Advertising · Beginner · 6 min read · 9 steps
How to set up an Amazon Sponsored Products automatic campaign (and read it in two weeks)
An automatic campaign is the advertising version of handing Amazon your car keys and asking it to find the parking spots. Amazon reads your product information and past shopping queries, then places your ad on search results and product detail pages it thinks fit. You pay only when someone clicks.
It is the setup Amazon Ads recommends for a first campaign, and it stays useful long after, because it keeps surfacing search terms you never would have typed into a keyword list. The catch: targeting type is locked once the campaign is live, and a few defaults can spend faster than you expect. Here is the whole build, with the numbers Amazon publishes.
Part 01
Step by step
9 steps, in the order Seller Central asks for them.
- 01Open the campaign builder
Sign in to the Amazon Ads console from Seller Central (Amazon's newer guides call the console Amazon Ads Agent), select Create campaign, then choose Sponsored Products. If you have never advertised, register first and pick Seller Central as your account type.
- 02Pick products that belong together
Bids and targeting apply to every product in an ad group, so group items that are closely related. An ad group can hold up to 1,000 products. If you only have a few ASINs, Amazon suggests one ASIN per campaign with a budget you are happy to spend on that item.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- 03Name it plainly and skip the end date
Use a name you will recognize in a report six months from now, such as brand, product and Auto. Amazon recommends running without an end date. It keeps updating the shopping terms an automatic campaign matches, so the campaign follows seasonal search changes on its own.
Sources: Amazon Ads, Getting started guide for sponsored ads, Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- 04Choose Automatic targeting
Select Automatic targeting. Amazon matches your ad to keywords and products similar to yours across four groups: close match, loose match, substitutes and complements. Decide now, because you cannot switch a live campaign between automatic and manual targeting. A change of plan means a new campaign.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- 05Set one default bid or a bid per group
You can enter a single default bid or set separate bids for each of the four groups. Amazon shows suggested bids for each group. Close match and substitutes sit nearest to what you sell. Loose match and complements cast a wider net, so start them lower if your margin is thin.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- 06Pick a bidding strategy and any placement adjustment
Fixed bids keep your bid as entered. Dynamic bids (down only) cuts bids when a sale looks unlikely, which Amazon suggests when you optimize for ROAS. Dynamic bids (up and down) can raise or lower a bid by up to 100%, so a $1.00 bid can reach $2.00. Placement adjustments for top of search, rest of search and product pages go up to 900%.
Sources: Amazon Ads, Guide to dynamic bidding (up and down) with Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads, Rest of search bid adjustment control for Sponsored Products (Jan 9, 2024)
- 07Set a daily budget you can actually live with
Amazon recommends a minimum daily budget of $10 in the US. The budget is averaged over the calendar month, so any one day can run up to 25% over: a $10 budget can spend $12.50 on a busy day while the month still totals $300. Budgets spend as clicks come, and an empty campaign waits for the midnight reset.
Sources: Amazon Ads, Getting started guide for sponsored ads, Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products budget basics and best practices
- 08Add negatives you already know, then launch
You can add negative keywords or negative products during setup. Use them only for terms you are sure do not fit, such as a model your product does not work with. Amazon recommends negative phrase or negative exact for keywords.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- 09Wait about two weeks, then read the search term report
Amazon suggests letting an automatic campaign run for about two weeks before building a manual campaign. Then open the search term report, move converting terms and ASINs into a manual keyword or product campaign, and check the targeting and placement reports to see which group and position did the work.
Sources: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads, Getting started guide for sponsored ads
Part 02 Calculator
Try the numbers: Auto campaign spend and bid ceiling check
Runs in your browser only. The 25% daily allowance, the 100% dynamic ceiling and the 20-click rule are Amazon's published figures. The 20-click cost assumes every click costs your default bid, which real auctions rarely do.
Sources: Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products budget basics and best practices, Amazon Ads, Guide to dynamic bidding (up and down) with Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads, Rest of search bid adjustment control for Sponsored Products (Jan 9, 2024), Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
Part 03
The picture
The same facts, drawn. Each chart links to the Amazon page it comes from.
Order of the campaign builder as Amazon Ads describes it for a first Sponsored Products campaign. Targeting type cannot change after launch.
Source: Amazon Ads, Getting started guide for sponsored ads
Data desk by XENA IntelligenceCeilings from Amazon Ads: placement adjustments up to 900% (rest of search added Jan 9, 2024), dynamic bids (up and down) up to 100%, and a daily budget can run up to 25% over on a single day. Sources: placement launch note, dynamic bidding guide and budget guide.
Source: Amazon Ads, Rest of search bid adjustment control for Sponsored Products (Jan 9, 2024)
Data desk by XENA IntelligencePasses
- Let it run about two weeks before judging it
- Wait for at least 20 clicks before adding a negative
- Use negative phrase or negative exact
- Change one setting at a time while testing
- Pair it with a manual campaign once terms emerge
Bounces
- Expect to switch it to manual later
- Mix unrelated products in one ad group
- Add negatives on day two
- Undo a negative before two weeks
- Forget that up and down can double a bid
Drawn from Amazon Ads' targeting guide and dynamic bidding guide.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
Data desk by XENA Intelligence- Day 0Launch
- Day 14Read search terms, build manual
- Day 28Second bid and budget review
Amazon suggests about two weeks before building a manual campaign and reviewing bids and budgets about once every two weeks. Day 28 is simply the second two-week check.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
Data desk by XENA IntelligencePart 04
Tricks the help page buries
The lines in Amazon's own documentation that most sellers scroll past.
- 1Turn groups down, not off, at first
Each of the four groups can be switched on or off or bid up and down after launch. If loose match is eating budget, lower its bid before you pause it. You keep the discovery and spend less on it.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- 2The 20-click rule saves good terms
Amazon recommends waiting until a keyword has at least 20 clicks before deciding it deserves a negative. A term with three clicks and no sale is a rumor, not a verdict.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- 3Budget rules for the holiday rush
Schedule-based budget rules raise a budget by a set percentage over a date range. Amazon's own examples: plus 20% from November 1 to November 30, or plus 100% on Black Friday. Set the rule before the traffic, not during it.
Source: Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products budget basics and best practices
- 4Out of stock means out of the auction
Sponsored Products ads only appear while the advertised item is in stock. If an auto campaign suddenly goes quiet, check inventory before you touch a single bid.
Source: Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products
- 5Watch the placement report before adding 900%
Rest of search, top of search and product pages each take an adjustment up to 900%, and the placement report splits results by all three. Raise the placement that already converts, not the one that sounds exciting.
Sources: Amazon Ads, Rest of search bid adjustment control for Sponsored Products (Jan 9, 2024), Amazon Ads, Getting started guide for sponsored ads
- 6Change one thing, then wait
Amazon's dynamic bidding guide suggests limiting changes while you test so a shift in results can be traced to one edit. Review bids about every two weeks, not every morning.
Source: Amazon Ads, Guide to dynamic bidding (up and down) with Sponsored Products
- 7New seller credit is worth checking
Amazon offers up to $1,000 in ad credits to new Professional sellers who launch and spend on Sponsored Products within 30 days of their first campaign, if their first buyable ASIN was listed within the last 90 days. Terms apply and vary by marketplace.
Source: Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products
Part 05
Questions sellers ask
Tap a question to open it.
What are the four automatic targeting groups in Sponsored Products?
Close match shows your ad on searches closely related to your product, loose match on loosely related searches, substitutes on detail pages of similar products, and complements on detail pages of products that go with yours. You can bid on each group separately or switch one off.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
How much daily budget should a Sponsored Products auto campaign have?
Amazon Ads recommends a minimum daily budget of $10 in the US per campaign. The budget averages over the calendar month, so a single day can spend up to 25% more, for example $12.50 on a $10 budget, while the month totals $300.
Sources: Amazon Ads, Getting started guide for sponsored ads, Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products budget basics and best practices
How long should an automatic campaign run before I change it?
Amazon suggests letting an automatic campaign run for about two weeks before you create a manual campaign from its search term report. Review bids and budgets about once every two weeks after that, and wait for at least 20 clicks before you make a keyword negative.
Sources: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads, Guide to dynamic bidding (up and down) with Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products budget basics and best practices
Can I change an automatic campaign to manual targeting?
No. Amazon Ads says the targeting type cannot change once a campaign is live. Keep the automatic campaign running for discovery and create a separate manual keyword or product campaign for the search terms and ASINs that convert.
Source: Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
How high can dynamic bids raise my Sponsored Products bid?
With dynamic bids (up and down), Amazon can raise or lower your bid by up to 100% based on how likely a click is to convert, so a $1.00 bid can reach $2.00. Placement adjustments are separate and go up to 900% for top of search, rest of search and product pages.
Sources: Amazon Ads, Guide to dynamic bidding (up and down) with Sponsored Products, Amazon Ads, Rest of search bid adjustment control for Sponsored Products (Jan 9, 2024)
Sources
Every fact above comes from these Amazon pages, opened on . Amazon updates them; if a step looks different in your account, trust Seller Central.
- Amazon Ads, A simple guide to effective targeting with Sponsored Products
- Amazon Ads, Getting started guide for sponsored ads
- Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products budget basics and best practices
- Amazon Ads, Guide to dynamic bidding (up and down) with Sponsored Products
- Amazon Ads, Rest of search bid adjustment control for Sponsored Products (Jan 9, 2024)
- Amazon Ads, Sponsored Products