Go to https://ad-optimizer.metoda.com/



For the onboarding of SBs, click "Campaigns". This leads you to the campaigns section.


You can either: 

  • Case 1: add SB campaigns for new products manually by clicking “New campaign” or

 


  • Case 2: import several new campaigns at once using “Import” and our onboarding template (the Excel template can be downloaded by clicking "Import", "Download example Excel") 

 



In both cases, you need to fill in all mandatory information

InformationMandatory/ OptionalDescription

Portfolio name

Mandatory

The portfolio where you want to run the campaign in.

Campaign NameMandatoryName of the SB campaign. The name must start with "m_".

Headline

Mandatory

Max. 50 characters, the headline needs to be "appropriate" (avoid stating being "best" or "test champion"). Please refer to Amazon guidelines for more detailed information.

ASINs

Mandatory

ASINs you want to display in the SB (usually 3 ASINs will be displayed in the ad).

Brand name

Mandatory

Will be stated at the top of the SB, often differs from entity name

Image/File name

Mandatory

If you are creating a campaign via “IMPORT”, you only need the image name. Make sure to upload the image/logo in our Image Library beforehand and use that exact name.

Landing page type

Mandatory

Two options, SB can either be directed to:

- Amazon Brand Store: insert the link to the brand store (sub) page and make sure that all ASINs you want to advertise are included on that page

- List of products: a product list is created automatically out of the ASINs brief in the ASINs field. It needs to contain at least three products. 

Note: the campaign will be paused automatically if less than 2 products are available on the landing page.

Link

Mandatory if targeting is "brand store"

Link to your store in case the targeting is “store” or amazon brand store.

Note: the store needs to include all ASINs advertised in the SB. 


Leave empty if you have chosen a product list

TACoS

Mandatory

Target ACoS you want to achieve with your campaigns; only full percentage values are possible

Start

Mandatory

Start date of the campaigns

End

Optional

Leave blank for unlimited campaign duration; fill in for setting an end date of the campaign

Category

Optional

You can set one category tag (useful for filtering in our report solution e.g "Tableware" or "hairdryer")

Tag

Optional

You can set multiple product tags (useful for filtering in our report solution e.g. "New product launch", "Special offers January")

Negative Keywords*

Optional

Use for blacklisting in order to make sure that your ad will not be displayed for irrelevant search terms. Limited to 1000 keywords/campaign, and each one of them shouldn’t exceed 4 words. They need to be separated by a semicolon (";")

Positive Keywords*

Optional

An additional possibility to upload important keywords manually (white listing). Limited to 1000 keywords/campaign, and each one of them shouldn’t exceed 4 words. They need to be separated by a semicolon (";") 

only custom keywordsOptionalIf you don’t want to use metoda-generated keywords, but only your positive and negative keywords, you can choose the targeting “only custom keywords”. The algorithm won't generate keywords for this campaign. However, the Ad Optimizer will still optimize the campaign(s) and the keywords you added manually to it.

 

*According to our best practice, the keywords will be integrated with phrase as match type. The ads can be shown according to the phrase and close variations of it. This allows us to reach a lot of customers, while still keeping the targeting of shoppers precise. The same is true for negative keywords --> the campaign will not be displayed on all search terms that include the given negative keyword.  



Case 1: Generation of new campaigns using "New campaign" leads you to the following screen

There are 4 major steps you need to complete one by one to set up your campaign. Once you filled in all mandatory fields you will be directed to the Launchpad where you can make some last adjustments before creating the campaign(s).

Step 1: Campaign

  • Select Sponsored Brands


  • Define the campaign name, start date (end date optionally) and select the right portfolio (use the dropdown to choose existing portfolios or create a new portfolio via "+ New portfolio")
    • Campaign name: campaigns need to start with “m_” and can consider the following naming conventions: m_<theme>_sba_<targeting type>
      - Theme: could be a category or a product-specific feature, that helps you to identify the campaign afterwards

      - Targeting Type: should be “store” or “product list”, depending on the targeting method of the campaign




Step 2: Content

  • Select your Brand (sellers) or type your brand name (vendors), insert the headline and choose the right brand logo



Content Specifications:

  • Brand name: will be displayed within the banner, often differs from entity name, not more than 30 Characters (cannot contain: <>#^!)
  • Headline: max. 50 characters, headlines need to be "appropriate" (avoid stating being "best" or "test champion",  no ellipses, special characters, extra punctuation, or all in CAPS). Please refer to Amazon guidelines for more detailed information
  • Brand Logo: at least 400 x 400 px, less than 1 MB, formats: png, jpeg, GIF




Step 3: Products


 

  • The campaign can either link to a product list (auto-generated) or your Brand Store
  • ASINs: ASINs you want to be displayed in the SB campaign (usually 3 ASINs will be displayed in the ad, depending on landing page type). How many ASINs can be included here, depends on the landing page type. 
    • Brand Store: you can choose 1 - 3 ASINs to be displayed in the campaign. 
    • Product list: you need to choose at least 3 ASINs. If you choose more, the auto-generated product list will include more products, and the first three ASINs will be displayed in the ad. 
      BEST PRACTICE: as the Sponsored Brand will only be displayed if at least 2 products are available (for campaigns that link to the Brand Store, 1 ASIN is enough), we recommend rather choosing 4 or 5 ASINs per campaign to avoid the campaign getting paused.


Step 4: Launchpad

You will be directed to the Launchpad where you can make some last adjustments before creating the campaigns. Please note that the Goal will be set to Target ACoS:15% by default, but it can be adjusted to any full percentage value. 
You can either implement some changes in-line or as a bulk operation.

    In-line operation: if you want to change campaign details (campaign name, creative, products), please click on the campaign name.




Bulk operations: choose multiple rows by activating the corresponding check boxes on the left and use the dropdown to select the action you want to implement.






Once you have finished all your settings, click on "Create Campaign(s)" in order to save your campaigns and submit them for review: the campaign will be submitted to Amazon for review. You can check its status in our campaigns section.


IMPORTANT NOTE: If the campaign does not meet the guidelines, it will be rejected. Rejected campaigns can be easily edited and resubmitted in our Campaign ManagerDO NOT USE THE AMAZON ADVERTISING CONSOLE.

Learn more about How to re-submit rejected Sponsored Brands



IMPORTANT NOTE: you need to deactivate all your own campaigns that target the ASINs which should be managed by metoda (otherwise campaigns will bid against each other, newer campaigns have a disadvantage compared to existing campaigns because they have not generated any clicks or revenues yet).


IMPORTANT NOTE: setting a budget period is the necessary requirement for your campaigns to be displayed. Only if a budget period for the selected portfolio exists, will your campaigns be running.



Case 2: Generation of new campaigns using "Import" leads you to the following screen:




Step 1: Download the example Excel and fill in all mandatory information in the second tab "SbaCampaign"

The example Excel looks as follows, including instructions on how to fill it out and two examples:


 

Step 2: Fill in the Excel file.


Step  3: Save it and drag it into the "Import Campaigns" screen.

In case something is not filled in properly, you will receive error messages indicating which campaign adjustments are necessary.

 

Step 4: Save the Excel and drag it into the "Import Campaigns" screen.


In case something is not filled in properly, you will receive error messages indicating in which row adjustments are necessary. Common mistakes: e.g. not all mandatory fields were filled, start date in the past, wrong formatting of the cells. Please read the instructions in the template carefully and follow the guidelines. Do not add or delete any columns or change the order of the columns!

Step 4: Click "Import" to upload your Excel.


Step 5: You will be directed to the Launchpad where you can make some last adjustments before creating the campaigns.
You can either implement some changes in-line or as a bulk operation.


    In-line operation: if you want to change campaign details (campaign name, creative, products), please click on the campaign name.




Bulk operations: choose multiple rows by activating the corresponding check boxes on the left and use the dropdown to select the action you want to implement.






Once you have finished all your settings, click on "Create Campaign(s)" in order to save your campaigns and submit them for review: the campaign will be submitted to Amazon for review. You can check its status in our campaigns section.


IMPORTANT NOTE: If the campaign does not meet the guidelines, it will be rejected. Rejected campaigns can be easily edited and resubmitted in our Campaign Manager. DO NOT USE THE AMAZON ADVERTISING CONSOLE.

Learn more about How to re-submit rejected Sponsored Brands



IMPORTANT NOTE: you need to deactivate all your own campaigns that target the ASINs which should be managed by metoda (otherwise campaigns will bid against each other, newer campaigns have a disadvantage compared to existing campaigns because they have not generated any clicks or revenues yet)


IMPORTANT NOTE: setting a budget period is the necessary requirement for your campaigns to be displayed. Only if a budget period for the selected portfolio exists, will your campaigns be running.


The technical process of Campaign Creation & Golive:

 

  1. Campaign creation via our Ad Optimizer
  2. Before we create the campaign on Amazon, we need to add a daily budget and at least one keyword to the campaign. Initially, the budget will be set to the minimum (1€/$/GBP), and the keyword "metodapowered" will be added. 
  3. A script starts to create keywords for this campaign and the process responsible for setting the budget for the campaigns overrides the initial daily budget to the expected budget amount.
  4. The final keywords and budget should be in place approximately one hour after the campaign creation.