How to Build an Amazon PPC Keyword Match Strategy

Your PPC keyword match matters as much as the search terms you choose. 

 

 

All sellers know that Amazon PPC is an essential investment. After all, the average conversion rate for Amazon ads is 9.89%.

 

That said, Amazon PPC can be difficult to perfect, even for enterprise sellers. Sellers must know how to target buyers at every stage of the sales funnel and implement the best keyword strategies, such as broad match, phrase match, and ASIN targeting.

 

This guide aims to teach you the key elements of an Amazon PPC keyword match strategy. You’ll learn various advertising tactics to lower ad spend while boosting conversions. All of this will help sellers capture buyer demand while scaling advertising for complex catalogs.

 

Understanding Amazon PPC Keyword Match Types

Before you plan your Amazon PPC keywords, you should decide which of the three main types you want to use and what role they will serve in your campaign:

 

• Phrase match. Your ad is shown when the user searches for your phrase and close variations, such as plural differences, misspellings, translations, and acronyms. Example: “small accent pillows for the living room” or “small accent pillow for the living room.”

• Broad match. Wider exposure for customer queries. Your ad will appear when the keywords are used in any order. Example: “high-heeled shoe,” “shoe with high heels,” “black high-heeled shoe,” “high-heeled boots,” etc.

• Exact match. Your ad will show when a customer searches for a query that’s identical to your keyword, as well as close variations such as synonyms. Example: “outdoor chair” and “outside chair.”

 

There are many reasons to use some keyword match types over others. Broad match is best for a higher reach to build brand awareness, since this keyword match leads to more discovery. 

 

Phrase match is also ideal to build brand awareness, but sellers still have more control over their target audience. Exact match is best for more precise targeting, which is ideal when buyers are ready to convert.

 

Related content: How to Use Branded Keywords

 

Why PPC Keyword Match Matters

As you can see, intent is key when creating an Amazon advertising strategy. There should be a certain reason to choose different keyword match types. If you blindly target your PPC keywords, you’ll only waste your ad spend.

 

Speaking of ad spend, PPC keyword matching can also increase your sales and revenue. Keyword match types can enhance your query-level profitability, since certain search terms are more valuable than others. This is especially important when factoring in buyer intent, is your audience casual shoppers or are they ready to purchase?

 

PPC keyword matching can also scale campaigns. Keyword matches define the limits of a campaign and allow sellers to control the audience they’re targeting and the sales-funnel stage they’re in.

 

How can sellers ensure they’re using their ad dollars toward the right keywords? Measuring metrics like TaCOS (total advertising cost of sale) will help sellers compare their ad spend versus sales revenue.

 

 

The Full-Funnel Match Type Framework

When creating a PPC keyword match strategy, pairing match type with the sales funnel stage is key. Here’s how to use keyword matching to visualize the sales funnel:

 

• Top =Broad match. Buyers are shopping to compare products and find what they’re looking for. Broad match keywords increase brand awareness and visibility.

• Middle = Phrase match. At this point, your shoppers are more mindful in their search and are focused more on trust and authenticity. Phrase match keywords narrow down your shoppers and focus on validation.

• Bottom = Exact match. At this point, your audience knows what they’re looking for. They will use specific keywords to find specific products. Since you’re targeting buyers who are ready to purchase, choose keywords with buyer’s intent.

 

Another keyword matching type to add to the sales funnel is ASIN targeting. ASIN targeting is when brands optimize their ads with brands, product pages, or categories. 

 

You can use ASIN targeting for your own brand and products to boost traffic and visibility, or to audit competing products. 

 

How to Deploy Match Types

Before building your Amazon PPC keyword match strategy, it’s essential for multi-SKU sellers to understand how to organize your campaign structure around match types. Start by following these steps:

 

1. Conduct keyword research and build a search term list.
2. Separate these search terms into Amazon PPC keyword match types.
3. Filter ASINs for ASIN targeting (if applicable).
4. Conduct budget allocation and set bids.

 

Another best practice is to avoid keyword cannibalization. This is when multiple product ads target the same keywords. For multi-SKU brands, this can be challenging if your products are in similar categories. 

 

Sellers must find high-quality yet unique keywords for each of their ads. If necessary, advertise one product in a category or set at a time.

 

 

Keyword Harvesting

Another best practice that sellers can implement is keyword harvesting. This is when high-performing and relevant keywords are isolated for specific campaigns. Keyword harvesting is especially effective with planning an Amazon PPC keyword match campaign, since the right search terms can be used for broad and exact match strategies.

 

Sellers can achieve this in two ways:

 

• Paying close attention to search and ad reports and finding the keywords that overlap in different sales funnel stages
• Finding the winning keywords for broad and phrase match types and adjusting them for exact match

 

Related content: How to Use the Amazon Search Terms Report

 

Negative Keyword Strategy (for Cost Control)

An effective way to control budget allocation is to implement negative keywords. When sellers choose negative keywords, their products won’t appear on those SERPs. This can help you direct your budget toward keyword targeting that converts shoppers.

 

But a big mistake that sellers make is using too many negative keywords. This is especially vital for multi-SKU sellers, as it can prevent casual shoppers from making an important purchasing decision.

 

When setting negative keywords, choose ones that are obvious. For example, if you sell sunglasses, you may want to set negative keywords for other types of “glasses,” such as “drinking glasses.”

 

Continue to monitor PPC reports. If your ads are appearing on irrelevant searches, find those search terms and add them to your negative keyword list. This way, you boost efficiency and scale your advertising while preventing wasted ad spend.

 

Bidding Strategy (by Match Type)

Now that you know all about PPC keyword match type optimization, it’s time to plan your bidding strategy. It all boils down to intent and sales funnel position.

 

• Broad match is best during a phase where you need to boost brand awareness, such as introducing a new product. Brands should also bid lower and focus more on testing ad titles and copy to send the right message to potential customers.
• Phrase match can be used at any sales funnel stage. While this does increase brand awareness, phrase match keywords with the right intent can also convert. That said, controlled bidding is key here.

 

Most of your budget should go to exact match keywords, since this is the time to drive sales and increase revenue. 

 

That said, you shouldn’t bid on exact match keywords before testing them. You can do this with phrase-match keywords and only increase their budget when those keywords are proven to convert shoppers.

 

Common PPC Match Strategy Mistakes

As you optimize your PPC match strategy, it’s normal to test and fine-tune certain keywords. That said, sellers may make small errors in their campaigns, which can result in wasted ad spend and lost sales.

 

• Not segmenting campaigns by match type. As we stated, you’ll want to consolidate your keywords into different match types. In addition, you’ll want to place those keywords in different ad groups. This will make it easier to analyze success while better allocating your budget.

• Over-relying on broad match. Your ad may get more hits when you optimize for broad match keywords. But this is the phase when you’re boosting brand awareness, so you’ll want to put most of your budget toward exact match keywords.

• Using high-converting buyer keywords for broad match: Broad match campaigns are ideal for discovery, not conversions. Advertisers should use buyer intent keywords for exact match campaigns.

• Not using proper budget allocation: To scale your ad campaign, you’ll want to be mindful of how you allocate your budget. Keep lower bids for broad match, higher bids for exact match, and in-between bids for phrase match.

• “Setting and forgetting.” Sellers should frequently review their campaigns to better target their audience and set budgets. For best results, view your ad reports in Seller Central once or twice a month and tweak your campaign when needed.

• Poor keyword promotion process: If you don’t optimize your ad title and copy for your keywords, you won’t drive the traffic you need.

• Lack of negative keyword structure: While negative keywords can help advertisers control budget, too many negative keywords can decrease visibility and skew your results.

 

Scaling PPC Performance With a Structured Match Type System

The secret behind a successful Amazon PPC keyword match strategy is continuous optimization. Once you begin your campaign, continue to test and scale your strategy based on a deep data analysis.

 

As you can see, a PPC keyword match campaign is complex. If you would rather partner with professionals, we can turn your high-intent keywords into revenue-boosting growth. Learn about our Accelerator Program and how we can help your Amazon business.