The Complete Guide to Amazon PPC Management 

Amazon paid search, also known as Amazon Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, can be a powerful tool for sellers to reach more customers and boost sales on Amazon. However, successfully managing Amazon PPC campaigns takes dedicated effort and the right strategies. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about optimising, tracking, and growing your Amazon PPC campaigns. 

How does Amazon PPC work? 

Amazon PPC is similar to Google Ads in that advertisers only pay when a customer clicks on their ad. There are two main types of ads on Amazon: 

Sponsored Product Ads: These ads show up on product search results pages and target specific keywords. Your ad will be shown if a customer searches for the keywords you choose to bid on. 

Sponsored Brand Ads: These promote your entire brand or product catalogue across Amazon. They appear on detail pages, search pages, and other areas of the Amazon site. 

You set maximum bids for keywords or for your entire Sponsored Brands campaign. Amazon then runs an auction to determine the ad rank, a score calculated from your bids, and other factors like relevance. Ads with the highest ad rank will be shown at the top of search results.  

Setting Up Your Amazon PPC Campaign 

Before starting any PPC campaigns, make sure your product listings and brand presence are fully optimised. Well-optimised listings will perform better with ads. Here are the basic steps to set up a campaign: 

1. Choose Your Advertising Goal: Decide if your goal is brand awareness, product launches, sales during peak seasons, etc. This helps focus your strategy. 

1. Select Campaign Type: As discussed above, choose between Sponsored Product Ads or Sponsored Brand Ads. Products work best for short-term goals, while brands are better for long-term awareness. 

1. Choose Keywords: Research relevant keywords customers would use to find your products. Prioritise long-tail keywords along with your main target keywords. 

1. Set Bids: Use the suggested bid amounts as a starting point and adjust bids based on your campaign goals and budget. 

1. Set Campaign Budget: Determine your daily or monthly budget based on your target ACoS (advertising cost of sales) goals. Start small and gradually increase spending. 

1. Launch and Monitor: Continuously track key metrics like impressions, clicks, sales, and Arcos to optimise campaigns over time. 

Having clear goals and understanding your targets upfront makes Amazon PPC campaigns much easier to manage effectively. 

Choosing the Right Keywords 

Your keyword strategy is arguably the most important factor in successful PPC campaigns. Take time to research keywords customers would use to find your products. Here are some tips: 

• Start with your main product title keywords and model numbers. 
• Use Amazon’s keyword research tool to find related, highly searched keywords. 
• Include variations of your keywords that may have misspellings. 
• Target both broad and long-tail keywords with 3+ word phrases describing attributes. 
• Prioritise keywords with high search volumes and low average position. 
• Negatively match common keywords for unrelated or generic products. 

• Track keywords’ performance constantly and remove poor performers. 

Regularly optimise your keyword list by adding new keywords found in your top converting sessions. Keep testing new keywords to find the most productive search terms. 

Optimising Your Amazon PPC Ads 

The ads themselves also play a major role. Make sure to create compelling, optimised ads that convert well. Here are some tips: 

• Use the entire 80-character ad title space to attractively describe benefits. 
• Include compelling product images that show features clearly. 
• Focus your ad bullet points on benefits rather than features. 
• Highlight timely promotions or exclusives to capture impulse shoppers. 
• Test different headlines, copy, and images using A/B split testing. 
• Use dynamic fields like [Price] to automatically update offers. 
• Target your ads based on interests, past purchases, and related searches. 
• Check that your brand, listing, and product details match what’s in your ad. 

Well-optimized, targeted ads will lead to higher click-through rates and better performance overall. Continually test and refine your ads for maximum impact. 

Monitoring Campaign Performance 

To improve over time, you need visibility into what’s actually working. Tracking the right metrics gives insights to optimise campaigns effectively. Here are some key performance indicators to monitor: 

• Impressions – Number of times your ads were shown 
• Clicks: – Number of clicks on your ads 
• Arcos: advertising cost of sales percentage 
• Sales: revenue from purchases attributed to ads 
• CPC – Your cost per click for ads and keywords 

• CTR – Click-through rate percentage for ads and keywords 

Use tools like the Amazon Seller Central Reports or third-party services to pull these metrics at regular intervals. Set performance targets and adjust bids/strategies based on what you’re seeing. 

Optimizing for Maximum Profitability 

All the effort is pointless if your campaigns aren’t profitable. Focus on optimizing for your advertising cost of sales or Arcos goals. Here are some strategies: 

• Set an Arcos cap of like 30-50% as your target range and adjust bids accordingly. 
• Test low and high bids to see what drives sales most cost-effectively. 
• Continuously optimize budgets, bids and creatives based on 90-day Arcos numbers. 
• Monitor campaigns with an Arcos over 50% more closely for improvements. 
• Promote larger product bundles or subscriptions with recurring sales. 
• Use promotional tactics to boost sales during campaigns for better Arcos. 
• Consider automated bid management tools to hit ideal Arcos dynamically. 

With the right metrics and goals in mind, you can improve the profitability of Amazon PPC over time through ongoing data-driven optimisations. 

Common Amazon PPC Mistakes to Avoid 

No one is perfect, but learning from mistakes can help scale your success faster. Here are some common errors sellers make with Amazon paid ads: 

• Not tracking performance accurately or regularly optimizing. 
• Using broad, low intent generic keywords that don’t convert. 
• Setting bids too high and wasting budget on unprofitable clicks. 
• Making ads unclear about benefits without unique value propositions. 
• Ignoring on-site factors like poorly optimized listings hindering ad success. 
• Relying too much on untargeted brand campaigns without product support. 

• Not refining bids, creatives, and strategies based on quarterly performance reviews. 
• Failing to re-evaluate goals, budgets and campaigns during different seasons. 
• Not analyzing which ad placements, devices and customer locations perform best. 
• 
• Avoiding these pitfalls through constant assessment and refinement keeps campaigns performing at their peak efficiency. 

Key Takeaways 

To summarize some of the core points covered: 

• Set achievable goals like sales lift or Arcos targets before launching campaigns. 
• Thoroughly research keywords and refine your list regularly based on top sessions. 
• Continuously test ads with optimized text, images and placements using split testing. 
• Carefully monitor key metrics like clicks, sales, Arcos and refine bids proactively. 
• Regularly review campaign and keyword performance at 30, 60 and 90-day intervals. 
• Consider outsourcing management to advertising experts well-versed in Amazon nuances. 
• Leverage automated bid management tools to dynamically hit ideal performance. 

With dedication to these fundamentals of strategy, optimization and data-driven decision making, Amazon PPC can be a profitable growth driver for any seller. 

FAQ 

Here are answers to some commonly asked questions about Amazon PPC management: 

What is the best daily budget for a new Amazon PPC campaign?
There’s no single answer as budgets vary greatly, but most experts recommend starting small at $10-50/day and gradually increasing based on performance. 

When is the best time of day to run Amazon PPC ads?
Sessions peak during morning, lunch and evening hours on weekdays as well as weekends. Analyze your own sales patterns to see when customers are most receptive. 

How often should I optimize my Amazon PPC campaigns?
It’s recommended to review ad performance weekly and refine bids/placements/copy. Do deeper reviews of overall strategy, budget and goals monthly or quarterly. 

What is the average clickthrough rate for successful Amazon PPC campaigns?
The industry average CTR ranges between 1-3%, but rates above 2% typically indicate well-optimized campaigns. Anything over 3% is considered highly effective. 

Can I use automatic bidding with Amazon PPC?
Yes, Amazon does offer automatic bid management tools through algorithms like enhanced CPC that can help sellers dynamically hit target KPIs like Arcos without constant manual adjustments. 

How long does it take for new Amazon PPC campaigns to become profitable?
Most experts advise giving new campaigns at least 90 days to properly establish impression share and start generating meaningful sales before evaluating profitability. Be patient during initial ramp-up periods. 

If my campaigns are consistently over 50% Arcos, should I pause them?
Not necessarily – some seasons/products may see temporarily higher costs. But consistently exceeding 50% Arcos likely means suboptimal bids, keywords or budget allocation. Pause campaigns only after thorough review/testing and failure to hit targets. 

I hope this guide has provided a comprehensive overview of everything you need to know to set up, manage and optimize profitable Amazon PPC campaigns. Please let me know if you have any other questions! ​