Amazon PPC is a risky business. You never know the dollars you spent running PPC campaigns will translate into sales or not. For new brands, it’s especially painful to watch their hard-earned money getting wasted.
We often hear this: “What’s the correct way to optimize your PPC campaigns?” “I am adjusting bids, adding new keywords and removing unprofitable keywords only to see the same results. Where are my PPC campaigns lagging?”
Most brands don’t see desired results with their advertising campaigns because they treat every product in a campaign the same way. The top performers in your campaigns don’t deserve the same treatment as the low-performers or average performers.
Amazon recently shared ASIN Matrix, a model designed by Amazon that helps advertisers make strategic optimization decisions based on product sales and lifetime.
What is ASIN Matrix?
ASIN Matrix divides products into four quadrants which are defined by product sales and lifecycles. Each group has its own characteristics and can be fixed/optimized using strategic recommendations.
Important: ASIN Matrix and its recommendations are for Amazon Sponsored Products Ads only.
1) Star ASINs
The ASINs that are new in your store and have an above-average sale qualify as star ASINs. Although already flourishing in the marketplace, these ASINs have the potential to grow. Their sales can be maximized by creating campaigns with high visibility placements. Because these products are already performing well, costly placements on top-of-the-search or competitor’s detail page will eventually pay off.
Recommendations for improvement:
- Focus on relevant to other similar products to broaden reach.
- Launch campaigns with above-the-fold placement to maximize visibility.
2) Cash cow ASINs
The ASINs that have been around for a long time and have an above-average sale qualify as cash cow ASINs. These ASINs are one of the most profitable ASINs in your PPC campaigns and are meant to keep the house running for a long time. Cash cow ASINs will naturally have a good amount of reviews so they can be advertised on detail pages of competitors. Advertisers can broaden the reach of these ASINs by targeting generic, category-related keywords. For example, advertisers selling photo frames can target “housewarming gifts” in their campaigns with cash cow ASINs.
Recommendations for improvement:
- Surface your ads on similar categories and detail pages of similar products
- Focus on keywords relevant to other similar products
3) Question mark ASINs
The ASINs that are new in your store and have below-average sales qualify as question mark ASINs. There still is scope for improvements in these ASINs. To boost sale on these ASINs, advertisers can leverage coupons, promotions and other forms of discount offers along with running PPC campaigns. Campaigns with these ASINs require constant monitoring and consistent optimization.
Recommendations for improvement:
- Pair products with deals or coupons to encourage shoppers to make a purchase
- Test the effects of remarketing complimentary ASINs within your product’s price range via manual product targeting
4) Sitting dog ASINs
The ASINs that are not new in your store and have below-average sales qualify as sitting dog ASINs. These ASINs need the most work and attention. They have been available for a long time, yet their revenue numbers are disappointing. To fix these ASINs, narrow down a list of top-performing keywords and create a separate campaign using only those keywords. Advertisers can also leverage Sponsored Products product targeting to surface ads in front of shoppers already looking for your product. Make sure to target products with a higher price and poor reviews.
Recommendations for improvement:
- Select specific keywords that mirror the niche product’s query insights
- Reengage with niche audiences via Sponsored Products product targeting.
Following the recommendations shared above, a sitting or question mark ASIN can be converted to a cash cow ASIN. All you need to do is consistently monitor and fine-tune till you see the desired results.
Tips from our Amazon marketing specialists
- No matter how much you spend on PPC, if you have a bare-bone listing, you might as well throw your advertising dollars down the drain. Before bringing traffic to your listing, it is essential to craft a persuasive detail page complete with accurate and informative copy, high-quality images and A Plus Content.
- Make sure the ASINs in your PPC campaigns are in stock and priced competitively.
- Begin with automatic campaigns and after you’ve understood the feel of the market conditions, move forward with creating manual campaigns.
- It makes sense to group similar products together. All the cash cow ASINs will have to be optimized the same way, so adding them to the same campaign makes it easier for advertisers to optimize the campaign and improve performance.
- Create a separate group of campaigns that run during the tent pole events like Prime Day, Black Friday, holidays, Valentine’s Day, or Halloween. Your cash cow ASINs and star ASINs should be included in these campaigns.
- Keep track of the right metrics. Are you looking to increase your bottom line, brand awareness, or both? If your goal is revenue boost, focus on ACOS and ROAS and if your goal is to increase brand awareness, focus on impressions.
- Start slow and increase spend gradually. Update your Amazon ads campaign every two weeks with new keywords from Search Term Report.
Optimize your Amazon PPC campaigns the right way
One thing we all can unanimously agree upon is that Amazon PPC is not set-and-forget. Constantly optimizing your advertising campaigns is what will help you stay ahead of the competition. By optimization, we don’t mean adjusting bids and replenishing your campaigns with new keywords. Strategic optimization, keeping in mind the ASIN matrix module, is a surefire way to get a green thumb at PPC.
If you want to get more bang for your buck, Amazon PPC optimization experts at eStore Factory can help. Schedule a free consultation today.