Hey everyone,
I’ve been selling in this category for over a year, but I’m about to launch a new bundle and want to do it right. Honestly, my ad game has been weak, and I’m tired of feeling stuck. Would really appreciate some advice.
The setup:
US marketplace, pure white-hat
New listing has 30 Vine reviews, 4.3 stars — that’s actually the highest in the category. The #1 seller (US brand, no patent yet) has 3.7 stars. Most competitors are 3.8–4.0.
We tweaked the design slightly on a few accessories, so it’s not a direct copy.
The interesting part:
80% of our historical SP ad orders came from competitor’s brand name + core keyword. CPC is only $0.60.
A new seller launched in June with just 5 direct reviews and hit 1,000+ units in month one. They’re now doing 4k+ monthly. The category isn’t crazy competitive yet — the top seller does about 10k units/month on their best variation.
My plan so far:
I’ve identified 3 groups of keywords (the main converting terms). My rough idea is to run 3 manual campaigns, one for each group, but I’m not sure which match type to use — broad, phrase, or exact? Then after I get some sales, I’ll turn on auto campaigns (close match + loose in one, substitutes + complements in another).
I’d prefer to focus only on SP for now. No SB or SD.
What would you do if you were in my shoes? How would you structure the campaigns to go after the top brand’s traffic?
Thanks in advance.
Answers (7)
One thing I’d add — don’t forget about your own brand. Long-term, you want people searching for you, not just them. But short-term? Absolutely go after their terms. That’s where the volume is.
First week: price slightly above competitors, but run a 50% coupon. You’ll lose a little on each sale, but you’ll get orders.
After ~20 orders: switch to Prime Exclusive Discount at a price below competitors, plus a 30% coupon. Now you’re barely breaking even on product margin, but ads are still a cost.
After ~50 orders: drop to 15% coupon. By then, your organic ranking should have improved enough that the margin from sales covers ad spend.
This isn’t for everyone, but it’s a proven way to get early traction without bleeding cash forever.
My rhythm: start with broad to mine search terms, find the common stems, then move those to phrase, then finally exact once I know they convert. It takes longer, but the pressure on ACOS is lower.
If you want to go after their brand terms, here’s what I’d do:
Exact match on “their brand + core keyword” with fixed bidding
Top-of-search placement adjustment cranked up (80–100%)
Make sure your listing clearly shows why you’re better — better rating, better price, better image
You can also run ASIN targeting directly on their detail page. When someone’s looking at their product, you want to be right there as an alternative. With your rating advantage, you’ll win a chunk of those shoppers.
Put 60% of your budget into exact match campaigns on your top converting terms. Fixed bidding.
Another 10% into exact campaigns on the top brand’s brand + keyword.
20% into auto (all match types) to discover new terms.
10% into ASIN targeting on ASINs that have already converted for you.
Don’t overcomplicate it. You have the data. Just execute.