In the vast sea of Amazon advertising content, finding actionable, step-by-step guidance can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. While general information abounds, many sellers struggle to translate that knowledge into tangible results for their PPC campaigns. That’s why we’ve created this comprehensive guide.
Our mission is simple: to provide you with a clear, practical roadmap to Amazon PPC success.
Drawing from our extensive experience managing Amazon advertising accounts, we’ve distilled our most effective strategies into a series of actionable steps. This guide isn’t just theory – it’s a tried-and-tested process that we use daily to drive real results for our clients.
Here’s what you can expect:
- Detailed, step-by-step instructions: Each section breaks down complex PPC optimization techniques into manageable tasks.
- Flexibility to suit your needs: Whether you’re looking for a complete account overhaul or targeting specific improvements, our guide has you covered. Feel free to work through the steps sequentially or jump to the sections most relevant to your current challenges.
- Actionable insights: We’ve cut through the noise to focus on strategies that drive measurable improvements in your campaigns.
- Real-world application: Our processes are born from hands-on experience, ensuring they’re practical and effective in today’s competitive Amazon marketplace.
Whether you’re a PPC novice or a seasoned pro looking to refine your approach, this guide will equip you with the tools and knowledge to take your Amazon advertising to the next level.
Critical Terminology – Skip This Section At Your Peril
But before we get started it’s vital that you 100% understand a couple of terms. As with so many things, when it comes to Amazon PPC the devil is in the detail. Even an 95% understanding could cost you thousands in excess ad. spend or lost sales. So let’s make certain that we’re all on the same page before we start.
1) Keywords vs Search Terms
Understanding the distinction between keywords and search terms is crucial for optimizing your Amazon PPC campaigns. Here’s a quick overview of their similarities and differences:
Similarities:
- Both are essential components of Amazon PPC advertising
- They connect advertisers with potential customers
- Both influence ad visibility and performance
Key Differences:
| Aspect | Keywords | Search Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Words/phrases you choose to target | Actual queries typed by customers |
| Origin | Selected by advertisers | Generated by customer searches |
| Control | Directly controlled by you | Cannot be directly controlled |
| Visibility | Visible in campaign structure | Only visible after ad clicks occur |
| Function | Determine when ads may show | Trigger ad displays when matched |
| Optimization | Adjusted based on performance | Used to inform keyword strategy |
Understanding these differences allows you to:
- Refine your keyword selection
- Discover new advertising opportunities
- Improve campaign relevance and efficiency
[Click here for a more detailed explanation of keywords vs. search terms in Amazon PPC]
When you set up an Amazon Sponsored Product ad you can choose the keyword(s) that you want to target (along with the match type – BROAD, PHRASE or EXACT).
When you review the data from your ads you want to analyse at the lowest possible level, because that gives you the greatest flexibility and power for profit optimisation. And that optimum level for analysis is the “search terms” level.
2) Disabling Keywords vs Adding Negative Search Terms
If you disable a keyword in your campaign then, unsurprisingly, your ad will not be shown for any of the search terms related to that keyword… unless it is triggered by another keyword/match combination.
If you add a search term as a negative search term then all variations of that search term will be blocked within the relevant Campaign or Ad Group (depending on the level at which you set the negative search term)… regardless of how they were triggered.
So negative search terms have a wider effect than disabling a keyword… and that effect is wider still if you add the negative at the PHRASE match level as opposed to the EXACT match level.
On the flip side though, setting a negative search term means you can target a phrase a lot more precisely than simply disabling a PHRASE or BROAD match keyword.
For example:
- If you’re a seller of UK sweets and you target the keyword “box of sweets” at the phrase match level then disabling that will also disable all relevant variations, which you might not want to do
- If, instead, you add negative search terms then you can laser target terms which are irrelevant to you but keep the other terms which will generate you sales. eg you can add the following as negative search terms:
- american box of sweets
- indian box of sweets
- irish box of sweets
- japanese box of sweets
- etc
3) Amazon Match Types
If you think that, by choosing the keyword “box of sweets” with EXACT match, your ad will only display if a customer searches for the exact term “box of sweets” and nothing else… then you’re at risk of making some very expensive mistakes.
Even with EXACT match, the ad will display for many variations including:
- box of sweets
- boxes of sweets
- box of sweet
- boxes of sweet
- box for sweet
- boxes for sweets
- boxes for sweet
- box and sweet
- boxes and sweet
- boxes and sweets
- boxes and sweets
- box sweet
- box sweets
- boxes sweet
- boxes sweets
- box with sweets
- boxes with sweets
And so on…
Now you might think that, given that many of the above are unlikely to be searched for very often. this isn’t really very important.
And that’s the costly mistake. Because… if Amazon considers all of that list to be identical it means that:
If you add any of these terms as a Negative Search Term then every other one of the variations will be blocked… Including any high selling, profitable variations.
For more details see this more detailed explanation of the various Amazon match types.
1. Stop Ads With Zero Sales
Why Should You Do It?
In the world of Amazon PPC, efficiency is key. One of the most impactful ways to improve your campaign’s performance is by identifying and stopping “zero sellers” – search terms that generate clicks and spend but fail to convert into sales.
If a search term isn’t generating sales then there’s absolutely no downside to stopping it as long as you take into account the variations that it will also block given how Amazon treats even EXACT match types (as we’ve explained above).
2. Review Your “Too Expensive” Ads
Why Should You Do It?
These are the ads where the ACoS is higher than your maximum value. So to make your advertising more profitable you need to do something about them.
Should You Stop Them?
Your first reaction might be to just stop them. I confess that’s what I used to do back in the day. After all, if my break-even ACoS was 20% and the ad had an ACoS of 30% then it was losing me money and I’d be better off if I stopped it.
Right?
Well actually the answer is… Yes. The overall profit would increase by stopping the ad from displaying for that search term.
But there’s an even better solution. That search term is generating sales… and by stopping it then we will lose those sales.
The better option is to try to make those sales profitable.