Brands are shifting their ad spend to prioritize new customer acquisition over ROAS maximization in the bottom funnel. This episode shares four actionable tactics, including day parting, paid/organic synergy, vertical video ads, and AI-driven bidding with human oversight, to help ecommerce operators optimize their lower funnel media strategies and minimize leakage.
Key takeaways
Implement day parting by adjusting bids for high-conversion hours and days; test late-day bidding when competitor budgets may be depleted.
Optimize product listings to align with high-intent keywords, ensuring strong organic rankings and supporting paid ad efficiency.
Utilize feature-driven, vertical video ads for bottom-of-funnel initiatives, as they convert more effectively for high-intent searchers than broad brand storytelling.
Employ AI and automation for bulk campaign optimization, but maintain human oversight to fine-tune top-performing campaigns and ensure strategic alignment.
Shift budget from branded search and loyalty-based retargeting towards non-branded bottom-of-funnel keywords and audiences to efficiently capture new customers.
Themes
conversion rate optimizationpaid advertisingretail media strategy
Welcome to The Ecommerce Braintrust podcast, brought to you by Julie Spear, Head of Retail Marketplace Services, and Jordan Ripley, Director of Retail Operations. In today's episode, we're diving into a topic that's been heating up since Amazon unveiled it at Unboxed last October: using AMC audiences for Sponsored Products. It's a conversation that's gone from a slow simmer to a full-on boil in recent months, and we've brought in two of Acadia's sharpest retail media minds to break it all down: Ross Walker and Carlos Sastre. We'll be exploring where the real impact is showing up, what's working, and what this shift means for the future of Sponsored Search. Tune in to find out more! "I don't care about winning every single eyeball for a keyword. I only care about winning the subset of eyeballs that are most likely to convert, be a high lifetime value customer, or be most likely to purchase multiple products in my assortment. That is the new game that we are moving towards in the future." Ross Walker KEY TAKEAWAYS In this episode, Julie, Jordan, Ross, and Carlos discuss: Overview of AMC Audiences for Sponsored Ads: The distinction between using AMC audiences in DSP vs. Sponsored Ads. In Sponsored Products/Brand Ads, AMC audiences act as bid modifiers rather than strict targeting mechanisms. Limitations and Current Capabilities: Advertisers can only boost bids for specific audiences, not exclude or exclusively target them. Only one AMC audience can be applied per campaign currently, which introduces campaign complexity
Frequently asked about this episode
What does this episode say about conversion rate optimization?
Implement day parting by adjusting bids for high-conversion hours and days; test late-day bidding when competitor budgets may be depleted.
What does this episode say about paid advertising?
Optimize product listings to align with high-intent keywords, ensuring strong organic rankings and supporting paid ad efficiency.
What does this episode say about retail media strategy?
Utilize feature-driven, vertical video ads for bottom-of-funnel initiatives, as they convert more effectively for high-intent searchers than broad brand storytelling.
What does this episode say about conversion rate optimization?
Employ AI and automation for bulk campaign optimization, but maintain human oversight to fine-tune top-performing campaigns and ensure strategic alignment.
What does this episode say about conversion rate optimization?
Shift budget from branded search and loyalty-based retargeting towards non-branded bottom-of-funnel keywords and audiences to efficiently capture new customers.
