Running an Amazon PPC campaign is easy. Making it profitable? That’s where things get tough.
Too many sellers launch ads, set a daily budget, and hope for the best. A few clicks here, some impressions there, and suddenly the spend is climbing—but conversions aren’t.
If you’re serious about scaling on Amazon, you need more than just clicks. You need clarity.
In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how to track, analyze, and improve your Amazon PPC campaigns. From understanding the right metrics to uncovering competitive insights with Seller Contacts—this isn’t just theory. It’s a working system used by successful sellers every day.
Before you can improve anything, you need to know what success looks like. That starts with understanding your numbers.
Let’s look at the core metrics every Amazon seller should monitor:
This tells you how many times your ad was shown. High impressions mean Amazon is giving your ad visibility. But impressions alone aren’t enough. They need to turn into clicks.
CTR is the percentage of people who saw your ad and clicked it. A CTR of 0.3% to 0.7% is considered average for Sponsored Products. If it’s lower, something’s wrong—possibly your product image, title, or keyword targeting.
This is how much you’re paying each time someone clicks your ad. It’s not about being low—it’s about being efficient. In competitive niches, CPC can exceed $2, so every click must count.
CVR measures how often those clicks turn into sales. On Amazon, a good conversion rate is typically 10% or higher. If yours is low, it’s often not a PPC issue—it’s a listing issue.
ACoS is your ad spend divided by ad revenue. If you spent $20 to make $100, your ACoS is 20%. The “right” ACoS depends on your product margin. For most sellers, 15%–30% is manageable.
Unlike ACoS, TACoS includes your total revenue, not just from ads. It gives a clearer picture of whether your ad spend is lifting your whole brand. A TACoS that drops over time means your organic sales are growing thanks to ads.
Simply the inverse of ACoS. A RoAS of 4.0 means you’re earning $4 for every $1 spent.
Amazon provides a lot of tools to track PPC performance. But not all of them are easy to understand at a glance. And definitely not all of them tell the full story.
Amazon’s Campaign Manager is the control panel. Here, you can check spend, sales, ACoS, impressions, and click data per campaign, ad group, or keyword.
Set your view to the last 7 days or 30 days to spot trends. But don’t rely only on surface-level metrics.
For example:
A campaign might show a healthy ACoS, but when you open the search term report, you’ll find a few keywords are driving most sales—while others are quietly burning your budget.
Download these weekly. Search term reports show you what people actually typed before clicking your ad. This is where you’ll find:
Even a $10-a-day campaign can lose 30% of its budget on poor search terms if left unchecked.
Did you know that top-of-search placements convert better, but cost more? Placement reports break down how your ads perform in:
If you’re getting a higher RoAS on product pages, for example, you can increase your bid multiplier for that placement and reduce it for others.
Data is everywhere. But unless you know how to interpret it, it’s just noise.
Here’s how to break it down:
Imagine this:
What’s the issue?
Most likely, people are clicking because your ad is compelling, but they don’t buy after landing on your listing. That often points to a weak product page—bad reviews, poor images, or missing info.
Flip the scenario:
Now the issue might be ad creative or targeting. You’re not attracting the right people or not catching attention in the search results.
Always connect the dots between metrics.
Drill into individual keyword performance. A keyword that’s:
Look for long-tail keywords—lower traffic, but often higher conversion. Especially valuable if you’re competing against big brands.
Don’t lump everything together. Segment your data by:
This helps you spot exactly what’s working—and what’s not.
Once you’ve tracked and analyzed your campaign, it’s time to make it better. Optimization isn’t a one-time task. It’s a continuous cycle.
A common mistake sellers make is packing too many keywords into a single campaign. This blurs results.
Instead:
This funnel approach gives you better control over budget and insights.
There’s no “perfect” bid. But there is a smart bid—one that gets you profitable impressions.
If a keyword has a good CVR and RoAS, don’t hesitate to increase the bid and gain more visibility. If a term is bleeding money, reduce the bid or pause it altogether.
You can also adjust bids by placement. For example, increase bids by 20% for Top of Search if that placement consistently brings better conversions.
Amazon PPC can scale fast—but it can also burn cash just as quickly. That’s why your budget strategy matters as much as your bids.
Before assigning a daily budget, ask yourself:
Each goal demands a different budget structure.
For example, ranking campaigns often require higher short-term spend, while maintenance campaigns can run lean and controlled.
Amazon allows you to group campaigns under a portfolio and assign a budget limit. This is a helpful safety net, especially when running multiple campaigns across ASINs.
Use it to:
This is especially useful during peak seasons like Q4 when spend can spiral overnight.
Amazon flags campaigns that run out of budget before the day ends. These often have high efficiency, and increasing their daily limit can immediately boost sales without harming ACoS.
Quick tip: If a campaign is budget-limited but maintains a low ACoS (under 20%), that’s often a green light to scale.
Many sellers tweak bids or change creatives randomly, hoping something works.
That’s not testing. That’s guessing.
A/B testing gives you clarity. You’re testing one variable at a time to see what actually drives improvement.
Amazon Experiments (under “Manage Your Experiments” in Seller Central) lets Brand Registered sellers test A/B versions of product content like titles, bullets, and A+ content. Use it if you have access.
For ad campaigns, run duplicate campaigns with only one difference (e.g., match type or bid) and let them run for at least 7–14 days before comparing.
Don’t change too many things at once. Otherwise, you won’t know what caused the result.
Many experienced sellers ignore ACoS if their TACoS is trending down. That means their ad spend is feeding organic growth, which is the ultimate goal.
If your TACoS drops from 20% to 12% over two months, even if ACoS is 30%, that’s positive momentum.
One strategy that works for many:
Start with low bids on long-tail keywords, test conversions, and build early sales velocity. Once reviews and ranking stabilize, increase bids and target broader, high-volume keywords.
Don’t just rely on Sponsored Products. Retargeting ads—especially Sponsored Display views remarketing—help bring back shoppers who visited your listing but didn’t convert.
These ads can drive low ACoS campaigns because you’re targeting warm traffic.
Here’s where the smart sellers separate from the pack.
Amazon gives you access to your own data. But Seller Contacts gives you access to your competitors’ data, making it a game-changer for PPC strategy.
You’re not just looking at one ASIN. You’re pulling back the curtain on an entire network of sellers and their strategies.
This can directly inform:
For agencies and advanced sellers managing multiple brands, this type of market-level PPC intelligence is priceless.
Tracking your Amazon PPC campaign is step one.
But tracking alone isn’t enough.
You need to understand what the numbers mean. You need to interpret them, act on them, test ideas, and look outside your own account for opportunities to grow smarter.
That’s what separates the average sellers from the top performers.
PPC is an engine, and like any engine, it runs best when it’s tuned regularly. Don’t wait until your ACoS explodes to take action.
Start by reviewing your metrics weekly. Clean up your search term reports. Restructure messy campaigns. And above all—don’t operate in a vacuum.
Tools like Seller Contacts can open new doors by showing you what your competitors are doing—and how you can beat them.
What’s a good ACoS for Amazon PPC?
It depends on your profit margins. For most sellers, 15%–30% is acceptable. If you’re launching or ranking, expect higher ACoS short-term.
How often should I check my PPC campaigns?
Weekly reviews are a must. Daily checks help during product launches or high-spend periods. Look at spend, ACoS, CTR, and conversions regularly.
Should I use Auto campaigns or Manual?
Use both. Auto campaigns help with discovery. Manual campaigns give you control. Use Auto to find keywords, then move winners to Manual Exact Match campaigns.
What’s TACoS and why does it matter?
TACoS = Total Ad Cost of Sales. It shows how ad spend affects your overall sales, not just ad-driven sales. A falling TACoS usually signals strong organic growth.
How do I find what keywords competitors are using?
That’s where Seller Contacts gives you an edge. You can identify top-performing sellers and analyze the keyword landscape they dominate.
