Amazon advertising is one of the most powerful levers to boost your sales and push your products to the top of the results. But poorly managed, it can also burn through your budget with nothing to show for it. Here's the complete guide to launch, structure and optimize your Sponsored Products campaigns like an expert.
What are Sponsored Products?
Sponsored Products are the most widely used ad format on Amazon. They use keyword or product targeting: your ads appear based on the search terms buyers type. You can provide your target keywords, or let Amazon's algorithm find them automatically.
Their strength? They blend perfectly into organic search results. The only visible difference for the customer is the Sponsored label above the product title.
The CPC model: you only pay when a customer clicks on your ad and lands on your product listing. You can't redirect traffic to an external site: everything happens on Amazon.
Crucial point: people searching on Amazon are often at the end of the buying journey. Before launching any campaign, make sure your product listings are optimized (title, images, bullet points). Otherwise, you're paying for clicks that will never convert.
Why ads also improve your ranking
This is the big secret of Sponsored Products: they fuel a virtuous circle. Sales history, your seller score and the number of reviews are major ranking factors on Amazon. A product that sells better thanks to advertising therefore also sees its organic ranking (SEO) improve.
The result: more paid sales → better organic ranking → more free sales. Advertising isn't just a cost, it's an accelerator of lasting visibility.
ACOS and TACOS: the two metrics to master
You can't manage a campaign without understanding these two indicators. This is where most beginner sellers get lost.
ACOS: your advertising efficiency
ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales) measures how much you spend on advertising to generate €1 in sales. The lower it is, the more profitable your campaign.
What's a "good" ACOS? It depends on your margin and your goal:
- During launch — an ACOS of 30 to 50% is normal, even desirable. You're investing to collect data and gain visibility.
- At cruising speed — aim for 15 to 25% for healthy profitability.
- The golden rule — your ACOS must stay below your margin. Otherwise, you're selling at a loss.
TACOS: the real impact on your business
The TACOS (Total Advertising Cost of Sales) goes further: it relates your ad spend to your total revenue (paid + organic sales). It reveals whether your advertising is truly growing your business.
The pro signal: a TACOS that drops while ACOS stays stable is a sign that your ads are boosting your organic sales. Your brand is gaining independence. That's exactly what we're looking for.
Automatic or manual campaign?
Amazon lets you choose between two approaches. Each has its uses.
| Automatic | Manual | |
|---|---|---|
| Setup | Simple and fast | Longer |
| Keyword selection | Amazon decides | You decide |
| Control | Limited | Full |
| Ideal for | Discovering keywords | Optimizing profitability |
The winning strategy: first launch an automatic campaign to let Amazon identify the keywords that convert. Then take the best ones and move them into a manual exact-match campaign, where you control every bid.
Create your campaign in 6 steps
1. A professional Seller Central account
Essential to access advertising tools. If you're on a basic account, upgrade to the professional plan under Settings → Account Info → Selling Plan.
2. Define your goals
First, clarify: what budget to invest? What sales volume are you targeting? Over what period? Set key indicators (target ACOS, daily budget) to measure your results.
3. Structure campaigns and ad groups
Good structure = better performance. Create one campaign per product category, then ad groups for subcategories:
- Campaign: Women's sports pants
- Group 1: Women's yoga pants
- Group 2: Women's running pants
- Group 3: Women's lounge pants
Expert tip: maximum 20 keywords per campaign. Catch-all campaigns (100+ keywords) have a much lower click-through rate.
4. Choose your keywords and match types
In a manual campaign, you choose your keywords and their match type:
- Broad — includes typos, synonyms and word-order variations. Great for discovery.
- Phrase — must contain your keyword, in order.
- Exact — strict match. The most precise and most profitable.
5. Set your budget and bids
Each keyword has a maximum bid. The cost per click depends on market competition. Starting tip: set your bids at 70-80% of Amazon's suggested bid. You get impressions without overpaying, then adjust based on results.
Minimum budget: aim for at least 10× your average cost per click as a daily budget. A budget that's too low takes months to generate usable data.
6. Analyze Amazon reports
Optimization is a data-driven process. The search term report (in your advertising reports) is your best ally: it reveals the terms that convert, those wasting your budget, and new keywords to leverage.
Patience: Amazon needs 7 to 14 days of data to reveal reliable trends. Don't optimize too early or too often.
Negative keywords: your anti-waste weapon
It's the most underrated tool, yet one of the most profitable. Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing on irrelevant searches. The result: fewer useless clicks, a better conversion rate, and a lower ACOS.
Example: you sell premium insulated bottles? Add "cheap", "plastic" and "free" as negative keywords. You'll avoid clicks from bargain hunters who'll never convert.
How to find them: each week, open your search term report. Spot terms with lots of clicks, few sales and a high ACOS. Add them as negative exact. Visible effect in 2 to 3 weeks.
5 beginner mistakes to avoid
Lowering bids as soon as ACOS rises
A classic but counterproductive reflex: you lose visibility and therefore sales. First find the cause (bad keyword? weak listing?).
Ignoring negative keywords
Waiting "to have data" before adding negatives wastes hundreds of euros on useless clicks. Start from launch.
Targeting keywords that are too generic
"Shoes" or "bottle" generate massive but unqualified traffic. Aim for phrases of at least 3 words, more precise.
A daily budget that's too low
€5/day takes months to generate usable data. Give your campaigns enough to learn fast.
Optimizing too often
Amazon needs 7 to 14 days of data. Adjusting every day makes you react to statistical "noise", not to trends.
Want to launch your Amazon Ads campaigns?
At AEGIS, we don't just advise: our team manages your advertising campaigns from A to Z, optimizes your ACOS and grows your sales on the European marketplaces. You manage nothing anymore.
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