Understanding Amazon PPC Report: Read, Type, and Analyze

Amazon PPC (Pay-Per-Click) reports are indispensable tools for advertisers aiming to optimize their advertising campaigns on Amazon. These reports provide comprehensive data on various performance metrics, such as impressions, clicks, cost per click (CPC), conversions, and return on ad spend (ROAS). By analyzing these metrics, advertisers can gauge the effectiveness of their ads and make informed, data-driven decisions to enhance their campaigns.

This article delves into the different types of Amazon PPC reports and their importance. It covers how these reports help in performance tracking, budget optimization, and strategy adjustments. You will learn how to read and interpret these reports, focusing on key metrics like impressions, clicks, CPC, conversion rate, and ROAS. Each report type, from Search Term Reports that detail customer search behaviors to Placement Reports that show where ads are displayed, is discussed in detail, including practical usage tips for optimizing campaigns. By leveraging these reports, advertisers can maximize their advertising efficiency and return on investment.

What are Amazon PPC Reports?

Amazon PPC reports is a document or presentation that provides a vast selection of metrics used to analyze advertising campaigns’ performance. These reports are essential for sellers and advertisers on Amazon to understand their ads’ performance, optimize advertising strategies, and maximize the Return on Investment (ROI) from their ad spend. Each report contains various metrics that help sellers and advertisers make informed decisions, such as impressions, clicks, ad spend, sales generated from ads, ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale), and more.

There are various types of reports for Sponsored Ads campaigns, tailored to the unique needs of three distinct ad types: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads. Each ad type serves a different purpose and targets different aspects of a seller’s marketing strategy, thereby requiring specialized reports to effectively measure their performance.

Here is a quick summary of the 3 different ad types:

Sponsored Products

Sponsored Products ads are designed to promote individual product listings on Amazon. These ads help increase visibility for specific items by appearing in search results and on product detail pages. The reports for Sponsored Products provide detailed metrics on how individual products are performing, including data on search terms, product targeting, and ad placement performance.

Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Brands ads aim to enhance brand awareness by featuring a custom headline, brand logo, and a collection of products. These ads appear in more prominent positions, such as above the search results, making them highly visible to potential customers. The reports for Sponsored Brands offer insights into keyword and brand performance, campaign effectiveness, and the impact of ad placements on brand recognition.

Sponsored Display

Sponsored Display ads target audiences both on and off Amazon based on their shopping activities and behaviors. These ads are particularly useful for retargeting, as they help sellers reach customers who have shown interest in similar products but haven’t made a purchase. The reports for Sponsored Display provide data on the reach and conversion of ads across different sites, helping sellers understand where their ads are most effective and how they contribute to overall sales.

The Campaign Manager within Amazon’s advertising platform provides detailed reports for each ad type, focusing on specific aspects of ad performance. These reports help advertisers make informed decisions to optimize their campaigns, adjust their targeting strategies, and maximize return on investment based on comprehensive performance analytics. 

What is the Importance of Amazon Advertising Reports?

Amazon advertising reports found within the Campaign Manager are imperative for relevant and effective strategy and optimization based on real data rather than gut instinct. Amazon’s platform is unique due to the sheer amount of information available to sellers regarding the performance of their campaigns. This is why Amazon is often favored over other ad platforms, aside from their volume of customers. 

The detailed information provided in Amazon’s reports greatly facilitates optimization by allowing sellers to understand and analyze key data effectively. This understanding is crucial for improving performance and making strategic decisions. Without a clear grasp of the metrics, PPC campaigns can become costly due to inefficient optimization.

The reports are designed to give advertisers a clear view of where to optimize their campaigns, highlighting areas of strength and pinpointing opportunities for improvement. This is particularly beneficial when compared to navigating directly within the campaign manager. The reports present data in a more accessible and visual format, especially at the keyword level, enabling advertisers to easily see which keywords are performing well and which are not. This visualization helps in making quick and informed decisions to adjust bids, refine targeting, or even pause underperforming keywords, thus enhancing the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the campaigns.

By leveraging these insights, sellers can push their campaigns in more profitable directions, ensuring that their advertising spend yields the best possible returns. 

How to Read Amazon Advertising Report?

To effectively interpret Amazon advertising reports, advertisers must approach the data with a clear understanding of their objectives and what they are specifically looking for. An objective analysis of these reports helps prevent the common pitfall of biased interpretations, where sellers might assume their products are performing better than the data indicates. The truth is, data does not lie.

For example, advertisers need to use these reports to discern where they can afford to be more aggressive in their campaigns to drive additional sales, as well as identify areas where it would be beneficial to scale back to minimize wasted ad spend. By following the data, rather than personal inclinations, sellers can optimize their advertising strategies more effectively, saving both time and money while enhancing the overall performance of their campaigns.

To read an Amazon Advertising Report effectively, follow these steps:

1. Access the Report: Log into your Amazon Seller or Vendor account. Navigate to the advertising section and select the type of report you wish to view, such as campaign performance, search term, keyword performance, etc.
2. Choose the Reporting Period: Select the time frame for the report. This could range from the previous day to several months, depending on your analysis needs.
3. Understand Key Metrics such as Impressions, Clicks, Spend, Sales, ACoS, CTR (Click-Through Rate). Analyze performance by segment, and break down the report by campaign, product, keyword, or placement to identify which areas are performing well and which need improvement.
4. Identify Trends: Look for patterns over time, such as seasonal fluctuations in sales or the impact of adjusting bids on your ACoS.
5. Adjust Based on Insights: Use the insights from your report to make informed decisions about your advertising strategy. This may involve adjusting bids, refining target keywords, or reallocating the budget to more effective campaigns.
6. Monitor Regularly: Regular review of your Amazon Advertising Reports is crucial for ongoing optimization. It allows you to respond to changes in consumer behavior, market dynamics, and the competitive landscape.

What are Amazon’s Advertising Metrics?

Amazon Advertising Metrics are measures of quantitative data used for comparing, and tracking performance of your advertising. Advertisers should be able to clearly understand what each metric means and its relevance in order to read a report and make actionable changes properly. Without an understanding of Amazon advertising metrics, it will be very difficult to plan, strategize, and optimize campaigns. 

Here are the key advertising metrics brands need to know:

• Impressions: The number of times an ad is displayed to Amazon shoppers. This metric helps advertisers understand the reach of their ads.
• Clicks: The total number of times shoppers have clicked on an ad. It indicates the ad’s ability to attract attention.
• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of impressions that result in a click. It’s calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions. CTR is a good indicator of how relevant and appealing your ad is to your target audience.
• Cost Per Click (CPC): The average cost incurred for each click on an ad. This metric helps advertisers understand the cost-effectiveness of their ad campaigns.
• Total Spend: The overall amount of money spent on a campaign during a specified period. Monitoring spend is essential for budget management.
• Sales: The total revenue generated from products sold through ads. This metric is vital for calculating the ROI of advertising efforts.
• Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS): A key performance indicator that shows the proportion of ad spend relative to the sales generated from ads. It is calculated by dividing ad spend by ad-attributed sales, expressed as a percentage. ACoS helps advertisers evaluate the efficiency of their ad spend.
• Return on Ad Spend (ROAS): The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. It’s the inverse of ACoS and is calculated by dividing ad-attributed sales by ad spend. ROAS provides insight into the profitability of ad campaigns.
• Conversion Rate: The percentage of clicks that result in a sale. This metric helps advertisers understand how effectively their ads are driving purchases.
• New-to-Brand Metrics: For Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display campaigns, Amazon provides metrics that help advertisers understand how many customers purchasing their products are new to their brand on Amazon over the past year.

These metrics are accessible through various reports in the Amazon Ads console, including campaign, search term, and product reports.

How do you Analyze an Amazon PPC Report?

For a detailed analysis of an Amazon PPC report, there are three critical steps: Firstly, highlight key metrics and trends relevant to your specific goals, focusing on conversion-oriented or sales-based metrics. Secondly, translate these metrics into real-world implications to ensure everyone understands their significance. Lastly, identify reasons for shifts in performance, attributing changes to specific actions taken or external factors, and consider the broader industry context. This structured approach will make the reports more impactful and actionable

8 steps to successfully analyze a PPC report on Amazon:

1. Access the Report: Log into your Amazon Seller Central or Advertising Console.
   • Navigate to the ‘Reports’ or ‘Advertising Reports’ section.Select the type of report you want to analyze, such as Campaign, Search Term, Keyword, or Product Performance.
2. Set the Date Range: Choose a date range that aligns with your analysis goals. This could be a specific period where you made significant changes to your campaigns, a holiday sales period, or a consistent timeframe to compare performance across different periods.
3. Review Key Metrics: Based on goals, sellers should focus on specific metrics that are crucial for analysis. Examples include:
   • ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales): For evaluating cost-effectiveness. Example: If the goal is to reduce ACoS, compare current ACoS with past periods to see if changes have been effective.
   • CTR (Click-Through Rate): For understanding ad engagement. Example: A high CTR in a specific keyword suggests effective ad copy or high relevance to the search term.
   • Conversion Rate: For assessing the efficiency of converting clicks into sales. Example: Analyzing conversion rates before and after optimizing product listings to gauge impact.
   • CPC (Cost Per Click): To manage budget. Example: If CPC has increased, analyze keyword bids and competition levels.
4. Identify Trends and Patterns: Look for trends in the data over the selected period. Example: Identify if there are any seasonal spikes or consistent growth in certain metrics. This can indicate the effectiveness of seasonal campaigns or market demand shifts.
5. Segment Data for Detailed Insights: Break down report data by different segments, such as individual products, keywords, or ad groups. Example: Analyzing performance by product category to see which types of products are performing best can help tailor future campaigns more effectively.
6. Translate Metrics into Real-World Implications: Ensure that the metrics are understood in the context of business goals. Example: Explaining that a high CTR indicates strong interest in ads, but a low conversion rate suggests a need to improve the product detail page or offer.
7. Identify Reasons for Performance Shifts: Attribute changes in performance to specific actions or external factors. Example: If there’s a spike in conversions, link it to a recent promotional event or keyword bid adjustments. Conversely, a drop in performance might be due to increased competition or changes in consumer behavior.

By following these steps, sellers and brands can systematically analyze Amazon PPC reports, turning raw data into actionable insights that drive better decision-making and campaign optimization. Regular analysis and adaptation based on these insights will help achieve and maintain high performance in Amazon’s advertising efforts.

How to Use API to Analyze Amazon PPC Reports?

The Amazon API provides e-commerce businesses access to product details, pricing, images, and more. To use it, you must first sign up for an Amazon Web Services (AWS) account, create a user, and generate access keys. Authentication is required to access the API, for which you’ll need to register an Amazon Developer account and create an API key. The API offers various endpoints for retrieving product data, which can be requested via HTTP GET requests, returning data in JSON format. There are several types of Amazon APIs, including the Amazon Product Advertising API and the Amazon Marketplace Web Service API, each serving different purposes such as product searches and managing orders

To use the Amazon Advertising API for analyzing reports, you would typically follow these steps: authenticate with your credentials, request the report type you’re interested in (such as performance metrics for campaigns, ad groups, or keywords), and then download the report data for analysis. The API documentation provides detailed guidance to make these requests, including the required parameters and how to interpret the results.

The Amazon Advertising API offers programmatic access to Amazon Advertising’s suite of services. This enables developers to manage ads, access reports, and automate campaign management tasks. It’s designed for advertisers, agencies, and third-party solution providers to build applications that interface directly with the Amazon Advertising platform, facilitating tasks like creating and managing ad campaigns or analyzing advertising performance data programmatically.

What are the Different Types of Amazon PPC Reports?

There are 10 types of Amazon PPC reports for Sponsored Products, 9 for Sponsored Brands, and 7 for Sponsored Display. Each report serves a unique purpose, such as identifying top-performing campaigns, monitoring budget efficiency, or providing insights into ad placements. Some reports are available across all three ad types, while others are exclusive to specific ad types. Below is a breakdown of each unique report and the ad types they are available for.

1. Search Term Report

The Search Term Report, available for both Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brand Ads, details the search terms that shoppers use, which ones lead to clicks on your ads, and subsequent sales. Key metrics displayed in this report include impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, total spend, total sales, and advertising cost of sales (ACoS). This information helps refine keyword strategies and optimize ad spend.

The Amazon Search Term Report is pivotal for optimizing both PPC campaigns and product listings. 

How a seller can leverage this report:

• Keyword Optimization: If the report shows high impressions but low clicks for certain terms, it may indicate that the product is not perfectly aligned with the search term. For instance, if you’re selling organic dog food and see low clicks for searches like “natural dog treats,” consider adjusting your listings to better match this search intent or modify your ad targeting.
• Refining Product Titles and Descriptions: Analyzing the search terms that lead to sales can provide insights into what buyers are specifically looking for. For example, if the term “waterproof dog collar” generates more sales, incorporating these keywords into your product title or bullet points could enhance visibility and relevance in organic searches.
• Negative Keywords: If certain terms generate a lot of clicks but few or no conversions, these can be added as negative keywords to prevent wasted ad spend. For example, if your product is a high-end, professional camera and you get irrelevant clicks from searches for “cheap cameras,” adding “cheap” as a negative keyword would refine your campaign’s targeting.
• Competitive Insights: The report might reveal competitor brand names or products being used as search terms leading to your listings. This insight can guide strategic decisions, such as emphasizing differentiators in your product descriptions or adjusting pricing.
• Seasonal Adjustments: Identifying seasonal trends in search terms can help you anticipate changes in consumer behavior and adjust your listings and ads accordingly. For instance, an increase in searches for “Christmas lights” as the holiday season approaches might prompt you to highlight seasonal products.

Accessing this report involves navigating to the Amazon Advertising console, selecting ‘Reports’, then ‘Search Term’, and customizing the date range and other parameters as needed.

2. Search Term Impression Share Report

The Search Term Impression Share Report, which is available for Sponsored Product & Sponsored Brands Ads, tracks the share of total impressions that your ads receive for specific search terms. It includes metrics that offer a comprehensive view of how your ads are performing relative to the competition. Key metrics such as impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, and ACoS are included to provide a complete picture of ad performance. Amazon also provides sellers with a ‘Search Term Impression Rank’, so that it’s easier to identify high & low performance keywords.

The Search Term Impression Share Report is extremely helpful for optimizing your ad visibility and competitiveness. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Impression Share: Focus on search terms where your impression share is low but the term is highly relevant to your products. Increasing bids or improving ad relevance can help capture a greater share of impressions.
2. Identify Opportunities for Growth: Identify search terms with high search volumes but low impression shares. These terms present opportunities to increase visibility and capture more traffic.
3. Optimize Budget Allocation: Allocate more budget to high-performing search terms with a strong impression share and high conversion rates. This helps in maximizing the return on ad spend.
4. Monitor Competitor Activity: Use the impression share data to understand where your ads rank compared to competitors. This can inform strategic decisions around bidding and keyword targeting to improve your competitive position.
5. Adjust Bidding Strategies: If a search term shows a high impression share but low clicks or conversions, consider adjusting your bids or ad creatives to improve engagement and conversion rates.

To access the Search Term Impression Share Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Search Term Impression Share Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Search Term Impression Share Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience efficiently

3. Placement Report

The Placement reports show the performance metrics of your Sponsored Product ad campaigns by detailing where they were positioned on Amazon and the customer reactions to these ads in those specific locations. The placement report details the performance of ads across different Amazon site placements such as top of search, product pages, and the rest of the site. 

By studying this report, sellers will identify effective ad placements and allocate their ad budget for maximum performance. For instance, if the report shows that ads on product pages have a higher conversion rate compared to the top of search results, a seller might increase bids for product page placements to capitalize on higher buyer intent. This strategic adjustment can significantly improve both the efficiency of ad spend and overall sales performance, ensuring ads are placed where they will generate the most impact.

Amazon Ad Placements refer to the specific locations where your sponsored ads can appear on the Amazon platform. 

These placements include:

• Top of Search (First Page): Ads appear at the top of the first page of search results, capturing high visibility.
• Rest of Search: Ads are displayed elsewhere in the search results, beyond the top positions.
• Product Detail Pages: Ads appear on pages detailing specific products, which can help capture the attention of customers considering similar items.

Each placement targets users differently and impacts the visibility and performance of your ads based on consumer behavior and search relevancy.

4. Keyword Report

The keyword report focuses exclusively on the performance of keywords in Sponsored Brands Ads. It tracks various metrics to provide a comprehensive view of how each keyword is contributing to the overall campaign effectiveness. By analyzing these metrics, advertisers can make informed decisions to enhance their ad targeting and bidding strategies.

It includes several critical metrics for each keyword, such as impressions, clicks, CPC, total ACoS, and ROAS. These metrics help advertisers understand how often their ads are seen, how engaging they are, how much they cost, and how effective they are at driving sales.

The report is essential for optimizing keyword bids and targeting in Sponsored Brands’ campaigns. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Identify High-Performing Keywords: Focus on keywords with high conversions and low ACOS. Increase bids for these keywords to maximize exposure and drive more sales.
2. Refine Underperforming Keywords: Adjust bids or add as negative keywords if they show high impressions but low clicks or high CPC with low conversions. This ensures that your budget is spent efficiently.
3. Optimize Ad Spend: Allocate more budget to high-performing keywords and reduce spend on less effective ones. This helps in maximizing the return on ad spend.
4. Monitor Trends: Regularly review the report to identify trends and seasonality, adjusting your campaigns proactively to stay ahead of market changes.
5. Improve Ad Targeting: Use the data to refine your targeting strategy, focusing on keywords that drive the best results for your Sponsored Brands’ campaigns.

To access the Keyword Report for Sponsored Brands Ads, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Keyword Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Keyword Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Brand campaigns, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience efficiently.

5. Campaign Performance Report

The Campaign Performance Report focuses on campaign’s overall performance and is available across all ad types on Amazon. It tracks various metrics to provide a comprehensive view of each campaign’s performance. By analyzing these metrics, advertisers can make informed decisions to optimize their campaign strategies and maximize their advertising ROI.

The Campaign Performance Report includes several critical metrics for each campaign, such as impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, total ACoS, and ROAS. These metrics help advertisers understand the reach and engagement of their ads, the cost-effectiveness of their campaigns, and the overall return on their advertising investment.

The Campaign Performance Report is essential for optimizing campaign performance across Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Campaign Effectiveness: Focus on campaigns with high impressions and clicks but low ACOS. These campaigns are reaching a wide audience and driving sales efficiently.
2. Identify Underperforming Campaigns: Campaigns with high spend but low ROAS or high CPC should be reviewed. Consider adjusting the bidding strategy, targeting, or ad creative to improve performance.
3. Optimize Budget Allocation: Allocate more budget to high-performing campaigns and reduce spend on less effective ones. This helps in maximizing the return on ad spend.
4. Monitor Historical Performance: Compare current metrics with last year’s data to identify trends and assess the effectiveness of changes made over time. This helps in making data-driven decisions.
5. Adjust Bidding Strategy: Use insights from the report to refine your bidding strategy. For instance, if a campaign shows a high CTR but low conversion rate, consider adjusting bids or targeting to improve conversion.

To access the Campaign Performance Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Campaign Performance Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Campaign Performance Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display campaigns, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience efficiently.

6. Advertised Product Report (advertised and purchased)

The Advertised Product Report tracks the performance of individual advertised products (SKUs and ASINs) within your Sponsored Products campaigns. It provides insights into how each product drives impressions, clicks, and sales, allowing advertisers to analyze the effectiveness of their product-specific advertising strategies.

The Advertised Product Report includes several critical metrics for each advertised product, such as impressions, clicks, CTR, CPC, total ACoS, and ROAS. These metrics help advertisers understand the reach and engagement of their ads, the cost-effectiveness of their advertising spend, and the overall return on their investment.

The Advertised Product Report is essential for optimizing product-level performance in your Sponsored Products campaigns. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Identify High-Performing Products: Focus on products with high sales and low ACOS. Increase the advertising budget for these products to maximize exposure and drive more sales.
2. Refine Underperforming Products: Products with high impressions but low clicks or high CPC with low conversion rates should be reviewed. Consider adjusting the product listings, ad copy, or targeting strategy to improve performance.
3. Optimize Ad Spend: Allocate more budget to high-performing products and reduce spend on less effective ones. This helps in maximizing the return on ad spend.
4. Monitor SKU Economics: Analyze the conversion rates of advertised SKUs and other SKUs purchased to understand the broader impact of your advertising efforts on overall sales. This insight is crucial for fine-tuning your SKU-level economics.
5. Track Sales Performance: Use the 7-day total sales, advertised SKU sales, and other SKU sales metrics to understand the broader impact of your advertising efforts on overall sales.

As of writing, the Advertised Product Report is only available for Sponsored Products and not for Sponsored Brands or Sponsored Display. This limitation means that while the report is valuable for SKU-level analysis within Sponsored Products, advertisers cannot yet apply the same detailed analysis to their Sponsored Brands or Sponsored Display campaigns.

To access the Advertised Product Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Advertised Product Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Advertised Product Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Products campaigns, ensuring that your ads effectively promote the most relevant and high-performing products.

7. Purchased Product

The Purchased Product Report provides insights into the performance of products purchased through your Sponsored Product & Sponsored Display ads. This report helps advertisers analyze which products are being purchased as a result of their advertising efforts, allowing for more effective optimization of ad campaigns. It includes data on advertised and purchased SKUs and ASINs, providing a comprehensive view of how your advertising impacts product sales. By understanding these metrics, advertisers can refine their ad strategies to improve performance and maximize return on investment.

By understanding which products are being purchased as a result of your advertising efforts. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Product Performance: Identify which advertised products are driving the most sales. Increase the budget or bids for these high-performing products to maximize sales and ROI.
2. Analyze Purchased Products: Understand which products are being purchased, even if they are not the ones directly advertised. This can provide insights into cross-selling opportunities and customer preferences.
3. Optimize Targeting: Use the targeting and match type data to refine your keyword and product targeting strategies. Focus on the targets that drive the most conversions.
4. Adjust Ad Strategies: If certain advertised products lead to the purchase of other SKUs, consider promoting those purchased SKUs directly to capture more targeted traffic.
5. Monitor Cross-Selling Opportunities: Track the sales of other SKUs to identify potential cross-selling opportunities. Use this data to adjust your product listings and ad creatives to promote complementary products.
6. Improve Campaign Efficiency: By understanding the relationship between advertised products and purchased products, you can optimize your ad spend to focus on the most profitable combinations.

To access the Purchased Product Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Purchased Product Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Purchased Product Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, ensuring that your ads effectively drive sales for the most relevant products.

8. Gross and invalid traffic report

The Gross and Invalid Traffic Report offers transparency to advertisers using Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display by detailing the nature of traffic their campaigns attract. This report encompasses all campaigns of the selected ad type and provides details on both gross and invalid traffic at the campaign level for specified days. For instance, the Sponsored Products report outlines gross and invalid traffic metrics for all relevant campaigns that received impressions during the selected dates.

Analyzing traffic is crucial for understanding the effectiveness and efficiency of campaigns. It helps in identifying patterns and sources of both legitimate and invalid (non-human or fraudulent) traffic. By analyzing traffic, advertisers can optimize their spending, improve targeting strategies, and increase the overall return on investment. It also ensures that marketing budgets are not wasted on non-converting or fake traffic, thereby improving campaign accuracy and the quality of traffic reaching their ads. This leads to more effective use of advertising resources and better campaign performance. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Identify Invalid Traffic: Focus on campaigns with high invalid impressions or clicks. This can indicate issues such as click fraud or bots affecting your ad performance.
2. Optimize Ad Spend: By identifying and filtering out invalid traffic, you can allocate your budget more effectively towards valid interactions, maximizing your return on ad spend.
3. Improve Campaign Quality: Use the report to enhance the overall quality of your campaigns by addressing the sources of invalid traffic. This ensures that your ads are reaching genuine customers who are more likely to convert.
4. Monitor Invalid Traffic Rates: Regularly review the invalid impression and click rates to detect any anomalies or spikes. This proactive approach helps in maintaining the integrity of your campaigns.
5. Adjust Bidding and Targeting: If a particular campaign shows a high rate of invalid traffic, consider adjusting your bidding strategy or targeting options to mitigate these effects and improve campaign performance.

To access the Gross & Invalid Traffic Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Gross & Invalid Traffic Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Gross & Invalid Traffic Report can significantly enhance the quality and performance of your Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display campaigns, ensuring that your ads reach genuine and relevant audiences efficiently.

9. Keyword Placement Report

The Keyword Placement Report tracks metrics related to the keywords used specifically in Sponsored Brands’ campaigns and their performance in different placements (e.g., top of search, product pages). Advertisers can refine their keyword and placement strategies to improve campaign effectiveness and achieve better results. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Placement Effectiveness: Analyze how different placements impact the performance of your keywords. Focus on placements with high impressions, clicks, and conversion rates to maximize visibility and sales.
2. Optimize High-Performing Placements: Increase bids or allocate more budget to high-performing placements to capture more traffic and conversions.
3. Refine Underperforming Placements: Identify placements with high spend but low returns. Adjust bids, refine targeting, or pause these placements to improve cost-effectiveness.
4. Monitor New-to-brand Metrics: Track new-to-brand orders and sales to understand how your campaigns are attracting new customers. Use this data to refine your targeting and grow your customer base.
5. Adjust Bidding Strategies: Use insights from the report to fine-tune your bids. For example, if a placement shows a high CTR but low conversion rate, consider adjusting the bid or enhancing the ad copy to improve conversions.
6. Segment Sales Data: Break down sales data by new-to-brand and existing customers to see the broader impact of your ads. Use this insight to refine your product listings and ad strategies.

To access the Keyword Placement Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Keyword Placement Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Keyword Placement Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, ensuring that your ads are optimized for the best possible results across different placements.

10. Campaign Placement Report

Similar to the Keyword Placement Report, the Campaign Placement Report focuses on Sponsored Brands’ campaigns and their performance in different placements (e.g., top of search, product pages) but on a campaign level rather than a keyword level. By understanding these metrics, advertisers can refine their placement strategies to improve campaign effectiveness and achieve better results.

While the report includes a range of metrics, some of the most insightful ones include:

• Placement: The specific location where your ad appeared (e.g., top of search, product pages).
• Viewable Impressions: The number of impressions that were viewable.
• Cost per 1,000 Viewable Impressions (VCPM): The cost per thousand viewable impressions.
• Video Metrics: Including video first quartile views, midpoint views, third quartile views, complete views, and unmutes.
• View-through Rate (VTR): The ratio of views to impressions.
• Click-through Rate for Views (vCTR): The click-through rate is based on views.
• 14 Day New-to-brand Metrics: Includes new-to-brand orders, percentage of orders new-to-brand, new-to-brand sales, percentage of sales new-to-brand, new-to-brand units, percentage of units new-to-brand, and new-to-brand order rate.

The Campaign Placement Report is essential for optimizing your placement strategies in Sponsored Brands’ campaigns. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Placement Effectiveness: Analyze how different placements impact the performance of your campaigns. Focus on placements with high impressions, clicks, and conversion rates to maximize visibility and sales.
2. Optimize High-Performing Placements: Increase bids or allocate more budget to high-performing placements to capture more traffic and conversions.
3. Refine Underperforming Placements: Identify placements with high spend but low returns. Adjust bids, refine targeting, or pause these placements to improve cost-effectiveness.
4. Monitor New-to-brand Metrics: Track new-to-brand orders and sales to understand how your campaigns are attracting new customers. Use this data to refine your targeting and grow your customer base.
5. Adjust Bidding Strategies: Use insights from the report to fine-tune your bids. For example, if a placement shows a high CTR but low conversion rate, consider adjusting the bid or enhancing the ad copy to improve conversions.
6. Analyze Video Engagement: Use video view metrics to understand how engaging your video ads are. Optimize video content to increase engagement and drive more conversions.

To access the Campaign Placement Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Campaign Placement Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Campaign Placement Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, ensuring that your ads are optimized for the best possible results across different placements.

11. Category Benchmark Report

The Category Benchmark Report compares your Sponsored Brand ad campaigns against peer performance within the same category. With these metrics, advertisers can gauge their performance relative to competitors and make data-driven decisions to enhance their campaigns.

The Category Benchmark Report includes several interesting metrics, along with peer benchmarks for each:

• Peer Impressions: Impressions data for peers, segmented into bottom 25%, median, and top 25%.
• Peer CTR: CTR data for peers, segmented into bottom 25%, median, and top 25%.
• Peer ACOS: ACOS data for peers, segmented into top 25%, median, and bottom 25%.
• Peer ROAS: ROAS data for peers, segmented into bottom 25%, median, and top 25%.

The Category Benchmark Report is essential for understanding your competitive position and optimizing your ad campaigns. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Competitive Performance: Compare your impressions, CTR, ACOS, and ROAS against peer benchmarks to understand how you rank within your category. Identify areas where you are performing well and areas that need improvement.
2. Optimize Ad Spend: Use the peer ACOS and ROAS data to evaluate your cost efficiency. If your ACOS is higher than the median or top 25%, consider refining your targeting and bidding strategies to improve cost-effectiveness.
3. Enhance Ad Engagement: Analyze peer CTR data to understand how your ad engagement compares to competitors. If your CTR is lower than the median or top 25%, optimize your ad copy and creatives to increase engagement.
4. Monitor Impression Share: Compare your impressions with peer benchmarks to assess your visibility within the category. If your impressions are lower than the median or top 25%, consider increasing your budget or adjusting your bids to capture more traffic.
5. Adjust Bidding Strategies: Use insights from the report to refine your bidding strategies. For example, if your ROAS is lower than your peers, adjust your bids to focus on high-performing keywords and placements.
6. Identify Growth Opportunities: Track trends over time to identify growth opportunities. Use the benchmark data to set realistic performance goals and adjust your strategies to achieve them.

To access the Category Benchmark Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Category Benchmark Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Category Benchmark Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, ensuring that your ads are competitive and optimized for the best possible results within your category.

12. Attributed Purchases Report

The Attributed Purchases Report tracks various metrics related to the sales and orders attributed to your Sponsored Brand ad campaigns within a 14-day window. It includes data on total sales, orders, and new-to-brand metrics, providing a comprehensive view of how your ads drive purchases.

While the report includes numerous metrics, the most actionable ones include:

• 14 Day Total Sales: The total sales attributed to the campaign within 14 days.
• 14 Day New-to-brand Sales: Sales from new-to-brand customers within 14 days.
• 14 Day % of Sales New-to-brand: The percentage of total sales from new-to-brand customers within 14 days.
• 14 Day Total Orders (#): The number of orders attributed to the campaign within 14 days.
• 14 Day New-to-brand Orders (#): Orders from new-to-brand customers within 14 days.
• Cost Type: The cost structure for the campaign.

The Attributed Purchases Report is essential for understanding the direct impact of your advertising on sales and customer acquisition. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Campaign Effectiveness: Analyze total sales and orders to measure the effectiveness of your campaigns. Identify high-performing campaigns and allocate more budget to maximize sales and ROI.
2. Optimize for New Customers: Use new-to-brand sales and orders metrics to understand how your campaigns are attracting new customers. Focus on campaigns with high new-to-brand sales to grow your customer base.
3. Refine Attribution Strategies: Compare attributed sales and orders to different attribution types to understand which strategies are most effective. Adjust your targeting and bidding strategies to improve attribution results.
4. Monitor Customer Acquisition: Track the percentage of new-to-brand sales and orders to evaluate how well your campaigns are acquiring new customers. Use this data to refine your ad copy and targeting to better reach new audiences.
5. Adjust Bidding and Budgeting: Use insights from the report to adjust your bidding strategies and budget allocation. Increase bids for high-performing keywords and placements to capture more sales.
6. Track Long-Term Performance: Regularly review the report to track the long-term impact of your campaigns. Use historical data to identify trends and make data-driven decisions to enhance campaign performance.

To access the Attributed Purchases Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Attributed Purchases Report.’

13. Matched Target Report

The Matched Target Report provides detailed insights into the performance of your targets in Sponsored Display campaigns, for example it’ll show you the matched target for a campaign which is set up for a potential customer who visited your product within the last 30 days. The report helps advertisers analyze how different matched targets impact their ad performance, enabling them to optimize their campaigns for better results.

While the report includes numerous metrics, the most actionable ones for advertisers include:

• Matched Target: The specific target that was matched (e.g., specific ASINs, product categories).
• Click-Thru Rate (CTR): The ratio of clicks to impressions, indicating how engaging the ad was for the matched target.
• Cost Per Click (CPC): The average cost incurred for each click.
• 14 Day Total Sales: The total sales attributed to the matched target within 14 days.
• Total Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS): The revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads.
• 14 Day Total Orders (#): The number of orders attributed to the matched target within 14 days.
• 14 Day Total Units (#): The number of units sold attributed to the matched target within 14 days.

The Matched Target Report is essential for optimizing your matched target strategies in Sponsored Display campaigns. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Optimize Bid Strategies: Use the CPC data to refine your bidding strategies. For instance, if certain matched targets yield high CTR but have high CPC, consider adjusting bids to balance cost and engagement.
2. Improve Ad Spend Efficiency: Monitor ROAS to ensure cost-effective spending. Allocate more budget to targets with high ROAS and adjust or pause those with lower returns.
3. Monitor Sales Performance: Track total sales and orders to understand the impact of different matched targets on your sales. Focus on targets that drive high sales volumes.
4. Refine Targeting: Use insights from the matched target data to refine your audience targeting. For example, if specific ASIN targets perform better than broader category targets, focus more on specific ASINs.
5. Adjust Budget Allocation: Allocate more budget to high-performing matched targets that deliver strong ROAS and lower CPC. This helps in maximizing the return on ad spend.

To access the Matched Target Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Matched Target Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Matched Target Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Display campaigns, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience efficiently.

14. Pricing Transparency Report

The Pricing Transparency Report goes directly into the cost components associated with your Sponsored Display ads. This report helps advertisers understand the breakdown of their advertising expenses, including publisher earnings and supply-side fees, offering a clear view of the total cost incurred for their ad campaigns.

The Pricing Transparency Report is essential for gaining a clear understanding of the cost breakdown of your advertising campaigns. Here’s an overview of what each metric represents:

• Publisher Earnings: This metric shows how much of your ad spend goes directly to the publisher hosting your ads. It provides insight into the financial benefits received by the publishers from your campaign.
• Supply-side Fees: These are fees charged by the supply side of the ad network for placing your ads. It includes costs associated with serving the ads and maintaining the ad infrastructure.
• Total Advertiser Cost: This is the total amount you are charged for your ad campaign, combining both publisher earnings and supply-side fees. It represents the overall investment you are making in your ad placements.
• Impressions: This metric indicates how many times your ad was displayed to users, giving an idea of the reach of your campaign.
• Clicks: This shows the number of times users clicked on your ad, providing insight into the engagement level.
• Viewable Impressions: This metric counts the number of times your ad was actually viewable by users, helping you understand the effectiveness of your ad placements in terms of visibility.

The Pricing Transparency Report is a vital tool for advertisers who want to understand the exact breakdown of their advertising expenses within their Sponsored Display Ads. By providing detailed information on publisher earnings and supply-side fees, this report ensures that advertisers are fully aware of where their money is going and can make informed decisions about their ad spend. To access the Pricing Transparency Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Pricing Transparency Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This report can significantly enhance your understanding of the financial aspects of your Sponsored Display campaigns, ensuring that you have complete visibility into your advertising costs.

15. Budget Report

The Budget Report provides detailed insights into the budgeting aspects of your advertising campaigns. Available for Sponsored Products ad campaigns, this report helps advertisers analyze their budget usage, identify opportunities for optimizing ad spend, and understand the impact of budget limitations on campaign performance.

It includes data on actual spend, recommended budget, and the estimated impact of budget constraints on impressions, clicks, and sales. By analyzing these metrics, advertisers can make informed decisions to optimize their budget allocation and maximize the return on investment.

The Budget Report includes several critical metrics that you might not find in other reports, here are some key and insightful metrics:

• Budget: The actual budget set for the campaign.
• Recommended Budget: The budget recommended by Amazon to optimize performance.
• Average Time in Budget: The average time the campaign stayed within the budget limits.
• Targeting Type: The type of targeting used (e.g., keyword, product targeting).
• Bidding Strategy: The bidding strategy applied to the campaign.
• Impressions: The number of times your ad was shown.
• Last Year Impressions: The number of impressions from the same period last year.
• Estimated Missed Impressions Range Min: The minimum estimated number of impressions missed due to budget limitations.
• Estimated Missed Impressions Range Max: The maximum estimated number of impressions missed due to budget limitations.
• Clicks: The number of times your ad was clicked.
• Last Year Clicks: The number of clicks from the same period last year.
• Estimated Missed Clicks Range Min: The minimum estimated number of clicks missed due to budget limitations.
• Estimated Missed Clicks Range Max: The maximum estimated number of clicks missed due to budget limitations.
• Click-Thru Rate (CTR): The ratio of clicks to impressions.
• Spend: The total amount spent on the campaign.
• Last Year Spend: The total spend from the same period last year.
• Cost Per Click (CPC): The average cost incurred for each click.
• Last Year Cost Per Click (CPC): The CPC from the same period last year.
• 7 Day Total Orders (#): The number of orders within 7 days.
• Total Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS): The percentage of sales revenue spent on advertising.
• 7 Day Total Sales: Sales attributed to the campaign within 7 days.
• Estimated Missed Sales Range Min: The minimum estimated sales missed due to budget limitations.
• Estimated Missed Sales Range Max: The maximum estimated sales missed due to budget limitations.

The Budget Report helps optimize ad spend and ensure your campaigns run efficiently. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Budget Sufficiency: Compare your current budget to the recommended budget to see if you need to increase your budget to capture more impressions and clicks.
2. Identify Missed Opportunities: Analyze the estimated missed impressions, clicks, and sales to understand the impact of budget constraints. Adjust your budget to minimize missed opportunities and maximize ad performance.
3. Optimize Budget Allocation: Allocate more budget to high-performing campaigns with high ROAS and low ACOS. This ensures that your advertising spend is used most effectively.
4. Monitor Historical Performance: Compare current performance metrics with those from the same period last year to identify trends and make data-driven adjustments.
5. Adjust Bidding Strategy: Use insights from the report to refine your bidding strategy. For example, if your CPC is significantly higher than last year, consider adjusting bids to maintain cost-effectiveness.
6. Track Time in Budget: Ensure your campaigns remain active throughout the day by managing your budget to avoid running out of funds prematurely.

To access the Budget Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Budget Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Budget Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Products campaigns, ensuring that your ads are consistently visible and effective.

16. Sponsored Product Targeting Report

The Targeting Report, available for Sponsored Products ads, provides detailed insights into the performance of your targeting strategies, and it can be used on a keyword level. This report helps advertisers analyze the effectiveness of different targeting methods, such as keywords and product targeting, enabling them to make data-driven decisions to optimize their campaigns. The main difference between this report and the Search Term Report is that it doesn’t show you the final customer search term, which triggered a particular keyword.

The report tracks comprehensive data on how specific targets (e.g., keywords, ASINs) perform in driving impressions, clicks, and sales. By understanding these metrics, advertisers can refine their targeting strategies to improve ad performance and ROI.

The Targeting Report is essential for optimizing your ad targeting strategies. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Evaluate Targeting Effectiveness: Focus on targets with high impressions but low clicks or conversions. Adjust the bid or refine the targeting criteria to improve performance.
2. Optimize High-Performing Targets: Identify targets with a high conversion rate and low ACOS. Increase the budget or bid for these targets to maximize exposure and sales.
3. Analyze Match Types: Compare the performance of different match types (broad, phrase, exact) to determine which yields the best results. Adjust your strategy accordingly.
4. Adjust Bidding Strategies: Use insights from the report to fine-tune your bids. For example, if a target has a high CTR but low conversion rate, consider adjusting the bid or enhancing the ad copy to improve conversions.
5. Monitor Top-of-search Performance: Analyze the top-of-search impression share to understand how your ads are performing in prime positions. Increase bids for high-performing targets in these positions to maximize visibility.
6. Segment Sales Data: Break down sales data by advertised SKU and other SKUs to see the broader impact of your ads. Use this insight to refine your product listings and ad strategies.

To access the Targeting Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Targeting Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Targeting Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience efficiently.

17. Sponsored Display Targeting Report

The Sponsored Display Targeting Report differs slightly from the report for Sponsored Products. It provides detailed insights into the performance of your Sponsored Display targeting strategies, such as product or interest targeting, and shows the performance of these campaigns. This report helps advertisers analyze how different targeting methods impact their ad performance, enabling them to optimize their campaigns for better results.

The report includes numerous metrics, the most actionable ones for advertisers include:

• Targeting: The specific targeting criteria used (e.g. product targeting, interest targeting).
• Bid Optimization: The type of bid optimization strategy used (e.g., optimize for conversions, optimize for viewable impressions).
• Viewable Impressions: The number of impressions that were viewable.
• Cost per 1,000 Viewable Impressions (VCPM): The cost per thousand viewable impressions.
• Total Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS): The revenue generated for every dollar spent on ads.
• 14 Day Total Sales: The total sales attributed to the targeting within 14 days.
• 14 Day New-to-brand Sales: Sales from new-to-brand customers within 14 days.
• 14 Day % of Sales New-to-brand: The percentage of total sales from new-to-brand customers within 14 days.
• Total Advertising Cost of Sales (ACOS): The percentage of sales revenue spent on advertising.

The Sponsored Display Targeting Report is essential for optimizing your targeting strategies in Sponsored Display campaigns. Here’s how you can leverage it:

• Evaluate Targeting Effectiveness: Analyze the performance of different targeting criteria. Identify high-performing targets and allocate more budget to maximize sales and ROI.
• Optimize Bid Strategies: Use the bid optimization data to refine your bidding strategies. For instance, if optimizing for viewable impressions leads to higher conversions, consider maintaining or increasing bids for this strategy.
• Improve Ad Spend Efficiency: Monitor VCPM to ensure cost-effective spending on viewable impressions. Adjust bids if the cost is too high relative to the returns.
• Monitor New-to-brand Sales: Track new-to-brand sales and the percentage of sales from new-to-brand customers to understand how well your campaigns are acquiring new customers. Focus on targeting strategies that drive high new-to-brand sales.
• Refine Targeting: Use insights from the targeting data to refine your audience targeting. For example, if product targeting yields better results than interest targeting, focus more on product targeting.
• Adjust Budget Allocation: Allocate more budget to high-performing targeting strategies that deliver strong ROAS and lower ACOS. This helps in maximizing the return on ad spend.

To access the Sponsored Display Targeting Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Sponsored Display Targeting Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Sponsored Display Targeting Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Display campaigns, ensuring that your ads reach the most relevant audience efficiently.

18. Performance Over Time Report

The Performance Over Time Report for Sponsored Products ads tracks metrics related to your ad campaigns over a selected time frame and can show advertisers the effects of seasonality. It includes data on advertised and purchased SKUs and ASINs, providing a comprehensive view of how your ads are impacting sales and engagement over different periods. By understanding these metrics, advertisers can refine their ad strategies, allocate budgets more effectively, and optimize campaign performance. Here’s how you can leverage it:

1. Monitor Campaign Trends: Track how key metrics such as impressions, clicks, and sales change over time. This helps identify trends and seasonal variations in campaign performance.
2. Evaluate Long-Term Performance: Compare performance across different periods to understand the long-term effectiveness of your campaigns. Identify which time frames yield the best results and replicate successful strategies.
3. Adjust Budget Allocation: Allocate budgets more effectively based on performance trends. Increase budgets during periods of high performance and reduce them during lower-performing periods to maximize ROI.
4. Refine Targeting Strategies: Use the data on targeting and match types to understand which strategies are most effective over time. Adjust your targeting methods to align with periods of high engagement and sales.
5. Optimize Ad Copy and Creatives: Analyze how different ad copies and creatives perform over time. Use this insight to refine your ad materials for better engagement and conversions.
6. Identify Cross-Selling Opportunities: Monitor the sales of other SKUs over time to identify potential cross-selling opportunities. Adjust your product listings and ad strategies to promote complementary products.

To access the Performance Over Time Report, navigate to the Amazon Advertising Console, select ‘Reports,’ and choose ‘Performance Over Time Report.’ Customize the date range and other parameters to generate the most relevant data for your analysis. This strategic use of the Performance Over Time Report can significantly enhance the performance of your Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, ensuring that your ads are optimized for the best possible results over time.

What are Search Term Reports in Amazon PPC?

Search Term Reports in Amazon PPC provide data on how shoppers are finding and interacting with your ads. These reports reveal the actual search queries entered by users that triggered your ads, showing metrics such as impressions, clicks, sales, and more. This data helps sellers optimize their keyword strategy by identifying high-performing search terms to target or underperforming ones to negate, ultimately enhancing campaign effectiveness and efficiency.

To access Search Term Reports in Amazon PPC, you can follow these steps:

• Log in to your Amazon Seller Central or Amazon Advertising console.
• Navigate to the ‘Advertising’ menu and select ‘Campaign Manager.’
• Within the Campaign Manager, locate the campaign you have set to manual targeting.
• Click on the ‘Reports’ section, and select the ‘Search Term’ report type for either Sponsored Products or Sponsored Ads
• Ensure you filter or select options to view only those reports related to your desired campaigns.

This report will give you insights into how the keywords you’ve manually selected are performing, allowing you to make data-driven adjustments to optimize your campaign strategy.

1. Automatic Targeting Search Term Report

The Automatic Targets within the Search Term Report in Amazon PPC is invaluable for campaigns using ‘automatic’ targeting. This report shows which search terms Amazon’s algorithms have selected to match the advertiser’s products, including performance metrics like impressions, clicks, and sales.

Each search term marked with an asterisk (“*”) under the ‘Targeting’ column indicates automatic selections by Amazon’s system. The ‘Customer Search Term’ column shows the exact queries that triggered impressions, whether keywords or ASINs. This insight lets sellers see which terms are being matched and which customer searches lead to ad displays.

By analyzing this data, sellers can evaluate the effectiveness of automatic placements. This helps in deciding whether to transition successful search terms from automatic to manual campaigns for finer control and optimization, enhancing performance and ROI.

This report is crucial for refining campaigns set to automatic targeting. It helps uncover the search terms Amazon’s algorithms use, aiding in identifying potent keywords. Additionally, it provides a foundation for adjusting advertising strategies by pinpointing high-performing automatic keywords for manual campaign strategies or bid adjustments.

New sellers often use automatic targeting in Amazon PPC to gather critical data about their product’s appeal and relevance. This approach helps discover the search terms customers use to find similar products, without needing extensive SEO knowledge. It’s a practical and effective method for beginners to optimize their listings and ads based on real user interactions and search patterns.

2. Manual Targeting Search Term Report

Within the Search Term Report in Amazon PPC, sellers will find information on campaigns where advertisers have chosen to set their keyword targeting manually. The report provides detailed insights into the performance of specific keywords selected by the advertiser. It is important that advertisers pay particular attention to the following metrics, in order to gauge the success of any given search term:

• Impressions 
• Clicks
• Sales
• CPC
• ACoS

It is particularly helpful for Broad & Phrase campaigns, where sellers set target keywords and allow Amazon to show their ad for closely related search terms, as well as for exact match types. It’s important to note that Amazon’s new definition of “exact match” does not strictly mean the ads will only show for the exact keyword typed by the user. Instead, the exact match can now include close variants of the keyword, which may encompass misspellings, singular or plural forms, stemming (such as “run” and “running”), abbreviations, and accents. This broader interpretation helps capture more relevant searches that are closely aligned with the advertiser’s original keyword but might not be an exact word-for-word match. The search term report also helps to see what the end Customer Search Term is for exact campaigns, too.

This data is crucial for refining keyword strategies, adjusting bids, and optimizing ad performance, giving direct advertiser control over the targeting process. The Targeting column in this report shows the keyword and the Match type column shows whether it is a broad, phrase, or exact. The Customer Search Term column displays the actual search terms that triggered the ad, providing a transparent view of how and where the ad appeared based on user queries.

Choosing manual targeting in Amazon PPC is advisable when you have specific keywords that you know are relevant to your product and audience. This approach allows for greater control over bids and optimizations, making it ideal for leveraging high-performing keywords, managing budget more effectively, and precisely targeting niche markets. Manual targeting is often preferred by more experienced sellers who wish to fine-tune their advertising strategies based on detailed performance data from the Search Term Report.

3. Branded Keywords Performance

It’s important to keep track of branded keywords within the Search Term Report when advertising on Amazon, as they can be really expensive but also help steal sales from competitors. The report provides insights into how customers search for and interact with branded keywords on Amazon. Furthermore, it  details the performance of keywords and search terms specifically associated with your brand, including metrics like impressions, clicks, sales, and ACoS. By analyzing these metrics, brand owners can understand customer search behavior related to their brand, optimize their keyword strategy, and enhance their overall brand presence on the platform.

To effectively monitor consumer behavior and optimize your Sponsored Brands’ campaigns, regularly run the Sponsored Brands Search Term report. This report helps you analyze customer search patterns and buying habits with a focus on branded keywords. Identify keywords with high ad spend but low conversions; consider reducing the CPC for these keywords or pausing them to cut costs. Conversely, identify and amplify branded search terms with high conversion rates to increase impressions and revenue, which can also help lower your Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS).

The Sponsored Brands Search Term Report on Amazon Ads can pinpoint effective branded keywords and identify underperforming ones, helping to reduce wasted ad spend and boost ROI. By analyzing the branded search terms that lead to ad clicks, advertisers can refine their campaigns, ensuring that their advertising budget is being used efficiently and effectively.

4. Category Targeting Search Term Report

In Amazon PPC, within the reports accessible through the Amazon Advertising console, the Targeting column provides valuable insights into how ads perform in specific product categories targeted by the advertisers. This feature allows advertisers to see exactly what is being targeted and triggering impressions, which could be either keywords or ASINs. For example, in the Targeting column, you might find entries like category=”YourTargetCategory”, indicating that the ad is targeting this specific category.

The Customer Search Term Column complements this by showing the actual search terms that triggered the ads. This dual insight helps advertisers understand which elements of their targeting are effective at driving traffic and conversions, and which are not. By analyzing this data, advertisers can better align their products with the most relevant categories, enhancing ad relevance and improving campaign performance.

Using this information, advertisers can refine their Amazon PPC strategy. For instance, if data reveals that certain keywords within a targeted category like “home fitness equipment” are driving significant traffic but not leading to conversions, advertisers might adjust their focus to higher-performing terms or tweak their ad copy to match buyer intent within that category better. Conversely, if a category shows strong performance, increasing ad spend in that area could be a strategic move to capitalize on successful terms. This targeted approach not only optimizes ad spend but also boosts the overall effectiveness and ROI of the campaigns.

5. Competitor Targeting Search Term Report

In Amazon PPC, competitor targeting strategies allow advertisers to directly target competitor ASINs, other brands’ keywords, or even specific categories refined to target particular brands. These tactics can be effectively tracked using the Search Term Report, provided that campaigns are structured with a clear naming system. This organization enables advertisers to filter and assess the performance of their competitor targeting strategies comprehensively.

With a well-structured campaign naming system, advertisers can easily see how their ads are performing in relation to those of their competitors. This insight allows for strategic adjustments in bidding, keyword selection, and overall ad placement to enhance visibility and competitiveness in the marketplace. The data gathered can show how keywords related to competitors are driving (or failing to drive) impressions, clicks, and conversions.

Competitor targeting campaigns, however, can often lead to high ad spend due to their volatile nature, depending on the product category and market dynamics. Despite this, they are extremely valuable for increasing visibility and can be a significant asset in an advertiser’s strategy if managed carefully. By analyzing this data, advertisers can refine their approaches to ensure they are not only competitive but also cost-effective in their ad spending.

6. ASIN Targeting Search Term Report

ASIN targeting information is integrated within the Search Term Reports, rather than being available through a separate ASIN Targeting Search Term Report. This data, which appears as asin=”insertASIN” within the report, provides insights into the performance metrics of targeted ASINs, including impressions, clicks, sales, and conversion rates. By accessing these details via the Amazon Advertising console under the ‘Reports’ section, advertisers can see exactly where their campaigns are appearing and how effective their ASIN-specific targeting strategies are.

Analyzing this data allows advertisers to optimize their campaigns by enhancing competitiveness against similar products and improving the efficiency of their ad spend. This approach enables precise adjustments to targeting strategies, directly influencing the visibility and performance of specific products in Amazon’s highly competitive marketplace.

By leveraging the Search Term Report, brands can gain a deeper understanding of shopper behavior, optimize their ad spend, and enhance the overall effectiveness of their Amazon PPC campaigns. This report is a vital tool for continuous improvement and strategic planning in Amazon advertising.

How to Use the Search Term Report

Building on the insights gained from the Search Term Report, regular monitoring and analysis are crucial for the ongoing optimization of Amazon PPC campaigns. Sellers can utilize the Search Term Report to continually track and improve their advertising efforts, ensuring they remain aligned with their strategic objectives and maximize their return on investment

Regular Monitoring for Optimization

The Search Term Report is a powerful tool in Amazon PPC that enables sellers to gain deep insights into the performance of their ads based on actual search terms used by customers. By setting up automatic delivery of this report on a weekly and monthly basis, sellers can continuously track the effectiveness of their advertising efforts. This regular monitoring allows sellers to identify both high-performing and underperforming keywords, providing a clear view of where their ad spend is generating returns and where it is being wasted.

Strategic Adjustments and Campaign Structure

Utilizing the Search Term Report regularly helps sellers to assess the impact of changes made to their campaign structure. For example, suppose a seller decides to adjust keyword bids or shift focus from broad to more specific phrases. In that case, the Search Term Report will show how these changes affect ad performance in terms of visibility, clicks, and conversions. This ongoing assessment helps to refine strategies and make data-driven decisions that enhance campaign outcomes.

Cost Efficiency and Budget Allocation

One of the critical advantages of consistently using the Search Term Report is its role in budget management. Sellers can see where they are losing money on keywords that generate clicks but not conversions, and can then either eliminate these keywords or adjust their bids downward. Conversely, for keywords that are performing well, sellers can increase their bids to maximize visibility and sales, ensuring that their advertising budget is allocated towards the most profitable terms.

Ensuring Proper Ad Placement

The report also provides visibility into where ads are being displayed within Amazon’s ecosystem, confirming whether they appear in expected or intended locations. This check helps ensure that campaigns align with the seller’s strategic objectives, such as targeting specific product categories or competitor products. Regular review of this aspect can prevent misplacement that might lead to inefficient spending.

Advantages of Regular Usage

Regularly accessing the Search Term Report offers several advantages:

• Improved ROI: Continuous optimization of keywords and bids based on up-to-date performance data helps improve the return on investment.
• Increased Sales: By focusing on high-performing search terms, sellers can drive more targeted traffic to their listings, increasing sales.
• Reduced Wastage: Identifying and eliminating costly keywords that do not contribute to sales helps in reducing wasted ad spend.
• Strategic Agility: Regular insights enable sellers to quickly adapt to market changes, competitor actions, or consumer behavior trends.

For example, a seller might notice from the report that ads targeting the search term “waterproof outdoor gear” perform exceptionally well during the rainy season, leading to increased bids on these terms during these months. Alternatively, they might find that ads for “gym equipment” do not convert well in January despite high traffic, possibly due to high competition, prompting a strategy to focus more on unique product features or to shift ad spend to less competitive months.

In summary, the Search Term Report is an essential tool for Amazon sellers aiming to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of their PPC campaigns. By setting up regular reports and analyzing them diligently, sellers can maintain a pulse on their campaign’s health and make timely adjustments that directly contribute to their business success.

How to Assess Ad Product Performance per Category?

To assess ad product performance per category, you will need to use the Search Term Report and other Amazon tools, which are essential for optimizing your Amazon PPC campaigns. By evaluating how different products perform within their respective categories, you can make informed decisions to enhance your advertising strategy. Here’s a detailed guide on how to effectively assess ad product performance per category:

1. Collecting Data by Category: Access the Amazon Advertising dashboard and download performance reports segmented by product category. Ensure you have data for key performance metrics like impressions, clicks, conversions, and sales for each product within the category.
2. Analyzing Key Metrics: Measure impressions to gauge visibility, evaluate the click-through rate (CTR) to understand engagement, and assess the conversion rate to determine sales effectiveness. Calculate ACoS and Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) to analyze profitability and ad spend efficiency within each category.
3. Segmenting Performance Data: Break down performance data by individual products within each category to identify top performers and underperformers. Compare similar products to see which ones are driving better results and why, and use filters to analyze specific aspects such as seasonal performance or promotional periods.
4. Evaluating Product Listings: Review product listings for top-performing products within each category, checking for high-quality images, compelling titles and descriptions, positive customer reviews, and competitive pricing. Ensure that underperforming products have optimized listings that meet the same standards.
5. Identifying Trends and Patterns: Look for trends in the data, such as seasonal spikes or dips in performance. Identify patterns that might explain performance differences, such as variations in ad spend, changes in keyword strategy, or competitive actions. Use these insights to adjust your strategy for different times of the year or market conditions.
6. Leveraging Category Insights from Seller Central: Use the category insights available in Amazon Seller Central to compare your performance with market trends. Analyze metrics such as demand, search performance, glance views, and search-to-purchase ratio. Make comparisons to understand how your products perform relative to the market, identifying areas for improvement or potential opportunities.
7. Tracking Competitors with SQP Report: Utilize the Search Query Performance (SQP) report from Amazon to track top competitors. The SQP report provides data on the search terms leading to your products and your competitors’ products, helping you understand their performance. Use this information to refine your keyword strategy and identify competitive advantages.
8. Adjusting Bids and Budgets: Allocate more budget to categories and products that are performing well and showing a high ROAS. Consider reducing bids or budgets for products with high ACoS or low conversion rates within their categories. Continuously test and adjust bids based on performance data to optimize ad spend efficiency.
9. Utilizing Category-Specific Insights: Implement insights gained from performance data to refine your advertising strategy for each category. This could include optimizing ad copy and creatives to better appeal to the target audience, adjusting keyword targeting based on search term performance within the category, and tailoring promotional strategies to align with category-specific trends.
10. Regular Monitoring and Reporting: Set up regular reporting to track performance changes over time. Weekly or monthly reviews can help you stay on top of trends and make timely adjustments. Use dashboards and visualizations to simplify data analysis and highlight key performance indicators. Continuously monitor and refine your strategy based on ongoing performance insights.

By following these steps, you can effectively assess ad product performance per category on Amazon, ensuring that your PPC campaigns are optimized for maximum impact and profitability. Regular evaluation and adjustment are key to maintaining a competitive edge and driving success in your Amazon advertising efforts.

Why are Amazon PPC Reports Essential in Understanding Advertising ROI?

Amazon PPC reports are crucial for understanding and improving your advertising ROI because they provide comprehensive data and insights that help you evaluate the effectiveness of your ad campaigns and make informed decisions to enhance profitability.

1. Connection Between Reports and ROI: Amazon PPC reports contain key metrics such as impressions, clicks, conversions, and sales, which are directly linked to your advertising ROI. By analyzing these metrics, you can determine how effectively your ad spend translates into actual sales and revenue. For example, a high number of clicks with a low conversion rate might indicate the need to improve your product listings or targeting strategies.
2. Examples of Insights Leading to Better ROI: Insights from PPC reports can lead to actionable strategies that improve ROI. For instance, identifying high-performing keywords allows you to allocate more budget to these terms, increasing the chances of conversion. Conversely, recognizing underperforming ads or keywords enables you to cut costs and reallocate funds to more profitable areas. Additionally, understanding the performance of different ad placements helps you focus on the most effective channels, maximizing your return on ad spend.
3. Importance of Regular Report Analysis: Regular analysis of PPC reports is essential for maintaining and improving advertising ROI. Continuous monitoring helps you stay updated on the performance of your campaigns and quickly adapt to changes in the market or consumer behavior. Regular reviews enable you to identify trends, test new strategies, and optimize your campaigns for better results. By consistently analyzing your reports, you ensure that your advertising efforts remain efficient and aligned with your business goals.

In summary, Amazon PPC reports are vital for understanding advertising ROI. They provide the data needed to evaluate campaign performance, make informed adjustments, and continuously optimize for profitability. Regular analysis of these reports ensures you stay competitive and achieve the best possible returns on your advertising investments.

How do Amazon PPC Reports Help Optimize Advertising Strategies?

Amazon PPC Reports are essential for optimizing advertising strategies as they provide detailed analytics about the performance of ad campaigns. These reports offer insights into metrics like click-through rates, cost per click, and conversion rates, allowing sellers to assess the effectiveness of their keywords and ad placements. By utilizing this data, sellers can distinguish between high-performing ads and areas that are underperforming. This level of detail enables targeted optimizations, such as reallocating budgets to successful ads, adjusting bids to maximize efficiency, refining targeting strategies to reach desired audiences better, and testing new approaches to enhance campaign outcomes continually.

Moreover, Amazon PPC Reports enhance usability within the campaign manager interface. They allow sellers to apply filters to view the data they need across several campaigns precisely. This functionality simplifies the management process and saves time by focusing on exactly what needs attention, thereby making it easier for sellers to make informed decisions quickly.

This continuous optimization cycle, facilitated by detailed and actionable insights from Amazon PPC Reports, is crucial for maximizing return on investment and improving the overall efficiency of advertising campaigns. Through these reports, sellers can not only see the bigger picture of their campaign’s performance but also fine-tune their strategies at a very granular level, ensuring every dollar spent is an investment toward greater profitability.

Are Keywords Important for Amazon Ads Relevance Targeting?

Yes, keywords are crucial for Amazon Ads relevance targeting, especially in PPC campaigns. Keywords act as the primary link between a shopper’s search query and your ads, determining how relevant your product is to the user’s needs. By effectively targeting the right keywords, you ensure that your ads appear in relevant search results, thereby increasing the likelihood of clicks and conversions. Accurate and strategic keyword use is fundamental in optimizing your campaigns, improving visibility, and enhancing the overall efficiency of your ad spend.

• Product Specificity: If you’re selling organic coffee, targeting keywords like “organic arabica coffee beans” ensures your ads appear to customers specifically looking for this type of coffee, increasing the chances of conversion.
• Competitive Edge: For a commonly sold item like yoga mats, using specific keywords like “eco-friendly yoga mat” or “non-slip yoga mat” can help differentiate your product in a crowded market.
• Seasonal Targeting: For seasonal products, such as Halloween costumes, targeting keywords like “kids Halloween costumes” or “superhero costume adults” during the appropriate season will increase relevancy and visibility when demand is high.

It’s crucial to understand that if your product listing does not include these targeted keywords, or if your product is not ranking organically for them, the primary avenue for sales is through paid ads. This reliance on PPC without organic support can significantly increase your costs, making your campaigns less profitable. By integrating targeted keywords into your product listings and improving organic search rankings, you can reduce reliance on paid ads, thereby enhancing profitability and the overall return on investment of your advertising efforts.

These examples underline how selecting and integrating the right keywords into both your listings and advertising strategies allows advertisers to tailor their Amazon PPC campaigns to effectively reach the most relevant and interested audience, optimizing both the relevance of ads and the efficiency of ad spend.

Conclusion

Amazon PPC reports are crucial for understanding and improving your advertising ROI. They provide comprehensive data and insights that help you evaluate the effectiveness of your ad campaigns and make informed decisions to enhance profitability. By leveraging these detailed analytics, sellers can optimize their advertising strategies, adjust their keyword targeting, and improve ad placements. Regular monitoring and analysis of these reports are essential for maintaining a competitive edge and driving continuous improvement in Amazon advertising efforts. Keywords remain a vital component for relevance targeting in PPC campaigns, further emphasizing the importance of thorough and ongoing analysis of Amazon PPC reports.