Venturing into the world of Amazon PPC (Pay-Per-Click) advertising can be both exciting and overwhelming. With millions of sellers competing for customer attention, leveraging Amazon PPC the right way can make the difference between decent sales and extraordinary success. However, to truly master Amazon advertising, you must first get comfortable with the language. There is a sea of acronyms, abbreviations, and industry-specific terms that can confuse even experienced sellers. This glossary-style article is here to decode those terms for you and help you become fluent in Amazon advertising speak.
Basic Amazon PPC Terms
- PPC (Pay-Per-Click): An advertising model where advertisers pay only when their ad is clicked. Amazon PPC lets sellers bid on keywords to display ads for their products.
- ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sales): Measures the efficiency of your PPC campaign. It’s calculated as ad spend ÷ ad sales × 100. A lower ACoS generally means a more profitable campaign.
- TACoS (Total Advertising Cost of Sales): Similar to ACoS but incorporates total sales (organic + PPC). Helps measure how ads influence overall sales performance.
- CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of ad impressions that result in clicks. Calculated as clicks ÷ impressions × 100.
- CPC (Cost Per Click): The amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad. A lower CPC typically indicates cost efficiency.
Campaign Structures and Types
- SP (Sponsored Products): The most common ad type that promotes individual product listings in search results and product pages.
- SB (Sponsored Brands): Ads that feature your brand logo, tagline, and multiple products. Ideal for brand awareness.
- SD (Sponsored Display): Remarketing-style ads that target shoppers based on their interests or past product views, both on and off Amazon.
- ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number): A unique code assigned to each product listing. Targeting specific ASINs is a common strategy in PPC campaigns.
Keyword Strategy Terms
- KW (Keyword): The word or phrase sellers bid on for their product ads to show up when customers search.
- Broad Match: Your ad appears for queries containing your keywords in any order and with additional words.
- Phrase Match: Your ad appears for searches that contain the exact phrase or a close variation, with possible additional words before or after.
- Exact Match: Ads show only for searches with the exact keyword or very close variations.
- Negative Keywords: Terms for which you do not want your ad to appear. Used to filter out irrelevant traffic and save budget.
Performance Metrics and Optimization Terms
- Impressions: The number of times your ad is displayed, regardless of whether it’s clicked.
- Conversions: The number of purchases or desired actions taken after clicking on an ad.
- ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): Measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. A high ROAS means your campaign is effective.
- Bid Adjustment: Increasing or decreasing the bid amount based on factors like device type, location, or time of day.
Campaign Management Tools and Terms
- Campaign Manager: Amazon Ads’ dashboard for managing all aspects of ad campaigns including budgets, performance, and status.
- Budget: The maximum amount you’re willing to spend per day or campaign. Budget management is crucial for ad sustainability.
- Placement: Refers to where your ads show, such as “Top of Search” or “Product Pages”. Placement data helps optimize for visibility.
- Portfolio: A collection of campaigns grouped together for easier budget allocation and reporting.
Advanced Terms to Know
- Search Term Report: Provides insights into which actual search terms triggered your ads. Useful for keyword expansion and identifying negative keywords.
- Auto Campaign: Amazon automatically selects relevant keywords to target based on your listing.
- Manual Campaign: You choose specific keywords or ASINs to target, giving you more control over performance.
- Attribution: Ways to determine which actions (sales, clicks) were driven by your ads. Helps analyze ad effectiveness.
Why Mastering These Terms Matters
A comprehensive understanding of Amazon PPC lingo does more than just help you sound like a pro—it directly contributes to campaign performance. Knowing your ACoS from your TACoS allows for smarter budget decisions. Understanding campaign types and keyword match types helps you structure ads that target the right audience at the right time.
So the next time you’re inside your Campaign Manager, analyzing your CTRs, adjusting bids, or filtering for negative keywords—refer back to this glossary to stay sharp. Mastery of these terms puts you on the fast track to more clicks, better conversions, and higher profits on Amazon.