U.S. ecommerce retail market in 2023. That means it has a ready-made audience for brands looking to increase awareness and drive sales. If your brand already sells on Amazon, this is the natural place to increase your reach. And if you don’t, unique audience identification tools and multi-platform reach might mean Amazon is still a smart choice for your ad portfolio. If you’re ready to find out, this guide is for you.
Simple Map of the Amazon Video Advertising Ecosystem
First, a quick look at the properties where Amazon ads may appear. Each of these options captures slightly different sections of the overall Amazon ad audience.
- Amazon’s retail site – with videos appearing at the top of and between search results
- Amazon Prime Video – a new, premium option that includes ads alongside sports, exclusive content, TV shows, and movies
- IMDb – the Internet Movie Database sharing information about movies, TV series, podcasts and other content
- Twitch – a live-streaming platform originally created for gamers that now includes music broadcasts, life broadcasts and more
- Fire TV – a streaming media player that may be accessed via a Fire TV Smart television set or an external device that plugs into any Smart TV
- Third party publishers – can carry Amazon ads vida the Amazon DSP
To reach this diverse range of platforms, Amazon offers an assortment of video ad types at different price points.
Types of Amazon Video Ads
- Sponsored Brands – place immersive video content directly on Amazon and other sites. These ads are easy to create but offer limited creative control via the video builder. These ads are only available to brands currently selling on Amazon and the ads link back to your amazon sales listings or brand page.
- Sponsored Display like sponsored brands, sponsored display also places video content on Amazon and other sites, but it is available to brands that don’t sell in the Amazon store.
- Streaming TV Ads appear on Twitch, Life Sports Broadcasts, FireTV channels, and third-party platforms via desktop, mobile and CTV. These non-skippable video ads are similar to traditional commercials. Although they offer broad reach, they also tend to be more expensive than display or online video options.
- Online Video Ads reach IMDb and Twitch as well as third-party publisher’s sites. They may appear as ad breaks before, during or after video content, or in non-video environments like image galleries and articles. The ads are optimized for desktop, mobile and tablet, but may be less engaging for viewers depending on where exactly they appear.
- Prime Video Ads appear alongside Prime premium content. That means they reach highly engaged audiences and offer good visibility. They’re probably the most expensive option on this list.
Amazon Ad Targeting
Unique ad targeting opportunities may be the most valuable part of the Amazon advertising ecosystem. As an ecommerce leader, Amazon has a level of audience insight that most brands could only dream of.
You can identify audiences and target your ads in three ways. Availability of each option depends on the type of ad you’re creating.
- Persona Builder lets you create a custom persona based on interests, needs, and streaming behavior.
- Amazon Audiences includes thousands of audience segments you can use to reach relevant audiences.
- Advertiser Audiences lets you incorporate your own audiences to reach both new and existing customers.
Other advertising platforms also allow targeting based on audience behavior, but the combination of media consumption habits and shopping habits makes Amazon ad targeting uniquely powerful.
Amazon Ad Video Specs
Amazon is looking for advertising that appeals to their audience and makes promises the brand can keep. Required Amazon video ad specs are fairly consistent across advertising placements.
- 16:9 aspect ratio
- 1920 x 1080 minimum frame size
- H.264, MPEG-2, or MPEG-4 file type
- File size less than 500 MB
- Recommended bitrate, 8 mbps
Prime Video ads do have some unique specifications. The recommended video bitrate for Prime Video is 50mbps.
Required video duration also varies depending on ad placement. Work with your video producer to create cut-downs of your longer form videos to fit each format.
- Prime: 15, 30, 45, and 60 second duration recommended
- Other Streaming: 15, 20, 30 second duration recommended
- Sponsored Brands: 15 seconds recommended (can go up to 3 minutes)
How Much Do Amazon Video Ads Cost?
The big question for many brands is how much does it cost to advertise on Amazon? Sponsored display and sponsored brands are the least expensive option. They use a CPM pricing model, so you’ll pay a certain amount per 1,000 impressions. There is no minimum required investment to get started with display ads.
If you’re going the self-service route with streaming, online video, or Prime, you’ll need to invest a minimum of $10,000. Managed service packages start at $50,000.
Streaming, Prime and online ads are sold programmatically, which means an automatic process determines where your ad will be served based on your budget and targeting. Pricing is via CPM.
Amazon Video Ads Best Practices
Make sure ads are engaging and understandable without sound. This is less important for streaming platforms, but on-site and third party ads may be muted automatically. Make sure viewers still get the message.
Include a brand name and logo. This is good advice in any case, but Amazon ad streaming policies require video ads to display the brand name and logo on screen for at least 3 seconds.
Include voiceover or on-screen text. Amazon requires that video ads include either (or both) voiceover or on-screen text.
Use interactive ad elements. For streaming and third-party placements, Amazon recommends using QR codes or other interactive ad elements that link users to a mobile-friendly site or app.
Keep in mind that Amazon does not allow the advertisement of alcohol, weapons, fireworks, sexual wellness products, tobacco, or UV tanning services and equipment or advertising aimed at children.
How to Get Started with Amazon Video Advertising
To get started with Amazon video ads you’ll need to either register for sponsored ads or set up an Amazon DSP account. From this account you can create campaigns, choose platforms, and select targeting. Amazon DSP lets you create campaigns for video, audio, and display ads.
Of course, you can’t have a video advertising campaign without a video! For help developing quality video for your next Amazon video advertising campaign, contact the video experts at IdeaRocket. We make 2d animation, 3d animation, whiteboard, motion graphics, mixed media animation and live action videos for innovative brands.
