The structure is key with Amazon PPC. You need to know what you need to do, and what everyone else who is successful is already doing. There are many things to consider when looking at structuring campaigns, so we will do our best to go over what you need to know.
Types of Sponsored Ads
Before you jump into the deep end, make sure you know everything you need to know about the types of sponsored ads you get on Amazon (read our guide to Amazon ads for more information). This will help you be more successful and have an idea of what we are talking about in this article.
There are three distinct options when it comes to Amazon PPC:
- Display Ads
- Sponsored Brands
- Sponsored Products
Manual vs Automatic Campaign Options
Know the difference between manual and automatic campaigns! There can be serious price differences between them, but this will vary on a case-by-case basis.
- Manual Campaigns – keywords are hand-picked by advertisers rather than Amazon. It’s a good option for someone who has experience with handling this kind of thing and knows what they are doing.
- Automatic Campaigns – keywords are selected by Amazon based on your Amazon listing, so there is less for you to do. It’s a great choice if you’re a beginner and are still learning about the scene.
Match Types
Consider the match types, and make sure that you understand what they mean so that you can properly implement and structure your Amazon ads.
- Exact Match – these are the search terms that will match the exact keywords you have added, as well as the plural version of it.
- Phrase Match – these are search terms that are similar to the term being searched for. It’s more of an umbrella term that will encompass a whole category – for example, cutlery!
How To Structure your Amazon PPC Campaigns for Best Results
1. Long Tail Keywords
Long-tailed keywords are crucial. It doesn’t matter if you’re a business veteran or brand new to the scene. All you really need to do is take a look at the keywords that other sellers are using to describe their products, and copy that (if it is done well).
Some examples of long-tail keywords include the following:
- Blue cotton women’s trousers
- Bamboo knife holder
- Men’s grey hoodie
These are all specific. This means that your item is less likely to get lost in the sea of generic descriptions like “blue trousers” or “grey hoodies”. Potential customers are more likely to come across your item.
This is all about looking at competitors, so SEO is where the game is at. Using long tail keywords, or keywords that are specific will get you to rank higher. Just make sure the keywords you use are directly related to whatever you are selling.
2. Rank Optimization
This is done to make your position and rank of your product listing with Amazon SERP even better for a particular search term. Here, you should have three ad campaign sets, and each should be a different type with a different budget.
The budget and bid you give to each campaign or search term should depend on the product’s rank when you search for the keyword. You will need to track every keyword you have, track their ranking, and make any necessary changes.
Here’s what you should do in different scenarios depending on where your product comes up on the Amazon pages:
- Pages 1&2 – bid aggressively! You’re close to the best spot, so be sure to keep up the hard work, so you can rank higher than your competitors.
- Pages 2–5 – keep your bidding robust, but be careful not to throw all your money at it. Just optimize what you need to and see how it goes. There’s potential there.
- Pages 5 and beyond – keep your bidding amounts low and focus on the search terms that are ranking higher. This isn’t the time to throw your money at it.
3. Negative Targeting
Since using the correct keywords is so crucial, it comes as no surprise that keywords that are not relevant are negative. You should focus on ensuring that every single keyword in a title is meant to be there. When you find them, they need to be marked as negative.
This will automatically give you a list of keywords for items that should be marked as negative.
It might seem like a small thing, but negative keywords can take up a lot of time and money. Make sure you do it right so that you can save money and rank higher.
4. Adjust Bids
New features are always being added to Amazon. For example, the Custom Rule Bidding feature gives you the freedom to choose when and how to bid. Intensity and frequency can be manually changed, but you need to be part of the Amazon Marketplace to use this.
You will be able to adjust bids when you need to and have more control over where the ads show up. There are three options for this:
- Product pages/not on the Amazon search results
- Top of SERP on the #1 page
- Anywhere else on the SERP and beyond
5. Experiment with Match Types and Bids
It’s important to experiment with different bid amounts and match types, too. You should consider the cost-per-click (CPC) on specific keywords in automatic vs manual campaigns, depending on your budget. These can vary greatly depending on what you want to do. Similarly, prices will differ depending on whether you want an exact keyword match or a phrase match.
You can set up various ad campaigns for the same keyword, just using varying parameters. This will allow you to test the waters and see what works best for you.
Don’t forget – running campaigns at different times of the day will also play an important role in success. There may be better and worse times, which you can determine by looking at the clicks and sales. When you know what time of day works best, you can start some aggressive bidding (dayparting).
The whole point of this is to understand all the factors that will drive more traffic and conversions to your product. It may take time to identify, but it’s worth it.
6. Review Performance and Relevance Metrics
Finally, it’s crucial to consider the performance and relevance metrics. The algorithm for Amazon’s ad ranking prefers products with higher reviews, more sales, and transparent product copies.
The metrics that Amazon uses are as follows:
- Relevance Metrics – Brand Name, Product Tiles, Keywords, Product Description
- Performance Metrics – Conversion Rates, CTR, Total Number of Sales
You will need to alter and fine-tune your products and listings to make sure they are relevant and work. Add the keywords that your competitors are using, and make sure that you are honest and open about everything you are listing.
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this article has helped you understand a little more about structuring Amazon PPC campaigns in the future (read here for more information about Amazon PPC). It’s important to note that we’ve just gone over the basics here, so if you need more information on some of the topics, know that there are plenty of great places to find the necessary information.
To recap, you can improve the structure of our Amazon PPC campaigns by following and implementing these seven simple rules:
- Long Tail Keywords
- Rank Optimization
- Negative Targeting
- Adjust Bids
- Experiment with Match Types and Bids
- Review Performance and Relevance Metrics
