Your first 30 days of Amazon PPC, week by week

Why launch advertising is different

A brand new listing is invisible. Amazon ranks products partly on how well they sell, and a new product has not sold anything yet. Sponsored Products ads are how you get those first sales, which in turn help the listing rank on its own.

That means the first month is not about profit. It is about data and momentum. Set your expectations, and your budget, accordingly.

In the first month, you are paying to learn which searches turn into sales. That knowledge is what makes the next months profitable.

Before you spend anything

Check three things first, because ads will only amplify what is already there:

1. The listing is finished. A clear main image, all image slots used, a title that says what the product is, and bullet points that answer buyers' real questions.
2. You have some reviews, or a plan for them. Use Amazon's own programmes for early reviews. Never buy or swap reviews.
3. Stock is in place. Running out during launch undoes much of the progress.

Week 1: cast a wide net

• Start an automatic campaign and let Amazon find searches related to your product.
• Start a manual campaign with the main keywords from your research.
• Set modest bids and a daily budget you are comfortable spending for a month.
• Do not change much yet. You need data before you can make good decisions.

Week 2: read the search terms

Open the search term report. It shows the exact phrases customers typed before clicking your ad.

• Phrases that led to sales: move them into your manual campaign as exact match keywords.
• Phrases that are clearly irrelevant: add them as negative keywords so you stop paying for them.

Week 3: shift money to what works

• Raise bids slightly on keywords that are converting.
• Lower bids on keywords that get clicks but no sales.
• Pause keywords that have spent a fair amount with nothing to show.
• Check your listing's conversion rate. If many people click but few buy, the problem is the listing or the price, not the ads.

Week 4: settle into a structure

By now you should know your best keywords. Organise them into a structure you can manage: one campaign for proven keywords, one for discovery, and negative keywords to keep the two apart. Then review weekly.

What good looks like after a month

You should have a list of keywords that reliably produce sales, a growing list of negatives, some organic sales starting to appear, and a clear idea of your cost per sale. The aim of month two is to bring that cost down while keeping sales growing.

Want it handled?

Our Private Label Launch package includes the first 30 days of PPC, and our monthly Store Management plan keeps optimising after that. Find out more on our Amazon store service page.