Amazon Ads is a powerful tool for businesses looking to improve their visibility and generate sales on the Amazon platform. However, many companies make mistakes that limit their performance and, consequently, their results. To fully leverage this tool, it’s essential to avoid these common errors. This article takes a deep dive into the five critical mistakes you must avoid when launching and managing your Amazon Ads campaigns and provides practical tips to optimize your results.
Mistake 1: Not Keeping an Automatic Campaign Active
The first and probably one of the most significant mistakes is not keeping an automatic campaign active. Many businesses are tempted to abandon automatic campaigns once they have enough data to run manual campaigns, but this can be a costly mistake.
Why is it a mistake?
The market on Amazon is constantly evolving, and an automatic campaign acts as a trend detector. It allows you to continuously discover new keywords, including seasonal or event-driven terms, that you might not have identified otherwise. Take the example of a seller offering swimming goggles: during the Olympics, a swimmer like Léon Marchand could suddenly drive up searches in that category. Without an active automatic campaign, you might miss out on this golden opportunity.
Adjustments to make:
- Always keep an automatic campaign active alongside your manual campaigns (using BROAD, PHRASE, or EXACT match types).
- Regularly monitor reports to extract new high-performing keywords and include them in your manual campaigns.
In summary, an automatic campaign not only helps you discover new opportunities but also allows you to react quickly to new competitors and emerging trends. It’s like having a radar that detects new players in your market.
Mistake 2: Only Using Sponsored Products
Limiting yourself to Sponsored Products is the second critical mistake to avoid. While this format is effective for generating direct sales, focusing solely on this type of ad means missing out on a significant portion of the potential offered by Amazon Ads.
Why is it a mistake?
Amazon offers three main ad formats: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. If you only use Sponsored Products, it’s like having just one storefront in a shopping mall. However, with Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display, you can multiply your customer touchpoints throughout their purchasing journey.
Imagine a customer searching for a keyword related to your products. With Sponsored Brands, your brand appears at the top of the search results. Then, with Sponsored Products, you appear in the first few results. Finally, with Sponsored Display, your ad appears on the side or on other relevant pages. You’re literally everywhere, and it’s this omnipresence that strengthens your brand and boosts conversions.
Adjustments to make:
- Mix formats to cover every step of the customer journey.
- Use Sponsored Brands to build awareness and reinforce your presence.
- Leverage Sponsored Display for retargeting and staying visible even after customers leave Amazon.
Omnipresence in Amazon Ads is key to capturing customers’ attention at all levels.
Mistake 3: Mixing Targeting Types Within the Same Campaign
The third common mistake is mixing multiple targeting types (BROAD, PHRASE, and EXACT) within a single campaign. Although this may seem efficient at first glance, this approach can actually harm your campaign performance.
Why is it a mistake?
By combining multiple targeting types in one campaign, you create internal competition. BROAD, PHRASE, and EXACT keywords will start to compete against each other, driving up your bids and diluting your campaign’s effectiveness.
It’s like playing a football match and putting all your forwards in the same area of the field. They end up stepping on each other’s toes, and you’re not fully utilizing their potential. The same applies to your campaigns: it’s essential to segment each targeting type to allow each keyword to reach its full potential.
Adjustments to make:
- Create separate campaigns for each targeting type.
- Analyze the performance of each targeting type independently to optimize bids and budgets.
This will allow you to better control your campaigns, optimize your costs, and maximize results.
Mistake 4: Not Using Negative Targeting
One of the most common but also costly mistakes is neglecting negative targeting. Failing to exclude irrelevant keywords can severely impact your ad performance.
Why is it a mistake?
Without negative targeting, Amazon is likely to display your ads for irrelevant searches. This can lead to a waste of your ad budget on useless clicks that don’t lead to conversions. For example, if you’re selling running shoes but Amazon shows your ads for terms like “hiking boots,” you may get many clicks without making a single sale.
Adjustments to make:
- Regularly review the search terms used in your campaigns and add negative keywords to exclude irrelevant ones.
- Segment your campaigns by product categories or ad groups to better refine your negative targeting.
Adding negative keywords allows you to focus your budget on what actually works and significantly improve your conversion rates.
Mistake 5: Not Adjusting Bids and Budgets Based on Results
Finally, not adjusting your bids and budgets based on performance is a mistake that can seriously limit your campaign success. Many businesses let their campaigns run with fixed bids and preset budgets without adjusting them according to performance.
Why is it a mistake?
If you don’t respond to performance by increasing the bids and budgets of your profitable campaigns, you’re leaving potential sales on the table. Imagine you have a campaign generating an excellent ROAS (return on ad spend), but you limit its budget. You could potentially double or triple your sales simply by increasing the investment in that campaign.
Adjustments to make:
- Regularly monitor your campaign performance and identify those offering excellent ROAS.
- Adjust the budgets and bids accordingly to maximize your return on investment.
Treat each campaign like a profit-generating machine: if it’s performing well, don’t hesitate to invest more to maximize the results.
Conclusion
The mistakes outlined above are common but can seriously impact your Amazon Ads campaign performance. By avoiding these pitfalls and optimizing your campaigns strategically, you can not only improve your sales but also maximize your return on ad spend. By staying agile, properly segmenting your campaigns, and adjusting your bids and budgets based on performance, you can fully exploit the potential of Amazon Ads to achieve your business goals.
