Amazon PPC Strategy: Boost Sales with Proven Tactics

Last updated on August 2nd, 2023

Written by faith

Amazon Pay-per-Click (PPC) advertising is essential for businesses, agencies, and third-party Amazon sellers looking to boost their visibility on the vast online marketplace. As a seller, you can benefit from a good Amazon PPC strategy to target specific keywords for product advertisements. This approach can significantly improve your product's exposure and drive sales.

Understanding and implementing Amazon PPC strategies can be the key to standing out among other merchants on the platform, optimizing costs, and positioning your product for maximum success. You can maintain control over your ad campaigns by choosing the right campaign type and setting a daily maximum budget.

Let's dive deeper into the world of Amazon PPC advertising with the objective of creating efficient and profitable Amazon PPC strategies for your business.

Understanding Amazon PPC Ads Strategy

PPC is essential for Amazon sellers looking to grow their eCommerce business as it can help your listings rank on search results and have excellent ad placement. As a result, your products gain visibility and boost sales.

By implementing an effective Amazon PPC strategy, you can achieve a better return on investment (ROI) for your marketing spend. Additionally, Amazon PPC helps you test and optimize product listings and pricing.

As you build your Amazon PPC strategy, here are things you should keep in mind:

1. Keyword Research: Identify the high-performing and relevant keywords for your products from relevant keywords, long tail keywords, and other keyword types using tools like Amazon Keyword Research or Google Ads Keyword Planner. Analyzing your competitors' PPC campaigns can also provide insights into successful keywords.
2. Sponsored Ad Formats: Amazon offers various ad formats, including Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display Ads. Each has features that best fit in satisfying your campaign needs.
3. Monitoring and Optimization: Regularly track the campaign performance of the multiple ad groups in your campaigns using Amazon Advertising reports. You can easily access this data in your Amazon Seller Central account. Adjust your keyword selection, bids, and ad copy to improve your results. Invest in the ad group where you can have more gains.
4. Budget Management: Allocate a reasonable budget to your campaign. Allot a higher budget for an automatic targeting campaign and slowly reduce it when you've determined the keyword to invest in for your manual campaign.
5. Data Monitoring: Monitor the performance of the ad groups you launched to optimize your spending. Use Amazon's automatic targeting as a starting point and gradually transition to manual targeting for better control over your bids.

To ensure your Amazon PPC strategy is successful, you must also consider factors like seasonal demand, inventory management, and marketplace competition. By continuously refining your keyword selection, targeting, and budget allocation, you can make your Amazon PPC campaigns work effectively for your business.

Types of Amazon PPC Sponsored Ads

Amazon has three main ad types: Sponsored Product Ads, Sponsored Brand Ads, and Sponsored Display Ads. Each has its unique benefits and ideal uses.

Sponsored Product Ads

Sponsored Products are Amazon PPC ads that appear as product listings in Amazon search results and can help drive more traffic to your product detail pages. You can target specific keywords you want your product to rank for and set bids for each keyword in a Sponsored Products ad. 

You can also monitor your Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS) and adjust as needed to optimize your Sponsored Product ads' performance.

Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Brands are meant to put your brand in the spotlight for customers to notice and remember. Because of their banner-like design, Sponsored Brands are also more eye-catching, establishing recall among potential customers. 

With Sponsored Brands, you can allow customers to visit your Amazon Store or a custom landing page. These ads increase product discovery with up to three allowable product listings and build brand awareness with logo and custom headline provisions.

When creating a Sponsored Brand Ad, you'll need to choose your target keywords and set your bids. Creating engaging headline search ads and selecting relevant products that represent your brand is essential. You may opt for a sponsored brand video ad for your PPC ad campaign to be catchier and to increase ad impressions and click-through rates.

Sponsored Display Ads

Finally, Sponsored Display Ads offer a unique way to target customers based on their interests, shopping behaviors, and product detail page views. They appear across the Amazon ecosystem, including product detail pages, search results, and third-party websites. 

You can also target audiences using Amazon's extensive customer data accessible on your Amazon Seller Central account. With this data, Sponsored Display Ads help you reach potential customers who have visited your listing, clicked through your ads, or added some products to cart but abandoned them.

To create a Sponsored Display Ad, you'll need to select your target audience, choose which products to advertise, and set your budget. Be sure to monitor your ad campaigns regularly and make optimizations as needed to improve performance.

By understanding and utilizing these three ad types in your Amazon PPC strategy, you can increase your brand visibility, drive more traffic to your product pages, and ultimately grow your sales on the platform.

Winning Strategies for Building a Successful Campaign

All Amazon sellers will pick one, two, or simultaneously all types of PPC ads on the platform, but strategy will set each seller apart. Here are some areas you can optimize for your ad campaigns to stand out:

Managing Bids and Budget

A well-structured bidding strategy ensures control over your Amazon PPC campaigns. You can decide on the daily maximum budget for your ad campaigns with several bidding options suitable for different goals and budgets.

Don’t be stuck with default bids too. Tweak them from time to time based on clicks, impressions, and conversions. High-performing keywords with strong relevance to your product listing are worth bidding more on. Sales data from organic ranking can guide your bidding decisions, so make sure to check them as well.

Consider using Amazon's dynamic bids. This bidding type adjusts bid amounts in real time based on the data acquired by the algorithm. They’ll bid higher on high-performing keywords and lower for mid and non-performing ones. Dynamic bids can help optimize your ad spend without much effort on your end, achieving better results.

Keyword Targeting and Match Types

Effectively targeting long-tail keywords and other related keywords is crucial to a successful Amazon PPC campaign. Amazon offers various keyword match types to help you reach your target audience:

• Exact Match Keywords: Exact match campaigns trigger your ad only when the search terms match the exact keyword you chose to rank for.
• Phrase Match Keywords: This shows your ad when the customer search terms include your keyword as part of a phrase.
• Broad Match Keywords: Broad match campaigns display your ad for a search term related to your keyword, including synonyms and variations.
• Long-Tail Keywords: Your ad strategy should focus on identifying and targeting these long-tail keywords with lower competition and Cost per Click(CPC).

You can incorporate these keywords in the product detail page and store backend. Effectively using these match types lets you optimize your keyword targeting and improve ad performance.

Manual and Automatic Targeting Ad Campaigns

Amazon offers both manual keyword targeting and automatic campaigns. A manual campaign gives you more control over selecting specific keywords, match types, and bids. This approach is an advanced Amazon PPC strategy that lets you tailor your PPC ads to your target audience, but it requires continuous optimization and management.

On the other hand, automatic targeting may save you time, as Amazon's algorithms handle most of the PPC advertisements. However, an auto campaign provides limited control and may not target your ideal audience as effectively because of the default bid system. Also, in an automatic campaign, you may bid for the same keywords and repeatedly use the same campaign with adjustments as needed.

Keyword Research and Harvesting

Keyword research involves finding relevant, high-converting keywords for your products using the most reliable keyword research tools. You can also combine Amazon’s manual and automatic campaigns to leverage their strengths.

By analyzing the search terms and ASINs from your automatic campaigns, you can gather high-performing keywords to include in your manual campaigns. Run manual and automatic campaigns for your products for a week or two. If you see the need for adjustment after a performance and competitor analysis, enact it right away.

Negative Keywords and Search Terms

Another crucial aspect of optimizing your Amazon PPC campaign is using negative keywords. One negative keyword won't hurt, but you want to exclude these irrelevant search terms from your ad campaigns when they start to pile up. They are irrelevant or not converting well.

Refining your negative keywords list can prevent your PPC ads from showing up for unrelated searches or unprofitable search terms. This practice can ultimately save your budget and improve your campaign's effectiveness.

To identify negative keywords, analyze your search term report to find irrelevant or low-performing search terms triggering your ads. Exclude them from your campaigns, and continuously update your negative keywords list as needed.

Product and Category Targeting

In addition to keyword targeting, you can use product targeting to display your PPC ads on relevant product pages or within specific categories. Here are some advanced Amazon PPC strategies for successful product and category targeting:

• Have a PPC ad campaign that targets listings and categories of your competitors, so your ad appears side-by-side with their listings.
• Launch an ad campaign targeting listings and categories with lower ratings than yours, so your product will appear as a better choice.
• Set up an ad campaign that targets listings and categories of items your product can complement. Customers may not be looking for your product but may purchase it because it matches the item they want to buy.

By creating a well-planned Amazon PPC strategy that includes properly setting your campaign budget, implementing both manual and automatic targeting, effectively utilizing keywords and match types, and leveraging category and product targeting, you can succeed with your Amazon advertising efforts.

Tracking and Improving Ad Campaigns' Performance

Monitor and analyze your ads' performance regularly to ensure their effectiveness. Have the eagerness to follow plans to drive results, but be flexible if there are game plans that need adjustments.

Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS) and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS) is the percentage of your ad spend in relation to your sales. A lower ACoS means a more profitable campaign. Another essential metric is Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), which is the opposite of ACoS. A higher ROAS indicates a better return on your advertising investment.

For instance, if you spend $500 on your Amazon PPC campaign and generate $2,500 in sales:

A good ROAS is a $4 revenue:$1 of ad spend or a revenue ranging from $3-$5 per ad spend. Meanwhile, a range of 15%-20% is excellent ACoS for Amazon. Track and compare ACoS and ROAS to understand the efficiency and profitability of your ad campaigns and adjust your bids, budgets, and strategies accordingly.

Conversion Rates and Click-Through Rates

Another crucial aspect of tracking ad campaign performance is monitoring conversion rates (CVR) and click-through rates (CTR). These metrics help you estimate the success of your campaigns concerning compelling potential customers to click on your ads and make a purchase.

A higher CVR indicates that your ads successfully drive sales. A 10%-15% conversion rate is a good range on Amazon. Measure the effectiveness of your ad in attracting clicks by dividing the number of clicks by the total number of impressions. A higher CTR means that your ads are catching attention. Treat a 0.5% and above CTR as good news, as this is good data.

Keep an eye on your CTR and CVR as they provide valuable insights into your ads' appeal and relevance, allowing you to optimize keywords, ad creatives, and bidding strategies.

Monitoring Competitors and Market Trends

Lastly, continuously monitor your competitors and market trends to stay ahead and maintain a successful Amazon PPC strategy. Analyze search results, analytics, and competitor listings to identify product gaps, trends, and opportunities you can leverage in your campaigns.

Use competitive analysis tools to do the following:

• Learn about your competitors' keywords, ad placements, and targeting strategies.
• Monitor their ACoS, ROAS, and profit margins.
• Identify market trends, seasonal demands, and emerging products or niches.

Stay on top of the dynamic Amazon marketplace by adapting some competitor strategies and incorporating the insights you gain through competitor monitoring and market analysis.

Benefits of Having Solid Amazon PPC Strategies

Do you already see yourself using some of the strategies we mentioned above? To nudge you further, we’re also sharing the benefits of having a strong Amazon PPC strategy with you:

• Increased Online Exposure - Promoting your products on Amazon automatically increases their online exposure. You also gain more influence because these make users on Amazon more familiar with your brand and products. Consequently, when consumers are more familiar with your brand, they are more likely to buy or recommend your products, leading to increased sales. 
• Put Your Products in Front of Potential Buyers - Because your Amazon PPC campaign appears on the platform, they directly connect with potential buyers. This means you no longer need to search far and wide for ideal locations for your ad placement. This benefit allows you to devote more time to other important tasks instead of scrolling through the perfect place to display your ads. 
• Great Keyword Target-Specific Options - To gain brand exposure, many advertisers use Google Ads in a multi-layered approach to test and ensure full coverage across networks and targeting types.

Seller Interactive's Amazon PPC Campaigns

In conclusion, Amazon PPC advertising is vital for any business to gain visibility and boost sales on Amazon's vast online marketplace. Employing proven tactics like keyword research, monitoring and optimization, budget management, and use of various ad formats can help achieve a more efficient and profitable Amazon PPC advertising campaign.

By incorporating well-planned strategies, you can make your Amazon PPC campaigns work effectively for your business. Understanding the different types of ads available and their unique benefits is necessary to decide which suits your advertising needs best. Do not use all the keywords you get; continuously refine your keyword selection, targeting, and budget allocation.

With solid Amazon PPC ad strategies, advertisers can increase online exposure, put their products in front of potential buyers, and have great keyword targeting specificity.

Working with an Amazon PPC agency or a team of dedicated and experienced professionals eager to assist you in running and managing your advertising campaigns could be just the thing you need for your business. 

Seller Interactive is here for you! Call us now, so we can tailor the perfect campaign for you and discuss our services in more detail.