One of the most impactful changes we make for a new Amazon client is right-sizing their ad mix. Maybe the account leans almost entirely on automatic campaigns. Maybe it runs Sponsored Products and nothing else. Either way, the budget is working harder than it needs to. Here's what that means and how to do it.

The Core Amazon Ad Types

Amazon offers several ad products, but three do most of the work for most brands:

  • Sponsored Products: Ads for individual products that appear in search results and on product pages. This is where most brands start, and for good reason. They're closest to the purchase and usually drive the most direct sales.
  • Sponsored Brands: Ads that feature your logo, a custom headline, and multiple products or a video, usually at the top of search results. They build brand awareness and help shoppers discover more of your catalog. Sellers need to be enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry to run them.
  • Sponsored Display: Ads that reach shoppers based on what they've viewed or purchased, both on and off Amazon. They're useful for retargeting shoppers who looked at your product but didn't buy, and for showing up on competitors' product pages.

Each one plays a different role. Running only one of them is like running only search ads and expecting them to build your brand too.

Signs Your Ad Mix Is Off

These are the patterns we see most often in accounts that need rebalancing:

  • Too much automatic targeting: Automatic campaigns are great for discovering new search terms, but left on their own, they spend on terms that don't convert and give you little control over bids.
  • No Sponsored Brands: Without them, you're missing the top-of-search placements where shoppers first form an impression, and you're leaving your branded searches open to competitors.
  • No retargeting: Shoppers rarely buy on their first visit. Without Sponsored Display, you have no way to bring them back.
  • Budget spread evenly instead of strategically: Not every product or campaign deserves the same budget. Your best sellers and highest-margin products should get the most support.

How We Right-Size an Amazon Ad Mix

Use automatic campaigns for discovery, not as the whole strategy

Keep automatic campaigns running to find new search terms. Then move the terms that convert into manual campaigns, where you control the bids, and add the terms that waste spend as negatives.

Protect your brand

Run Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products on your own branded terms. It's usually some of the most efficient spend in the account, and it keeps competitors from capturing shoppers who were already looking for you.

Compete for category searches

Shoppers who search for a product type, not a brand, are where growth comes from. Sponsored Brands with video work especially well here because they help a new shopper understand your product before they click.

Bring shoppers back

Use Sponsored Display to retarget shoppers who viewed your products and to show up on the product pages of related and competing items.

Allocate budget by goal

Decide what each campaign is for (protecting your brand, growing in your category, launching a new product, or retargeting) and set budgets and targets accordingly. A launch campaign and a brand defense campaign shouldn't be judged by the same numbers.

The Right Mix Is Specific to Your Brand

There's no universal formula for the perfect Amazon ad mix. A brand with strong name recognition needs a different balance than one launching its first product. What matters is that every campaign type has a clear job, and that your budget follows your goals instead of your account's habits. Get the mix right, and the same budget goes much further.

Just remember that ads are only one part of the picture. Strong creative on your product detail pages and Brand Store, paired with well-timed promotional deals, is what makes every ad dollar work harder.