PPC & Advertising
When a new client comes to us for PPC management, we almost always find the same five mistakes burning their budget. Here's what they are — and how to fix them.
## Mistake #1: Auto Campaigns Running Unchecked
Auto campaigns are excellent for discovery, but lethal when left alone. Without weekly search term reports and negative keyword harvesting, you'll bid on completely irrelevant terms.
**Fix:** Run auto campaigns at a low bid ($0.30–$0.50). Download search term reports weekly. Move converting terms to exact manual campaigns. Add irrelevant terms as negatives.
## Mistake #2: No Campaign Structure
One campaign with all your products and keywords is a chaos. You can't optimise what you can't measure.
**Fix:** Separate campaigns by match type (exact / phrase / broad), product group, and funnel stage (brand defence / competitor conquest / category).
## Mistake #3: Bid Too High, Too Early
New sellers panic and bid $2+ on competitive keywords before their listing has conversion history. Amazon's algorithm penalises new listings with poor CVR — your ACOS explodes.
**Fix:** Start at $0.50–$0.80 on competitive keywords. Build CVR through launch (coupons + Vine reviews) before scaling bids.
## Mistake #4: Ignoring Placement Multipliers
Top of Search placements convert 2–3× better than rest of search. But most sellers apply the same bid to all placements.
**Fix:** Use placement bid adjustments. Add 30–50% multipliers for Top of Search on your best-converting exact campaigns.
## Mistake #5: Treating ACOS as the Only Metric
ACOS alone doesn't tell you if your ads are profitable. A 40% ACOS on a product with 60% margins is fine. A 25% ACOS on a 20% margin product is a disaster.
**Fix:** Track TACOS (Total ACOS = total ad spend ÷ total revenue). Your goal should be growing organic rank so TACOS decreases over time even as ACOS stays flat.
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