Posted by Amanda Stein on 2023-07-05 | 3 minute read
If a search term on Amazon leads to a sale but has an ACOS above your target, move it to exact, add it to negative in the original ad group, set the exact keyword bid to the lower of the source keyword bid and the Amazon suggested bid, create new broad and phrase keywords with the Amazon suggested bid, and add a "Negative Exact" to the Phrase keyword and "Negative Phrase" to the Broad keyword.
Tips for effective Amazon sellers
- Be patient and strategic in a highly competitive market. Set a higher threshold for your campaign.
- Monitor your account's average conversion rate. If your account has an 8% conversion rate, it means roughly one sale is made every 12 clicks. Evaluate any search term that generates more than 12 clicks without a sale.
- Always consider your break-even ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales) when running your advertisements. Aim to not lose money on your advertising.
- Use the NPACOS (Net Profit Advertising Cost of Sales) as an alternative threshold when there are no sales.
- Regularly evaluate the performance of your search terms and add non-performing ones to the negative list.
Optimize Amazon Search Terms for Better Sales
"Search Term Isolation" is a methodology for managing search terms and is very important for your Amazon advanced search in the Amazon search engine.
You can watch a video about Search Term Isolation here
What is Amazon Search Term Isolation?
- Each search term appears only once per match type (no duplications)
- Every new term is created in Exact, Phrase, and Broad
- Each term is added to negative exact and negative phrase respectably.
The new terms we create can come from keyword discovery tools. For example, tools and search engine optimization software such as Helium 10 or from our auto campaigns or from existing Broad and Phrase keywords. This is key for Amazon advanced search.
Main Guidelines
When relying on our own Auto, Broad and Phrase, you should follow the relevant recommendations to hit it in the Amazon search engine:
Search terms with sales - above Target ACOS
These are relevant search Amazon search terms that led to a sale and have an ACOS above our Target ACOS.
Recommended actions:
- Move the search term to exact - bids should be managed in exact.
- Add the term to negative (in the original ad group) - to prevent duplicates and free up budget for additional discovery.
- Set the exact keyword bid to the lower of the source keyword bid and the Amazon suggested bid.
- Create new broad and phrase keywords and set their bid to the Amazon suggested bid.
- Add a "Negative Exact" to the Phrase keyword and "Negative Phrase" to the Broad keyword.
Search terms with sales - below Target ACOS
Search terms with sales are relevant search terms and are considered competitive.
Recommended actions:
- Move the search term to exact - bids should be managed in exact.
- Add the term to negative (in the original ad group) - to prevent duplicates and free up budget for additional discovery.
- Set the bid to the higher of the original bid and Amazon suggested bid.
- Create new broad and phrase keywords and set their bid to the Amazon suggested bid
- Add "Negative Exact" in the Phrase and "Negative Phrase" in the Broad
Search Terms Without Sales
Search terms that have not generated sales should be evaluated based on their clicks and spend. They should be turned off (added to negative) once they cross a certain threshold. The threshold varies based on different conditions:
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The product life-cycle stage - during launch phase we should set it higher than during maturity.
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Advertising budget - if we don't have a big budget we would not want to identify under-performing terms as early as possible so we might want to set a low clicks threshold.
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The competitive landscape - in a highly competitive space we might decide to be more patient and set a higher threshold.
Typical thresholds can be:
- The account average conversion rate. If your account is converting at 8% on average it means that you generate a sale every ~12 clicks. Any search term generating more than 12 clicks without a sale should be evaluated.
- The break-even ACOS. Most Amazon sellers do not want to lose on their advertising (this is not valid during product launch) therefore they consider their break-even ACOS as the threshold for adding a term to negative. Considering there isn't an ACOS when there's no sales we can use the NPACOS.
So when should we add a search term to negative?
We should only add a search term to negative once we are convinced it is not relevant to our product or has wasted a significant portion of our budget.
Remember: Broad, Phrase, and Auto are used for keyword discovery and when a search term is using up the ad groups budget it is preventing or limiting the discovery of additional search terms thus we should either turn them off by adding them to negative or move them to an exact state and reduce their bid so we don't completely "kill" them.
Frequently Asked Questions & Answers
- When is it appropriate to add a search term to negative during Amazon keyword targeting?
- Why should we avoid adding search terms that are using up the ad group's budget to negative?
- What are some strategies for managing search terms that are using up a significant portion of the ad group's budget?
- What is the purpose of using Broad, Phrase, and Auto in keyword discovery?
- What might be the consequences of adding a search term to negative prematurely?
- How does adding a search term to negative affect my Amazon ad campaign?
- How can I ensure that a search term is indeed not relevant to my product before adding it to negative?
- What does it mean to move a search term to an exact state?
- How does reducing the bid of a search term help in managing the ad group's budget?
- Is there a risk in reducing the bid of a search term that's consuming a significant portion of my budget?
- Can I add a search term back to positive after moving it to negative?
- What is the impact of adding a search term to the negative on the keyword discovery process?
- Can irrelevant search terms affect the performance of my Amazon ad campaign?
- How can I determine if a search term is wasting a significant portion of my budget?
- How does moving a high-cost search term to an exact state help in managing my ad budget?
- Should I always add a high-cost search term to negative?
- What happens if a search term is performing well but using up a significant portion of my budget?
- How can I effectively manage my Amazon ad campaign budget?
- How can I identify new effective search terms for my Amazon ad campaign?
- What is the role of search terms in an Amazon ad campaign?
Answer: It is appropriate to add a search term to negative when it is found to be irrelevant to the product being advertised or when it has consumed a substantial portion of the advertising budget.
Answer: Search terms that consume a large portion of the budget should be managed carefully because they limit the discovery of additional search terms. By adding them to negative, you could be stifling potential keyword discovery.
Answer: You can either add them to negative to completely turn them off, or move them to an exact state and reduce their bid. This way, you don't completely eliminate them but manage their impact on your budget.
Answer: These tools are used in keyword discovery to help identify new and relevant search terms that could potentially drive traffic and sales to your product.
Answer: Adding a search term to negative prematurely might limit the potential for keyword discovery, thus potentially reducing traffic and sales.
Answer: Adding a search term to negative removes it from your campaign, which could help manage your budget if that term was consuming a significant portion, but also potentially limit keyword discovery.
Answer: It requires careful analysis and monitoring of the search term's performance and its relevance to your product over time.
Answer: Moving a search term to an exact state means that your ad will only show up when the exact term is searched for. This can help manage your budget as your ad won't appear for broad or phrase matches of the term.
Answer: Reducing the bid for a search term means you are willing to pay less for clicks on that term. This can help keep costs down if the term is consuming a significant portion of your budget.
Answer: Yes, reducing the bid may result in fewer impressions and potentially less traffic for your product, so it's important to carefully analyze the impact before making such a decision.
Answer: Yes, you can add a search term back to positive if you find it to be relevant and beneficial for your campaign in the future.
Answer: Adding a search term to negative limits the keyword discovery process, as it prevents the search term from triggering your ads in the future.
Answer: Yes, irrelevant search terms can lead to unnecessary clicks and cost, affecting the overall performance and efficiency of your ad campaign.
Answer: You can determine this by regularly monitoring your ad spend and the performance metrics of each search term in your campaign.
Answer: By moving a high-cost search term to an exact state, your ad will only appear when the exact term is searched, reducing the possibility of irrelevant or less relevant clicks and helping to manage your ad spend.
Answer: Not necessarily. It's important to evaluate the relevance and performance of the search term before making this decision. Sometimes, it might be more beneficial to move it to an exact state and reduce its bid rather than adding it to negative.
Answer: If a search term is performing well but using up a lot of your budget, you might want to consider moving it to an exact state and reducing its bid to maintain its performance while also managing your budget.
Answer: Effective budget management involves regular monitoring of your ad spend, evaluating the performance of your search terms, and making necessary adjustments, such as adding irrelevant or high-cost search terms to negative or reducing their bids.
Answer: Using Broad, Phrase, and Auto for keyword discovery can help identify new and effective search terms that are relevant to your product.
Answer: Search terms play a crucial role in an Amazon ad campaign as they determine when and where your ads will appear. They can directly impact the visibility of your product, the relevance of your ads to potential customers, and ultimately, the performance of your ad campaign.