How to Structure Amazon PPC Campaigns (Updated 2026)

Poor campaign structure is the silent profit killer in Amazon PPC. Most sellers lose 30-40% of their ad spend to structural problems before they ever get to bid optimization or keyword research.

The issue isn’t complicated. When you mix multiple match types in one campaign, combine unrelated products in the same ad group, or let discovery keywords compete with proven performers for the same budget, you lose visibility into what’s actually working. A campaign running at 35% ACoS tells you nothing when it contains 50 keywords with performance ranging from 8% to 120%.

Proper campaign structure gives you three things: transparent attribution so you know which keywords and products drive profit, budget control so your best performers get adequate spend, and scalability so you can grow from 10 products to 100 without rebuilding everything from scratch.

This guide provides the complete framework for structuring Amazon PPC campaigns. You’ll learn the five-layer architecture used by top sellers, how to organize campaigns by match type and intent, and the workflows for moving keywords from discovery to performance. Everything is based on what actually works at scale in 2026.

Why Campaign Structure Directly Impacts Profitability

Campaign structure controls your budget allocation and optimization speed. Proper structure delivers four critical advantages that directly impact your bottom line.

1. Transparent Performance Attribution

Each campaign has one clear purpose, allowing you to know exactly which keywords, products, or strategies generate profit versus waste budget. When your ACoS is high, isolating campaigns makes it easy to identify which keyword or product is driving the high ACoS.

You can open your campaign manager and immediately see that your branded campaigns are running at 12% ACoS while your non-branded campaigns are at 48%, information that’s invisible when everything is mixed together.

2. Budget Control

You can isolate high converting keywords in dedicated campaigns with higher budgets while quarantining experiment keywords with limited spend.

This prevents one product from consuming the entire campaign budget, a common problem in poorly structured accounts where your best seller might be starved of budget because a non-performer ate through the shared daily cap.

3. Scalability Without Chaos

As your catalog grows from 10 to 100 to 1,000 SKUs, your structure scales with it. You can just duplicate proven frameworks rather than rebuilding from scratch, saving countless hours of campaign creation time and preventing the organizational nightmare that forces many sellers to start over.

When you launch a new product, you simply duplicate your existing campaign structure, adjust the targeting, and you live in minutes instead of hours.

4. Algorithm Clarity

Amazon’s AI optimizes better when campaigns have consistent signals. Mixing goals confuses the algorithm and it can’t tell if you want conversions, impressions, or brand awareness.

Single-purpose campaigns let Amazon learn faster and more efficiently, often resulting in 20-30% better performance from the same budget.

Understanding Amazon’s PPC Ecosystem

Before building structure, understand how Amazon’s advertising components work together. The system operates on a three-tier hierarchy that determines how your ads are triggered, displayed, and charged. Below are the three Amazon campaign-level layers.

1. Campaigns

Campaigns form the top container and hold the highest-level settings that govern everything below them. Each campaign contains one daily budget that’s shared across all ad groups within it, meaning you can’t give different ad groups different daily budgets and they all pull from the same pool.

Here is what you can include at the campaign level that applies to all of the ad groups.

• Campaign-level negative keywords that apply to all ad groups
• Placement multipliers (top of search, product pages, rest of search)
• Campaign duration and scheduling
• Daily budget caps

2. Ad Groups

They sit inside campaigns and provide the next layer of organization. Each ad group bundles one or more ASINs (products) that share the same keywords or product targets.

All ASINs within an ad group operate under the same bids and targeting settings. If you have a blue widget and a red widget in the same ad group targeting the keyword “widget,” they both compete for the same clicks at the same bid. You can’t bid $2 for the blue widget and $1 for the red widget when they’re in the same ad group.

This is why proper ad group structure matters, mixing products with different performance profiles leads to suboptimal bidding for both.

3. Targeting

Targeting determines what triggers your ads and comes in several forms depending on your campaign type. In manual targeting, you add keywords using broad, phrase, or exact match types, or select specific ASINs and categories to target. In automatic targeting, Amazon’s algorithm matches your product to relevant search terms or similar products based on your listing content, category, and performance data.

Ad Type Overview

Understanding the role of each ad type helps you structure campaigns appropriately for each objective.

1. Sponsored Products

Sponsored Products are individual product ads appearing in search results and on detail pages. This is the workhorse of Amazon PPC, typically driving 70-80% of most accounts’ advertising revenue. Sponsored Products are where you’ll implement the most sophisticated campaign structure because they offer the most granular control over keywords, bids, and budgets.

2. Sponsored Brands

Sponsored Brands are brand-focused video ads along with your logo, custom headlines, and multiple products displayed together. These appear at the top of search results, mid of the page, end of the product page, and competitor’s product pages.

3. Sponsored Display

These are retargeting and audience-based ads that appear both on and off Amazon. These are used for remarketing to shoppers who viewed your products, conquesting competitor traffic through ASIN targeting, and building lookalike audiences.

This guide focuses primarily on Sponsored Products structure, as it forms the foundation that principles apply across all ad types.

The 5-Layer Campaign Architecture Framework

The most effective Amazon PPC accounts organize campaigns across five strategic layers. Each layer serves a distinct purpose and operates under different performance expectations. Think of these layers as a funnel where keywords flow from discovery through validation to performance optimization.

Layer 1: Discovery (Auto Campaigns)

Auto campaigns serve as your continuous keyword research engine, finding converting search terms you didn’t know existed. These campaigns should consume 15-20% of your total ad spend, with a target ACoS of 40-60% being acceptable since you’re paying for discovery, not just conversions.

The beauty of auto campaigns is they continuously adapt as customer search behavior evolves and as Amazon’s algorithm improves its understanding of your product. Here are the campaign structure guidelines:

• One ad group per campaign to maintain clarity
• One product per ad group (or tightly related variants)
• Start with dynamic bids (down only) for budget conservatism
• Set initial bid 20-30% below Amazon’s suggestion to control spending
• One match type in one campaign. Close, loose, substitutes, or complements

Layer 2: Validation (Broad/Phrase Match)

Broad and phrase match campaigns serve two purposes:

• Targeting your top high-volume category keywords that bring lot of low CPC and profitable long tail keywords.
• Testing keywords harvested from auto campaigns

The validation phase matters because one conversion in auto doesn’t prove consistency. You need to see if a keyword converts repeatedly across different search variations before you commit to exact match bids that often cost 50-100% more. Broad and phrase let you test at lower cost while still capturing relevant traffic.

For your main category keywords, broad or phrase match might be your permanent home. If “wireless keyboard” costs $0.85 in broad match and converts at 28% ACoS, there’s no reason to move it to exact match at $1.60 CPC. Keep it in broad and bank the profit. Use the campaign structure outlined below.

• Separate campaigns for broad match and phrase match (never mix them)
• Use single-product ad groups (SPAG method) for clear attribution
• Start with low bids depending on your category’s CPC averages
• Monitor search term reports to identify which query variations actually convert
• Add negative keywords for non-converting variations

Layer 3: Performance (Exact Match)

Exact match campaigns are your profit center, where proven keywords scale with maximum control. Allocate 35-40% of total ad spend here. This should be your most efficient layer because you’re only retaining high conversion search terms. Use the campaign structure outlined below.

• One campaign per product or product group
• For your top 20 best converting keywords,
• Consider single-keyword ad groups (SKAG method) for top 5 high search volume keywords
• Higher bids are acceptable typically 50-100% above broad or phrase match bids
• Implement aggressive placement multipliers like top of search +100-200% if data supports it
• Use fixed bidding or dynamic bids down only for most of the campaigns

Layer 4: Defense (Branded)

Branded campaigns protect your brand search terms from competitors trying to steal your traffic. These should consume 10-15% of total ad spend and deliver your lowest ACoS of 5-15%, since people searching for your brand already have high purchase intent.

Every brand should run dedicated branded campaigns, even if you rank organically #1 for your brand name. Competitors will bid on your brand terms if you don’t show a sponsored ad, they will, and you’ll lose sales to products that cost you nothing in organic ranking. Use the campaign structure outlined below.

• One branded campaign per brand (or per product line for large catalogs)
• Use exact match for top branded terms.
• Use Broad to catch long tail branded search terms.
• Bid high enough to ensure top of the search placement (losing branded traffic is expensive)
• Build extensive negative keyword lists to exclude all non-branded terms
• Include variations: misspellings, product names, model numbers
• Monitor search term reports for competitor conquesting attempts

Layer 5: Offense (Competitor/Category)

Competitor and category campaigns expand market share by conquesting competitor traffic and capturing broad category searches. Allocate 10-20% of ad spend here with acceptable ACoS of 35-50%, recognizing these are customer acquisition campaigns where higher initial costs are justified.

These campaigns target shoppers who haven’t yet decided on a specific brand, making them valuable for growth even if they don’t convert as efficiently as branded campaigns. Use the campaign structure outlined below.

• Separate campaigns for competitor keywords versus ASIN targeting
• Group similar competitors together (premium brands in one campaign)
• Start with conservative bids and gradually increase based on conversion data
• Monitor conversion rates closely as these often convert 30-50% lower than your other campaigns
• Create separate category campaigns for broad discovery terms

Campaign Naming Structure

A systematic naming convention is non-negotiable for accounts with 20+ campaigns. Without it, you’ll spend hours searching for campaigns, make mistakes updating the wrong one, and struggle to filter or sort campaigns logically.

Use this format consistently across all campaigns:

[Product/ASIN]_[AdType]_[MatchType/Targeting]_[Goal]_[Date]

• Blender-B08X_SP_Exact_Performance_Dec2025
• Blender-B08X_SP_Auto_Discovery_Dec2025

This structure tells you at a glance what product, which ad type, what targeting method, what the campaign’s goal is, and when it was created.

Portfolio Organization Structure

Portfolios are folders that sit above campaigns. They let you group the related campaigns together and set budget caps across multiple campaigns at once. Think of portfolios as departments in a company, with campaigns as teams within each department. Here is why portfolios matter:

• Set monthly budget limits across campaign groups
• Organize reporting by product line or brand
• Prevent overspending on specific product categories

There are three common ways to organize portfolios:

The first option is organizing by product line. Under a portfolio named Yoga Products, you would place all yoga mat campaigns together. This is the option you would use most of the time.

The second option is organizing by goal. You might have a portfolio named Brand Defense containing all branded campaigns across products.

The third option is organizing by margin tier. A portfolio named High Margin for products with 40% or higher margins would contain campaigns for your most profitable products.

Product Tiering Strategy

Not all products deserve equal ad spend. Product tiering helps you allocate budget based on each product’s revenue contribution and growth potential. This prevents your best sellers from being starved of budget while underperformers drain your resources.

There are four product tiers you should use.

How to identify your tiers:

• Pull last 90 days of sales data
• Rank products by total revenue
• Top 20% of revenue = Heroes
• Next 30% = Rising Stars
• Next 30% = Steady Performers
• Bottom 20% = Zombies

Negative Keyword Strategy

Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant or unprofitable searches. Without them, you’ll pay for clicks that never convert. A strong negative keyword strategy can reduce wasted spend by 20-40%. There are two types of negative keywords:

• Negative Phrase: Blocks any search containing that phrase
• Negative Exact: Blocks only that specific search term

If you sell premium leather wallets and add “cheap” as negative phrase, your ad won’t show for “cheap leather wallet,” “cheap wallet for men,” or any search containing “cheap.”

Where to add negative keywords:

 To prevent your campaigns from competing against each other, add negative keywords across layers:

• In Auto campaigns: Add all your exact match keywords as negative exact
• In Broad campaigns: Add all your exact match keywords as negative exact
• In Phrase campaigns: Add all your exact match keywords as negative exact

This forces traffic to flow to the right campaign layer where you have appropriate bids set.

Search Term Isolation Workflow Structure

Search term isolation is the process of moving converting keywords from discovery campaigns to performance campaigns. This workflow ensures your best keywords get dedicated budgets and optimized bids while preventing campaigns from competing against each other.

Here is the step by step process for proper keyword isolation.

Step 1: Identify graduating keywords in Auto campaigns

Check search term reports for terms meeting these criteria:

• Minimum 10-15 clicks
• Minimum 2-3 conversions
• ACoS at or below your target

Step 2: Add to Broad or Phrase campaign

• Create the keyword in your broad or phrase campaign
• Set initial bid at your auto campaign’s average CPC
• Add this keyword as negative exact in your auto campaign

Step 3: Monitor performance in Broad/Phrase

Wait for:

• Minimum 15-20 clicks
• Minimum 3-5 conversions
• Consistent ACoS performance

Step 4: Graduate to Exact Match

• Add keyword to exact match campaign
• Increase bid by 30-50% compared to broad/phrase
• Add keyword as negative exact in broad and phrase campaigns

Step 5: Optimize in Exact Match

• Test placement multipliers
• Adjust bids based on conversion data
• Scale budget for top performers

Here’s a well-structured section on this critical topic:

Match Type Isolation & Keywords Structure

The fastest way to destroy campaign performance is mixing match types or cramming dozens of unrelated keywords into a single campaign. This creates three fatal problems: diluted performance data, impossible bid optimization.

1. Separate Match Types Into Dedicated Campaigns

Never combine broad, phrase, and exact match in one campaign. Each match type has different CPCs and conversion rates.

Create separate campaigns for each match type. Keep campaigns focused with 5-10 tightly related keywords. More keywords create budget competition and unclear performance data.

• Broad match campaign for discovery
• Phrase match campaign for validation
• Exact match campaign for proven keywords

Auto Campaign Targeting Structure

Amazon auto campaigns have four targeting types that work differently. Mixing them in one campaign means you cannot control which type gets your budget.

Separate these into individual campaigns:

• Close Match: Searches closely related to your product
• Loose Match: Broader searches for keyword discovery
• Substitutes: Competitor product targeting
• Complements: Products that pair with yours

This structure lets you increase budget on what works and cut what doesn’t.

Common Structural Mistakes

Avoid these campaign architecture errors that systematically kill profitability. Avoiding these mistakes can improve performance by 20-50% without changing your products or bids.

Mistake 1: Mixing Match Types in One Campaigns

When you combine broad, phrase, and exact keywords in the same campaign, you can’t control budget allocation between them. Broad match will consume most of the budget, starving your exact match keywords. Separate campaigns for each match type.

Mistake 2: Too Many Products in One Ad Group

Multiple products in an ad group share the same bids. If Product A converts at $1.50 CPC and Product B needs $2.50, one will always be under or over-bid. Use single product ad groups for important products.

Mistake 3: Too Many Keywords in One Campaign

Amazon’s algorithm picks favorites while other keywords never get tested properly. Stick to 5-10 keywords maximum per campaign.

Mistake 4: Mixing Goals in One Campaign

Branded keywords should deliver 10-15% ACoS while non branded campaigns run 40-50%. Mixing them creates blended data that obscures individual performance. Separate campaigns by goal.

Mistake 5: No Negative Keyword Strategy

Without negatives, you pay for irrelevant clicks and your campaigns compete against each other. Add cross-campaign negatives and review search terms weekly.

Mistake 6: Identical Bids Across All Keywords

Keywords have different values. A high-converting keyword deserves a higher bid than an unproven one. Adjust bids based on individual keyword performance data.

Mistake 7: Ignoring Placement Data

Top of search often converts 2-3x better than other placements. Review placement reports monthly and use multipliers for high-converting placements.

Mistake 8: Premature Optimization

Pausing keywords after only 5-10 clicks leads to wrong conclusions. Wait for at least 15-20 clicks and 7 days of data before making major decisions.

Mistake 9: Ignoring Search Term Reports

You miss opportunities to graduate winners to exact match and waste budget on irrelevant searches. Review search term reports weekly without exception.

Mistake 10: Budget Too Low for Learning

Setting $5-10 daily budgets in competitive categories prevents the algorithm from learning. Start with $15-20 minimum during learning phases.

Mistake 11: Set and Forget Mentality

Campaign structure needs ongoing refinement. What works at launch may not work at scale. Schedule weekly 30-minute optimization sessions.

Mistake 12: Over-Segmentation

Creating 50 campaigns for 5 products creates management chaos. Start simple and add complexity only when data justifies it.

Mistake 13: No Branded Campaign

Competitors will bid on your brand name. Always run branded campaigns, even if organic rank is strong.

Mistake 14: Launching With Only Auto Campaigns

Auto campaigns are for discovery, not performance. Launch with auto for discovery plus manual campaigns for known keywords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many campaigns should I have per product?

For hero products, plan for 5-8 campaigns covering auto, broad, phrase, exact, branded, and competitor targeting. For lower-priority products, 2-3 campaigns are sufficient. Quality of structure matters more than quantity.

Should I use one campaign per product or group products together?

It depends on product importance. Hero products deserve dedicated campaigns for maximum control. Similar lower-priority products can be grouped to simplify management. Never group unrelated products as it makes optimization impossible.

What is the ideal budget split between campaign types?

A balanced starting point is 15-20% for Auto and Discovery, 20-25% for Broad and Phrase, 35-40% for Exact Match, 10-15% for Branded, and 10-15% for Competitor targeting. Adjust based on your data after 30 days.

How long before I see results from restructuring?

Allow 2-4 weeks for Amazon’s algorithm to adjust and gather meaningful data. Significant performance improvements typically appear within 30-60 days of restructuring. Avoid making major changes during this learning period.

Should I pause auto campaigns once I have exact match keywords?

No. Auto campaigns continuously discover new keyword opportunities as customer search behavior evolves. Reduce auto campaign budgets as your exact match campaigns grow, but keep them running for ongoing discovery.

How often should I optimize my campaign structure?

Daily you should check for budget depletion. Weekly you should review search terms, add negatives, and harvest keywords. Monthly you should analyze performance by layer and adjust bids and budgets. Quarterly you should complete a full structure audit and product tier review.

What is the difference between ad groups and campaigns?

Campaigns control budget, placement bids, and campaign-level negatives. Ad groups control which products and keywords are grouped together. Think of campaigns as the budget container and ad groups as the targeting container inside it.

Can I change campaign structure without losing history?

Moving keywords between campaigns does not transfer historical data. Each campaign builds its own performance history. However, keyword-level learnings at the account level may partially carry over. Plan restructuring carefully to minimize disruption.

When should I use Sponsored Products Video versus Sponsored Brands Video?

Use Sponsored Products Video when you want to enhance individual product listings with video in search results while using your existing campaign structure. Use Sponsored Brands Video when you want top of search brand presence with your logo, custom headline, and the ability to showcase multiple products or your Amazon Store.