I did a little experiment with adwords and Amazon.
I had three adgroups for different products in this campaign. In all cases the keywords were selected and the copy were written to make it very clear this was to purchase an item.
At first I bid high to increase my CTR. The conversions were like clockwork. I thought I was doing ok until I learned I was only making 5%. I thought amazom payed 15% for all items with a direct link. I was wrong. I then lowered my maximum CPC in hopes to bottom feed in position 3-4.
It seems like the conversion ratio dropped the lower my adwords position was.
On one adgroup I was getting a ton of Content-Targeted Ads.
202441 impressions, 288 for a .1% CTR. This adgroup led to at least 2 sales but still not enough to cover the cost.
Has anybody had luck using adowrds with Amazon?
even if you sell a $100 product, you're only making $5. at 15% for a direct link for a book (good luck), the odds are still against you.
we use adwords to generate traffic for other products with much higher commissions ... and if they happen to get interested in an amazon product along the way, well, it's just gravy.
Just my opinion of course.
Of course, I have never tried this before so I could be full of it. :)
I have not used adwords with amazon yet. I have used them for other affiliate programs and my media spend is around 250, my CJ balance is at 384. So that is not so bad.
Things I did learn: I have compiled a massive list of search phrases that are used to find my niche product. I have found out actual impressions as well as CTR on google for these phrases. I have learned that I need to make a site dedicated to these sweet widgets and get normal SE results instead of PPC.
If I was to end my campaign today I would have made around 130 dollars total. With all the work I put into it, it probably averages about $2.25 an hour. My list of new keywords and understanding for what people are searching for is worth so much more than that.
The last few days no one has purchased anything so I see my profit dwindle away. To me it feels like I am gambling and winning...I know if I let this campaign play out for another day someone will make a big purchase and will hit the jackpot...
Maybe I have a PPC problem?
if you can acheive the below you're on your way
Cost Per Click $0.05
Average number of clicks to sell one item : 10
Cost of sale $.50
Cost of item $50
Amazon commission (5%) - 2.50
Gross Profit $2.00
It then becomes a volume game to make real money.
It can be done and some items have a much higher conversion rate, remember Amazon sells a huge range of items.
The good thing about Amazon in my opinion is it converts well, the bad thing is the length of the cookies validity.
Amazon are very good at ensuring you rarely get 15%. All the user has to do is click anyone of the other 100 or so links on the page and you drop to 5%.
They have a load of rubbish on their site saying things like "add a shopping cart feature and make more". What they don't tell you is, ANYTHING added to a shopping cart is 5%
They are good for some beer money but little else :o)
Dave
I pretty much make most of my money selling the items capped at $10 per referal. There's enough interest on many of the items that it's become profitable for me. I DO sell books, but mainly as a means to increase my unit totals to qualify for higher tier levels. I don't really think that books in and of themselves can be tremendously profitable.
You may want to consider niche DVDs (especially expensive box sets) too. They still pay the same 5%, but you may be able to squeeze a bit more profit out of them as I have been able to do.
As for the 15%: It's kind of a shell game with Amazon. People have to buy the book DIRECTLY from the page for you to get credit for the sale, and the book must be 15 to 30% off. I've seen Amazon adjust the rates back and forth for bestsellers, with most going for 40%. As a result, I've gotten only a handful of 15% sales from books. IMHO, its not worth the trouble.
thing with amazon is that there are the obvious choices and the ones you have to dig for. the obvious ones are already adword'd to death so you'll only lose money. its finding the not so obvious ones. :)
