The Beginners Guide to Launching and Optimizing Amazon PPC Ad Campaigns

Amazon PPC: How to Set Up Your Campaign for Success

If you are an Amazon seller, the onus falls on you to make your products as visible as possible.

One of the best ways to do this is through Amazon PPC Ad Campaigns.

A proper setup of this campaign will help you win sales. Amazon PPC will highlight your products and push them to prospective buyers.

PPC Ad stands for Pay-Per-Click Advertising. It gives you a unique opportunity to promote your items on Amazon by directing potential buyers to your product. You only pay based on the number of clicks on the ad, which is why it's pay-per-click advertising. The strategy can significantly increase awareness for your products.

Studies show that Amazon PPC doubled globally, and PPC clicks increase sales by over 150%.

In this write-up, you will learn how to create your first campaign. This way, you can start generating revenue on Amazon. This comprehensive guide will lead you step by step to ensure you don’t make any mistakes that could hurt your advertising effort.

The method is low-maintenance and straightforward, helping you set up and optimize your Amazon ads easily.

You’ll learn how to maximize your ad budget and use effective keyword selection to drive profits.

Introduction to PPC

Amazon PPC advertising began in 2012, and Amazon has simplified the program so sellers can generate more sales and get their products seen on the Amazon marketplace.

Amazon PPC ads appear in two key places on Amazon:

1. Product pages
2. Search results pages

PPC allows you to bid on keywords related to your products, helping them rank higher on search engines. The beauty of PPC is that it pushes your products to the first page of search results—where up to 70% of potential buyers are searching for what they want to purchase.

Step 1: Determine Your Ad Spend

The first step is to decide how much you want to spend or bid on ads. To calculate your "default bid," you'll need three metrics:

• The conversion rate of your product
• The price of your product
• Your target Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS)

You can easily identify these metrics through the Seller Central page on Amazon.

How to Calculate Your Target ACoS

ACoS determines how well your PPC campaign performs. It’s the ratio of your ad spend to your sales.

For example, if you spend $1,000 and generate $3,000 in sales, your ACoS is 30%. You can check the ACoS metric for all your products by visiting the Campaign Manager section of your Seller Central on Amazon.

Step 2: Start Your Campaign

Once you’ve determined your budget, it’s time to start the campaign. Follow these steps:

1. Log in to Seller Central
2. Click on Campaign Manager under the Advertising tab

This will take you to the Campaign Settings page, where you’ll set up:

• Your Daily Budget
• Your Ad Campaign
• The Target Type (manual or automatic)
• The Campaign Time Frame

Manual vs. Automatic Targeting

The automatic setting saves you time, but the manual setting gives you more control. With manual targeting, you can select the specific keywords for your ads, while automatic targeting allows Amazon to use product information to target ads for you.

Step 3: Manual PPC Campaign Setup

Manual campaigns take a little more time to set up, but they add precision to your advertising. Here’s how to set one up:

1. Select Manual Targeting
2. Click Continue
3. Name your ad group
4. Select the product you want to advertise
5. Choose your default bid

You can either enter your own keywords or use Amazon’s suggestions. There are three match types to choose from:

• Broad: Shows ads when buyers search for your keywords and similar variations.
• Phrase: Shows ads when buyers search for your exact keywords plus words before or after them.
• Exact: Shows ads only when buyers search for the exact keyword.

Pro Tip: Experts suggest sticking to Exact and Broad match types, as Phrase often overlaps with Broad.

Step 4: Automatic PPC Campaign Setup

An automatic campaign is quick to set up and doesn’t require keyword research. Amazon scans your product details and matches them to the most relevant searches.

1. Select Automatic Targeting
2. Click Continue
3. Name your ad group
4. Select the product you want to advertise
5. Provide the bid amount

Step 5: Track Your PPC Ads

Tracking your PPC ad performance will help you make the most of your advertising budget. Visit the All Sponsored Products Campaign page under the Advertising section in Seller Central to review metrics such as:

• ACoS
• Sales
• Spend

You can adjust your daily budget, end date, and start date even after launching the campaign. Additionally, review the performance of your keywords to see which are generating the most clicks and sales. This insight will guide your future campaigns.

Exact Keyword Group Setup

To rank with Exact Match keywords, you’ll need a precise match of the selected keywords. Here’s how to set up a successful Exact group:

1. Use tools like Sonar (a free Amazon keyword tool) to select the top 20 to 50 relevant keywords.
2. Make sure your default bid is competitive for relevant keywords to maximize conversions.

Broad Keyword Group Setup

The Broad Match setting will match your ad with the keyword you select as well as its variations. While this can increase visibility, there are risks, such as bidding on less relevant keywords that lead to fewer conversions.

Pro Tip: Deduct about 30% from your default bid for Broad Match keywords. This helps balance cost-effectiveness while still reaching a wide audience.

Conclusion

Competition on Amazon is fierce, and simply having great products is not enough to generate sales. You need to make your products as visible as possible. By using Amazon PPC advertising, you can give your products the exposure they need to succeed.

PPC allows you to control your ranking on Amazon’s search engine and other major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

Though PPC requires a financial investment, it’s one of the most cost-effective ways to advertise on Amazon. Over time, the return on investment will prove its worth. 

To Your E-Commerce Growth,

Josh Ford

Joshua Ford
E-Commerce Growth Strategist
Sellers Launch, LLC

"Helping online sellers launch and sell more products on multiple channels by combining AI-driven insights with skilled account management, coaching, and useful content."

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