How do I scale my Amazon Ads?

Before you can even think about scaling your ads, you need to know that the timing is right, and that you're ready.

Answer this question first.

Do you have campaigns and targets that are converting? This may seem like a no-brainer, but time after time, authors come to me asking for help in scaling their ads when they are not ready to do so. Why not? Because you can’t think about scaling an ad without first looking at the performance and/or success at the target level. If you have targets that are converting well, it’s time. If you have more budget to spend, it's time.

There are two ways to scale that you should consider first.

(1) Increase your bid for a particular target that is converting. Sometimes this helps get your ad in front of “better” or “more qualified” eyes.

(2) Increase your campaign budget. I only suggest doing this when a campaign is hitting its daily budget AND a high percentage of its targets are converting. My advice? Be sure to cut out dead weight first!

(3) Increase your bids by ad placement. You can assess performance by placement directly from your campaign dashboard (once in the campaign, click on placements on the left navigation bar). This investment is commonly for top of search. Only raise your bid when ‘top of search’ placement has a stronger click-through rate than your product pages. Unfortunately, your impressions here are usually lower than other placements, so your first move should be to increase the budget to drive impression volume.

This is where many authors stumble. I know, it seems counterintuitive to keep spending without conversions; but you need to think like a marketer here. You’re paying for the data. This information is what will make your future ad spends razor-sharp. Once you have the volume/data, you can assess conversion (orders and pages read) and focus your investment on the placement that performs well.

Every author will have a different formula for success. Remember, the decisions you make should be based on information that you’ve collected. And while the initial investment in time and money may feel fruitless at first, the payoff will be worth it.