Walmart Search Brand Amplifier (SBA) Now Available via Platform Partners
Tinuiti is excited to announce we now offer full API advertising support for Walmart’s Search Brand Amplifier (SBA) premium ad unit, bringing big opportunities for campaigns and budgets of varying sizes.
As Walmart Connect noted in their announcement regarding SBA:
“If you want to dominate search, this is invaluable, as customers are two times more likely to view an SBA placement than any other search ads.”
Previously, SBA ads were exclusively managed by the Walmart Connect team, and were generally available as a component of larger Display packages that commanded a high cost of entry. Walmart has now unlocked this inventory for their platform partners, including Tinuiti, enabling us to purchase, create, and manage SBA campaigns on our clients’ behalf.
“With the general release of Search Brand Amplifiers, Walmart is giving sellers the ability to manage their own SBA ad efforts via a trusted Platform Partner like Tinuiti. With this comes greater management agility, improved operational efficiencies, and the ability to both view and manage your omni-channel performance efforts from a unified location.”
— Stuart Clay, Associate Director of Strategic Marketplace Services at Tinuiti
SBA ads serve as an ideal complement to Walmart Sponsored Products, with each playing an important—but different—role in successfully advertising on Walmart.
What are Search Brand Amplifier ads?
As their name suggests, these ad units are designed to “amplify” your brand presence and share of voice on Walmart, reaching potentially new customers in the mid-to-upper funnel.
- Search Brand Amplifier ads are displayed to customers who are searching for products similar to yours on Walmart.com and/or the Walmart app
- Ads include a curated product portfolio, and are shown on the search page, above the relevant search results for the customer’s query
- These ads include your logo, a custom headline, and up to 4 SKUs (carousel module)
- Advertisers only pay when a customer clicks on their ad (no impression costs)
- Currently, all ads are served based on keyword targeting, with the advertiser choosing how broad or narrow they would like to be with those keywords (no negative keywords available). Broad, phrase, and exact match targeting are available
Search Brand Amplifier Requirements
Similar to Sponsored Products ads, there are certain requirements that must be met to take advantage of SBA ads. These include:
- Products must be in-stock, published, and the base item
- Products must be available for sale online (not in-store only)
- Items must be winning the Buy Box
- Up to 10 products can be added to each campaign
- Individual SKU positioning within the ad is based on the item’s popularity and cannot be manually adjusted
- Currently only available through API for 1P suppliers (not 3P advertisers)
Walmart Connect Creative Review Process
While we have an array of new capabilities thanks to our API partnership with Walmart, there are certain areas where the Walmart Connect team will still play a role in the review process.
Newly Launched Campaigns
Before a campaign launch, the Walmart Connect team will review the following, and approve or disapprove each. For a successful launch, all of the below must be reviewed and approved:
- Brand name and logo
- Click URLs
- Headlines
- At least two items
- At least one keyword bid
Existing Campaigns
Once a campaign is up and running, the following will necessitate a review by the Walmart Connect team:
- Adding new items or keywords
- Adding, disabling, or re-enabling an item will require that approved keywords be re-reviewed
We will still be able to make bid updates for existing keywords in the campaign while the review is in-progress, or pending.
Tactical Advantages of Search Brand Amplifier
In addition to its lower barrier of entry, another key benefit of SBA ads is the agility they bring. Because our team is managing these ad units themselves, we are able to act quickly and strategically. This agility can be especially beneficial for brands with strong seasonality considerations, or those who regularly launch new or updated products and want to give them fast, broad reach.
SBA enables us to manage in-flight, providing our clients with greater details regarding bid updates, keyword lists, and more.
Walmart SBA Reporting
- Ad Group Performance
- Brand Performance
- Daily Performance
- Item Performance
- Keyword Performance
- Page Type Performance
- Platform Performance
- Item Health Report
Want to explore the capabilities of this unique search ad product, newly available for partners through the API? Reach out today to chat with an expert!
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