Hey everyone,

I launched a new product on Amazon US about a week ago and I'm struggling with my ads. Would really appreciate any insights.

Product details:

• Price: Started at $69.99, now lowered to $65.99

• Coupon: 15%

• Reviews: 0

• Launched Feb 4

Ad structure:

I set up three campaigns on day one:

1. Auto campaign — all four match types in one campaign

2. Manual campaign — phrase match — two core keywords, ABA rank <30k

3. Manual campaign — all match types — same core keywords, broad/phrase/exact all in one campaign

I started with low bids and gradually increased them. After about a week, impressions are low across the board, and clicks are almost nonexistent.

Here's the actual data (I've reformatted it for clarity):

Auto Campaign — All Match Types ($0.80 bid)

Manual Campaign — Core Keywords (Phrase Match) — $0.90 bid

Manual Campaign — Core Keywords (All Match Types) — $0.90 bid

Campaign structure visualized:

Campaign 1: Auto — All Match Types
├── Close match: $0.80
├── Loose match: $0.80
├── Substitutes: $0.80
└── Complements: $0.80

Campaign 2: Manual — Core Keywords (Phrase)
├── Keyword A: $0.90
└── Keyword B: $0.90

Campaign 3: Manual — Core Keywords (All Match Types)
├── Broad: $0.90
├── Phrase: $0.90
└── Exact: $0.90

What I'm seeing:

• Auto campaign impressions are okay but CTR is extremely low

• Manual campaigns are getting almost no impressions (<200 in 7 days)

• Bids are set below the suggested range ($0.80–$0.90 vs suggested $1.20+)

• Most impressions are coming from product pages, not top of search

I know reviews are a factor, but the team has decided not to use Vine or early reviewer programs for this product. So I need to figure out how to get traction with ads alone.

Any advice on what I should change? Bids? Structure? Keyword strategy? Should I pause the core keywords and go after long-tail instead?

Thanks in advance.

Selected Comments (Reformatted for Western Forum)

Bostonseller - 10 points

A few things stand out:

1. $69.99 with 15% coupon isn't really moving the needle for a new product with zero reviews. The discount isn't compelling enough to offset the risk factor for buyers.

2. High price + no reviews is a tough combo. If you absolutely can't get reviews (Vine, etc.), then you need to create urgency elsewhere—either a steeper discount or external traffic to jumpstart things. If you can drive some off-Amazon traffic and get a few sales, it'll help with ranking and give your ads some data to work with.

3. Your bids are too low for a new product with no weight. You're bidding below suggested range and wondering why you're not getting impressions. Bump them up to at least the suggested min, or even higher, to get the system to actually show your ads.

4. Putting broad/phrase/exact for the same keyword in one campaign makes it hard to diagnose what's working. I'd split them out. Run phrase/broad in one campaign to mine for search terms, and exact in a separate campaign to control ranking.

5. For auto, I'd just run close match only at first. The other match types are often a waste for new products.

Austin_Operator - 8 points

Honest take: you're doing too much with too little data.

• You're running three campaigns but your bids are so low that you're barely getting impressions.

• The impressions you are getting are mostly on product pages (auto and manual both show that), which means you're not even in the running for top of search.

• With no reviews, competing on core keywords (ABA rank <30k is competitive) is going to be brutal. You're fighting established sellers with hundreds of reviews while you're at $0.90 bids.

Here's what I'd do:

1. Pause the core keyword campaigns for now. They're burning budget without giving you useful data.

2. Focus on long-tail keywords. Find 20-30 longer, more specific phrases with lower competition. Run them in exact match in a single campaign with competitive bids.

3. Fix your auto campaign. Only run close match. Set bids at or slightly above suggested range. Let it run for 2 weeks and mine the search term report for actual converting terms.

4. Revisit the no-reviews decision. I get that some teams are strict about it, but Vine exists for a reason. Even 2-3 reviews would dramatically improve your CTR and conversion. If you really can't, then you need to accept that your ad costs will be higher and your ramp slower.

ChicagoSeller - 12 points

The lack of clicks tells me the problem is likely either:

• Images — if your main image doesn't stand out in the search results, people won't click, even if you show up

• Keyword relevance — if you're showing up for terms that aren't quite right, impressions will be low and clicks even lower

• Price perception — $65.99 + 15% coupon = ~$56 net. Compare that to your top competitors. If they're at $50-55 with reviews, you're not winning that battle

One thing I noticed: you said "the team decided not to use Vine" but also that you're "following what senior sellers do." Those two things might be working against each other. The senior sellers probably have established products with reviews. You don't. You need a different playbook.

My suggestion:

• Drop the price to $54.99 temporarily, no coupon

• Fix your auto campaign to only close match, bid at suggested range

• Add 3-5 long-tail exact match keywords with competitive bids

• After you get 5-10 sales, reevaluate

Also — take a hard look at your main image on mobile. That's where 70%+ of traffic is coming from. If it doesn't pop on a small screen, nothing else matters.

Denver_Operator - 6 points

The structure is the first thing I noticed. You've got broad/phrase/exact for the same keywords in one campaign. That makes it impossible to control budget allocation or understand which match type is working.

Here's how I'd restructure:

Campaign A: Auto — Close Match Only

• Purpose: mining search terms

• Budget: $20/day

• Bid: suggested range min

Campaign B: Long-tail Exact

• Purpose: getting initial sales with intent traffic

• 20-30 keywords, all exact match

• Budget: $30/day

• Bid: suggested range mid-to-high

Campaign C: Core Keywords (after you get sales)

• Run phrase and exact separately, not together

• Don't touch this until you have at least 10-15 sales from other campaigns

Also, your CTR in auto is 0.12-0.25%. That's low even for product page placements. It suggests your main image or title isn't compelling enough compared to what's around you.

NYC_Seller - 4 points

I'm going to say what others are hinting at: you need reviews.

I know you said the team doesn't want to use Vine. But launching a $65+ product with zero reviews and expecting ads to work is going to be an uphill battle. The math doesn't work. Your CPC will be higher, your conversion lower, and your ACOS will be brutal.

If Vine is absolutely off the table, then you need to either:

• Lower the price significantly to offset the risk for buyers ($39.99 range)

• Or use external traffic to get those first sales (social, deals sites, etc.)

Without reviews or a compelling price, you're asking customers to take a risk that most won't take. The ad data you're seeing is the market telling you that.

Seattle_Operator - 3 points

Quick take on the bidding:

You're bidding $0.80-0.90 on keywords with suggested ranges probably around $1.20-1.50. For a new product with no history, you need to bid at least the suggested min just to get in the auction. And even then, you'll be on page 2 or 3, not top of search.

Try this for 3-5 days:

• Set bids to the suggested min across all campaigns you keep running

• Switch to fixed bidding so you're not getting pushed down

• Monitor impression share

If impressions still don't come, bump bids another 20%. You need data before you can optimize.

PortlandSeller - 5 points

I've launched a few products in the $50-80 range with zero reviews. Here's what worked for me:

1. No core keywords for the first 2 weeks. They're too competitive. I only ran long-tail exact match and auto close match.

2. Bids were at suggested range or slightly above. Low bids = no impressions = no data = no sales. You can always lower bids later.

3. I used a 20-30% coupon, not 15%. At that price point, 15% doesn't create urgency. 25% makes people stop and think.

4. I made sure my main image had a clear, obvious differentiator. Not just "good product" but something visual that made it stand out from the 10 other similar products next to it.

5. I ran a small external promo just to get 5-10 sales. Even a $50 loss on those first sales was worth it to get the product moving and give the algorithm something to work with.

Your current setup is asking the product to compete on even ground with established sellers. That's not going to happen. You need to tilt the field in your favor somehow — price, image, keywords, external push. Pick one and go all in.

End of post