When to invest in custom creatives for your Amazon DSP display ads

Display advertising via the Amazon demand-side platform (DSP) is an extremely effective format for advertisers looking to target shoppers and meet them wherever they spend their time online. These ads can appear in on-site and off-site placements like Amazon.com, the Amazon app, third-party websites, and websites and apps that are part of Amazon’s advertising network. Since display ads combine an image section with an eCommerce section–including elements like live pricing, deal, or promotion information–they can target any area of the purchase journey, from awareness to conversion.  

But to set your display ads up for success, you need to select the right creative type for your advertising goals. 

Display ads: The different types of creatives

Within the Amazon DSP, there are 3 different creative types available, including Responsive eCommerce Creative (REC), Custom REC, and Custom Creative. Each creative type offers a different level of customization–some are better suited for conversion-focused campaigns, while others are more effective at building brand awareness and driving consideration. 

Responsive eCommerce Creative (REC) are Amazon-generated creatives that automatically pull product image, price, and star-rating from your product detail page (PDP). You can add in your logo and 50-character creative headline, but beyond that customization is limited. Alongside these elements, Amazon automatically generates four ad variations: ‘Add to Cart’, Shop Now, Coupon, or Customer Review. 

Custom REC are a hybrid of REC creatives and custom creatives. These ads allow advertisers to include a custom image, while Amazon ads the headline, logo, star rating, and CTA automatically from the PDP.  

Custom Creatives are completely customizable – you choose the product or lifestyle image, headline, CTA, and logo (within Amazon’s regulations). Because you can add your own branding elements, these creatives tend to be more visually appealing and eye-catching.

Beyond the appearance of the ad, the creative type you select also impacts the destination you drive traffic to. RECs and Custom RECs drive traffic back to your PDP, making them optimal for bottom-of-funnel campaigns. Custom Creatives allow you to drive traffic to a custom landing page including the ASIN’s PDP, your Amazon brand store, or an external website.  

For the most part, Amazon DSP advertisers utilize REC and Custom REC for their display campaigns since they are easy to set up and are focused on driving conversions. But for advertisers looking to target shoppers at the top of the funnel, Custom Creatives are likely worth the added time investment. 

When should you invest in custom Amazon DSP display creatives?

Build brand awareness and increase consideration from NTB shoppers

Because Custom Creatives can be customized with your brand’s messaging, images, and fonts, they’re ideal for advertisers looking to craft a more brand-centric experience. This customization makes them stand out, helping to capture the attention of new-to-brand shoppers at the start of their purchase journey. Running custom creatives can help boost metrics like click-through rates (CTR), detail-page-view rates (DPVR), and the percentage of new-to-brand purchasers (NTB PR). We recommend using them alongside the following targeting strategies: 

• In Market or Lifestyle targeting 

• Competitor Product View

• Competitor Lapsed Purchasers

• Complementary Product Purchasers

Drive traffic to your Amazon brand store

An Amazon brand store is a central location where brands can display their entire Amazon product range in one place, similar to their website. There are times when it is beneficial to drive traffic back to your Amazon brand store rather than an ASIN’s PDP. For example, if your product has a lot of variations, driving traffic to your brand store can be a great tool to display your entire product line. In the example of Deodorant, a brand with multiple sizes and scents might want to link customers to their brand store rather than a PDP, where they can browse between all products available in one place.

Custom Creative Best Practices

 Amazon has specific ad policies for custom creatives and since they need to be approved by Amazon before they can run, it’s important to follow their guidelines. Here are some best practices that will help you craft ad creative that will appeal to shoppers:

• Imagery should be clear, either product-focused or lifestyle; it’s best to keep the product as identifiable as possible.

• The logo should be visible to identify your brand and encourage recall and affinity.

• Copy should be simple and direct, focusing on the unique features of the product.

• Headlines should communicate a strong statement that provokes action.

Some of the main reasons for custom creative rejections are unapproved language content, ambiguous language or CTA, missing logo, no creative border, non-functional landing page, and poor image quality.

For more information, visit the Amazon DSP Help Center where you can find additional best practices and strategic advice.

A/B Test To Find Your Best Performing Creatives

When building out your custom creatives, you can choose to A/B test between a variety of custom creative options. This helps you test and identify the product images, headlines, and CTAs that drive the strongest performance for your brand. This will help you optimize results between creatives and maximize the ROI of your Amazon DSP campaigns. 

Case Study: Leveraging Amazon DSP Creative Studios to drive improved performance

In May 2023, a global supplement brand was looking to boost the performance of their upper-funnel Amazon DSP campaigns and drive increased brand awareness. Knowing the impact that creatives have on performance, the Perpetua team built out custom creatives for one of their product lines. After just 1 month of running custom creatives, we saw a 125% increase in click through rate (CTR), 21% decrease in eCPDPV (cost per detail page view), and a 3x increase in clicks, while decreasing overall ad spend by 33%. 

Conclusion

When it comes to running display ads through the Amazon DSP, it’s important to choose the right creative type for your advertising goals. For advertisers looking to showcase their brand, appeal to new-to-brand shoppers, and drive improved performance, custom creatives are worth the added investment.