MarketingBeginnerPreview
Amazon Advertising (Sponsored Ads)
A hands-on, beginner-friendly path through Amazon's pay-per-click ad system, teaching you to launch Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display campaigns, harvest profitable keywords, and manage ACOS so spend turns into rank and profit.
Amazon sellers, brand owners, agency account managers, and marketing beginners who want to launch and control Sponsored Ads campaigns that drive profitable sales rather than burn budget.
Course content
Workbook & downloads
Put the course into practice — a printable workbook plus editable templates you can fill in and reuse.
Preview the workbook
This workbook turns the course into a running Amazon Advertising account you can actually manage. Work one section per module: first map your ad surface and reports, then nail your profit math, then build a real campaign architecture and harvesting loop, then extend into Sponsored Brands, Display, and a weekly routine. Fill the worksheets and templates with your own products and report data, and leave every total, ACOS, TACOS, break-even, and other calculated cell blank until you work the number out yourself.
How Amazon Sponsored Ads Actually Work
Get oriented on the ad types, the auction, and the three reports before spending a dollar, so every later decision is data-driven.
Exercise: Map one keyword across all three placements
Pick one important keyword for a product you sell (or would sell). Using Amazon search, observe where Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads appear for it, and note the suggested bid range Amazon shows when you draft a campaign. Do not launch anything; just observe and record.
- What is the keyword and the product (ASIN) it maps to?
- Which ad types did you see in the results, and in which positions (top of search, rest of search, product pages)?
- What suggested bid and bid range does Amazon show for this keyword in a draft Sponsored Products campaign?
- Which two or three competitors are advertising on this keyword, and how strong do their listings look (images, reviews, price)?
Worksheet: Account readiness check
Confirm you have the prerequisites in place before launching ads. Complete one row, and note any gap you need to close first.
- Professional selling plan active? (Y/N)
- Product in stock and winning the Buy Box? (Y/N)
- Brand Registry approved? (Y/N — needed for Brands/Display)
- Payment method on file and account health OK? (Y/N)
- Listing quality acceptable (main image, 5+ images, title, price)? (Y/N)
- Biggest gap to close before launch
Checklist: Reporting and auction fundamentals
- I can locate and download the Search Term Report
- I can locate and download the Advertised Product Report
- I can locate and download the Placement (Campaign) Report
- I understand a second-price auction means my bid is a ceiling, not the price I pay
- I will judge campaigns over a window of at least 1 to 2 weeks because attribution can lag up to 14 days
ACOS, TACOS, and the Profit Math
Turn your real margin into break-even ACOS, a target ACOS, and a defensible starting bid so spend funds profit.
Worksheet: Break-even ACOS calculator (one unit)
Work out the pre-ad profit and break-even ACOS for one product. Enter your own dollar figures; leave the pre-ad profit and break-even ACOS blank and compute them yourself, then sanity-check against the worked example in the course.
- Selling price ($)
- Product / landed cost ($)
- Amazon referral fee ($ — about 15% of price)
- FBA fulfillment fee ($)
- Other per-unit cost ($)
- Pre-ad profit ($ — price minus all costs above) [LEAVE BLANK, you compute]
- Break-even ACOS (% = pre-ad profit / price) [LEAVE BLANK, you compute]
- Target ACOS you will set below break-even (%)
Exercise: Derive your starting bid
Use the price times conversion rate times target ACOS estimate to set a sensible maximum bid for one keyword, then compare it to Amazon's suggested bid.
- What is your selling price and your listing's current (or expected) conversion rate?
- What target ACOS did you choose, and why is it below your break-even ACOS?
- Multiply price by conversion rate by target ACOS — what is your estimated value-per-click and starting bid?
- How does that compare to Amazon's suggested bid, and will you start at, below, or above the suggestion?
Checklist: Profit-math guardrails
- I have calculated break-even ACOS from my own margin, not a generic number
- My target ACOS for performance campaigns sits below break-even
- I am tracking TACOS (total ad spend / total revenue), not just ACOS
- I know that a launch can run high ACOS/TACOS on purpose to buy rank
- I will start new campaigns on dynamic bids, down only
Campaign Architecture and Keyword Harvesting
Stand up a discovery-plus-performance structure and run the harvesting loop that compounds profitable keywords.
Worksheet: Campaign architecture plan
Plan the four core campaigns for one product before building them in Seller Central. Fill one row per campaign and give each a clear name and single job.
- Product / ASIN
- Discovery campaign name (Auto/Broad) + daily budget
- Performance campaign name (Exact) + daily budget
- Brand Defense campaign name (own brand/ASINs) + daily budget
- Competitor/Product-Targeting campaign name + daily budget
- Bidding strategy for each (down-only / up-and-down / fixed)
- Naming convention you will use (e.g. SP_Exact_Product_Performance)
Exercise: Run one harvesting pass
Using a real Search Term Report (or the course worked example if you have not launched yet), identify winners and wasters and decide the action for each. Do not pre-fill any ACOS; calculate it from spend and sales yourself.
- List 3 to 5 search terms with 1+ orders at or below your target ACOS — these graduate to an Exact campaign at what bid?
- For each winner, what is the negative-exact you will add back in the source Auto/Broad campaign so they stop competing?
- List 3 to 5 search terms with high clicks/spend and zero orders (e.g. 15+ clicks, no sale) — add as negatives.
- What cadence (weekly or biweekly) will you commit to for repeating this loop?
Checklist: Structure and harvesting discipline
- Each campaign has exactly one job (discover, perform, defend, or target competitors)
- Proven converting terms are moved from Auto/Broad into Exact campaigns
- Each harvested term is negated in its source campaign to stop self-competition
- Zero-order, high-click search terms are added as negative keywords
- I follow a consistent naming convention so reports stay legible
Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display, and DSP
Extend beyond Sponsored Products into brand ads and retargeting, and lock in a weekly optimization routine.
Exercise: Plan a Sponsored Brands placement
Design one Sponsored Brands campaign for a top category keyword, deciding creative format and where it sends traffic. Requires Brand Registry; if you are not yet registered, plan it for when you are.
- Which broad category keyword will you target, and why is it top-of-funnel rather than a single-product term?
- Which creative format will you use — Product Collection, Store Spotlight, or Sponsored Brands Video — and why?
- Where will the ad send shoppers (specific products or a Brand Store page)?
- What New-to-Brand percentage would make this campaign worth a higher ACOS than your Sponsored Products?
Worksheet: Sponsored Display retargeting plan
Plan a Sponsored Display campaign to recapture warm shoppers. Complete one row.
- Targeting mode (Views remarketing / Purchase remarketing / Product targeting)
- Lookback window for remarketing (30 / 60 / 90 days)
- Products or competitor ASINs to target
- Daily budget ($)
- Primary goal (recapture lost viewers / cross-sell / defend detail page / attack competitor)
Checklist: Weekly optimization routine
- Pull Search Term, Advertised Product, and Placement reports for the trailing 2 weeks
- Harvest winners to Exact and add negatives for wasters
- Adjust bids in small steps (about 10 to 20%) up on profitable, down on over-target keywords
- Raise budgets on at-or-below-target campaigns that cap out early
- Apply placement multipliers where one slot clearly outperforms
- Monthly: review TACOS trend, New-to-Brand, and organic rank on harvested keywords
Your Action Plan
- Confirm account readiness: Professional plan, Buy Box, Brand Registry status, payment method, and a listing good enough to advertise.
- Calculate your break-even ACOS from one unit's real margin, then set a target ACOS below it.
- Launch one automatic Sponsored Products campaign on down-only bidding with a modest daily budget to start discovering search terms.
- Launch a manual exact campaign as the home for the converting terms you will harvest, named with a clear convention.
- Add a cheap Brand Defense campaign on your own brand name and ASINs.
- After 1 to 2 weeks, pull the Search Term Report and run your first harvesting pass: promote winners to exact, negate wasters.
- Check the Placement Report and apply a bid multiplier to the placement that clearly converts best.
- Once Brand Registry is active, add a Sponsored Brands campaign on a top category keyword pointing to your Store.
- Layer in a Sponsored Display Views-remarketing campaign to recapture shoppers who viewed but did not buy.
- Hold the weekly harvest-and-tune routine and review TACOS monthly, only exploring Amazon DSP when budget and brand goals justify it.
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