Setting Up Your First Campaign

📈 One Main Campaign: SP Manual Keyword Campaign

Campaign Name: [Product Name] - SP - Manual - Main

💡 The Flow: Discovery ad group finds winners → Move winners to new exact match ad groups within the same campaign → Scale and optimize

What You Need Before Starting:

• ✓ Product listing optimized
• ✓ Know your Target ACoS (profit margin %)
• ✓ Budget ready: Start with $25-50/day

Campaign Creation

1. Campaign Manager → Create Campaign
2. Choose: Sponsored Products
3. Campaign Name: [Product Name] - SP - Manual - Main
4. Targeting: Manual
5. Daily Budget: $25-50
6. Bidding: Dynamic bids - down only

Ad Group 1: Discovery

Name: Discovery - Broad/Phrase

Keywords: Add 10-15 broad or phrase match keywords related to your product

Bids: Start with Amazon's suggested bid range (middle-low)

Step 3: Campaign Bidding Strategy (Critical Decision!)

You'll see three bidding strategy options. Here's what they really mean:

1. Dynamic bids - down only (RECOMMENDED FOR BEGINNERS)
   • What it does: Amazon lowers your bid when unlikely to convert
   • Example: You bid $1.00, Amazon might bid $0.60 for poor placements
   • Why use it: Protects you from overspending while learning
   • Expected result: Lower spend, fewer sales, but better ACOS
2. Dynamic bids - up and down
   • What it does: Amazon adjusts bids ±100% based on conversion likelihood
   • Example: Your $1.00 bid could become $0.10 to $2.00
   • Why avoid as beginner: Can quickly drain budget
   • When to use: After 30+ sales and stable ACOS
3. Fixed bids
   • What it does: Always bids exactly what you set
   • Why avoid initially: No optimization, wastes money
   • When to use: Only for exact match proven keywords

Ad Group Name: Same as campaign name (keep it simple)

Product Selection - This is Important!

You'll see all your products. For your first campaign:

• ✓ Select only ONE product (your best seller or new launch)
• ✗ Don't group multiple products initially
• ✗ Don't include variations (test separately)

Why one product? Mixed products dilute data. You won't know which product drives performance.

Default Bid Setting

Amazon will suggest a bid range like "$0.75 - $2.31". Here's the beginner formula:

1. Calculate your maximum safe bid:
   • Take your profit per unit (e.g., $10)
   • Multiply by 0.1 (10% conversion rate estimate)
   • Result: $1.00 maximum safe bid
2. Set your starting bid:
   • Use 70% of the suggested bid midpoint
   • If suggested range is $0.75-$2.31, midpoint is $1.53
   • Your bid: $1.53 × 0.7 = $1.07
3. Compare to your safe maximum:
   • If starting bid greater than safe maximum, use safe maximum
   • In this example: $1.07 greater than $1.00, so bid $1.00

🎯 Worked example: Sarah sells yoga mats for $29.99 with $12 profit. Her safe bid: $12 × 0.1 = $1.20. Amazon suggests $0.90-$2.50, so starting at $1.15 sits at the low end of that range. At that bid the campaign stays inside its margin for as long as it takes fewer than about 10 clicks to make a sale ($12 ÷ $1.15 ≈ 10.4).

Add these negative keywords from day one:

• If selling premium products: Add "cheap", "budget", "dollar", "clearance"
• If selling specific brands: Add other brand names as negatives
• If selling new items: Add "used", "refurbished", "renewed"
• Always add: "free", "diy", "how to make", "wholesale"

How to add them:

1. Scroll down to "Negative keyword targeting"
2. Click "Add negative keywords"
3. Choose "Campaign level" negatives
4. Add each word as "negative phrase"

After clicking "Launch campaign":

Day 1-3: Patience Phase

• ✓ Check campaign is active (green "Enabled" status)
• ✓ Verify it's getting impressions after 24 hours
• ✗ Don't make any changes yet!
• ✗ Don't panic if no sales (normal)

Day 4-7: First Analysis

• Download Search Term Report
• Look for patterns in what customers search
• Note any irrelevant terms getting clicks
• Still don't adjust bids (need more data)

Why Launch a Manual Campaign?

Your automatic campaign is finding keywords. Now you'll use that data to create a targeted manual campaign:

• More control over individual keywords
• Better bid management
• Higher conversion rates
• Lower ACOS over time

Step 1: Download and Analyze Your Data

1. Go to Reports → Search Term Report
2. Select date range: Last 7 days
3. Download the report
4. Open in Excel/Google Sheets

Sort and Filter Your Data:

1. Sort by "Orders" (highest to lowest)
2. Look for search terms with:
   • At least 1 order
   • ACOS under 50%
   • More than 10 clicks (shows consistent interest)
3. These are your "seed keywords" for manual campaigns

💡 Beginner Tip: If you have less than 5 converting search terms, wait another week. You need data to make smart decisions!

Step 2: Create Your First Manual Campaign

Campaign Settings:

Understanding Match Types for Beginners:

✅ Beginner Strategy: Start with EXACT match only! It's like using a sniper rifle instead of a shotgun - more precise, less waste.

From your search term report, add keywords like this:

1. Click "Add keywords"
2. Choose "Enter list"
3. Format your keywords:

   [yoga mat] [yoga mat 6mm] [thick yoga mat] [exercise mat for yoga] [non slip yoga mat]

   The brackets [ ] indicate exact match

4. Set individual bids:
   • Keywords with 2+ sales: Bid 20% higher than auto campaign
   • Keywords with 1 sale: Use same bid as auto campaign
   • High-value keywords: Can bid up to break-even CPC

Why Use a Tiered System?

Professional sellers don't run just one campaign. They use a tiered system that works like a sales funnel:

1. Tier 1 (Discovery): Finds new keywords with broad/auto targeting
2. Tier 2 (Performance): Scales proven keywords with exact match
3. Tier 3 (Defense): Protects your brand and targets competitors

Setting Up Your Tiered Structure:

Tier 1: Discovery Campaigns (40% of budget)

• Campaign 1: Automatic targeting ($25/day)
• Campaign 2: Broad match manual ($15/day)
• Campaign 3: Phrase match manual ($10/day)
• Purpose: Find new converting search terms
• Expected ACOS: 40-60% (that is acceptable at this tier)

Tier 2: Performance Campaigns (50% of budget)

• Campaign 4: Exact match - top performers ($30/day)
• Campaign 5: Exact match - moderate performers ($20/day)
• Purpose: Scale what's working
• Expected ACOS: 15-25%

Tier 3: Brand & Competitor (10% of budget)

• Campaign 6: Your brand terms ($5/day)
• Campaign 7: Competitor ASINs ($5/day)
• Purpose: Defend and conquer
• Expected ACOS: 10-30%

Week 1-2: Data Collection Phase

• ✓ Check campaigns are getting impressions
• ✓ Verify clicks are happening
• ✓ Add obvious negative keywords
• ✗ Don't adjust bids yet
• ✗ Don't pause keywords yet

Week 3-4: First Optimization

1. Download search term report (5 min)
2. Find winners (5 min):
   • Sort by orders (high to low)
   • Look for 2+ sales with ACOS under 40%
3. Find losers (5 min):
   • Sort by spend (high to low)
   • Look for $10+ spend with 0 sales
4. Take action (15 min):
   • Add winners to exact match campaign
   • Add losers as negative keywords
   • Increase bids 10% on profitable keywords
   • Decrease bids 20% on high-ACOS keywords

The Keyword Graduation System

Think of keywords like students moving through grades:

🚀 How PPC Analyzer Automates This Process:

• Auto-graduation: Moves keywords between tiers based on your rules
• Bid optimization: Adjusts bids hourly to hit target ACOS
• Negative keyword mining: Adds poor performers automatically
• Budget reallocation: Shifts money to best campaigns
• Alert system: Notifies you of major opportunities

1. Mistake: Starting with manual campaigns
   • Problem: You don't know what keywords convert
   • Solution: Always start with automatic for data
   • Timeline: Run auto for 7-14 days first
2. Mistake: Setting and forgetting
   • Problem: Waste money on poor performers
   • Solution: Schedule weekly 30-minute reviews
   • Tool: Set calendar reminder for Mondays
3. Mistake: Pausing campaigns too quickly
   • Problem: Not enough data for decisions
   • Solution: Wait for 500+ impressions minimum
   • Exception: Only pause if spending with 0 clicks
4. Mistake: Ignoring placement reports
   • Problem: Missing optimization opportunities
   • Solution: Check where sales come from
   • Action: Adjust placement bids accordingly
5. Mistake: Not using negative keywords
   • Problem: A meaningful share of budget goes to searches that never convert
   • Solution: Add negatives weekly
   • Focus: Terms with 20+ clicks, 0 sales

🎯 PPC Analyzer Automation:

With PPC Analyzer, all these manual tasks are automated:

• Automatic keyword graduation system
• Hourly bid adjustments
• Daily negative keyword mining
• Weekly performance reports
• Real-time alerts for opportunities

Get started free: Connect your account and the analyzer will work through these same steps against your own campaign data.