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The Essential Amazon Advertising Strategy Guide for Sellers

Navigating Amazon’s ever-evolving advertising landscape can feel like trying to decode a foreign language. However, with the right strategy, it becomes one of the most powerful tools in your marketing arsenal. Whether you're a brand owner who’s looking to promote a single product or a business running a full-scale campaign across various categories, this article breaks down everything you need to know to get started and succeed.

From understanding the platform’s different advertising models to setting clear goals, choosing the best keywords, and optimizing for high ROAS, this tutorial covers all of the essentials. You’ll learn how to use Amazon Advertising to boost visibility, drive sales, and dominate key shopping events like Prime Day.

Types of Amazon Advertising

Amazon advertising continues to evolve rapidly by offering brands more sophisticated tools to reach customers and grow their online presence. Before you dive into crafting the best Amazon ads strategy, you need to know which tools are actually in your toolbox. Amazon offers several types of advertising options, each one tailored to specific goals, whether you want to drive traffic to a single product listing or launch a full-funnel campaign across multiple touchpoints.

Knowing which advertising model to use (and when) is key to unlocking your optimal performance, especially during high-stakes moments like Prime Day or holiday promotions.

Here’s a quick overview of the core types of Amazon advertising:

1. Amazon PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

  • Sponsored Products: These ads spotlight individual listings directly in search results and product pages, and are perfect for driving sales and optimizing ROAS.
  • Sponsored Brands: These are banner ads that feature multiple products and your brand logo. They’re great for building brand awareness, especially during peak shopping events.
  • Sponsored Display Ads: These go beyond mere search results by retargeting shoppers across Amazon and all across the internet, helping to keep your product in the forefront of customers’ minds.

2. Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform)

  • Video Ads: Engage audiences with immersive video content across Amazon sites and third-party apps.
  • Custom Ads: These are tailored creative ads designed to capture shoppers’ attention in unique ways.
  • Amazon Audio Ads: Reach customers through audio messaging on Alexa-enabled devices to deliver your brand’s message in a hands-free, voice-first environment.
  • Amazon Live: Livestream sessions where brands showcase products, answer questions, and drive real-time sales and reviews.

3. Additional Amazon Advertising Solutions

  • Lock Screen Ads: Target users on Kindle and Fire tablet lock screens for high-visibility and promotion.
  • Amazon Attribution: Track and analyze how your off-Amazon marketing efforts (including social media, search ads, email) impact Amazon sales, giving you data to optimize your campaign strategy.
  • Amazon Posts: These appear in a social-feed style feature allowing brands to promote products organically and build community.
Understanding these types of ad and how they fit into your overall Amazon ad strategy will empower your business to advertise smarter, optimize your listings, and maximize your return on investment.

Setting Goals and an Ad Budget

A smart Amazon advertising strategy starts with clear goals and a well-planned budget. Without these, even the best campaigns can fall flat or drain your resources without delivering results. So, if you’re preparing for a high-impact promotion like Prime Day or launching a steady, ongoing campaign, these are the steps sellers need to focus on:
  • Define clear objectives:
Are you aiming to increase brand awareness, boost product sales, or drive more traffic to your listing? Your primary goal is what shapes your entire campaign, from the types of ads you use to your choice of keywords and budget allocation.

  • Understand your business requirements:
New brands might focus on reach and impressions, while established sellers often prioritize ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) to ensure that every dollar spent generates a profit.

  • Set a realistic budget:
Start with a test budget to gather data, then scale your business based on what works. For example, during peak shopping periods like Prime Day, increase your spend to capitalize on higher traffic and demand.

  • Allocate your budget based on campaign type:
If your goal is direct sales, devote more of your expenses on Sponsored Products ads. For brand building, allocate funds to Sponsored Brands or Amazon DSP campaigns that support wider online promotion.
Setting thoughtful goals and a flexible budget isn’t just about spending money; it’s about investing strategically in your brand’s growth on Amazon’s competitive platform. By aligning your campaign objectives with smart budgeting, you ensure that every ad dollar works harder to promote your product, improve listing visibility, and boost your bottom line.

Keyword Research & Listing Optimization

A successful Amazon ad strategy doesn’t begin and end with the campaign itself—it starts with the product page. Before launching a Sponsored Ad, you need to include strategic keywords in your product listing. Keywords are not only critical for driving organic traffic through searches but also for ensuring that your PPC campaigns are effective. Without the right keywords, buyers won’t find your products and your ads won’t perform, since they’ll be irrelevant to your audience.

Here’s what every seller needs to focus on:
  • Use keywords in all text beyond ads:
Don’t just plug keywords into your campaign settings—embed them into your product title, bullet points, description, and backend search terms to improve discoverability and match customer intent.

  • Create detailed, accurate descriptions:
Clear, benefit-driven copy helps shoppers make confident purchase decisions and leads to better reviews, which is crucial for building trust and conversion.

  • Balance optimization with readability:
Your listing needs to appeal to both Amazon’s algorithm and actual people. Avoid keyword stuffing, and aim for a smooth, natural flow that highlights your product’s features and benefits.
If you're not sure where to start, Sellerhook’s Amazon SEO Listing Optimization service can take the guesswork out of this process. Your listing will be professionally written, fully optimized, and personalized to align with your specific needs and requests, accompanied by a curated selection of keywords that are suitable for PPC campaigns.

Here’s how to get started:
1. Visit Sellerhook’s website and click on “Amazon SEO Listing Optimization.”
2. Click “Order your product listing”: Choose whether you want to have one or three listings created.
3. Select your option: Click “Place an Order” and enter your payment details.
4. Fill out a brief form: Answer a few key questions about your product.
5. Get your listing: Within 8–10 business days, you’ll receive a professionally optimized and fully personalized listing, along with a report featuring effective keywords that are ready to use in your product page and advertising campaigns.
A well-optimized listing boosts your product’s visibility in both organic and paid searches, improving your ROAS, increasing conversions, and giving your brand the best chance to stand out in Amazon’s competitive marketplace.
Check out a sample of a ready-to-use listing

Running Amazon Ads: From Setup to Smart Scaling

Once your goals are established and your listings are optimized, it’s time to put your Amazon advertising strategy into action. Running ads on Amazon isn’t just about flipping a switch—it’s about understanding how the platform works, making smart decisions, and continuously refining your campaigns to get the best possible return.

Here’s how to run Amazon ads effectively from day one:

1. Choose the right type of campaign

  • For direct sales, Sponsored Products are usually the best starting point as they target shoppers who are already searching for similar items.
  • To increase brand visibility, use Sponsored Brands or Video Ads to showcase multiple products or tell your brand’s story.
  • To reach new audiences both on and off Amazon, Sponsored Display Ads and DSP campaigns are powerful tools within your broader sponsored ads strategy.

2. Set competitive bids (but stay in control)

  • Amazon’s advertising model is auction-based. You don’t always need the highest bid to win - relevance and listing quality matter too.
  • Use dynamic bidding to allow Amazon to adjust your bids up or down in real time based on the likelihood of a conversion.

3. Structure your campaigns strategically

  • Create separate campaigns for different products, categories, or goals.
  • Avoid lumping unrelated products into a single campaign as this clouds performance data and makes optimization more difficult.
Running Amazon ads is a blend of art and science. With the right setup, a clear strategy, and ongoing adjustments, you can promote your products, increase your search visibility, and drive long-term growth for your online business. Keep an eye on performance, keep testing, and never stop optimizing, because in the world of Amazon, the most agile advertisers win.

Analyzing Campaign Performance

To run the best Amazon advertising strategy, you need to track the right metrics, interpret the data, and make informed adjustments that drive results.

Here are the key metrics to keep an eye on:

1. ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sales):

This shows you shows how much you’re spending on ads to make a sale.
  • Good: 15–30% (varies by product margins)
  • Too High: 40%+ could signal wasted spend or poor keyword targeting.

2. ROAS (Return on Ad Spend):

The inverse of ACOS - a higher ROAS means more revenue for each dollar spent.
  • Solid: 3x or more is generally a good benchmark.

3. CTR (Click-Through Rate):

This measures how compelling your ads are.
  • Benchmark: 0.3–0.5% is average; 0.5%+ is strong.
  • If it’s low, try improving your product image, title, or adjusting ad placement.

4. Conversion Rate:

This shows you how many clicks turn into sales.
  • Healthy: 10–15%+ is ideal, depending on the category.
  • If your conversions are low, you need to revisit your listing optimization, pricing strategy, or reviews.

5. Impressions & Budget:

High impressions with low clicks or conversions often mean poor targeting. Use this as a cue to adjust your keywords or test new ad formats like Sponsored Brands or Display Ads.

Pro Tips:

  • Don’t judge a campaign too early. Let it run for at least 7-10 days before making major changes.
  • Download performance reports regularly from the Amazon Ads platform to analyze trends and identify your best-performing keywords.
  • Segment by match type or product category to see where your budget is making the biggest impact.

Final Thoughts

Mastering your Amazon advertising strategy is a journey—from setting clear goals and optimizing your listings to running smart campaigns and analyzing every click and conversion. The right approach helps your product stand out in a crowded marketplace, drives meaningful sales, and builds a lasting brand presence.

Whether you’re just starting out or scaling up, tools like Sellerhook can simplify the process, helping you fine-tune your listings and campaigns for maximum impact. Stay focused, stay flexible, and watch your Amazon business grow.
See what your research report would look like.
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