GrowthX Management

Menu

Amazon PPC Structure That Scales : Making Faster Decisions

Why Amazon PPC Structure Matters (More Than You Think)? – Great bids can’t fix messy data. When branded and non-branded terms mix, or multiple ASINs fight inside one ad group, you can’t see what’s working—so you can’t scale it. Structure is how we buy clarity: clear signals, predictable budgets, faster optimization.

The Scalable Blueprint (Per Market)

Think in three layers per hero product or tight product family:

1) Defend

  • Goal: Own your brand terms at the lowest possible ACoS.
  • Campaigns:
    • SP | [Product/Family] | Branded-Exact
    • Optional SB | Branded-Headline and SBV | Branded-Video
  • Notes: Keep this fully separate to avoid polluting non-branded data.

2) Win (Non-Branded Core)

  • Goal: Capture high-intent generic queries profitably.
  • Campaigns:
    • SP | [Product/Family] | Core-Exact (5–20 tightly related exact keywords)
    • SP | [Product/Family] | Core-PT (high-fit ASIN/product targeting)
    • Optional SBV | Core-Video for the top head term
  • Notes: This is your scaling engine. Exact match and tight PT keep CPCs and ACoS controllable.

3) Learn (Discovery)

  • Goal: Find new converting search terms and ASINs.
  • Campaigns:
    • SP | [Product/Family] | Discovery-Phrase
    • SP | [Product/Family] | Discovery-Broad
    • SP | [Product/Family] | Discovery-Auto
    • SP | [Product/Family] | Discovery-PT-Wide (broader ASIN sweep)
  • Notes: Harvest winners to Core-Exact/Core-PT weekly; add negatives for duds.

Guardrail: Never mix Branded with Non-Branded. Never mix Exact with Phrase/Broad in the same campaign.

Portfolios & Budget Architecture

Use Portfolios to manage money at the strategy level.

  • Portfolios: Defend, Win, Learn (per country).
  • Daily Budget Split (starting point):
    • Defend 15–25%
    • Win 45–60%
    • Learn 20–30%
  • Reasoning: Defend must always be funded; Win gets the bulk; Learn has enough to discover but not enough to bleed.

Ad Group Rules (Keep It Surgical)

  • One ASIN per ad group for Sponsored Products when possible. If you must group, keep variants that share the same intent (e.g., only flavor variants).
  • Keyword count:
    • Core-Exact: 5–20 max, tightly themed
    • Discovery: broader is fine, but prune weekly
  • Negative hygiene:
    • Add brand negatives to all non-branded campaigns
    • Add cross-negatives so Discovery doesn’t steal Core’s traffic (e.g., negative exact of Core winners inside Discovery)

Naming Conventions (Copy/Paste)

Consistent names make reporting and bulk edits painless.

Campaign:
[Channel] | [Product/Family] | [Intent] | [Match/Type] | [Country] | v[##]

  • Example: SP | Collagen Powder | Core | Exact | US | v01

Ad Group:
[ASIN] | [Variant/Key Trait]

  • Example: B0ABC12345 | Vanilla 30-Servings

Keywords/Targets:

  • Use clean casing and standardize modifiers (e.g., “for women”, “bundle”, “travel size”).
  • Maintain a Keyword Registry tab in your sheet to avoid duplicates across products.

Variation (Parent/Child) Strategy

  • Choose a champion child ASIN per cluster (best reviews/price/stock) for Core-Exact.
  • Put alternates in separate ad groups or separate campaigns so you can shift budget if the winner changes.
  • Use SB to feature 3 variants (e.g., Small/Medium/Large) when merchandising matters.

Structure-by-Stage (Launch → Scale)

Launch (Weeks 1–2)

  • Turn on Defend, Core-Exact, and Discovery (Phrase/Broad/Auto).
  • Keep Down Only bidding and no placement modifiers initially.
  • Budgets: conservative but enough to hit 20–30 clicks per cluster per week.

Optimize (Weeks 2–4)

  • Promote converting search terms (≥2–3 orders, acceptable ACoS) → Core-Exact.
  • Add exact/phrase negatives in Discovery to stop waste.
  • Add Core-PT with competitor ASINs where you have a clear advantage.

Scale (Months 2–3)

  • Add SB Video for the top keyword cluster.
  • Expand long-tail exacts in Core.
  • Consider Up & Down on proven exacts and test modest Top of Search modifiers where CVR is higher.

Creative Placement by Campaign Type

  • SP Core-Exact: Conversion-focused images/title; price competitiveness is crucial.
  • SB Branded/Core: Headline aligned to keyword theme; send to Store subpage with matching tiles.
  • SBV: 20–30s, product in use in the first 2s, captions on.
  • SD Retargeting: Start small budgets; use social proof creatives (ratings, review snippets).

Clean Data Rules (Non-Negotiables)

  1. One intent per campaign (Branded / Core / Discovery).
  2. One match type per campaign (Exact vs Phrase vs Broad vs Auto).
  3. Minimal ASIN mixing in ad groups (prefer 1 ASIN).
  4. Weekly harvesting & negatives (move winners, block losers).
  5. Version your changes (rename with v02, v03 when you materially restructure).

10-Minute Weekly SOP (Agency-Grade)

  1. Search Term Report (7–14 days):
    • Promote: winners → Core-Exact
    • Negative: 10–15 clicks, 0 sales → exact negative; theme duds → phrase negative
  2. Budget Reallocation:
    • Shift Learn → Win if Learn spends >25% with poor ACoS
    • Ensure Defend never caps midday
  3. Placement Check (Core):
    • If ToS CVR ≫ average, test +10–20% ToS modifier
  4. ASIN Targeting Refresh:
    • Add 5–10 weaker competitors (price/review disadvantage)
  5. Version Control Note:
    • Log any structural change in your sheet (date | what | why | next check)

Anti-Patterns (We Fix These in Audits)

  • Mixing Branded + Non-Branded in one campaign
  • Stuffing 50–100 keywords in a Core ad group (no budget focus)
  • Running only Auto and never harvesting
  • Throwing multiple unrelated ASINs into one ad group
  • No negatives → letting waste run for weeks
  • Changing structure constantly (no dataset stability)

Quick Templates

Portfolio Set (US):

  • US | Defend
  • US | Win
  • US | Learn

Campaign Set (per product family):

  • SP | [Family] | Branded-Exact | US | v01
  • SP | [Family] | Core-Exact | US | v01
  • SP | [Family] | Core-PT | US | v01
  • SP | [Family] | Discovery-Phrase | US | v01
  • SP | [Family] | Discovery-Broad | US | v01
  • SP | [Family] | Discovery-Auto | US | v01
  • SBV | [Family] | Core-HeadTerm | US | v01 (when ready)

Structure is your unfair advantage. Separate intent, split match types, isolate ASINs, and enforce weekly harvest/negative loops. Do that, and your reporting becomes obvious, your budgets flow to winners, and scaling becomes a decision—not a gamble.

Want our plug-and-play sheet (portfolios, naming, and SOP tabs prebuilt)?
Send your top 5 ASINs and target ACoS/TACoS, and we’ll tailor the template to your catalog.