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Amazon PPC Audit Checklist for 2022
Learn the five steps to conducting a PPC audit on Amazon to combat rising advertising costs and create a PPC strategy that works.
Stay on top of the latest e-commerce and marketplace trends.
When was the last time you conducted an Amazon PPC audit? It is recommended to perform a PPC audit at least every quarter and, if possible, every two weeks. It can be hard to keep up with, which is why we’ve created a handy checklist to help you save money and make sure your ad dollars are working for you, not against you.
If you are just getting started with Amazon PPC, check out our beginners’ PPC advertising guide.
The Amazon PPC Audit Checklist
It will take time to conduct a good PPC audit for Amazon, but the more often you optimize, the quicker and easier your next audit will go. PPC campaign audits offer a lot of great benefits, including:
- Cutting wasted ad spend
- Discovering new keywords
- Insight into the best investments into ad spend for campaigns, ad groups, and keywords
- Overall improved ACoS for your advertising campaigns
Use our checklist as an Amazon PPC audit guide to make sure you aren’t missing any steps.
1. Check On Your Current Amazon PPC Goals
Every account will have different KPIs, which is why it is crucial to check up on your goals like hitting your ACoS targets, converting new-to-brand customers, or launching a new product. Issues such as a drop in impressions or clicks could be related to keyword performance, or a reduction in your conversion rate may be due to more competition. Both problems can be fixed, but only if you notice them quickly.
Quick Tip: The competition on Amazon continues to grow. If you are having trouble reaching goals you used to achieve consistently, try different goals or break down your growth into more specific and measurable goals.
Quick Tip: If you are having trouble reaching goals you used to achieve consistently, try different goals or break down your growth into more specific and measurable goals.
2. Conduct a Performance Metrics Analysis
Use the metrics you have available with Amazon’s Advertising Reports or any third-party software like Feedvisor’s advertising dashboard to assess your performance data. Some metrics that you should consider including are:
- ACoS
- Total Revenue
- Gross Profit
- Average Order Value
- TACoS
Quick Tip: Look at your metrics compared to previous time periods to be sure your audience targeting is still correct, and your ads are still effective. Try Feedvisor360 free for 30-days and get a holistic analysis and precise, SKU-level insights and actions you can use to improve your Amazon advertising and sales.
Quick Tip: If you are launching a new product, consider using a higher converting term instead of continuing to use that keyword on one of your best-selling items.
3. Evaluate Your Amazon PPC Campaign Structure
This step aims to get you to think critically about your PPC campaign structure. The more organized your campaigns are, the easier it is to get more granular with your optimization and, in turn, conduct clear and detailed reports.
Campaigns should be built around the agreed-upon goals that you set in the first step. Use those goals and match them to ad types (Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display) or placement options that will work best with your budget.
Quick Tip: Your Amazon PPC campaign structures will impact future audits. Taking the time now to improve your campaigns will make future audits easier and allow you to improve your PPC results.
4. Analyze Your Keywords
If you see peculiar patterns like high impressions and zero clicks with your keywords, flag these as terms to add to your negative keyword list and check on your product listing.
Use the following keyword metrics to check in on any potential red flags:
- Match type
- Impressions
- Clicks
- CTR
- CPC
- Spend
- Sales
Further Reading: Amazon Keyword Cheat Sheet
5. Optimize Amazon PPC Bidding & Review Ad Targeting
The last step in your Amazon PPC audit is evaluating your bids and ad targets. After reviewing your campaign structure and analyzing your keywords, take a look at your targeting. It is recommended to switch from automatic targeting to manual targeting, so you have more control over your keyword targeting, including the ability to upload negative keywords. In general, you want to optimize your bids to send the most budget to your most profitable keywords.
Quick Tip: Take time to rethink the keywords that go with each Amazon PPC campaign. If you are launching a new product, consider using a higher converting term instead of continuing to use it on one of your best-selling items.
Final Thoughts
The best way to audit your Amazon PPC is to audit it often. This is a challenging task to do manually, which is why we suggest using an advertising optimization and intelligence tool to support your business in driving sales and ACoS across Amazon advertising types.
Feedvisor’s machine-learning technology and easy-to-read dashboards help enable you to audit your bidding, targeting, and forecasting while optimizing your ad spend. Learn how Feedvisor can help you.