amazon-ppc-campaign

# Amazon PPC Campaign Optimization 📢 Build profitable PPC campaign structures from scratch, or audit and optimize existing campaigns with data-driven bid adjustments. No API key — works out of the box. ## Installation ```bash npx skills add nexscope-ai/Amazon-Skills --skill amazon-ppc -g ``` ## Two Modes | Mode | When to Use | Input | Output | |------|-------------|-------|--------| | **A — Build** | Launching PPC for a new product | Product info + keywords + margins | Complete campaign blueprint + keyword groupings + initial bids | | **B — Optimize** | Improving existing campaigns | Campaign data + search term reports + current ACoS | Optimization plan + bid adjustments + negative keyword list | ## Capabilities - **ACoS financial framework**: Calculate break-even ACoS, target ACoS, and Max CPC from product margins — the foundation for every bid decision - **Campaign architecture design**: Build a structured Auto → Broad → Exact funnel with proper negative keyword isolation between campaigns - **Keyword grouping**: Organize keywords into campaign buckets with match types and initial bids based on confidence level - **Bid optimization**: Apply ACoS-based bid adjustment rules using industry-standard formulas (cut/increase by percentage based on ACoS range) - **Keyword funnel analysis**: Identify migration opportunities (Auto→Broad→Exact) and wasted spend (high-click zero-sale terms) - **Negative keyword management**: Generate seed lists (cross-campaign, irrelevant terms, generic waste modifiers) and ongoing additions from search term data - **Search term report analysis**: Parse user-provided campaign data to find profitable terms, wasteful terms, and optimization gaps - **Competitor ASIN targeting**: Build product targeting campaigns aimed at competitor product pages - **Integration chain**: Works with [amazon-keyword-research](https://github.com/nexscope-ai/Amazon-Skills/tree/main/amazon-keyword-research) for keyword input and [amazon-listing-optimization](https://github.com/nexscope-ai/Amazon-Skills/tree/main/amazon-listing-optimization) for pre-launch listing quality checks ## Usage Examples ### Mode A — Build New Campaigns ``` I'm launching a portable blender on Amazon US. Price: $39.99. Product cost: $8, shipping: $3, Amazon fees: $7.50. Here are my keywords: portable blender, personal blender, smoothie maker. Build me a PPC campaign structure. ``` ``` Use amazon-keyword-research to find keywords for "bamboo cutting board", then build a PPC campaign structure. Product costs $6, sells for $29.99. Brand new product launch. ``` ``` I want to advertise my dog t-shirt (ASIN B0D72TSM62, price $5.99, cost $2). Look at competitors B0CMD17929 and B0B76519ZG, extract their keywords, and build my PPC campaigns. ``` ### Mode B — Optimize Existing Campaigns ``` My PPC ACoS is 58% and my target is 30%. I have 3 campaigns: Auto ($800/month, ACoS 67%), Manual Broad ($1,100, ACoS 48%), Manual Exact ($500, ACoS 33%). Product margin is 54%. Help me optimize. ``` ``` Here's my search term report [paste CSV data]. Break-even ACoS is 40%. Find wasted spend, tell me what to negate and what to migrate. ``` ``` Weekly PPC check: here are this week's search terms with clicks and sales [data]. Add negatives for 10+ clicks with no sales, move 2+ orders to Exact. ``` ### Short Prompts Work Too ``` Help me set up PPC for my product B0D72TSM62 ``` ``` My ACoS is too high, help me fix it ``` ``` I want to start advertising on Amazon ``` --- ## How This Skill Collects Information Users rarely provide everything upfront — and they don't need to. This skill follows a **progressive information gathering** approach: **Step 1: Extract from the prompt.** Parse whatever the user already provided — ASIN, price, ACoS numbers, campaign names, keywords, etc. **Step 2: Auto-discover.** If an ASIN is given, run the bundled `scripts/fetch-competitor.sh <ASIN>` to get price, category, BSR, and competitor context. This script handles Amazon's anti-bot protections. If the user mentions a product type without an ASIN, use `web_search` to understand the market. **Step 3: Identify gaps.** Compare what you have against what's needed (see the Required Information tables in Mode A Step A1 and Mode B Step B1 below). Focus on what's **critical** to proceed: - Mode A critical: **product costs** (to calculate ACoS) + **monthly ad budget** (to size campaigns) + **keywords or competitor ASINs** (to build campaigns) - Mode B critical: **current ACoS** + **profit margin** (to know the gap and set targets) **Step 4: One consolidated follow-up.** Ask only for missing critical items — in one conversational message, not a questionnaire: ``` Mode A example: "I found your product — Paiaite Dog T-Shirt, $5.99 on Amazon. To build your campaigns, I need three things: 1. Your product cost per unit (so I can calculate your break-even ACoS) 2. Your monthly ad budget (so I can size the campaigns right) 3. Any target keywords or competitor ASINs? (Or I can research for you)" Mode B example: "Got it — ACoS is too high. To give you specific actions, can you share: 1. Your profit margin (or product cost, I'll calculate it) 2. Which campaigns are running and their rough ACoS? Search term report data is a bonus but not required to start." ``` **Step 5: Use estimates when stuck.** If the user can't provide something (e.g., doesn't know exact fees), use reasonable category-based estimates and clearly note the assumption. Never block progress waiting for perfect data. --- ## Key Concepts Three formulas drive every recommendation in this skill. They're introduced here and applied in Step A2 (for Mode A) and Step B2 (for Mode B). **Break-even ACoS** = Profit margin before ad spend. If your product sells for $40 with $15 in costs after Amazon fees, your margin is $25/$40 = 62.5%. At 62.5% ACoS you spend all profit on ads — break even. **Target ACoS** = Break-even ACoS − Desired profit margin. Want 25% profit after ads? Target ACoS = 62.5% − 25% = 37.5%. **Keyword Funnel** = The core PPC optimization loop, applied in Steps A4/A6 (building) and B3 (optimizing): ``` Auto Campaign (discover new terms) ↓ terms with 2+ orders Manual Broad (test at broader match) ↓ terms with 2+ sales Manual Exact (scale winners with precision) At each step: add the migrated term as NEGATIVE in the source campaign to prevent duplicate spend. ``` --- ## Mode A Workflow — Build Campaign Structure ### Step A1: Collect Product Info The following details are needed. Many can be extracted automatically (see "How This Skill Collects Information" above) — only ask for what's truly missing. | Detail | How to Get It | Critical? | |--------|--------------|:---------:| | ASIN | From user's prompt | Helpful | | Product name and category | Fetch from ASIN or ask | Helpful | | Selling price | Fetch from ASIN or ask | ✅ Yes | | Product cost (landed) | Must ask user | ✅ Yes | | Monthly ad budget | Must ask user | ✅ Yes | | Amazon fees (referral + FBA) | Estimate ~15% referral + FBA by size | Can estimate | | Launch vs mature product | Ask or infer from context | Helpful | ### Step A2: Calculate ACoS Targets Using the formulas from Key Concepts, compute the financial framework that governs all bid decisions: ``` 📊 PPC FINANCIAL FRAMEWORK Selling Price: $39.99 Total Costs: $18.50 (product $8 + shipping $3 + Amazon fees $7.50) Profit Before Ads: $21.49 Profit Margin: 53.7% Break-even ACoS: 53.7% (spending ALL profit on ads) Target ACoS (Mature): 30.0% (keeps ~24% profit margin) Target ACoS (Launch): 50.0% (aggressive — acceptable for first 4-8 weeks) Max CPC at Target ACoS: $1.20 (at 10% conversion rate) Formula: Max CPC = Selling Price × Target ACoS × Conversion Rate ``` If user doesn't know their conversion rate, use category benchmarks: 10-15% is average. ### Step A3: Collect Keywords Keywords can come from three sources (use one or combine): 1. **From [amazon-keyword-research](https://github.com/nexscope-ai/Amazon-Skills/tree/main/amazon-keyword-research) skill** (recommended): Run keyword research first, then feed the ranked keyword list into this skill. 2. **From competitor ASINs**: User provides 1-3 competitor ASINs → run `scripts/fetch-competitor.sh <ASIN>` for each → extract keywords from their titles and bullet points. The script returns title, brand, bullets, price, category, BSR, and review count. 3. **From user's list**: User provides their own keywords (e.g., from Helium 10, search term reports, or manual research). Additionally, expand keywords using Amazon autocomplete: `curl -s "https://completion.amazon.com/api/2017/suggestions?mid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&alias=aps&prefix=<URL-ENCODED-KEYWORD>" | python3 -c "import sys,json; [print(s['value']) for s in json.load(sys.stdin).get('suggestions',[])]"` ### Step A4: Build Campaign Structure and Group Keywords **Default: 4 campaigns.** This is the standard structure for a new product launch: | Priority | Campaign | What It Does | Always Include? | |:--------:|----------|--------------|:---------------:| | 1 | **Auto Discovery** | Amazon auto-matches your ad to search terms — collects data on what shoppers actually search | ✅ Yes | | 2 | **Manual Exact** | Your top 10-15 proven keywords with exact match — highest control, lowest ACoS | ✅ Yes | | 3 | **Manual Broad** | All research keywords with broad match — discovers variations and long-tail terms | ✅ Yes | | 4 | **Product Targeting** | Shows your ad on competitor product pages — steals their traffic | ✅ If competitor ASINs available | **If budget is tight:** Launch Priority 1+2 first (Auto + Exact). Add Priority 3 after one week of data. Add Priority 4 when you have competitor ASINs identified. Organize keywords into these campaign buckets: See the **Mode A Output** template below for the exact format of keyword groupings per campaign. ### Step A5: Set Initial Bids **Max CPC (from Step A2) is your profitability ceiling** — not your actual bid. Actual competitive bids depend on the category and keyword competition. **How to recommend bids:** 1. Calculate Max CPC as the financial guardrail (what you can afford) 2. For actual starting bids, tell the user to check Amazon's **suggested bid range** when creating the campaign in Seller Central — this reflects real auction data 3. If Amazon's suggested bid > Max CPC, flag the gap and explain: either accept a loss (ranking launch), raise product price, or skip that keyword **When you don't have suggested bid data**, use these category-relative starting points: | Campaign Type | Starting Bid | Adjust After | |--------------|-------------|-------------| | Manual Exact | Amazon suggested bid or Max CPC (whichever is lower) | 7 days with 20+ clicks | | Manual Broad | 70-80% of Exact bid | 7 days | | Auto | 50-70% of Exact bid | 7 days | | Product Targeting | 50-70% of Exact bid | 7 days | **Important:** These are starting points. The real optimization happens after 1-2 weeks of data — adjust based on actual ACoS per keyword. ### Step A6: Build Negative Keyword Seed List Generate an initial negative keyword list before launch. Three types: 1. **Cross-campaign negatives**: Add all Exact campaign keywords as negatives in Broad and Auto campaigns (prevents internal competition — this is the Keyword Funnel isolation from Key Concepts). 2. **Irrelevant term negatives**: Terms that share words with your product but are wrong category/intent. Example for "bamboo cutting board": - Wrong material: "plastic cutting board", "glass cutting board" - Wrong product: "cutting board oil", "cutting board stand" - Wrong intent: "how to clean cutting board", "cutting board DIY" 3. **Generic waste negatives**: Common low-intent modifiers: "free", "cheap", "used", "DIY", "review", "reddit", "how to" ### Step A7: Generate Campaign Blueprint Compile everything from Steps A1-A6 into the final deliverable. Follow the **Mode A Output** template in the Output Formats section below. --- ## Mode B Workflow — Optimize Existing Campaigns ### Step B1: Collect Campaign Data The following details are needed. Follow the same progressive gathering approach — extract from the user's prompt first, then ask for missing critical items in one follow-up (see "How This Skill Collects Information" above). | Detail | Critical? | Notes | |--------|:---------:|-------| | Campaign names and types | ✅ Yes | Auto/Manual/Broad/Exact | | Overall ACoS | ✅ Yes | And per-campaign if available | | Monthly ad spend and ad sales | ✅ Yes | For budget efficiency analysis | | Product profit margin | ✅ Yes | To calculate break-even ACoS | | Top spending keywords + their ACoS | Helpful | Enables specific bid adjustments | | Search term report (CSV) | Bonus | Enables keyword funnel analysis | | CTR and conversion rates | Bonus | Deeper performance insights | ### Step B2: Performance Audit Using the ACoS formulas from Key Concepts, analyze across five dimensions: (1) Financial Health — break-even vs current ACoS, monthly profit/loss; (2) Campaign Efficiency — per-campaign ACoS with 🔴🟡🟢 status; (3) Keyword Performance — group keywords by profitable/marginal/unprofitable/zero-sales; (4) Budget Allocation — is spend proportional to revenue? recommend shifts; (5) Missed Opportunities — converting terms not in Manual, high-spend zero-sale terms without negatives, underfunded winners. ### Step B3: Keyword Funnel Analysis Apply the Keyword Funnel from Key Concepts to the user's actual data. Three actions: - **Migrate up** (2+ orders): Auto → Exact or Broad → Exact. Add as negative in source campaign. - **Add negatives** (10+ clicks, 0 sales): Add as negative exact or phrase in the source campaign. - **Watch list** (<20 clicks): Not enough data yet — flag for next review cycle. ### Step B4: Bid Adjustments Apply ACoS-based bid adjustments to keywords with 20+ clicks (minimum for statistical significance): - ACoS > 200%: cut bid 30-50% - ACoS 100-199%: cut bid 20% - ACoS target+10% to 99%: cut bid 10-15% - ACoS at target (±10%): no change - ACoS below target: increase bid 10-20% - 10+ clicks with 0 sales: pause keyword Output a table: Keyword | Current Bid | Current ACoS | New Bid | Reason ### Step B5: Generate Optimization Action Plan Compile everything from Steps B1-B4 into a prioritized action plan. Follow the **Mode B Output** template in the Output Formats section below. --- ## Output Formats The primary deliverable is always an **actionable campaign plan** the seller can implement directly in Seller Central. ### Mode A Output — New Campaign Blueprint ``` # ✅ PPC Campaign Blueprint — Ready to Implement ## Financial Framework Selling Price: $XX.XX | Profit Before Ads: $XX.XX | Break-even ACoS: XX% Target ACoS (Launch): XX% | Target ACoS (Mature): XX% Max CPC: $X.XX (at XX% conversion rate) ## How These Campaigns Work Together Standard: 4 campaigns. If budget is tight, start P1+P2, add the rest later. Auto (P1) → finds new search terms ↓ terms with 2+ orders Broad (P3) → tests keywords at wider match ↓ terms with 2+ sales Exact (P2) → best keywords, lowest ACoS Product Targeting (P4) → ads on competitor pages Separate campaigns prevent internal competition (bidding against yourself). ## Campaign Setup — Follow This in Seller Central For each campaign below, create it in Seller Central with these exact settings. Bids marked "use suggested" mean: use Amazon's suggested bid shown during setup. If suggested bid > your Max CPC, that keyword may not be profitable — see the ⚠️ flag in the Financial Framework for guidance. ### Campaign 1: [Product] - Auto Discovery (Priority 1) CAMPAIGN SETTINGS: Campaign Name: [Product] - Auto Daily Budget: $XX Start Date: [today] End Date: No end date Bid Strategy: Dynamic Bids - Down Only AD GROUP: Ad Group Name: Auto - Discovery Default Bid: $X.XX (use suggested bid × 0.5-0.7) ASIN: [your ASIN] KEYWORDS: None — Amazon auto-selects based on your listing NEGATIVE KEYWORDS: [keyword] | Negative Exact [keyword] | Negative Exact (add all Exact campaign keywords here — prevents Auto from competing with Exact on the same terms) ### Campaign 2: [Product] - Manual Exact (Priority 2) CAMPAIGN SETTINGS: Campaign Name: [Product] - Exact Daily Budget: $XX Start Date: [today] End Date: No end date Bid Strategy: Fixed Bids AD GROUP: Ad Group Name: Exact - Primary Default Bid: $X.XX (use suggested bid, or Max CPC if lower) ASIN: [your ASIN] KEYWORDS: [keyword] | Exact | $X.XX (use suggested bid) [keyword] | Exact | $X.XX [10-15 keywords, each with match type and bid] NEGATIVE KEYWORDS: None needed (exact match is already precise) ### Campaign 3: [Product] - Manual Broad (Priority 3) CAMPAIGN SETTINGS: Campaign Name: [Product] - Broad Daily Budget: $XX Start Date: [today or Week 2] End Date: No end date Bid Strategy: Dynamic Bids - Down Only AD GROUP: Ad Group Name: Broad - Discovery Default Bid: $X.XX (use suggested bid × 0.7-0.8) ASIN: [your ASIN] KEYWORDS: [keyword] | Broad | $X.XX [keyword] | Broad | $X.XX [15-20 keywords] NEGATIVE KEYWORDS: [keyword] | Negative Exact (add all Exact campaign keywords — prevents Broad from competing) ### Campaign 4: [Product] - Product Targeting (Priority 4) CAMPAIGN SETTINGS: Campaign Name: [Product] - ASIN Targeting Daily Budget: $XX Start Date: [today or Week 2] End Date: No end date Bid Strategy: Fixed Bids AD GROUP: Ad Group Name: Competitor ASINs Default Bid: $X.XX (use suggested bid × 0.5-0.7) ASIN: [your ASIN] TARGETS: B0XXXXXXXX | [competitor name, price, reviews] | $X.XX B0XXXXXXXX | [competitor name, price, reviews] | $X.XX NEGATIVE KEYWORDS: [your own ASIN] | Negative Exact (prevent ads on your own page) ## Negative Keyword Master List (apply to Auto + Broad + Product Targeting) [term] | Negative Exact (irrelevant terms) [term] | Negative Phrase (waste modifiers: free, cheap, used, DIY, etc.) ## Budget Summary | Campaign | Priority | Daily | Monthly | Role | |----------|:--------:|-------|---------|------| | Auto | P1 | $XX | $XXX | Discover search terms | | Exact | P2 | $XX | $XXX | Scale best keywords | | Broad | P3 | $XX | $XXX | Test variations | | Product | P4 | $XX | $XXX | Competitor pages | | TOTAL | | $XX | $XXX | | ## Launch Schedule Day 1: Create P1 (Auto) + P2 (Exact). Check that ads are active. Day 3: Check impressions. If very low, your bids are below competitive range — increase toward Amazon's suggested bid. Day 7: Add P3 (Broad) + P4 (Product Targeting). Review Auto search terms — add obvious negatives. Day 14: Full analysis — migrate winners (2+ orders) from Auto/Broad → Exact. Day 21: Bid optimization — adjust bids for keywords with 20+ clicks. --- # 📊 Campaign Design Rationale ## Keyword Sources [How keywords were discovered — fetch-competitor.sh, autocomplete, etc.] ## Bid Notes Max CPC (profitability ceiling): $X.XX Amazon suggested bids for this category typically range $X.XX - $X.XX. [Flag any keywords where suggested bid > Max CPC and explain the tradeoff] ``` ### Mode B Output — Optimization Report ``` # ✅ PPC Optimization Actions — Ready to Implement ## Priority 1: Immediate Negative Keywords (Do Today) Add these as Negative Exact in their respective campaigns: Campaign "[name]": "term1", "term2", "term3" Campaign "[name]": "term4", "term5" Expected savings: $XXX/month ## Priority 2: Keyword Migrations (This Week) Move to Manual Exact (and add as negative in source): "[keyword]" from Auto → Exact, bid: $X.XX "[keyword]" from Broad → Exact, bid: $X.XX ## Priority 3: Bid Adjustments (This Week) "[keyword]": $X.XX → $X.XX (ACoS XX% → target XX%) "[keyword]": $X.XX → $X.XX (increase — profitable at XX%) "[keyword]": PAUSE (XX clicks, 0 sales) ## Priority 4: Budget Reallocation (Next Week) Auto: $XX/day → $XX/day (reduce — low efficiency) Exact: $XX/day → $XX/day (increase — best ACoS) --- # 📊 Full Audit Report ## Performance Summary | Metric | Current | Target | Status | |--------|---------|--------|--------| | Overall ACoS | XX% | XX% | 🔴🟡🟢 | | TACoS | XX% | <XX% | 🔴🟡🟢 | | Monthly Ad Profit | $XXX | $XXX | 🔴🟡🟢 | | Budget Utilization | XX% | >90% | 🔴🟡🟢 | ## Keyword Funnel Analysis [Full table from Step B3] ## Bid Adjustment Details [Full table from Step B4] ## Week-by-Week Action Plan Week 1: [specific tasks with expected outcomes] Week 2: [specific tasks] Week 3: [specific tasks] Week 4: [review and next cycle planning] ## Expected Results After 4 Weeks ACoS: XX% → XX% Monthly savings: $XXX Sales increase: +XX% (from better targeting) ``` --- ## Ongoing Management & Integration After setup, offer weekly reminders (cron/heartbeat): search term analysis + bid adjustments + monthly full audit. Recommended skill chain: [amazon-keyword-research](https://github.com/nexscope-ai/Amazon-Skills/tree/main/amazon-keyword-research) → [amazon-listing-optimization](https://github.com/nexscope-ai/Amazon-Skills/tree/main/amazon-listing-optimization) → amazon-ppc. Always check listing quality before spending on ads. More skills: [Amazon-Skills](https://github.com/nexscope-ai/Amazon-Skills) | [eCommerce-Skills](https://github.com/nexscope-ai/eCommerce-Skills) ## Limitations This skill uses publicly available data and user-provided campaign reports. It cannot access Seller Central directly, pull real-time bid landscapes, or automate campaign changes via API. For deeper PPC analytics with automated bid management, check out **[Nexscope](https://www.nexscope.ai/)** — Your AI Assistant for smarter E-commerce decisions. --- **Built by [Nexscope](https://www.nexscope.ai/)** — research, validate, and act on e-commerce opportunities with AI.