A Simple, Proven PPC Strategy for Amazon in 2025
Many brands overspend on Amazon ads without really knowing what’s working and what isn’t. One client we worked with had been throwing money at campaigns with no structure and very little return. Once we’d stripped things back and put the right foundations in place, we successfully turned £25,000 of ad spend into over £95,000 in sales, all while cutting costs and improving results across the board at the same time. Here’s how we approached it.
Start by Choosing the Right ASINs
The first step is to stop advertising underperforming products. Before launching any campaigns, check your unit session percentage inside Business Reports under “Detail Page Sales and Traffic by Child Item.” This tells you how well a product is converting. If the conversion rate is below average for your range, it’s probably not worth pushing through ads unless you’re certain the product is competitively priced, visually appealing, and has strong trust signals like good reviews.
Advertising only works when your listing is already in good shape. Remember, your product listing is your ad. If it doesn’t convert, no amount of PPC will fix it. This is where most high ACoS issues begin.
Keep Campaigns Simple and Focused
Once you’ve identified a high converting product, create a campaign with just one ASIN and one ad group. You should always avoid bundling multiple variations together at the start, as this only complicates the data and gives inaccurate results. Instead, focus on your primary product or the one with the best potential based on competitive research and run with that on its own
Starting out with an auto campaign is best for beginners. Auto campaigns let Amazon test your listing across different keyword combinations and ASIN placements, which can further help identify what actually drives conversions. Be sure to then give the campaign some time to run so Amazon can collect enough data to highlight what’s working and what isn’t.
Build from Data, Not Guesswork
Once you’ve gathered insights from your first auto campaign, you’ll need to then identify the search terms that led to your conversions. The next step is to build a manual exact match campaign using those proven keywords. This approach avoids all the guesswork that comes with launching manual campaigns based purely on external keyword research.
Stick closely to Amazon’s recommended bids and adjust them based on the campaign performance. If some keywords underperform, you can reduce spend or pause them entirely. From there, you can then experiment with broad or phrase match campaigns if your budget allows, but do this only once you’ve established a baseline with exact match.
Focus on Long-Term Performance, Not Daily Metrics
One of the biggest mistakes we see is when Amazon sellers make changes based on daily results. Since Amazon ad data is delayed by 48 to 72 hours, short-term fluctuations don’t give you the full picture. Always assess campaign performance over 14 or 30-day windows, as this gives you the clarity you need to scale or adjust without reacting to temporary shifts.
It goes without saying that you should always prioritise TACoS over ACoS. Your ad spend will directly impact organic ranking, so the real measure of PPC effectiveness is the total advertising cost of sale. If your organic sales are growing while ad costs remain flat, that’s a great sign your strategy is working, even if ACoS looks high on the surface.
Final Thoughts
Our Amazon PPC strategy for beginners doesn’t need to be overly complex. It’s more about consistency, clarity, and control than anything else. By simply choosing the right products and structuring your campaigns one ASIN at a time, you can then let the auto campaign feature reveal what works and what doesn’t. You then build around those results. When done properly, this model not only lowers ACoS but helps strengthen organic rankings and long-term growth.