Q: Why are my Amazon ads getting very low impressions?
A:You may need to up your bid amount for your keywords, especially if you are in a very competitive niche. Remember, you are not the only Author bidding on these keywords, so Amazon tends to show the highest bids first.
Q:My Amazon ads are getting impressions, but very little clicks?
A:When customers are scrolling through the results page, the only thing that catches their eye initially are the covers. You may want to reevaluate your own cover, as it may not appeal to potential customers…thus, very little click through rates. Also, you may have chosen the wrong or misleading keywords.
Q:My Amazon ads are getting good impressions and clicks, but very little sales?
A:Your keywords and cover are probably spot on, congratulations! The next thing the customer sees is your description, so make sure that is spot on as well. Does it accurately describe your product? Is it too long, or too short? Is it a little confusing? Does it compel people to buy your book? Any of these reasons could result in less sales once someone arrives on your sales page.
Q:My Amazon ad dashboard reports that I made a sale, but I can’t find the sale in my KDP reports dashboard?
A:Amazon ads records the sale when the transaction is complete on their website. Your KDP reports only records the sale after the product is shipped, thus the lag/discrepancy.
Q:When running Amazon ads, what is ACOS, and what is a good number?
A:ACOS stands for Advertising Cost Of Sales (total ad spend / total ad sales x 100%). You will have to do a little math to find out what ACOS number is good for you, but, being that most no/low content KDP books have a fairly low profit margin, somewhere between 30.xx and 40.xx means you are probably breaking even as far as ad profit is concerned. A lower number than this and you are making money, higher, and you are losing money.
Q:How can I lower my Amazon ads ACOS (always a good thing)
A:Your Amazon ad dashboard is a wealth of knowledge, an entire article could be written on this topic alone. So, to over simplify this, pay attention to your keyword bids. If you notice a good amount of impressions with little sales (sales-not clicks), you may want to lower this individual bid. If you notice mediocre impressions, but good sales, you may want to up that keyword bid a little. Take the time to understand all of the information available to you in your dashboard and you will be able to spot winning, and losing patterns in your ad.
Q:I see some people are running Amazon ads at a loss, why?
A:The more books you sell, the higher your BSR (Best Seller Rank) will become. The higher your BSR, the more likely Amazon is to show your product on their results page. After a while, you will get more organic sales (sales without ads), so, conceivably, you can stop running ads, and rely on these organic sales. Remember, any sales you get without paying for them, is pure profit.
Q:When can I expect to see sales from my Amazon ads? How long should I run Amazon ads before I can assess/tweak them to become more profitable?
A:It usually takes Amazon 3 or 4 days to figure out where to place your ads, so you may not see much activity for a few days after your ad is accepted. When to tweak your ads depends on your comfort level, but usually, 2 or 3 weeks after the ad is live is a good time to evaluate its performance.
