Fine-Tuning Your Amazon PPC Strategy for Product Variations

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Selling products with multiple variations like colors, sizes, materials, etc is common for many Amazon sellers. However, advertising and optimizing Amazon PPC Strategy for these variations can be challenging. Should you create separate campaigns for each variation? Or is it better to consolidate them together? How do you determine which variation to focus your efforts and budget on?

In this article, we’ll break down Amazon PPC Strategy for effectively advertising and optimizing your Amazon PPC campaigns for product variations. We’ll cover the four main campaign types and how to structure your variations within them:

1. High Volume Keywords – Dedicated campaigns for your top converting variation
2. Long Tail Variation Keywords – Specific campaigns for each variation’s related keywords
3. Auto, Phrase, and Broad Match – Consolidating all variations into single campaigns
4. Comparative Ads – Pitting your variations against competitor products

You’ll learn how to analyze data to identify your best-performing variations as well as tips for setting competitive pricing. Follow these proven strategies to maximize sales and returns across all of your product variations. With the right structure and optimization, your PPC campaigns can efficiently advertise each variation while letting the Amazon algorithm work its magic.

Amazon PPC Strategy: Optimize Separate Campaigns for Your Top Selling Variation

When it comes to high search volume keywords that drive a lot of traffic and sales, you want to put all your focus on the one variation that converts best. This requires some upfront analysis to identify which specification of your product sells the most.

Start by looking at your competitor’s best selling variation. Analyze their product listings and reviews to see if a certain color, size or material stands out. You can also dig into your own brand analytics and reports to see which variation accounts for the highest percentage of revenue.

Once you’ve determined which variation converts best, create dedicated PPC campaigns just for this top seller. The goal is to funnel your entire PPC budget to dominating these lucrative keywords with your star variation.

For example, let’s say you sell t-shirts in 5 different colors. After analyzing the data, you find that the navy blue version outsells all other colors. Set up campaigns with keywords focused on “navy blue t-shirt” and target them exclusively with ads for this variation.

Make sure to set competitive bids and aggressively optimize these campaigns. Since you aren’t spreading your budget across other variations, you can really focus on gaining maximum visibility and conversions on these high value keywords.

Dominating the core search terms that bring in the most revenue with your top performing variation ensures you maximize returns. Competition for these keywords will be fierce, but concentrating your PPC efforts solely on your best seller provides an advantage.

Target Long Tail Keywords Relevant to Each Variation

Beyond the competitive high volume keywords, there are more niche long tail keywords that relate specifically to each of your product variations. To effectively target these, you’ll want to create separate PPC campaigns for each variation featuring its unique keywords.

For example, the t-shirt seller may have specific keywords like “forest green t-shirt” or “t-shirt with navy stripes” that describe each color variation. Set up campaigns for the green version targeting “forest green” keywords, navy targeting “navy blue” keywords, etc.

The key is identifying all the low search volume keywords that are directly relevant to each of your variations. To find these, analyze your existing search term reports to see which long tail keywords already convert well for each variation. You can also use keyword research tools to find new related keywords.

Group these long tail keywords together based on the variation they relate to. Keep the campaigns separated so you have full control in targeting. Only advertise the corresponding variation in each campaign.

Having niche campaigns for each variation allows you to get your product in front of those specifically searching for that variant. You can really dominate ownership of those customized keywords, even if they don’t drive huge volume.

For example, someone searching for “dark green henley shirt” wants to see exactly that – not other colors. Your dark green variation may not be your overall best seller, but you can carve out a niche for it with targeted long tail keywords.

Variation-specific long tail keywords are an opportunity to improve visibility across your entire product line. Even if search volume is lower, these campaigns enhance discoverability for each style, color and material you offer.

Consolidate Variations into Single Auto, Phrase and Broad Match Campaigns

For your automatic, phrase match and broad match campaigns, taking a consolidated approach can be more effective than separating each variation.

• By including all variations in one campaign, you provide more data signals to the Amazon algorithm. This allows their systems to determine the optimal product for each non-exact keyword.
• Testing shows single variation campaigns underperform compared to consolidated campaigns for auto, phrase and broad match keywords.  
• Amazon can rotate your variations to find the best match as data comes in. This flexibility helps improve campaign performance.

For example, the t-shirt seller would include the navy, green, black, white and red t-shirts all in one auto campaign. Instead of trying to break out which variation may work best for a broad keyword like [t-shirts for men], let Amazon figure it out.      

• Their algorithms and data will determine which variation converts best for each query.
• No need to manually subdivide – Amazon will rotate your products to find the winning match.
• Testing different variations against the same keywords provides more optimization data to enhance your campaigns.

Consolidating your variations into combined campaigns is an easy hands-off approach for your non-exact match keywords. Let the Amazon PPC platform do the heavy lifting in finding which variations convert best. Their algorithms are designed to optimize among multiple products in the same campaign.

• Take advantage of their capability to test variations and automatically optimize to the highest performing product.
• Avoid the complex process of trying to manually subdivide auto/phrase/broad match keywords.

Combining your variations into single campaigns leverages Amazon’s strengths and frees you up to focus your management efforts on the core high volume keywords.

Use Comparative Ads to Directly Compete Against Rival Variations

Comparative ads allow you to directly showcase your variations against competitor products to sway buyers searching for alternatives.

For example, the t-shirt seller could create an ad campaign comparing their navy t-shirt to Brand X’s navy t-shirt. The ad copy would highlight why their navy variation is better.

Start by identifying your main competing products for each variation. Analyze which of their variations has the highest market share and target those directly.

For the navy t-shirt example:

• Research shows Brand X has the top selling navy t-shirt.
• Create a campaign with your navy t-shirt targeting keywords for Brand X’s navy sku.
• Write compelling copy about why your navy t-shirt is superior.

With comparative ads, the goal is to sway customers who are considering a competing product. When someone is searching for Brand X’s navy t-shirt, your ad can convince them to purchase your navy shirt instead.

You can take the same approach with your other variations:

• Target Brand Y’s keywords with ads for your red t-shirt
• Target Brand Z’s keywords with ads for your green t-shirt

The key is identifying which competitor variation is top for each of your products and directly competing against them. This allows you to snag buyers who are considering alternative options.

For best results, include all your variations in the comparative campaign and let Amazon determine which to show for each query. The algorithm will detect which variation is most relevant to the searcher and their intent.

Comparative advertising is extremely tactical and leverages your variations to go head to head with rival products. Convincing shoppers to choose your product when they are actively looking at competitors is a proven sales-driving strategy.

Wrapping Up

Advertising and optimizing PPC campaigns for product variations doesn’t have to be a guessing game. By following the strategies outlined for the four main campaign types, you can efficiently target keywords for each variation.

Dedicate your high volume keywords to just your top selling variant to maximize those profitable conversions. Then use long tail campaigns to carve out niche visibility for each style, color and material you offer.

Consolidate your variations together for the auto, phrase and broad match keywords and let Amazon determine the optimal product for each query. Finally, employ comparative ads to go head to head with competitor variations and sway buyers.

The key is separating out your core money-making keywords for focused management, while allowing Amazon’s algorithms to optimize the rest. Take advantage of their capabilities and advanced technology.

By structuring your PPC campaigns accurately based on keyword types, advertising your product variations doesn’t have to be complex. You can scale your product portfolio efficiently while still providing personalized visibility for each version.

Employ this proven Amazon PPC Strategy to advertise all your variations in the smartest way possible. With the right optimization, your entire catalog of products can gain visibility and convert seamlessly.