Amazon Ads: Automatic and Manual Keywords Targeting Explained

Running ads on Amazon is a great opportunity for sellers to reach customers on Amazon search pages. Your product ad will get visible on the top, middle, and bottom of the search pages.

This way, you can make your way to top results without ranking products organically. When creating a campaign in Amazon Seller Central, you will be asked to choose a target type.

Sellers have two target types available to choose from: manual and auto targeting. Both target types have their pros and cons. A target type refers to keyword targeting.

In manual targeting, the seller assigns the keywords on which to run ads. In auto targeting, Amazon displays your ads using the best-matched keywords.

Automatic Keywords Targeting

Automatic keyword targeting gives Amazon control over the running of your ads. Amazon will show your ads using similar and relevant keywords related to your product. The system will control bidding strategy.

Though you can monitor the keywords from where your campaign is getting hits, you can later either pause the keywords or add them to negative terms.

Pros:

• Amazon controls the ad strategy, so you won’t need to invest time in it.
• It will harvest many new long-tail keywords and display ads.
• One of the best strategies to prepare a list of long-tail keywords is to.

Cons:

• No control over the targeting. You may get hits from irrelevant queries. This will lead to high ACOS.
• Amazon controls the bidding.
• You will charge high for every click generated through auto targeting, as you did not manually set a PPC bid.

Manual Keywords Targeting

Manual keywords targeting allows sellers to assign keywords for the campaign. You can add your keywords, negative terms, etc, and advertise. 

Define the keyword type (broad, exact, and phrase) and set the bids. Amazon will display ads on the keywords and bid as set by you.

Pros:

• More control over the campaign. You can control the campaigns at your level. This will ensure targeted customers land on your product detail page.
• As the targeted audience will reach your product listing, the chances of conversion are higher.
• Experiment with match type. Run broad, exact, and phrase match keywords.
• Give a trial and go with the best match type that generates results for you.

Cons:

• Need good research skills.
• To get the most from manual keyword targeting, you need to have good research skills.
• Invest time in keyword research or use a keyword research tool for Amazon.

Also, the selection of keyword match types on Amazon is important. Whether to use exact, broad, or phrase match keywords depends on product, category, and competition, among other factors. You need to use the match type smartly.

Daily monitoring

As it is a manual campaign, you need to be active. Open the dashboard regularly, check the stats, and take action.

Suppose you’re running a broad match type, and you need to exclude irrelevant keywords from which your ad is getting clicks.

Automatic or Manual: Which Targeting is Best for Amazon

As we see the advantages and disadvantages of both automatic keyword targeting and manual keyword targeting above.

So, whether to use automatic or manual keyword targeting solely depends on your product, competition, etc. You can consult with our Amazon PPC management team. Our professionals will audit your product and store, and suggest the best strategies to go with.

Auto-targeting is good for new sellers to start with, as they have limited technical PPC knowledge. Running ads for 15-20 days will give you a good set of keywords in the dashboard. Select a list of potential keywords that generate traffic and sales for you.

Later, pause the auto campaign and start manual keyword targeting through the list of keywords that worked for you using the auto targeting campaign.

FAQs:

What is the difference between auto and manual targeting?

Auto-targeting is handled by Amazon software. They define the keywords where your product ad will appear. In manual targeting, you assign keywords to run ads on.

Which targeting is better for new sellers?

A seller with less PPC knowledge should start a campaign with auto targeting. After a few days, they can extract the list of performing keywords and start manual targeting.

Can a seller run both auto and manual ads together?

Yes, a seller can run both campaigns simultaneously.