What is the Walmart Sponsored Brands Program?
In the competitive world of retail, Walmart stands as a dominant player, continually innovating to compete with giants such as Amazon and Google. The introduction of Walmart Sponsored Search programs (read about another program, Walmart Sponsored Products, here) with the Walmart Sponsored Brands campaign marks a significant leap in its advertising strategy, aimed at empowering brands to bolster their visibility on Walmart's vast online and in-store platforms. This guide delves into the details of this initiative, illustrating how it can be a pivotal element for your brand's marketing strategy.
The Mechanics of Sponsored Brands
A User-Friendly Cost-Per-Click Model
Operating on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, Sponsored Brands ensures advertisers only pay when a shopper engages with their ad. This model is designed to be budget-conscious and effective, aligning costs closely with actual customer engagement. This pay-per-click model became even more attractive since Walmart transitioned to second-price auction.
Prime Placement for Optimal Visibility
Sponsored Brands are premium placements that appear prominently at the top of search results for selected terms on Walmart's platform. This prioritized positioning, featuring the brand’s logo, a customized headline, and up to four shoppable products, is engineered to significantly boost brand recognition. Advertisers can select up to ten items to be included in the ad, with Walmart automatically filling the ad based on availability and relevance.
Strategic Keyword Targeting Options
Walmart provides advertisers the flexibility to handpick their own keywords or target categories correlated with their products. The keyword targeting options encompass:
Phrase Match: Ensuring ads are served when the search query includes the advertiser's specific keyword phrase.
Exact Match: Offering the utmost precision, where ads are displayed only for searches that match the advertiser’s exact keyword or phrase.
Broad Match: Granting extensive reach by showing ads to all Walmart customers whose search query includes the specified keyword phrase, regardless of word order or additional terms.
Crafting a Winning Campaign
To capitalize on Sponsored Brands, a Marketplace seller must meet the following prerequisites:
Be established in the United States, China, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, or be a pre-approved seller in India.
Hold rights registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Be registered with the Walmart Brand Portal
Key Creative Guidelines: Logos and Taglines
Logos: It is advised to utilize PNG files, measuring 300x180 px
Taglines: This is a golden opportunity to connect with potential customers. Craft a tagline—up to 45 characters, spaces included—that speaks directly to your target audience based on their search behaviors. It’s advised to align these messages with any national media or advertising campaigns that are currently running.
Financial Considerations: Budget and Bidding
Sponsored Brands ad placements require a minimum bid of $1.00, which is higher than the $0.30 minimum for Sponsored Products ads.
To initiate a campaign, a minimum budget of $50 is required. Although initially more expensive, it is regarded as a cost-effective advertising strategy as it allows the showcasing of an array of products, not just a single item.
Pro Tips for Achieving Success
Avoid Segregating Campaigns by Match Type: This strategy prevents internal competition and unnecessary budget expenditure.
Harvesting Keywords from Data: Leverage insights from your Sponsored Products ads to inform your keyword choices in Sponsored Brands campaigns, which goes hand in hand with,
Continuous Keyword Testing: Regularly analyze and compare the effectiveness of branded versus non-branded keywords to continually refine your campaign.
Experiment: Since you can currently only have one ad set and creative per campaign, consider running multiple campaigns simultaneously to test headlines, creatives, and images effectively.
Patience is key: It has been observed that the performance of Sponsored Brands ads often improves significantly from week one to week four after going live. Also, account for a 24-48 hour approval process, and plan your campaign submission accordingly to avoid delays.
Driving Awareness and Conversions
Sponsored Brands ads on Walmart are tailored to help your brand’s marketing strategy by targeting shoppers at most points in the marketing funnel. It is a powerful tool for driving brand awareness and conversions, and therefore, requires a thoughtful approach in selecting SKUs to feature, crafting compelling taglines, and choosing images that resonate best with potential customers after running several variations during the testing phase.
As an integral tool for advertisers, Walmart's Sponsored Brands are designed to captivate shoppers at various stages of the marketing funnel. This campaign type offers substantial potential for driving both brand awareness and conversions, provided that it is used strategically. From the meticulous selection of visuals and taglines to intelligent budget allocation and keyword management, Walmart's Sponsored Brands can be a cornerstone in a brand’s marketing approach on one of the world's largest retail platforms. In a retail world that is increasingly moving online, Walmart's Sponsored Brands provide a critical way to stand out in a crowded marketplace. Brands, both big and small, new and established, should strongly consider this ad platform as part of their broader marketing strategy. We hope this blog post was beneficial!
Thank you,
Commerce Canal Team
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