7 Amazon PPC Mistakes That Are Burning Your Budget (And How to Fix Them)

I audited the Amazon PPC campaigns of 50 beauty brands last quarter. The average brand was wasting 40-60% of their ad spend on preventable mistakes.

These weren't complex technical errors. They were fundamental misunderstandings about how Amazon ads work — mistakes that cost real money every single day.

This is part 1 of our Amazon PPC Mastery series. We're starting with the seven most expensive mistakes we see brands make, why they happen, and exactly how to fix them.

Mistake #1: Running Auto Campaigns Forever

The Mistake

You launch an Automatic campaign when your product goes live (smart). Three months later, it's still your only campaign, and you're wondering why your ACoS is 60% (not smart).

Why It Happens

Amazon's interface makes Auto campaigns seem like a "set it and forget it" solution. The algorithm will optimize for you, right?

Wrong. Auto campaigns are for discovery, not optimization. They help Amazon learn what keywords might work. They're not designed to be your long-term strategy.

The Cost

We see brands spending $5,000-$15,000 monthly on Auto campaigns with ACoS between 50-80%. That same budget properly allocated could deliver 30-50% ACoS.

Real Example: A K-beauty serum brand was spending $8,000/month on Auto campaigns at 62% ACoS. After restructuring into targeted Manual campaigns, they spent $7,000/month at 34% ACoS. Same sales, half the ad cost.

How to Fix It

Month 1: Run Auto campaign to gather data Month 2: Analyze Search Term Report, identify your top 20 performing keywords Month 3: Launch Manual campaigns targeting those keywords, reduce Auto campaign budget by 50% Month 4: If Manual campaigns perform better (they will), reduce Auto to 10-20% of total ad spend

Keep Auto campaigns running at low budgets for ongoing keyword discovery, but move proven keywords to Manual campaigns where you control bids precisely.

Mistake #2: Ignoring Negative Keywords

The Mistake

Your "Korean face mask" ad is showing up for searches like "face mask COVID" and "Halloween mask." You're paying $1.50 per click for traffic that will never convert.

Why It Happens

Many brands don't realize Amazon ads use broad match by default, meaning your ads show for variations of your keywords — including irrelevant ones.

The Cost

We typically find 20-35% of Auto campaign clicks are for irrelevant search terms. If you're spending $10,000/month, that's $2,000-$3,500 wasted on traffic that cannot convert.

How to Fix It

Weekly Task (15 minutes):

1. Download Search Term Report from your Auto campaigns
2. Sort by impressions (high to low)
3. Add any irrelevant search terms as negative keywords
4. Pay special attention to: different product categories, competitor brand names (unless intentional), and ambiguous terms

Common Negative Keywords for Beauty Brands:

• "men" or "men's" (if your products are women-focused)
• "cheap," "discount," "wholesale" (if you're premium)
• Competitor brand names (unless you intentionally want that traffic)
• Related but different products (e.g., "hair mask" if you sell face masks)

One skincare brand added 150 negative keywords in their first month. Their click-through rate increased 23% and ACoS dropped from 52% to 41% — same budget, better traffic.

Mistake #3: Setting the Same Bid for All Keywords

The Mistake

You're bidding $1.50 for every keyword, from "Korean skincare" (broad, competitive) to "snail mucin essence sensitive skin" (specific, lower competition). One keyword has 50,000 monthly searches, another has 500. Both get the same bid.

Why It Happens

It's easier to set one default bid than to research and optimize each keyword individually.

The Cost

You overspend on low-value traffic and underspend on high-value traffic. Your budget gets eaten by broad keywords that don't convert well, while profitable long-tail keywords don't get enough exposure.

How to Fix It

Keyword Tiering Strategy:

Tier 1 - Your Hero Keywords (20% of keywords, 60% of budget):

• Your actual product type + qualifier
• Example: "hydrating toner sensitive skin"
• These convert well because searchers know what they want
• Bid: $2.00-$4.00

Tier 2 - Category Keywords (30% of keywords, 30% of budget):

• Broader product category terms
• Example: "Korean toner"
• Moderate competition, decent conversion
• Bid: $1.00-$2.00

Tier 3 - Discovery Keywords (50% of keywords, 10% of budget):

• Related searches and exploration terms
• Example: "K-beauty skincare"
• High impressions, lower conversion
• Bid: $0.50-$1.00

Start with these ranges and adjust based on your actual performance data.

Mistake #4: Only Running Sponsored Products

The Mistake

You're only using Sponsored Products ads because they're easiest to set up. You're ignoring Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display entirely.

Why It Happens

Sponsored Products are the default recommendation in Amazon's interface. Sponsored Brands and Display require more setup and creative assets.

The Cost

You're missing 30-40% of potential traffic. Sponsored Brands especially drive brand awareness and higher-quality clicks from shoppers who engage with multiple products.

How to Fix It

Your Complete Ad Strategy Should Include:

Sponsored Products (60% of budget):

• Your main conversion driver
• Target individual products
• Focused on high-intent keywords

Sponsored Brands (25% of budget):

• Build brand awareness
• Showcase multiple products
• Capture upper-funnel traffic
• Target category and brand keywords

Sponsored Display (15% of budget):

• Retarget viewers who didn't buy
• Target competitor product pages (carefully)
• Support new product launches

A skincare brand added Sponsored Brands after running only Sponsored Products for 6 months. Their overall ACoS improved by 8% because Sponsored Brands captured upper-funnel traffic that eventually converted through Sponsored Products.

Mistake #5: Not Adjusting Bids by Placement

The Mistake

Your bids are the same whether your ad shows at the top of search results (prime real estate) or at the bottom of page 3 (digital wasteland).

Why It Happens

Most brands don't realize you can adjust bids based on where your ad appears. It's hidden in campaign settings as "Adjust bids by placement."

The Cost

You underbid for valuable top-of-search placement (losing sales to competitors) and overpay for low-value placements (wasting budget on clicks that rarely convert).

How to Fix It

Optimal Bid Adjustments:

Top of Search (first page): +50% to +100% bid adjustment

• Highest visibility
• Best conversion rate
• Worth paying premium for

Product Pages: +20% to +40% bid adjustment

• Good for related products
• Decent conversion rates
• Lower competition than search

Rest of Search: -20% to -30% bid adjustment (or leave at 0%)

• Lower visibility
• Lower conversion rates
• Don't overspend here

Example: Base bid of $2.00 becomes:

• $3.00-$4.00 for top of search
• $2.40-$2.80 for product pages
• $1.40-$1.60 for rest of search

Mistake #6: Launching With Terrible Product Images

The Mistake

You spend $5,000 on PPC driving traffic to a listing with poor-quality images, no lifestyle shots, and unclear product benefits. Your click-through rate is 0.2%, and your conversion rate is 5%.

Why It Happens

Brands focus on getting ads running quickly and plan to "optimize the listing later." But you're paying for every click to that mediocre listing.

The Cost

Poor listings make even perfect PPC targeting unprofitable. If your conversion rate is 5% instead of 12% (beauty product average), you need to spend 2.4x more to get the same sales.

Math:

• 100 clicks at $2.00 = $200 spent
• At 5% conversion: 5 sales, $40 per sale in ad cost
• At 12% conversion: 12 sales, $16.67 per sale in ad cost

How to Fix It

Before you spend $1 on PPC, optimize:

Main Image:

• Professional photography
• Product fills 85% of frame
• White background (required)
• Shows product size clearly

Lifestyle Images (slots 2-7):

• Product in use
• Results/benefits visualization
• Size comparison
• Ingredients/key features callouts
• Before/after (if appropriate)
• Infographic highlighting key benefits

Benchmark Performance:

• Beauty products average 10-15% conversion rate
• If yours is below 8%, fix your listing before scaling ads
• Focus ad spend on products with proven conversion rates

Mistake #7: Not Monitoring Your Search Term Reports

The Mistake

You set up campaigns in January and don't look at Search Term Reports until April. You've spent $15,000, and 30% of it went to irrelevant keywords you could have negated in week one.

Why It Happens

It feels like busy work. You're focused on ACoS and sales, not analyzing spreadsheets of search terms.

The Cost

The longer you wait to review search terms, the more you waste on poor-performing keywords. Weekly reviews take 15 minutes. Waiting 3 months costs thousands.

Real Numbers:

• Weekly review: Catch bad keywords after $50-$100 wasted
• Monthly review: Catch bad keywords after $500-$1000 wasted
• Quarterly review: Catch bad keywords after $1500-$3000 wasted

How to Fix It

Weekly 15-Minute Search Term Review:

1. Download Search Term Report for past 7 days

2. Sort by Spend (high to low)

3. Look at your top 20 spending terms

4. For each term, ask:

   • Is this relevant to my product? (If no → Negative keyword)
   • Is the ACoS acceptable? (If >80% consistently → Reduce bid or negative)
   • Is it performing well? (If ACoS is under 30% → Increase bid or move to exact match campaign)

5. Sort by Impressions (high to low)

6. Look for high-impression, low-click terms (these might need bid increases if relevant)

One brand implemented weekly reviews and found $800/month in wasted spend within the first month — keywords like "mask" (they sold face masks but were showing for costume masks) and competitor brand misspellings.

Your 30-Day Fix Plan

You don't need to fix everything today. Here's a realistic timeline:

Week 1: Stop the bleeding

• Add obvious negative keywords from Search Term Report
• Pause any campaigns with >100% ACoS that have run for 30+ days

Week 2: Restructure campaigns

• Create Manual campaigns for your top 10 performing keywords from Auto
• Set different bids based on keyword tier (hero/category/discovery)

Week 3: Optimize listings

• Audit product images and update if needed
• Ensure titles and bullets are optimized
• Test conversion rate before scaling ads

Week 4: Set up monitoring

• Schedule weekly Search Term Report reviews (15 min)
• Set up bid adjustment by placement
• Document your baseline ACoS and sales

What Success Looks Like

After fixing these mistakes, expect to see:

First 30 days:

• ACoS improves 15-25%
• Wasted spend drops 30-50%
• Same or better sales with lower spend

After 90 days:

• ACoS improves 30-40%
• Sales increase 20-30% (from better targeting)
• Time spent managing campaigns drops (better structure)

Real Example: A beauty supplement brand with 55% ACoS spent 6 weeks fixing these seven mistakes. After 90 days, their ACoS was 32%, and sales had increased 40% — same products, same budget, dramatically better results.

Next Steps

This is part 1 of our Amazon PPC Mastery series. Coming next:

• Part 2: Advanced keyword research strategies
• Part 3: Bidding optimization and automation
• Part 4: Scaling profitable campaigns without increasing ACoS

The mistakes in this article are costing you money right now. Pick one (start with negative keywords — it's the fastest win), fix it this week, and measure the impact.

Want help automating your Amazon PPC optimization? Learn more about automated PPC management.