Amazon PPC Frequently Asked Questions!

Why are ASINs appearing as search terms in my Search Term Report?

I'm seeing the ASINs of many competitor products (as customer search terms) e.g. b01dm3xzf6 that
are eating into my profit margins. Is there a way to prevent this from happening?

Those ASINs are coming from the auto campaign, there's no way to specifically control them
- you can try negative matching words that appear in those competitor listings, or adjust the
auto campaign bid/budget down.

Do people really search by ASIN? Can’t I make them go away?

No, people do not search by ASIN.

This is how it shows in your search term report when you product appears as a sponsored
product on that ASIN’s listing page. You are not able to control this except to try negative
matching words that appear in those competitor listings, or adjust the auto campaign
bid/budget down.

What is the “*” keyword appearing in the Search Term Report?

Every search term in the Auto campaign will return “*” as the keyword – as you’re not
bidding on any keywords.

Should I delete keywords with a low conversion rate from my PPC campaign? Or should I just set
the bid very low?

Just lower the bid so you can catch a less competitive ad slot (at a lower cost).

But I would be hesitant focusing on that keyword for ranking (since customers don’t
necessarily find it relevant).

Which is more efficient: PPC, or Facebook ads + Manychat giveaway (without initial reviews)?

PPC is usually more “efficient” i.e. lower cost.

The PPC ACOS basically is equivalent to the % discount of a FB ad giveaway. So 90% ACOS
would be roughly the same as a 90% discount coupon.
 If your ACOS is <90%, it’s probably cheaper than doing FB ads. BUT you normally can’t get as
much sales velocity using just PPC – so FB ads is better as a BLAST.

Is there a limit to how many keywords you put into a PPC campaign? I have more than 100.

Nope, no limit/rule of thumb. Amazon will only pick the most relevant for impressions
anyway so we don't have complete control. BTW max limit is 1000. I originally experimented
with maxing this out with longtail KW but got poor results. Now I start with 50-100 and as
long as the one's I'm adding are probably relevant, I don't mind.

Amazon is only allowing impressions on 100 keywords per ad group. What can I do to fix this?

This is normal. Amazon does this based on relevancy and some other factors.

I don’t know of any way to control this.

I am not getting sales with PPC. My product is getting only clicks – no sales. What does this mean?

First make sure you are giving it enough time and data to make a judgement. Remember if
you have 4 clicks on a keyword, the 5th click could get a sale and 1 sale / 5 clicks = 20% CVR.

If you have done this, clicks but no sales = low CVR.

Your product offering isn't standing out vs the competitors, or there's an issue with your
listing

I have identified several keywords that are performing great in my PPC campaigns. Should I put
them in my listing?

Yes! This is ongoing listing optimization. You can improve the listing by adding any new
search terms you've found.

I wouldn't change the title though, unless you need to make a really big improvement - it
temporarily de-indexes it and messes things up.

When do I STOP my PPC campaign?

Never!

You should never stop your normal PPC campaigns. They will continue to either boost ranking
or provide additional profitable sales.

You will stop your PUSH PPC campaign once you have successfully ranked the chosen
keyword
CTR & CVR: What number is good, normal, below normal? How do I know if it’s a good keyword?

I have under 1% CTR on my main keywords. Do I have a product problem?

It varies a lot. Here are some rough estimates.

Clickthrough Rate:

Good CTR: >1%

Average CTR: 0.4% – 0.6%

Poor CTR: <0.2%

Conversion Rate:

Good CVR: >20%

Average CVR: 10-20%

Poor CVR: <5%

When do I STOP my PPC campaign?

Never!

You should never stop your normal PPC campaigns. They will continue to either boost ranking
or provide additional profitable sales.

You will stop your PUSH PPC campaign once you have successfully ranked the chosen
keyword

Can I use competitors brand names as keywords in my PPC campaigns?

It’s fine to bid on them as keywords in PPC campaigns.

However, including competitor brand keywords in your listing is against Amazon TOS.

So you would expect that you wouldn’t be indexed for those brand keywords.

However in my experience you will still show up if your product is relevant enough – even
without the keywords in your listing.

So – yes, it’s fine.