Trivium Group

"You need $50,000 a month to run Amazon DSP." We hear this all the time. It’s wrong. That number comes from Amazon’s managed service tier — which most brands don’t need. Through the right agency partner, a real, viable DSP test starts at just $5,000. But here’s the part nobody talks about: DSP isn’t just “another ad type.” It’s a fundamentally different way to reach customers. PPC targets queries. DSP targets people. Someone browsed your competitor’s listing last week? You can reach them. A shopper fits your ideal customer profile but hasn’t searched yet? You can find them. On Amazon. Off Amazon. Across the entire programmatic ecosystem. Sam Lee, our VP of Amazon DSP, joined the Marketplace Growth Podcast by Channable to break the whole playbook open: → When your brand is actually ready for DSP → How to allocate 20–25% of your ad budget without wasting a dollar → DSP vs. Sponsored Display — when to use which → The biggest budget wastes he sees (and how to audit for them) → How to use Amazon Marketing Cloud to validate every dollar Sam Lee managed programmatic for 200+ brands. This is the conversation we wish every brand owner heard before they hit the PPC wall.

You're maxing out your Amazon PPC bids. Your ROAS is flat. Your team is spinning its wheels. This isn't a bidding problem. It's a channel ceiling. Most brands misread the signal completely — they tweak creatives, restructure campaigns, and throw more budget at keywords. But the truth is, PPC only captures demand that already exists. To break through, you have to start generating demand. That's Amazon DSP. Our VP Sam Lee sat down with the Marketplace Growth Podcast to break down: 📉 Why more keyword spend stops producing more profit 💰 Why you DON'T need $50K/month to get started (a real DSP test starts at $5K) 🎯 The shift from targeting shoppers already searching → intercepting high-intent audiences before they type a word 📋 The exact prerequisites before you allocate a single dollar (100+ reviews, 4+ stars, $20K–$30K/month in PPC) ⚠️ Viewability rates — you might be paying for impressions no human eye ever saw Sam Lee has built DSP systems from scratch and scaled programmatic for 200+ brands. No fluff, just the technical blueprint.

Our very own VP and Head of DSP, Sam Lee, is teaming up with David Milstein from SellCord for a free live webinar on what’s actually driving Amazon and Walmart growth in 2026. If you’re a brand trying to figure out where to place your bets right now, this one’s worth an hour of your time. Here’s what they’re covering: → How consumer behavior is shifting across both platforms → Where category winners are being made (and the data behind it) → Walmart’s emerging role in a real multi-marketplace strategy → AI’s actual impact on product discovery and ad performance → What’s working now — and what brands need to stop doing June 15 Save your spot: https://hubs.li/Q04kPNKW0 See you there. 

"We'll start DSP next year when we have more budget." Translation: You'll never start. Here's what happens: Next year comes. Budget's tight. Growth is flat. Push DSP to the following year. Repeat for 3 years. Meanwhile, your competitor started 18 months ago. They're retargeting YOUR potential customers. They've built audiences you can't access. You're ready for DSP when: → PPC is optimized and profitable → Your product page converts well → You've hit diminishing returns on search → You understand DSP compounds over time Every month you wait, your competitor builds a bigger moat. Stop waiting for perfect timing. Ready to start DSP? Get your free strategy call - Link in comments

"We charge 10% of ad spend." Sounds fair, right? Here's the problem with that model: The more you SPEND, the more THEY make. So what's their incentive? → Push you to spend more → Even when it's not profitable → Even when you've hit diminishing returns → Even when improving your listing would be a better investment Their commission grows with your spend. Not your profit. At Trivium, we don't charge percentage of ad spend. We use flat retainers or retainer + performance-based variable. A variable tied to YOUR profit growth. Here's the difference: PERCENTAGE MODEL: Your spend: $100K → They make $10K Your spend: $200K → They make $20K Their incentive? Get you to spend $200K, even if it kills your margin. OUR MODEL: We've had clients where we REDUCED ad spend by 30% and INCREASED profit by 50%. A percentage-based agency would've fought us on that. Because it would've hurt their commission. If your agency's revenue grows when you spend more, your incentives aren't aligned. Want an agency incentivized to grow your profit, not your spend? Get your free strategy call - Link in comments

"Can you share examples of brands you've worked with?" Yes. Some of them. But not all. Here's why: We have clients we're allowed to discuss publicly: brands happy to share their wins and success stories. But our best-performing clients? The $10M+ accounts absolutely dominating their categories? They're under strict NDAs. Because they don't want competitors knowing: What strategies we're running What their actual numbers look like What's giving them an unfair advantage And we respect that. When a brand trusts us with their growth, we don't turn around and use them as a marketing prop. So yes, we have proof. We have case studies. We have testimonials. But the BEST results? Those stay private. Because that's what happens when you actually get results for serious brands—they don't want to be on your website. They want to stay under the radar and keep winning. The brands who work with us understand this. If you've been following along, you already know if we're the right fit. Want our team to help you grow on Amazon? Book a call with us: https://hubs.la/Q03WhtNT0

Our team has managed $700M+ in Amazon revenue. Worked with 200+ brands. Scaled accounts from $0 to $10M+. Every mistake we've seen. Every strategy that actually works. Every tactic that's a waste of time. We put it all in one document: The 12-Month Growth Blueprint. This isn't a surface-level guide. This is the exact system we use at Trivium—the same one our clients paying $15K+ monthly get access to. We could charge $5K for this. But we're releasing it for free. Why? Because we'd rather help 1,000 brands grow 10% than hoard information and help nobody. Plus, here's the truth: most people won't implement it anyway. They'll download it, feel good about having it, and never open it again. But the ones who actually use it? They scale fast. And eventually, they come work with us. Want the blueprint? Comment "GROWTH" below.

Our client satisfaction score is 96%+. Here's how we maintain it: FAST DELIVERY We say 3 weeks → You get it in 3 weeks. No excuses. No delays. HIGH-QUALITY WORK Our creatives don't just look good: they're engineered to stop scrolling and drive conversions. We benchmark against your top competitors. TANGIBLE RESULTS Images that increase CVR. Campaigns that drive sales. Strategy that moves the needle. CLEAR COMMUNICATION You're not chasing us for updates. We're in your Slack daily. Weekly calls. We flag issues before you see them. But here's what most people miss: Our best clients aren't just satisfied customers. They're collaborative partners. They: - Trust our expertise - Provide feedback quickly - Communicate clearly - Focus on long-term results, not quick fixes We don't work well with everyone. ❌ Brands that micromanage every pixel ❌ Companies that need constant reassurance ❌ Founders who want results yesterday without understanding the process ❌ Teams that expect us to do everything while they do nothing ✅ But brands with strategic teams who trust us to lead? ✅ Companies focused on long-term growth over short-term hacks? ✅ Partners who let us do what we do best? Those brands crush it with us. High satisfaction doesn't come from saying yes to everyone. It comes from working with the right partners. Think you're the right fit? Book a call with us - Link in comments

Brand launches DSP. Same week they also: → Double PPC spend → Launch influencer campaigns → Drop prices 20% → Run their biggest promo Then ask: "Is DSP working?" No idea. And neither do you. You just ran 5 experiments at once and expected clean data. Here's how to actually test DSP: → Keep everything else stable (PPC, pricing, promos) → Give it 60-90 days minimum → Measure total account lift, not just DSP attribution → One variable at a time One brand "tested" DSP for 3 weeks during Black Friday while running Facebook ads. Conclusion: "DSP doesn't work." We reran it clean: 90 days, stable PPC, no external campaigns. Result: 47% total sales lift. Clean test = Clear answer. Messy test = Expensive confusion. Want to test DSP the right way? Book a strategy call with us: https://hubs.ly/Q03Whn2G0

You don't have a traffic problem. You have a conversion problem. We see this pattern in 90% of Amazon audits: Strong ad performance ✓ Rising impressions ✓ Decent CTR ✓ Flat conversions ✗ The real blockers hiding in your listing: → Main image that blends in instead of breaking patterns → Lifestyle images that show product, not benefits → A+ content that feels like a corporate brochure, not a buying experience Winning listings do the opposite: - Benefit-first design - Visual storytelling - Mobile-first layouts - Social proof built into every frame - Your creatives aren't decoration. They ARE your conversion rate. Most brands optimize their ads while ignoring the thing that actually closes the sale: the listing itself. Fix your conversion problem, and suddenly your traffic problem disappears. Want our team to audit your listing for free? https://hubs.ly/Q03WhxN70