Amazon Sponsored Products Ads: A Step-by-Step Guide
When shoppers search on Amazon, the first products they see are often ads. Sponsored Products ads let your listings appear in those top spots, in search results and on competitors' product pages, and you only pay when someone clicks. For a new product with no reviews or sales history, they're often the fastest way to get seen.
This guide explains how Sponsored Products ads work, how to set up your first campaign and how to improve results over time.
What are Amazon Sponsored Products ads?
Amazon describes Sponsored Products as cost-per-click ads that promote individual product listings. They look almost identical to organic results, carrying a small "Sponsored" label, and appear:
At the top of, within and alongside search results
On product detail pages, including competitors' pages
On mobile and in the Amazon app
Amazon also offers Sponsored Brands, which feature your logo and several products, and Sponsored Display, which can retarget shoppers on and off Amazon. Most sellers start with Sponsored Products, because they drive sales of specific listings most directly.
Should you use them?
For most sellers, yes. Sponsored Products help:
Launch new products that don't yet rank organically
Defend your listings against competitors advertising on your brand or product pages
Increase sales velocity, which can help organic ranking over time
Find new keywords from the search terms report
Whether they're profitable depends on your margins. Our article on whether Amazon advertising is worth it covers costs, ACoS and how to judge profitability.
Who can advertise?
To run Sponsored Products as a seller, you need a Professional selling account, and your products must be eligible to win the Featured Offer (the "Buy Box"). Vendors who sell to Amazon can also advertise. Some categories are restricted.
How to set up a Sponsored Products campaign
Step 1: Create the campaign
In Amazon Ads (Campaign Manager), create a campaign, choose Sponsored Products, give it a clear name and select the products to advertise. Group similar products together so you can control bids and budgets meaningfully.
Step 2: Choose a start date, end date and budget
Campaigns can run continuously or between set dates. Set an end date for seasonal promotions. For example, a beach towel seller might increase spend before summer and reduce it as the season ends.
Your daily budget caps your average daily spend. If campaigns regularly run out of budget early in the day, you may be missing sales.
Step 3: Choose automatic or manual targeting
Automatic targeting lets Amazon match your ads to relevant searches and products based on your listing. It's the easiest way to start and a great way to discover search terms.
Manual targeting lets you choose keywords or products yourself. For keyword targeting, there are three match types:
Match type | What it matches | Best for |
|---|---|---|
Broad | Searches that contain your keywords in any order, plus close variations | Discovering new search terms |
Phrase | Searches that contain your exact phrase or close variations | Balancing reach and relevance |
Exact | Searches that match your keyword exactly, or close variations | Your proven, highest-converting terms |
You can also target specific products or categories, for example placing your ad on a competitor's listing.
Step 4: Add negative keywords
Negative keywords stop your ads from showing for irrelevant searches. A seller of luxury bath towels might add "beach" as a negative keyword so the ads don't show to people searching for beach towels.
Step 5: Choose a bidding strategy
Amazon offers three bidding strategies:
Dynamic bids, down only: Amazon lowers your bid when a click is less likely to convert. The safest starting point.
Dynamic bids, up and down: Amazon can raise bids where a conversion is more likely, and lower them where it's less likely.
Fixed bids: your bid stays the same.
You can also raise bids for specific placements, such as the top of search results, if they perform better.
Make your listings ad-ready first
Ads send shoppers to your product page, so the page has to convert:
A clear title with the most important keywords
High-quality images, including lifestyle shots and infographics
Benefit-led bullet points
Detailed descriptions or A+ Content
Competitive pricing and Prime-eligible shipping where possible
Reviews; ads work much better once a product has a few
How to optimize campaigns over time
Review the search terms report weekly. Move terms that convert into exact-match manual campaigns, and add irrelevant ones as negatives.
Watch ACoS (advertising cost of sales). It's ad spend divided by ad sales. Compare it with your margin to see whether ads are profitable, and with TACoS (ad spend divided by total sales) to see their effect on overall growth.
Adjust bids by performance. Raise bids on keywords with strong conversion and acceptable ACoS; lower or pause those that spend without selling.
Check budgets. If a profitable campaign runs out of budget, increase it.
Test placements. Compare top-of-search with other placements and adjust.
Get help with Amazon advertising
SYMVOLT's e-commerce PPC team manages Amazon advertising alongside Google Shopping and paid social. For more on growing an online store, read 14 ways to grow e-commerce revenue and which e-commerce platform is best for SEO.
About the author: Ruby Sharma is a Marketing Analyst at SYMVOLT.
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