How to use Sponsored Products on Amazon?

What are Sponsored Products on Amazon?

Sponsored Products on Amazon are ads targeted at keywords and ASINs similar to Google Adwords. They allow us to promote individual products within Amazon search results and on product detail pages. Sponsored Products are the most popular ads on Amazon.

Getting started with Sponsored Products on Amazon

1. Structuring the Sponsored Products campaign on Amazon

To start, we need to have a plan and structure for each product or set of products. If we are using a set of products, we make sure that the selected products have similar keywords and profit margins.

The plan consists of two campaigns:

• 1 automatic campaign (with 1 automatic ad group)

• 1 manual campaign (with 1 ad group for broad match keywords and 1 ad group for ASIN targets)

The idea behind this is to use the automatic campaign for ongoing research on targets with minimal effort and regularly transfer high-performing keywords. The ASINs can be precisely optimized for maximum performance.

This approach combines the advantages of automatic campaigns (low effort) and manual campaigns (high precision).

2. Setting up the Sponsored Products campaign

Creating an automatic campaign is easy. All we need to do is name the campaign and define a budget and CPC bid. As soon as we start the campaign, Amazon examines the Sponsored Products and automatically starts displaying our ads for the search terms selected by Amazon.

We create a manual campaign to add our own choice of keywords. It is recommended to research around 20 keywords and add them to the “Broad” ad group.

We use negative targets to make sure impressions are generated only in the ad groups where we want them. Because certain keywords and ASINs could be the target of both the automatic and manual campaigns.

However, as soon as we add a target to a manual campaign, impressions in the automatic campaign should stop, because this target will now be optimized and adjusted in the manual campaign.

To stop impressions in the automatic campaign, we must add a negative phrase keyword or ASIN each time a target is added to the manual campaign. This should happen when campaigns are created or when a target is harvested and transferred from automatic to manual.

3. Optimizing the Sponsored Products campaign on Amazon

Regular optimization of the campaign is key to success with Amazon ads. However, we will only make adjustments to our PPC campaigns once we have collected enough data (impressions, clicks, conversions, etc.) to evaluate the current performance of the campaign.

Once we have collected enough data, we should regularly perform the three recommended optimization measures that we have named below:

Transferring keywords and ASINs from automatic to manual campaign

We should regularly transfer high-performing search terms (keywords and ASINs) from the automatic campaign to the broad match and ASIN ad groups in our manual campaign to be able to optimize them with precision.

• Use negative keywords

We will need to periodically track the search terms (keywords and ASINs) running in the automatic and manual campaigns.

By filtering out unprofitable search terms from our Amazon ad campaigns and ad groups, our goal is to eliminate them.

• Irrelevant search terms that clearly do not apply to the product.

Unprofitable search terms that may be relevant to our product, but only generate clicks without conversions.

• Optimizing Amazon CPC ad bids

We will need to define the campaign’s objective and target ACoS values.

• The objective is to maximize sales or impressions: target ACoS value = break-even ACoS = profit margin before advertising investment

• The objective is to achieve the target profit margin after advertising investment: target ACoS value = target ACoS = profit margin before advertising investment - profit margin after advertising investment.

Once we have defined our objective, we can test different CPCs to see which one gets us closer to the objective.

Keep in mind that it is essential to allow enough waiting time between keyword and ASIN bid changes. We must ensure that we have collected enough data (impressions, clicks, conversions, etc.) to help us evaluate if further adjustments in the offer are necessary.

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FAQ: Sponsored Products on Amazon

What is the recommended campaign structure for Sponsored Products?

Run one automatic campaign (with one automatic ad group) alongside one manual campaign split into a broad match keyword ad group and an ASIN targeting ad group. This combines the low effort of automatic campaigns with the precision of manual campaigns.

Why should I use negative keywords across automatic and manual campaigns?

Because the same keywords or ASINs could be targeted in both campaign types simultaneously. Once you add a target to your manual campaign, you should add it as a negative in the automatic campaign so impressions stop duplicating and the term is optimized only in the manual campaign.

How do I decide my target ACOS for Sponsored Products?

If your objective is to maximize sales or impressions, set your target ACOS at the break-even ACOS (your profit margin before advertising). If your objective is to hit a specific profit margin after advertising, subtract your desired post-ad margin from your pre-ad margin to get the target ACOS.

How often should I transfer keywords from automatic to manual campaigns?

Regularly — as soon as a search term in the automatic campaign shows strong performance, transfer it to the appropriate broad match or ASIN ad group in the manual campaign so it can be optimized with precision.

How much data do I need before adjusting bids?

Enough impressions, clicks, and conversions to reliably evaluate performance. Making bid changes too early, before sufficient data has accumulated, risks reacting to noise rather than real trends.