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Advertising is the lifeblood of eCommerce, and Amazon offers an array of advertising solutions to help sellers promote their products. By leveraging its vast network, brands can reach potential customers in new markets while boosting sales with strategic advertising.

However, some Amazon sellers may be hesitant to venture beyond Pay per Click advertising to try Amazon’s Demand-Side Platform (DSP), the programmatic advertising platform that offers exciting new targeting capabilities.

DSP is often viewed as the NEXT step – beyond PPC – in Amazon advertising.

Why Are Amazon Sellers Saying “No” to DSP Advertising

In this post, we’re going to drill down into the five main challenges that many Amazon sellers face when confronted with the question of Amazon DSP. Then, we’ll take a look at the way a leading Amazon DSP Agency would address those concerns. 

When it comes to Amazon DSP, identifying objections that advertisers might have, THEN solving those concerns can help us to better understand the platform’s benefits and overcome any obstacles to using it. 

As an Amazon Management Agency that specializes in Amazon advertising, Canopy Management has experience with addressing objections and helping sellers to effectively use Amazon DSP to drive results.

What is Amazon DSP?

Demand-Side-Platform advertising is algorithm-based, and serves targeted messaging to ideal audiences at the perfect time.

DSP is a great advertising platform because of two very important things, unparalleled audience targeting capabilities and the exclusive creative assets exclusive to DSP that help your product and brand stand out from the crowd.

The Demand-Side Platform algorithm collects data from online users in order to show them ads that cater to their needs. The data that DSP collects focuses on demographics, interests, device usage, and online behavior. This information is invaluable to Amazon sellers as well as an Amazon marketing agency. 

So, why wouldn’t Amazon sellers want to take advantage of such a powerful advertising platform? 

Here are the top 5 reasons why Amazon sellers might say no to Demand-Side Platform Advertising. 

1. DSP is Hard to Understand

Yes, it’s a little complicated to understand how DSP works. Standing out on Amazon is a question of differentiating your product (and brand). In order to do that, Amazon sellers spend a lot of time tailoring their creative assets to reach increasingly sophisticated buyers. 

Amazon DSP’s algorithmic capabilities and audience targeting combine to allow you to craft an advertising strategy that serves ads to increasingly relevant audiences of shoppers.

 DSP is a programmatic advertising  platform that automates the process of purchasing and selling online ads. This tactic gives advertisers the ability to place ads across multiple channels with little human interaction. That’s right, the ads follow shoppers, on and off of Amazon. 

The problem is that it’s a little bit complicated. 

If you’re like many Amazon sellers, you just don’t understand the benefits of Amazon DSP and how it can help you to effectively target and reach potential customers. Without a clear understanding of the platform’s capabilities, many sellers may opt for more familiar or traditional advertising methods.

2. The Complex Setup

An Amazon DSP campaign can be hard to set up. It helps to have special tech skills such as an understanding of data analysis and audience targeting.

There are two ways to get started with Amazon DSP, Managed by Amazon, and managed self-service. The managed-service option is designed for companies that want access to Amazon DSP inventory, with consultative service, or for those with limited programmatic advertising experience. 

Self-service customers are in full control of their campaigns. Self-service is a bit of a misnomer. This option can only be accessed through an Amazon marketing agency such as Canopy Management. Managed self-service provides sellers and Amazon marketing services with an attractive blend of control, with ready access to the agency’s DSP expertise. It also allows for more flexibility in ad spend. That’s not a small thing!

3. Higher Cost

Yes, it’s true. Amazon DSP can be more expensive than other advertising options available to sellers, particularly if you’re just starting out and haven’t been able to trust the success of Amazon advertising. It’s tempting for those sellers to dedicate their ad spend to the parts of their Amazon advertising that they know better. With the managed-service option typically requiring a minimum spend of $50,000 USD, it’s a significant hurdle. 

4. Limited Control

As an automated advertising platform, Amazon DSP takes the tedious task of optimizing campaigns out of the hands of Amazon sellers. That gives you more time to focus on driving sales. But, with its algorithmic approach comes a trade-off. Some sellers feel that giving up manual control in favor of convenience and speed is a step in the wrong direction.

5. A Reduced Audience

Amazon DSP is primarily focused on the Amazon marketplace and Amazon-owned properties, such as IMDb, Audible, Twitch, Goodreads, Zappos, and Woot. That means that some sellers might feel that they’re not able to reach as wide an audience as they would like.

With omni-channel selling a trending topic, this could prove problematic for entrepreneurs looking to expand their reach well beyond the Amazon ecosystem. 

Canopy Management’s DSP Team Has the Answers 

As a Full Service Amazon Management Agency, the Advertising Team at Canopy Management understands that using Amazon DSP can be a complex, intimidating process for eCommerce sellers. That’s why we wanted to address the principal concerns and provide a clear path forward. 

The simple truth is that Amazon DSP is just too good to pass up. 

Let’s dig into the top 5 objections to Amazon DSP and discover how our Amazon Agency can help you tackle any challenges head-on. Learn more about how a lack of understanding, fear of setup complexity, the overall expense, and the limited control could be holding your ad campaigns back.

1. DSP is Hard to Understand

This is where the experience of an Amazon Management Agency is invaluable. Canopy Management’s team of DSP experts can help you to understand how the platform works and develop a strategy that meets your specific needs.

According to Inc Magazine, Canopy Management is the fastest Amazon Agency in the world. We reached that point by partnering with eCommerce sellers to help them find success. And, because it’s a partnership, a big part of our success lies in our ability to share our knowledge and experience in ways that opens the door to more understanding about the facets of Amazon’s marketplace. 

Here are the two main elements of Amazon demand-side advertising that create a barrier for eCommerce sellers. 

The Benefits of Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising is a data-driven approach to digital advertising that uses algorithms to buy and place ads. Many Amazon sellers may not fully understand the benefits of programmatic advertising, including the ability to target specific audiences and track campaign performance in real-time.

The whole world is talking about ChatGPT and the many AI programs are changing the way we live. Programmatic advertising will overhaul the way you sell on Amazon. 

The Technical Skills Required

Yes, Amazon DSP is a complex platform that requires technical skills, such as data analysis, targeting, and campaign optimization. Because many Amazon sellers may not have the necessary skills or resources to effectively use the platform, this can lead to frustration and a lack of confidence in using Amazon DSP. 

For Amazon sellers, the workaround involves either trusting Amazon to run your advertising on their platform or reaching out to a leading Amazon Agency such as Canopy Management.  

2. The Complex Setup

Amazon DSP can be a complex platform, particularly for Amazon sellers who are not familiar with programmatic advertising. 

As I mentioned above, Canopy’s close relationship with our partners includes detailed explanations of how the DSP platform works, the benefits of programmatic advertising, and how to effectively set up and manage campaigns.

Yes, our DSP experts will be running your advertising campaigns, but you’ll know how and why they’re making the moves that they make!

3. Higher Cost

Amazon DSP presents a unique opportunity for sellers to expand their reach, but those just starting out may find the cost prohibitive. However, with the careful planning and budgeting strategies that an Amazon Agency can provide, DSP can provide long-term value that far exceeds other advertising options.

While Amazon DSP can be more expensive than some other advertising options, it’s become increasingly popular for the higher return on investment (ROI) that it’s known for. That’s due in large part to its advanced targeting capabilities. 

With the right Amazon Agency, eCommerce sellers can use contextual targeting to identify ideal ad-campaign audiences in seconds, then quickly measure the results. That transparency makes it possible to adjust campaign context and keywords in real-time to increase performance, and reduce ad spend. 

Marketers often find themselves torn between the exciting reach of large-scale advertising and the effectiveness of targeted, niche-down campaigns that inevitably lead to a higher CVR (or conversion rate). 

Reach out to a Canopy Management Advertising Expert to find out how DSP might involve less financial commitment than you might imagine. 

4. Limited Control

Yes, Amazon DSP uses algorithms to optimize your ad campaigns. However, when you partner with an Amazon Agency, you’re able to have a high level of control over your campaigns. Canopy’s DSP team works with you to make informed decisions about campaign setup and targeting, as well as analyzing the data and to optimize your campaigns based on performance

We’ll work with you to set specific audience targeting guidelines then develop bespoke strategies to align with your overall eCommerce goals. 

5. A Reduced Audience

While the strength of Amazon’s DSP platform is concentrated on their own ecosystem’s platform and associated properties, this can be a benefit for sellers who want to target a highly specific audience. 

Whether it’s long-tail keywords, or drilling down into lucrative selling niches on Amazon, “reducing” an audience often allows you to decrease spend and raise ROI. 

Canopy Management can help sellers determine the best approach for their specific goals and develop a targeted advertising strategy that maximizes the effectiveness of a focused, niched-down ad campaign. 

How Canopy Management Can Help

Amazon DSP is the best kept secret in advertising.

It’s time to look more closely at how you can use Amazon’s Demand Side Platform ads to level up your business. 

Canopy Management is a full-service marketing agency for Amazon and Walmart sellers. Our team consists of former Amazonians, multi-million dollar sellers, and award-winning experts. When you consider the many ways that Canopy Management can help you grow your business, you’ll see why selling on Amazon is much easier “under the Canopy.”

• Strategic Growth Planning
• Listing Copywriting Optimization
• Listing Photography
• Product Videography
• Advertising Management
• Customer Service
• Demand Side Platform (Amazon DSP)
• Amazon Posts
• Full Service Management
• Amazon Review Aggregation