How to Grow Your Organic Reach on Amazon with Paid Ads

Updated: Apr 4

By now, you know that Amazon Ads can help you skip the line and snag the top spot in search—for a price. What you may not know is that with the right strategy, they can transform your organic ranking, too.

On Amazon, you can’t just set it and forget it. Listing a product and hoping for the best will not translate to higher sales or rankings. In fact, if you set it and forget it, you’re likely to lose money on the listing fees alone.

What makes Amazon ads so revolutionary is that nailing a product’s ad naturally boosts its organic search ranking.

Think about it—Amazon is always trying to highlight the best products in search. If customers are enthusiastically clicking on your ad links, Amazon is naturally going to take notice and give your listing a boost.

In the following article, let’s explore how to create THAT kind of Amazon ad—one that is so irresistible to your ideal customer, they can’t help but click and buy.

Once you have that kind of ad sending traffic to your product pages, it’s only a matter of time before your organic ranking starts climbing too.

Here are five steps to take your Amazon ads from expensive risks to sales magnets that help you reach the top of search organically.

1. First, Choose Products That Are Likely to Perform Well in Ads

Before you start, you want to choose the best possible products to put your advertising dollars behind. These are products that the market wants. They have a proven demand, so that your advertising dollar is likely to translate into sales.

Here are a few tips to pick sales-winning products from the jump…

Pick your bestsellers: If a product has a history of steady sales, then it also has a consistent market demand. This is a great place to start.
Find trending products and categories: Use market research tools like Google Trends, Helium10, Jungle Scout and the Amazon Best Sellers list to see what people are buying and when.
Watch your competitors: If a competitor’s product has a high number of sales and positive reviews, pay attention. This communicates what your market wants.
Which of your products have positive reviews? It may seem obvious, but products with high customer ratings and positive feedback are often missed! When customers are happy with a product, other customers likely will be too.
Check your profit margins: Pick the products that have a little extra margin for advertising costs. At the end of the day, you want to make a profit. If a product’s margin is too narrow to make it worth advertising, pick something else.

These steps can be alone? Remember, if you hit a snag, our team is here to help. We win when you win because we put our money behind your product. As investors who are also expert Amazon managers, we know how to make your products get attention and sales. With our money backing your products, it pays us to help you win. Set up a call to see how we do this >>

2. Do Your Research to Identify the Most Relevant Keywords

While the quality of your ad determines whether people click on it, the right keywords get your product in front of relevant potential buyers.

Getting clear on exactly which keywords and keyword strings your customer is searching for is one of the best ways to make sure your ads are immediately relevant, grab their attention, and drive the sale.

Here’s how to pick keywords that get you in front of customers who need your product…

Start with a brainstorm: List all of the keywords and phrases you think your potential customers might use to find products like yours. Think like a customer. What would you type in the search bar?
Use keyword research tools like Amazon’s own Brand Analytics, or third-party tools such as Helium 10, Jungle Scout, or Ahrefs to discover popular search terms, their search volume, and competition levels.
Check out your competitors: Look at your top competitors on Amazon. See what keywords they’re targeting in their product titles and descriptions. You can also find their backend keywords with a Reverse ASIN Lookup using tools like Helium 10, Jungle Scout, or Viral Launch.
Consider long-tail keywords: Don’t just focus on short, competitive keywords. Include long-tail keywords (longer, more specific phrases). They often have lower search volumes, but can drive higher conversion rates, as they’re more specific.
Refine your list: Once you’ve gathered a list of highly relevant keywords to use in your ads, refine it to prioritize keywords with a good balance of high search volume and relevance to your product, but with lower competition. You can check their search volume in Helium 10, Jungle Scout, Viral Launch, or Ahrefs.

Remember to continuously monitor and tweak your keywords as you go. Now that you have your keywords ready, let’s help you put them to use with irresistible ads!

3. Create Click-Magnetizing Ads That Your Customer Connects With

Now that you’re clear on your keywords, you can focus on creating ads that your customers immediately recognize as what they need.

Your ads must be optimized for conversion by focusing on irresistible, high-quality images and persuasive copy.

Here’s how to write ads that get the attention of the customers searching for your keywords…

Choose eye-catching, highly relevant images: Your images should immediately communicate your product’s best benefits. Use clear, bright, high-resolution photos that make your product stand out. Bright colors, an indication of how it’s used, and lifestyle pictures that show it in use can help your buyers see its value, right away.
Write persuasive ad copy: Keep your copy short, to the point, and compelling. Highlight the unique benefits and features of your product. Use emotional triggers and a call to action (CTA) to encourage clicks. Incorporate your researched keywords naturally to maintain relevance.
Leverage your customer reviews: Blending positive reviews into your ad can greatly influence buying decisions. If you have strong customer testimonials, consider incorporating them into your copy or highlighting your product’s average rating to build trust and credibility in an image.

4. Get Your Ads Where They’ll See the Most Traffic

Before you’re ready to list your ads, you want to make sure you post them where your audience can find them easily. For example, if you’re selling running shoes, you may want to get your ads featured on sportswear category pages or product detail pages.

Whatever you do, make sure that you continuously monitor all of the locations where you’re listing your ads and determine where to focus your budget. If traditional search is giving you the highest number of clicks, but product page listings are giving you the highest ROI, you may need to balance your budget to get a little of both.

Here’s how to nail this step…

Log into your Amazon advertising platform. This is where you'll manage all your advertising campaigns.
Create a new campaign or select an existing one to modify. Choose 'Sponsored Products' for product-focused ads or 'Sponsored Brands' for brand awareness.
Navigate to the targeting section of your campaign setup. Here, you'll decide how to place your ads.
Select the type of campaign you’re running: You’ll need to choose either ‘auto’ or ‘manual,’ to continue, either entrusting Amazon with the placement of your advertisements and leveraging its A9 algorithm, or taking control and select the ad placements yourself.
Choose your targeting: Do you want to target keywords or products? If you’re running a manual campaign, you have the option to either target specific keywords that your customers use in their searches, or position your ads directly on the product detail pages (PDPs) of competing products.
Adjust your bids. Decide how much you’re willing to pay for your ad to appear in these targeted spots. Higher bids can increase the likelihood of your ad being shown in preferred positions.
Review and launch your campaign. Make sure all settings are correct, and then launch your campaign. Monitor its performance closely in the first few weeks to make adjustments as needed.

5. Keep Testing and Optimizing Your Ads

Once your ads are live, you’ll want to stay on top of them. Keep monitoring to see what’s performing, and what isn’t. Focus your advertising dollars on the ads that are driving the highest ROI. If something is driving a high number of clicks, but a low number of conversions, make sure you’re targeting the right keywords. Maybe the categories you’re landing in just aren’t relevant to your product’s ideal customer!

As long as you keep monitoring and tweaking, chances are that your ad will eventually begin to take off. If it isn’t, it may not be the time to feature that particular product, or you need to come back to the drawing board.

Regular Performance Checks: Make it a habit to frequently review how your ads are doing. Use the Amazon Advertising dashboard to see important numbers like how many people see your ads (impressions), how many click on them, and how many buy your product after clicking (conversion rate).
Spot Winners and Losers: Identify which ads are hitting their marks (winners) and which ones are missing the target (losers).
Fine-Tune Your Strategy: For ads that are not performing well, think about lowering how much you're willing to pay per click (bid) or stop them for a bit (pause) to use your budget smarter. Additionally, refine your targeting by incorporating negative keywords to avoid spending on irrelevant clicks. For those doing great, consider putting more money into them to get even better results.
Scale Up Smartly: When you see certain ads or keywords are consistently leading to sales, gradually increase your investment in those areas. This is scaling up—putting more into what works.
Experiment with A/B Testing: Try out different versions of your ads to see what works best. Change one thing at a time (like the image, headline, or description) and compare the results. This is called A/B testing, and it's a powerful way to continuously improve your ads.
Apply What You Learn: Use the insights from your testing to make your ads better. If you find out that a certain type of image or a specific keyword works really well, use that knowledge to tweak your existing ads or when creating new ones.
Keep the Cycle Going: Testing and optimizing your Amazon ads isn't a one-time task—it's an ongoing cycle. Always be on the lookout for ways to make your ads more effective and your budget work harder.

And the biggest secret of all—keep emailing your customers to ask for reviews and ratings. Positive reviews and high ratings are crucial on Amazon; they boost both your ad performance and organic rankings.

This is because shoppers trust products with strong feedback, making them more likely to click on your ads and buy your products. And Amazon's algorithm favors highly rated items, placing them higher in search results.

Essentially, good reviews fuel better visibility and sales, creating a positive feedback loop for your brand's success on the platform. It could even lower the overall cost of your ads.

Can you implement this alone? Remember, if you hit a snag, our team is here to help. We win when you win because we put our money behind your product. As investors who are also expert Amazon managers, we know how to make your products get attention and sales. With our money backing your products, it pays us to help you win. Set up a call to see how we do this >>

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