Amazon PPC: Everything You Need To Know

https://thriveagency.com/news/amazon-ppc-everything-you-need-to-know/

Published

28.08.2024

Category

Amazon

Overview

Amazon PPC is pay-per-click advertising on the Amazon platform that helps sellers promote products by placing them in front of interested shoppers. Each time a potential buyer clicks on an ad, the seller pays Amazon a cost per click, which is a key factor in determining the overall cost-effectiveness of a campaign. This guide covers all three ad types, Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display, alongside the core metrics needed to evaluate performance, seven practical optimization techniques, and a glossary of 20 essential Amazon PPC terms. It is written for both new sellers getting started and experienced advertisers looking to improve campaign efficiency.

Key Takeaways

Sponsored Product ads support both automatic and manual targeting. Automatic targeting lets Amazon select keywords based on the product and shopper behavior, while manual targeting gives sellers direct control over keyword selection, which typically leads to more efficient ad spend over time.

ACoS, or Advertising Cost of Sales, measures the ratio of ad spend to sales revenue as a percentage. A lower ACoS indicates better ad efficiency, though a higher ACoS may be acceptable during product launches when visibility matters more than immediate profitability.

Negative keywords are as important as positive ones. Excluding irrelevant search terms prevents ads from appearing in front of the wrong audience and protects budget for clicks that are more likely to convert.

Sponsored Display Ads can reach shoppers both on and off Amazon, including on third-party websites, apps, and Amazon-owned platforms like Twitch. Placement is automated based on targeting strategy, making them particularly effective for retargeting and complementary product promotion.

Product reviews directly affect PPC performance. Higher ratings increase buyer trust and conversion rates, which in turn improves the return on ad spend. Building a solid review base before scaling ad investment is a practical approach to improving campaign outcomes.

FAQ

What are the three main types of Amazon PPC ads?

Sponsored Products promote individual listings and appear in search results and on product detail pages. Sponsored Brands showcase a brand logo, headline, and multiple products. Sponsored Display ads reach shoppers both on and off Amazon based on interests and browsing behavior.

How long does it take to see results from Amazon PPC campaigns?

Initial data typically appears within a few days, but running campaigns for at least two to four weeks is recommended to gather enough data for informed decisions and meaningful optimization.

What is the difference between ACoS and ROAS?

ACoS measures ad spend as a percentage of attributed sales, showing how much is being spent to generate each dollar of revenue. ROAS works in the opposite direction, showing how much revenue is generated for every dollar spent on ads. Both measure efficiency but from different angles, and both should be tracked alongside each other.

When should a seller use automatic versus manual targeting?

Automatic targeting is easier to set up and useful for discovering which keywords Amazon associates with a product, but it offers less control. Manual targeting requires more ongoing management but allows sellers to choose exact keywords, which typically leads to lower costs and more efficient campaigns over time.

How often should Amazon PPC campaigns be optimized?

Optimization should be an ongoing process. Early in a campaign, daily or weekly adjustments may be necessary. As data accumulates and campaigns stabilize, bi-weekly or monthly reviews become sufficient, with search term reports used to add high-performing keywords and remove irrelevant ones.

Explore similar resources

Shopify Rollouts: Native A/B Testing on Shopify

Shopify Rollouts is a built-in system for preparing, scheduling, and testing changes to an online store before they go live permanently. Merchants can prepare seasonal updates, schedule launches at a specific time, and draft customisations directly on the published theme without spinning up duplicate themes. Launched as part of the Winter 2026 Editions update, it also introduces native split testing for stores on Advanced plans and above. This post covers how Rollouts works in practice, how to configure traffic splits, what can and cannot be tested, how to interpret the analytics, and how the related SimGym tool fits into the testing workflow.

Kubix

8 min