Merkle Announces Automated Bidding Solution for Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads

Proprietary Bid Technology Leverages API Integration with Amazon

COLUMBIA, Md. — Merkle (www.merkleinc.com), a leading technology-enabled, data-driven performance marketing agency, today announced the launch of an automated bidding solution for Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads. Leveraging its API integration with Amazon, the proprietary technology enables effective bid management at scale, in order to calculate and apply bids.

“We’re excited to launch one of the first-to-market automated bidding capabilities for Sponsored Brands across all Amazon advertisers and tech providers”

The innovative bid technology allows for precise, data-driven decisions as well as the ability to update bids up to 48 times per day, enabling marketers to fully capitalize on all available revenue opportunities. Using clients’ KPIs as the primary input in its bidding algorithm, Merkle uses machine learning to calculate a base bid and then employs insights from its analytic experts to enhance strategy and adjust bids according to signals from multiple platforms. Clients have seen a sales-per-click increase of 18 percent, with additional results showing a 47 percent increase in click-through rate and a 62 percent decrease in advertising cost of sales (ACoS) since transitioning Sponsored Brand bidding to Merkle’s technology.

“We’re excited to launch one of the first-to-market automated bidding capabilities for Sponsored Brands across all Amazon advertisers and tech providers,” said Todd Bowman, senior director of Amazon and eRetail at Merkle. “Before this integration, efficiently bidding on these ad units required building numerous custom processes, because Amazon itself hasn’t provided bulk editing capabilities until recently. With this new bid technology, as Amazon media becomes more competitive, our teams can focus more on analyzing performance to identify new opportunities and take advantage of them more proactively on behalf of our clients, while also scaling the program effectively.”

As part of its Amazon-centered marketing and advertising offering, Merkle provides cross-channel strategic support across services, such as Amazon product and brand SEO, Amazon advertising, including search management and display, eRetail media management, and custom eRetail KPI insights. This integrated approach leverages a cross-functional team of expert analysts across Merkle’s e-retail solutions group, and combined with their data-driven, people-based marketing approach, has allowed Merkle to be at the forefront of the Amazon advertising business while providing clients with a unified advertising strategy.

Merkle has also released the Amazon Ads Playbook, sharing best practices for Amazon’s key advertising offerings and covering everything from optimizing product page data and running display programs to managing ad campaigns across Amazon’s Marketing Services. For additional information on the Amazon Ads Playbook, visit https://www.merkleinc.com/thought-leadership/white-papers/amazon-playbook.

About Merkle

Merkle is a leading data-driven, technology-enabled, global performance marketing agency that specializes in the delivery of unique, personalized customer experiences across platforms and devices. For more than 30 years, Fortune 1000 companies and leading nonprofit organizations have partnered with Merkle to maximize the value of their customer portfolios. The agency’s heritage in data, technology, and analytics forms the foundation for its unmatched skills in understanding consumer insights that drive people-based marketing strategies. Its combined strengths in performance media, customer experience, customer relationship management, loyalty, and enterprise marketing technology drive improved marketing results and competitive advantage. With 6,800 employees, Merkle is headquartered in Columbia, Maryland, with 19 additional offices in the US and 33 offices in Europe and APAC. In 2016, the agency joined the Dentsu Aegis Network. For more information, contact Merkle at 1-877-9-Merkle or visit www.merkleinc.com.