How to plan your Amazon Ads campaigns in 2024

Struggling to navigate the ever-evolving landscape of Amazon advertising in 2024? Constant changes in Amazon’s algorithm leave you feeling overwhelmed and unsure of where to start? 

You’re not alone. 

In a marketplace as diverse as Amazon, it can be tricky for new advertisers to know where to start. But don’t worry – in this article, we’ll dive into the essential strategies and insider tips for crafting Amazon Ads campaigns that delight customers and drive sales.

From understanding the latest algorithm updates to setting a structure for success, we’ll guide you through the maze of Amazon advertising so you can start creating campaigns that drive tangible results for your business.

Understanding the Amazon algorithm in 2024

Often seen as a mysterious black box, the Amazon algorithm has undergone significant changes in the last year, impacting how products are discovered and purchased by your customers. 

Let’s take a look under the hood so you can see what they mean for you as a seller:

Amazon Update	Details
Enhanced focus on customer experience:	The algorithm now prioritizes ads for products with better customer ratings and faster shipping, emphasizing the importance of maintaining high-quality listings.
Advanced AI integration:	Using AI, Amazon’s algorithm better predicts customer behavior, showing your ads to those more likely to make a purchase, based on their browsing and buying patterns.
Voice search optimization:	With the increasing use of voice assistants, the algorithm favors products optimized for voice search, making natural-sounding keywords crucial.
Visual content:	High-quality images and videos in listings are now more critical, as the algorithm gives higher visibility to visually appealing ads.

How Amazon Ads work

At its core, Amazon Ads operates on a pay-per-click (PPC) model. This means you, as a seller or advertiser, pay a fee only when a shopper clicks on your ad. These ads appear in various forms and places: within search results, on product detail pages, or even as display ads across other websites and apps.

The placement and visibility of your ads are influenced by several factors. 

One of the most critical is the bid amount – the maximum you’re willing to pay for a click. But it’s not just about outbidding competitors. Amazon’s algorithm also considers the relevance of your product to the shopper’s search query and the historical performance of your ads, such as click-through rates and conversion rates.

Planning stage 1: Choosing the right Amazon Ads format for your goals

Amazon Ads can be broken down into 3 main types – Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. Each type of ad serves a unique purpose and understanding the nuances can make a significant difference in reaching your goals on Amazon. 

Let’s explore the three primary Amazon ad formats:

1. Sponsored Products

What they are: Sponsored Products are ads that promote individual product listings on Amazon. They’re designed to blend seamlessly with organic search results and product detail pages, making them feel more natural, less intrusive, and more engaging for shoppers. 

How it works: These ads operate on a pay-per-click (PPC) model, where advertisers bid on relevant keywords. When a customer searches for these keywords, the ad has a chance to appear in search results or on product pages. The advertiser is charged only when a customer clicks on the ad.

Who it’s for: Sponsored Products are ideal for sellers looking to increase sales of specific items. They work well for new product launches, clearing inventory, or highlighting unique features of a product. It’s a great tool for sellers of all sizes aiming for direct, product-focused marketing.

2. Sponsored Brands

What they are: Sponsored Brands are more prominent ads that showcase your brand and a selection of products. Featuring a brand logo, a custom headline, and up to three products, these ads often appear at the top of search results, giving your product range clear visibility. They’re more commonly found at the bottom of search results on desktop.

How it works: Similar to Sponsored Products, these ads also follow a PPC model but with a focus on brand promotion. They direct shoppers to a custom landing page or an Amazon Store, offering a broader showcase of your product range.

Who it’s for: Sponsored Brands are suited for sellers looking to build brand recognition and loyalty. They’re particularly effective for those who have a diverse product range or wish to highlight their brand story and values. This format is recommended for sellers who have completed Amazon Brand Registry and are looking to expand their market presence. 

-> Learn more: A Quick Guide to Amazon Sponsored Ads

3. Sponsored Display

What they are: Sponsored Display ads are versatile ads that reach audiences both on and off Amazon. They’re designed to target customers based on specific interests, behaviors, and previous interactions with your products.

How it works: These ads use Amazon’s rich customer data for targeted advertising, appearing not only on Amazon’s website and app but also on external sites and platforms. Unlike Sponsored Products and Brands, they’re not limited to keyword targeting.

Who it’s for: Sponsored Display is for sellers aiming for broader audience reach and retargeting. It’s an excellent choice for those looking to re-engage customers who viewed their products or similar items. It’s also beneficial for brands seeking to increase visibility across a wider online audience.В

Note: Sponsored Display ads are powered by customer behavior and shopping data, as opposed to PPC, so we won’t be discussing them in detail in this guide.

Planning stage 2: Conducting initial keyword research

As a PPC model, Amazon ads are powered by keywords. Listing quality is absolutely important, but if you aren’t bidding against the right keywords, the best listing in the world will struggle to convert. 

As a result, keyword research is where you need to start. Here’s how to make it happen:

Start with Amazon’s Search Terms report: This report provides insights into the actual search terms used by customers. Analyzing this data can help you understand customer behavior and preferences.

Use keyword research tools: Leverage tools like Amazon Keyword Tool or Sellesta to discover high-volume keywords relevant to your products. 

Analyze competitor keywords: Look at what keywords your successful competitors are targeting. This can give you insights into what might work for your products as well. 

Don’t overlook long-tail keywords: While they may have lower search volumes, long-tail keywords (phrases that are more specific and usually longer) can drive more qualified traffic and have higher conversion rates.

Planning stage 3: Structuring your Amazon Ads campaign

Now you have your keywords, it’s time to put them to work driving sales and start building your Sponsored Products campaigns. 

Effective structuring of your PPC campaigns is critical for maximizing reach and ROI. Let’s delve into how to structure your campaigns, focusing on the types of campaigns, ad groups, and keyword match types.

Step 1: Create an Automated Campaign for keyword mining

First things first, let’s start with an Automated Sponsored Products Campaign. 

Objective: This campaign type allows Amazon’s algorithm to select keywords based on the content of your product listings. This hands-off approach allows you to gather keyword insights in the background.

Analyze the data: Regularly review the Search Term Report from your automated campaign. This report reveals which keywords are driving traffic and sales. Note the high-performing keywords, as these will be crucial for your manual campaigns.

Step 2: Create two Manual campaigns

Managing your budget effectively is key, and since budgets are set at the campaign level on Amazon, splitting your efforts into two separate campaigns allows for more precise control:

Broad campaign:

Objective: To capture a wide range of relevant traffic and continue discovering new keyword opportunities. Broad match keywords allow your ad to show up on searches that include any word in your key phrase, in any order, including synonyms and related searches.

How to start: Initiate this campaign with keywords identified during your keyword research process. These should be keywords you believe are relevant but haven’t yet been proven by your automated campaign.

Ongoing process: As your automated (Discover) campaign uncovers new effective keywords, gradually add them to this broad campaign. This process helps in expanding your reach and testing the potential of newly discovered keywords.

Exact Match campaign:

Objective: To focus on and capitalize on high-performing keywords by displaying ads against these exact search terms. This is the place where you optimize your ads for conversions and start scaling up. 

How to start: Populate this campaign with the top-performing keywords from your automated campaign and the broad manual campaign. These are keywords that have demonstrated a clear ability to convert viewers into buyers.
Strategy for scale: Allocate a higher budget to these keywords, and monitor their performance closely. The goal is to maximize visibility for these proven keywords, driving more sales.

Accelerate your Amazon Ads sales with a full lifecycle advertising partner, powered by AI 

Amazon Ads can take time to get right, but you don’t have to go it alone. As your full lifecycle Amazon Advertising agency, Sellesta’s AI-backed team helps you automate keyword research, build your campaigns, and optimize them to maximize sales and grow your brand. 
Discover what we can do for your Amazon business.