PPC can either help you make great money or end up costing you more than it brings in. In this article, we’ll look at the most common mistakes sellers make when setting up and running their Amazon ads.
After months of testing different bids and trying to improve your ads, are you getting the results you expected? Or are things still not where you want them to be?
For a lot of sellers, making a profit with PPC is hard. It’s tricky to find the right balance between making more sales and keeping your costs low.
If your results aren’t what you hoped for, it’s probably time to look at the common mistakes that silently hold campaigns back. Even small issues can make the difference between great performance and high ACOS that hurts your profits.
A strong Amazon PPC strategy starts with a clear, organized campaign setup and simple naming rules. When your campaigns are well-structured, they’re easier to understand, manage, and improve, especially as your team grows. It’s also key for long-term success.
We suggest setting up campaigns by the type of targeting, like:
Inside each campaign, ad groups should focus on one product at a time. This gives you better targeting and more control over how much you spend.
Not doing enough keyword research can really hurt your ad performance. Many new sellers just guess which keywords are best, thinking they already know what people are searching for.
But without solid research, you’re likely missing valuable traffic.
Good campaigns need a complete keyword mix. That means using different types of keywords: main terms, similar words, related product categories, and broad terms.
For example, if you sell a stainless steel water bottle, your main keyword could be “stainless steel water bottle.” Similar ones might be “metal water bottle” or “insulated water flask.”
Related categories could include “eco-friendly drinkware” or “reusable hydration bottle,” while broad terms might just be “water bottle” or “bottle.”
The more variety and smart planning you use, the more people your ads will reach. This means more conversions.
If you only use auto campaigns, you’re limiting your control. You can’t change bids for specific keywords or products, so you might waste money on poor performers and miss out on top-performing ones.
Auto campaigns are helpful when you’re starting out and want to discover new keywords. But they don’t give you the control you need to really improve results.
Amazon’s platform doesn’t offer advanced bidding like Google Ads yet, so using manual targeting is essential for getting better results and making more profit.
Bidding the wrong amount, whether too high or too low, can hurt your ad performance. Bidding too high can drain your budget on clicks that don’t lead to sales, while bidding too low means your ads won’t show up often enough.
The best strategy is to start with smart, competitive bids based on data, then improve them over time. Use Amazon’s dynamic bidding tools to automatically adjust your bids as needed.
Watch key numbers like how often your ad shows (impressions), how many people click (CTR), and how many actually buy (conversion rate). These help you spend where it works best.
Are you setting the same bid for every product? That’s not a good move. Different products perform differently; some sell more, some bring in more money per sale.
If you treat them all the same, you’ll miss chances to get better results and spend more than you should.
Instead, look at each product’s chances of getting a sale and how much each sale is worth. Then set the right bid for each one. This helps you make the most of your budget.
Another common mistake is changing your bids too soon. At the start of a campaign, there’s not enough useful data, so it’s hard to tell what’s working, especially for individual products.
If you adjust too early, you might overbid or underbid based on guesses, not facts.
It’s smarter to wait until you’ve collected enough good data. Look at how similar products are doing overall, then make smart changes that actually improve your results.
When you’re just starting with Amazon PPC, it makes sense to be careful with your budget. But setting your daily budget too low and having it run out early can hold back your campaign.
You could be missing out on cheaper clicks and valuable traffic later in the day.
If your budget keeps running out early, it’s a sign you should either raise your daily limit or lower your cost-per-click (CPC) to make your money go further.
Finding the right balance helps keep your ads running all day and reaching more buyers.
Running PPC campaigns without a clear ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales) goal makes it very hard to improve your ads. Without a target, you don’t know if your results are good or bad.
Before you start a campaign, decide what ACOS works for your product based on your profit margin. That number gives you a reference for adjusting bids, checking if you're making money, and making smarter decisions over time.
Don’t look at your PPC results on their own. Amazon ads don’t just give you quick sales—they also help grow your brand over time, especially when you’re new.
In the beginning, it’s okay to spend more on ads to get some traction. More ad sales can lead to more reviews and help Amazon trust your store.
That trust boosts your rankings, helps you win the Buy Box, and leads to better sales even when you’re not running ads.
Many sellers forget to protect their brand name in search results. Competitors can bid on your brand keywords and steal customers who were already looking for you.
But if you run branded ads without a plan, you could end up paying for clicks you would’ve gotten for free.
That’s why it’s important to track brand search terms separately and use a smart strategy. You need to find the right balance between staying visible and keeping ad costs low.
Winning with Amazon PPC means building a system that gets better over time. As more sellers jump in, the ones who win aren’t always the ones who spend the most, they’re the ones who manage ads wisely.
Stay patient, keep testing what works, and make smart, steady improvements. That’s how you turn ads into real growth.
If you want better results and steady success, Brandefyn is a great place to start. They help brands like yours grow faster on Amazon with smart, proven strategies.