Amazon PPC & Listing Optimisation: UK Sellers Can Boost ROI with a Combined Approach 

Amazon sellers looking to increase visibility and grow sales often get in touch with agencies like ours looking to invest in paid ads. But how can you be sure that you’re getting the best return for paid marketing activity?  

While Amazon PPC is indeed highly effective, it’s important to understand the best ways of boosting ROI to make the spend worth your while. In our experience, it’s vital to align advertising with listing optimisation for best results.  This is because without a properly optimised product page, sellers are limiting their reach. Not only that, but when the copy isn’t effective in conveying important product information, there’s no way to manage conversion.  

Here’s a quick look at why your Amazon ads aren’t paying off, and an example case study.  

Why aren’t my Amazon ads working? 

At Seller Presto, we’re focused on increasing ROAS (return on ad spend) for our clients. We do this using a few key strategies, such as automatic campaign creation to harvest keywords, negative keyword targeting, placement bid adjustments and continuous monitoring, competitor product listing campaigns (ASIN targeted), advanced bid strategy, and a dayparting service to automatically pauses ads between unprofitable times of the day. 

If you need PPC troubleshooting to see why your efforts aren’t paying off, we’re here to help. But one of the most overlooked issues is the product listing itself. We always combine optimisation with Amazon ads to get the best results.  

Here’s a breakdown of how a strategic PPC campaign and optimised listing can complement one another:  

1. Higher CTR 

When a product listing ranks well on Amazon and has informative copy plus appealing imagery, it tends to attract more clicks from customers. This will give you a higher click-through rate when you commence your ad campaign. 

2. Better conversion 

In addition to getting more clicks to your listing page, it’s likely that your page will have increased conversion. People can be encouraged to add to basket when both the copy and visuals clearly outline the value of the product and successfully promote its USPs. Higher ranking listings usually have more reviews too, and review volume can significantly impact conversion rates.  

3. Top ad placement  

Another reason listing optimisation is essential is because optimised listings with high sales velocity often get the best spots when it comes to ad placement – giving you better visibility and lower costs. Amazon’s algorithm loves to push products that are highly desirable, so your metrics matter. When your sales and conversion rates are good, the algorithm will work in your favour.  

How long does it take for Amazon ads to work? 

Time frames for PPC results can vary, and every industry is different. It’s also important to understand that Amazon ads require a learning phase in order to make your ad efforts worthwhile. This is because in order to optimise your campaigns, you need data. 

So if you are new to advertising on Amazon, the initial period should be seen as a data-gathering phase. After collecting data, only then is it possible to fine-tune ads and work towards lowering ACOS and increasing ROAS.  

If you’re concerned about how long ads are taking to be effective, take a look at our recent guide on advertising timescales.  

Case study: reviewing key challenges  

To get a better idea of common problems experienced by typical clients who come to us, here’s a look at a sample case:  

“Sally is a UK seller doing £15k/month through her healthcare brand, selling specialist supplement blends. She has steady sales but is experiencing a plateau when it comes to any sort of growth. The frustration is further aggravated by rising costs and shrinking profits as sales remain stuck at the £15k mark. Despite investing a lot of time and money into paid ads, she’s still not seeing any improvement.”

We analysed Sally’s account and here are the issues we spotted: 

Challenge #1 – clicks but no sales  

Looking at Sally’s seller account, we could see that there was a sufficient click-through rate from ads. But these clicks didn’t translate into conversions.  

The problems of clicks but no conversions are: 

• Wasted ad spend – low ROAS  

• Negative user experience – customers can be left feeling frustrated when they don’t find what they are looking for 

• Damage to brand reputation – a poor post-click experience can negatively impact how users see your brand (resulting in low customer trust) 

It’s not uncommon for Amazon sellers to feel that they are burning through their budget, with no tangible results to show for it. But low conversion on Amazon ads can normally be explained by the lack of optimisation on the product listing page.  

In order to avoid Amazon PPC wasted spend, it was clear that Sally had to make her listing more persuasive.  

How we proposed to fix the issue: 

• Compelling product title – by conducting keyword research, we can look at priority keywords (this will inform us which keywords are the most important).  
• High quality imagery – we noticed there were very few images, so we looked at adding at least six images to the page – including feature-focused imagery that highlighted selling points. The supplements category is highly competitive so it’s vital to capture a customer’s attention quickly. Images should clearly show packaging, which should immediately provide key details (like pack size, month supply etc).  
• Optimised copy – bullet points and products descriptions should be optimised with relevant keywords. The copy should also highlight the product’s USPs and provide an emotional link to the brand itself. Amazon doesn’t stop at “what is this?”, it builds a meaning map around the product, as an example:

a) It is a

A dietary supplement

A magnesium supplement

b) It is used for (function / outcome)

Supporting muscle relaxation

Reducing muscle cramps

c) It is used by (audience)

Adults with muscle tension

People experiencing leg cramps

d) It is used in (situation / context)

After workouts

Before bedtime

e) It helps prevent / solve

Poor sleep quality

Muscle tightness

f) It has attributes

Chelated magnesium glycinate

High absorption

g) It has benefits (emotional + practical)

Feeling calmer

Sleeping better

• A+ Content – additionally, we recommended that Sally leverage Amazon’s A+ Content feature, which helps sellers create a stronger brand story for their target audience. This is great for building trust and nurturing conversions. According to Amazon, Basic A+ Content can increase sales by up to 8%, with Premium A+ Content increasing sales by up to 20% when executed properly.  

Challenge #2 – rising ad spend  

The second issue we noticed was the increasing ACOS, and this was eating into her profits. This is a frequent problem when there are competitive categories, such as health supplements. Due to the platform’s lack of transparency in ad performance, it was hard to know the most effective way to spend money.  

One of the things that sellers often do when ACOS rises is to spend more on ads. But this is not the answer. Instead, we should alter the strategy. We can do this by using better keyword research, aligning PPC with SEO optimisation, using negative keywords, and adjusting bids to control costs.  

A key recommendation of ours was to audit the Search Term Report for non-converting phrases as these were likely to be eating up her budget. Then combining this with optimisation efforts for the best possible results.  

Challenge #3 – stagnant rankings 

Despite continued PPC spend, Sally’s product listing was stuck on page 3 which resulted in poor organic clicks. Without active ads, the listing had low visibility and was unable to compete with other supplement brands selling comparable products. 

The main causes of stagnant Amazon ranking: 

• Poor product listing quality (such as poor title, inaccurate or uninspiring descriptions, and low-quality images) 

• Poor metrics such as low sales volume or low conversion rate 

• Poor customer reviews (or lack of reviews) 

To get on the right side with Amazon’s algorithm, it was clear that listing optimisation was essential. When suboptimal listings lead to low-ranking positions, this causes problems with visibility.  

For Sally, the biggest priority was to revamp her listing with all the tips we mentioned above, and using keyword research to inform her content approach.  

Case study: conclusion  

Sally’s story is not an uncommon one, and many of her pain points are similar to those of other sellers on the marketplace. The interesting thing to note is that all of her pain points led to the same conclusion – Amazon PPC and listing optimisation need to be aligned.  

Both of these areas work together to achieve increased ranking and visibility, both click-throughs and sales, healthy metrics that encourage optimal ad placement, lower ACOS, and increased ROAS.  

In addition to optimising her product listings, we also put a plan in place to monitor, test and optimise her Amazon strategy. The Amazon marketplace is continuously evolving and to maximise campaign results, constant review and tweaking is paramount.  

Here are the markers we recommended keeping a close eye on: 

• Ad spend 

• Click-throughs and conversion rates  

• ROAS metrics 

We would also monitor keyword performance regularly and adjust bids as necessary, while checking on budget utilisation to prevent Amazon PPC wasted spend and low-performing campaigns.  

To gather deep insights, we also recommended taking advantage of the following reports available on Amazon: 

• Campaign Report – this gives you a top-level view of your overall ad performance 

• Search Term Report – this report lets you delve into the actual keywords that delivered clicks, as well as dead keywords that are non-converting 

• Targeting Report – a report that helps you understand the performance of specific keywords and product ASINs (by tapping into this data, you can be better informed of how to tweak your ad and listing when it comes to copy) 

• Placement Report – a report that allows you to review your ad based on different placements (so you can better understand the trade-off between visibility and cost-per-click, meaning you can choose options with the best return) 

Amazon PPC and optimisation with Seller Presto 

If you’re an Amazon seller who can relate to many of the problems seen in our health supplement case study, working with an experienced agency could help you hone your strategy.  

At Seller Presto, we are known for growing Amazon Store revenues through optimisation and paid ads, often using a combined approach to deliver the results that clients want. Through account management and our expert auditing and consultancy, we can help your business unlock its true potential on the world’s largest marketplace.  

For many online brands, managing multiple channels can be tricky, especially when each channel requires a different set of skills/knowledge to accelerate growth and success. That’s why clients often come to us for complete Amazon account management, saving them both time and resources.  

Our specialist marketers can look after everything from listing creation to PPC. We always approach PPC management in a holistic way, ensuring your listings are optimised before beginning any campaign.  

We do this by ensuring your listings are: 

• Professionally written with keyword-rich copy 

• Created with competitor research in mind 

• Complete with an Amazon SEO-friendly product title 

• Uploaded with backend keywords  

By aligning listing optimisation with targeted PPC campaigns and insight-backed adjustments, it’s possible to maximise ad performance and significantly increase ROAS. This strategy is particularly effective for sellers in saturated categories, and our goal is to help you boost traffic as well as getting customers to convert.  

Find out more about how we can help you improve your Amazon ad performance and listing conversion – get in touch with Seller Presto today. Call 01642 054694 or email our team on info@sellerpresto.com. Alternatively, drop us a message on our contact page and we will get back to you as soon as possible.