B2C Weekly: Low-Bid Catch-All Campaigns, what are they and why you should use them ??
It's time to celebrate the end of the week with some 'Low-bid Catch-all Campaign Talk'. These campaigns are like the bargain bin of Amazon advertising. It's like going to a garage sale and discovering a rare Picasso hidden among the knick-knacks and old VHS tapes. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the idea. ??
Today, we will show you the simple steps in creating this campaign and how this strategy can turn into the most profitable campaign in your account.
??HOT TAKE: THE ONLY CAMPAIGN YOU DON'T WANT TO OPTIMISE?
The major difference between a catch-all campaign and other campaigns is that it does not require ongoing optimisation. We don't want to optimise the campaign because we want the bids to stay as low as possible.
The bids are set low because this campaign also targets search queries you don't necessarily want to invest in through manual campaigns, but it's still worth targeting them and getting the sales at such a low cost and low-risk bid.?
Catch-all campaigns work best on large catalogues, so the more products you have, the more likely this will grow into one of your best or the top-performing campaigns. However, you can still test it if you only have 1-2 products.
It's important to note that while Catch-all Campaigns can be extremely effective, they're not a one-size-fits-all solution and should be used to supplement your existing advertising strategies; they are not designed to replace them.?
1??What is the Amazon Catch-all Campaign?
A low-bid catch-all campaign on Amazon is a type of advertising that targets keywords & products using Amazon’s clever machine learning to place your product in relevant places across the marketplace automatically. It is a stand-alone automatic campaign designed to run at a very small ACOS (Usually less than 10%).
Advertisers throw all products from their catalogue in the same ad group and set a default low bid with a DOWN ONLY bid type. We will show you how to create the campaign step-by-step, so continue reading.
B2C recommends setting a default bid of your choice between ￡0.15-￡0.25 in the UK & EU marketplaces and between $0.20-$0.40 in the US marketplace (Amazon.com). This campaign aims to capture as many relevant and potentially profitable searches as possible.?
2??How Does Automatic Catch-all Campaign Work?
By nature, you’ll find that your catch-all campaign will not serve ads consistently throughout the day. Still, you will likely see activity pick up in the afternoons/evenings when competitors' budgets are depleted and bid prices drop off. It’s a low-spend, high-return (ROAS) set-up.
The Low-bid Catch-all Campaign analyses your product listings, historical performance data, and search terms used by customers to find yours & similar products. Based on this initial analysis, the campaign finds bidding opportunities for you and targets keywords/competitor ASINs that are not actively targeted in your other campaigns.
Remember: Great opportunities to steal sales exist for established products when targeting ASINs without social proof/reviews. It’s also great for discovering/targeting newly launched competitor products that have yet to appear on your radar.
3??Wider Advertising Reach
The low-bid catch-all advertising campaign is an affordable and effective way for sellers to increase their advertising reach on Amazon. There’s no reason to exclude it from your strategy.?
Due to the fact that it’s always on the lookout for low-bid relevant opportunities, you’ll notice that you’re winning clicks and impressions from products and long tail keywords that you may not have considered adding to your manual campaigns yet or even knew existed.
4?? Leave it Running
By leaving the campaign running, advertisers can maintain a competitive advantage by winning ad placements at a super-low price over other sellers who may pause their advertising campaigns after running out of budget. Amazon's algorithm is constantly learning and refining the targeting for the ads.?
Also, when advertisers constantly run the campaign, it gives the algorithm more data, leading to better performance and more accurate targeting over time. Even if there is a temporary drop in sales or advertising performance, keeping the campaign active ensures that the products are still advertised and shown to potential customers in a low-risk & high-reward structure.
Step-by-Step Guide on Campaign Setup ??
The low-bid catch-all campaign is easy to set up; remember, you do not need to optimise it.?
Step - 1
Click on “Create Campaign”, and you will get three campaign-type options. Choose the 'sponsored products' option.
Step - 2
Name your campaign & select all the products in the catalogue.
Step - 3
Set the targeting type, and choose ‘Automatic Targeting’.?
Step - 4
You can decide the default bid for all targeting groups in the auto campaign (Loose match, Close Match, Substitutes & Compliments) combined, which we recommend.
Alternatively, you may wish to decide to customise the bid that will be applied to each targeting option. Moreover, You can even turn off any target type you intend to because of budget constraints or other factors.?
Step - 5
In negative keyword targeting, you can negate the completely irrelevant search term which did not perform at all in the historical performance of your PPC ads. We don’t recommend negative matching keywords which you know are relevant to the product. This is because they may become profitable in a lower bid setting, even if you have not seen a good performance.
?
Step - 6
In negative product targeting, you can negate all competitors’ ASINS irrelevant to your product type if you have historical PPC ads data. It will allow you to put them in negative in advance to avoid wasteful spending in the campaign.
Step - 7
This allows you to decide which bidding strategy you will adopt for your campaign. Amazon offers three types.
Choose Dynamic Bids Down Only as your selection.
Step - 8
Assign a name to your campaign; it is suggested to keep your campaign’s name with some identifier. If there is a dedicated portfolio for such, you can move the campaign to that portfolio by selecting it. Allocate a daily budget for a campaign and click “Launch Campaign”.?
We recommend a budget of ￡10-20 per day; if you find that you are spending through your budget, it is worth taking a look at your keyword strategies and overall campaign structure. There’s a good chance you are missing opportunities in your manual campaigns if the catch-all campaign is consistently spending its allowance & running out of budget.
?? QUICK TIP
QUOTE OF THE WEEK ??
"I don't look to jump over seven-foot bars; I look around for one-foot bars that I can step over." — Warren Buffett
Trending Insights from the Amazon Space ??
Let’s explore some trending insights from the Amazon space, providing valuable information and actionable tips for sellers looking to optimise their performance and grow their businesses on the platform. We recap top stories, product releases, and news from the past month.
?? That’s All for This Week!?
Have a question surrounding one of the topics in today's newsletter? Ask us anything or get in touch. Our team at B2C Consulting can provide the expertise needed to create top-performing campaigns.
Keen to find out more? Check back in with us next week, and have a great weekend.