Many sellers face a common dilemma: new products launch with substantial advertising budgets yet fail to convert, while established products struggle with high Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS) that erodes profit margins. Effective Amazon advertising requires tailored strategies at different operational stages. This article examines how sellers can optimize campaigns throughout their product's lifecycle.
Launch Phase: Prioritizing Visibility and Data Collection
During initial product launches, the primary objective should be maximizing exposure and gathering performance data. Sellers should temporarily tolerate higher ACOS while focusing on sales volume growth. Automated campaigns work best at this stage, but with controlled budgets to prevent overspending.
After approximately two weeks, analyze the automated campaign data to identify high-performing keywords. These should then be incorporated into new manual campaigns for more targeted advertising.
Maturity Phase: Precision Optimization for Profitability
For established products, the focus shifts to maximizing return on investment (ROI). Set clear ACOS and Total Advertising Cost of Sales (TACOS) targets—for example, 20% for ACOS and 10% for TACOS.
Daily bid adjustments become crucial for underperforming manual campaigns. Reduce bids for keywords exceeding ACOS targets while increasing bids for high-performing terms. Third-party tools like Channel Advisor can automate this process, improving operational efficiency.
Essential Advertising Considerations
- Organic Traffic Priority: Amazon's algorithm favors products that generate sales through natural search. While advertising drives initial visibility, long-term success depends on product quality and listing optimization.
- Algorithm Guidance: Manual campaigns help train Amazon's search algorithm, improving organic rankings for targeted keywords.
- Diversified Formats: Experiment with Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, and Sponsored Brand Video (SBV) ads. SBV campaigns offer both keyword and product targeting options.
- Brand Registry Benefits: Registered brands gain access to analytical reports for keyword discovery and can run complementary product campaigns.
- User Experience Focus: Higher bids don't guarantee better placement. Amazon prioritizes listings with strong conversion metrics, positive reviews, and quality content.
- Precision Targeting: When using broad match keywords, include long-tail variations to improve relevance. For example, "Apple phone charging cable" outperforms generic "mobile phone charging cable."
- Bid Optimization: Gradually reduce bids while monitoring organic traffic changes to find the optimal balance between paid and natural sales.
Implementing SBV Video Campaigns
Sponsored Brand Video ads represent a valuable opportunity for all sellers. These campaigns support both keyword and product targeting strategies. When configuring SBV ads, experts recommend using the "down ONLY" bidding approach without placement modifications.
Critical Pre-Launch Consideration
Before initiating any advertising campaign, ensure your product possesses genuine competitive advantages. Superior products ultimately determine marketplace success and sustainable profitability.