1. Decide what each product's ads are for
One account target hides everything. Give each product a stage and a target ACOS that follows from its margin. Break-even ACOS is the line; the stage says which side of it you aim for.
| Stage | Target ACOS | What success looks like |
|---|---|---|
| Launch | At or above break-even, for a set number of weeks | Sales and sessions rising week on week |
| Growth | Just under break-even | Total sales rising, TACOS flat or falling |
| Profit | Well under break-even | Margin after ads holding while sales hold |
| Defend | Far under break-even, on your own brand terms | Your brand searches staying yours |
2. Lay campaigns out so winners move up
- Discover: an automatic campaign and a broad-match campaign per product, on modest bids, to surface the searches that sell.
- Promote: an exact-match campaign holding the proven terms, on bids set from break-even. Each promoted term is negated in the discovery campaigns. Negative keywords.
- Defend: an exact campaign on your own brand terms, kept separate so its low ACOS does not flatter the rest.
One product per campaign, or per ad group, keeps every figure tied to one margin. Match types covers the mechanics.
3. Act weekly, and grade what you did
The weekly loop is the strategy. Stop spend that never sells, promote terms that do, move bids toward target, and check what last month's changes actually did. The weekly PPC audit is the checklist.
Grading is what turns a set of guesses into a strategy that improves. A change that was never checked is a change you will make again.
Questions
- What is a good Amazon PPC strategy for a new product?
- Run an automatic and a broad campaign at or slightly above break-even ACOS for a fixed number of weeks, promote the search terms that sell to exact match, and lower the target once sales history builds.
- Should I use one campaign per product?
- It is the simplest way to keep each figure tied to one product's margin. Several products in one campaign blend their break-even points.
- How often should I change bids?
- Weekly, on at least a week of data, leaving out the last few days whose sales are still arriving.
Keep going
GuidesWhat is Amazon PPCHow the ad auction works, what a click costs, and how to judge the result.GuidesThe weekly Amazon PPC auditSix checks that find wasted spend and missed sales, in the order they pay.GuidesWhat is a good ACOSWhy a good ACOS depends on margin, and how to set your own target.GuidesAmazon PPC match typesWhat each match type matches, the auto groups, and how to switch a keyword.