Amazon PPC campaign structure is the foundation of a successful Amazon advertising strategy. Amazon ad costs (CPC) are rising and careful organization structure is critical. A well-structured account gives you clarity over which campaigns and keywords drive sales, allowing you to allocate budget strategically. Think of your campaigns, ad groups, and keywords as the blueprint of your advertising strategy . A logical hierarchy (campaign → ad group → keywords/targets) ensures precise control over bidding, reporting, and ROI analysis.

Amazon Ad Types and Roles

Amazon offers three main PPC ad types: Sponsored Products (SP), Sponsored Brands (SB), and Sponsored Display (SD). Each serves a distinct goal.

Sponsored Products ads (the most common format) appear in search results and on detail pages.

Sponsored Brands allow custom banners or videos to highlight your brand and multiple products.

Sponsored Display (formerly Product Display) ads extend reach by retargeting audiences both on and off Amazon.

Organizing your campaigns by these types and treating each with its strategic purpose is the first step toward a self-sustaining PPC ecosystem.

Why Campaign Structure Matters

The way you organize campaigns determines how much control you have and how clearly you see your data. A proper campaign structure is key to profitably scaling your ads.

For instance, segmenting campaigns by product lines, match type, or keyword intent “gives you complete look into what’s working and what’s not.”

Well-structured campaigns make it easy to identify top-performing segments and allocate budget accordingly, while also flagging underperforming keywords or products for adjustment.

Better Control

Clear grouping (by ASIN, match type, or goal) lets you see results for each segment. You can track ACoS, TACoS, and ROAS at the campaign or ad group level, rather than obscuring data in a single bucket.

Budget Efficiency

Structured segmentation lets you optmize bids and budgets by group. For example, winning keywords can be given more budget, and lossy keywords can be paused without affecting others.

Scalability

You can safely expand campaigns that work. For instance, if an exact-match campaign is performing well, you can increase its budget or duplicate its structure for similar products, while keeping experimentation in separate campaigns.

Prevent Wasted Spent

Proper structure avoids internal competition. Mixing strong and weak keywords in one campaign can waste budget. High performers can eat up the budget and mask low performers. By isolating top keywords in focused campaigns, you ensure every campaign has a clear purpose and enough budget to collect useful data.

Elements of Amazon PPC Structure

Amazon’s PPC system (especially Sponsored Products) follows a simple hierarchy with three core layers.

Campaigns

Campaigns are the top-level container. Each campaign has its own budget, duration, and targeting type (manual or automatic). Campaign-level settings include daily budget, campaign status, and negative keywords. You also choose whether the campaign is Automatic (Amazon selects targets) or Manual (you define keywords or product targets).

Ad Groups

Each campaign contains one or more ad groups. An 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. For example, you may place a single ASIN with tightly focused keywords in one ad group, or group closely related ASINs together.

Targeting

Targeting determines what triggers your ads. In manual targeting, you add keywords (broad, phrase, exact) or select specific ASINs or categories. In automatic targeting, Amazon’s algorithm matches your product to relevant search terms or similar products.

For Sponsored Products (SP) the focus is on keyword and product targeting. Sponsored Brands campaigns involve brand logo creatives and multiple products, and may organize by brand vs category targeting.

Sponsored Display usually uses audiences or product-based creatives. The structural principles like clear naming and segmentation still apply here.

Campaign Segmentation Strategies

Once you understand campaigns and ad groups, the next step is segmentation: deciding how to break your account into campaigns and ad groups. The goal is to make each campaign coherent and manageable. As a rule of thumb, each keyword or target in a campaign should ideally drive about one sale per week on average; if it can’t, consider merging it with others or pausing it.

1. Segment by Product or SKU

Grouping by product helps control bids at the ASIN level and analyze performance per item. Common approaches include:

Single-Product Campaigns (SPC)

Each campaign contains a single ad group (with that ASIN) and its keywords. This gives the most clarity and you can see each product’s performance at the campaign level, and all data (like placement reports) is exclusively that product.

The downside is a high number of campaigns. This works best for smaller catalogs (under ~500 SKUs) or flagship products where absolute control is required.

Multi-Product Ad Groups (MAG)

At the opposite extreme, multiple products are placed in one ad group. For example, an apparel brand with thousands of SKUs may have ad groups containing many similar styles. The benefit is fewer campaigns and stronger aggregated data for broad keywords.

The drawback is loss of per-ASIN insight: you won’t know which specific product is converting on each keyword. This approach is typically used for very large catalogs (over 5,000 SKUs) where simplicity is critical.

Single-Keyword Campaigns (SKC)

This is the most granular structure: one campaign per product per keyword. That means one campaign, one ad group, one ASIN, and one keyword.

This provides maximum clarity and bid control, including placement adjustments at the keyword–ASIN level. In practice, SKCs are used only for a small set of top-priority keywords for organic ranking campaigns mostly, as scaling this structure account-wide would create excessive campaigns and dilute data.

The right choice depends on account size and goals. Small catalogs (under 100 SKUs) often start with SPC for simplicity. Medium catalogs (100–1,000 SKUs) commonly use MAG as a balanced approach.

2. Segment by Campaign Goal or Theme

Campaigns should have a clear goal. Grouping campaigns by objective or product lifecycle stage improves budget control, reporting clarity, and strategic decision-making.

Brand vs Non-Brand (Branded vs Generic)

Separate brand-name keywords (your brand or product names) from generic or competitor keywords. Brand terms usually convert at a higher rate and can justify more aggressive bidding.

Keeping them isolated, supported by negative keywords, prevents internal cannibalization. For example, a campaign targeting a branded search term would exclude generic category keywords, while the generic campaign would exclude branded terms.

Performance vs Testing vs Defense vs Launch

Amazon PPC campaigns should be separated based on their goal, not mixed together.

• Performance campaigns contain proven keywords or targets that already generate profitable sales and require strict ACoS control.
• Testing campaigns are used to discover new keywords or targeting opportunities, where higher ACoS is acceptable during data collection.
• Defense (brand) campaigns protect branded searches, typically converting at very low ACoS and preventing competitors from stealing brand traffic.
• Launch campaigns support new products, allowing higher short-term spend to gain organic ranking, sales data, and momentum.

Separating campaigns this way keeps budgets, performance analysis, and optimization decisions clear and controlled.

High vs Mid Intent Keywords

Campaigns can also be segmented by buyer intent. High-intent keywords, such as exact-match terms or “best” queries, are grouped separately from mid-intent or exploratory keywords. This allows more budget to be allocated to keywords with stronger conversion potential.

For example, a search term like “Hair extension 32 inch” shows clear purchase intent, whereas a broader term like “Hair accessories” reflects lower buying intent and is better placed in a discovery-focused campaign.

3. Segment by Keyword / Match Type

A common best practice is to separate campaigns by keyword match type. This typically means running one set of campaigns for discovery and another for scaling. Doing so prevents overlap between match types and makes bid management more straightforward.

Broad / Phrase Campaigns

These campaigns include keywords in broad and phrase match seperately. Their role is to uncover new search terms, and collecting performance data. Bids are usually more conservative, as not all traffic will be highly relevant.

Exact Match Campaigns

These campaigns contain the same keywords, but in exact match only. Their purpose is scaling known winners. Because exact matches typically convert better, they can support higher bids and more aggressive budget allocation.

To keep this structure clean, negative keywords are essential. Broad or phrase keywords should be added as negatives in exact campaigns where appropriate, and branded terms should be excluded from generic campaigns. This isolation ensures that exact campaigns are not competing with discovery campaigns for the same searches.

Layering match types in this way allows you to continuously harvest new search terms from broad and phrase campaigns, then promote the strongest performers into exact campaigns. As data accumulates, each campaign can be paused, scaled, or optimized independently without disrupting the rest of the account.

Strategic Organization and Best Practices

Besides segmentation, several organizational practices make your account scalable and easier to manage.

Portfolio and Campaign Grouping

Amazon’s Portfolio feature should be used to group campaigns by product category. Creating a separate portfolio for each product allows budgets and performance to be managed at a category level instead of campaign by campaign. This structure is especially important for sellers with multiple product lines, since it prevents one category from consuming the budget meant for another.

Naming Conventions

Consistent and descriptive naming is essential for keeping campaigns organized. A good campaign name should include key elements such as the product or ASIN, campaign type (Manual or Auto), targeting type (Keyword or Product), match type, and campaign goal.

For instance, Shoes-ABC123-SP-Exact-Brand represents a Sponsored Products exact-match campaign for ASIN ABC123 targeting branded keywords.

The same structured naming system should be applied to ad groups. Ad groups can reuse the campaign name prefix and add identifiers like AG1 or AG2. Following a clear naming convention makes campaigns easy to locate, manage, and optimize in Seller Central.

Match-Type and Overlap Management

Separate match types into different campaigns and use negative keywords to prevent overlap. For example, in a broad-match campaign, add all exact-match terms as negative keywords. Likewise, add brand terms as negatives in non-brand campaigns. This ensures each search query is served by the intended campaign and avoids wasted spend or unclear attribution.

Preventing Cannibalization

Beyond match types, ensure no two campaigns are bidding on the same terms unintentionally. Brand terms should be negative in generic campaigns. Strategy-driven campaigns (such as Defense campaigns) should exclude all targets that fall outside their role. Regularly reviewing search term reports and adding negatives is essential to maintaining a clean structure.

Maintain Simplicity Where Possible

Avoid unnecessary complexity. Amazon enforces structural limitations, such as shared budgets across all products in a campaign. If products require different budgets or bidding strategies, they must be placed in separate campaigns. Keep ad groups focused and avoid loading many unrelated SKUs into one group, so performance remains clear at the product level.

Regular Audits and Updates

Treat your structure as a living system. Review campaigns weekly or bi-weekly. If a campaign or ad group has little activity, consider merging it or reallocating its keywords. Campaign structure should be reviewed and adjusted just like bids and budgets. As goals or product lines evolve, campaigns should be reorganized accordingly, such as retiring launch campaigns after the growth phase or consolidating stagnant products.

Documentation and Tools

Maintain written or spreadsheet documentation of your naming conventions and structural rules. Automation tools or scripts can help with bulk edits as accounts scale. Tools such as campaign-naming templates ensure consistency and reduce errors. A clearly defined structure upfront saves time and effort as the account grows.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Should I Structure Amazon PPC Campaigns?
Amazon PPC campaigns should be organized by clear objectives such as discovery, performance, brand defense, and product launches. Each campaign should focus on a specific purpose to avoid overlapping data and wasted budget. A well-structured setup allows you to optimize bids, allocate budgets effectively, and control ACoS across all products.

How Many Campaigns Should I Run Per Product?
A typical setup includes 2–4 campaigns per product. One automatic campaign is used for keyword discovery, one broad/phrase campaign for testing, one exact-match campaign to scale proven keywords, and optionally a product-targeting or brand-defense campaign. The number of campaigns depends on catalog size and product priority.

Should I Separate Brand and Non-Brand Keywords?
Yes, separating brand and non-brand keywords is essential for controlling costs and protecting your traffic. Brand campaigns defend your own keywords from competitors, while non-brand or generic campaigns focus on acquiring new customers. This separation allows precise bid adjustments and better budget allocation for each keyword type.

How Do I Use Match Types Across Campaigns?
Separate campaigns should be created for each match type. Broad and phrase campaigns are ideal for discovering new search terms, while exact-match campaigns focus on high-converting keywords. Adding negative keywords prevents overlap and ensures each campaign spends budget efficiently on its intended audience.

When Should I Use Single-Product Ad Groups Versus Multi-SKU Groups?
Single-product ad groups (SPAG) are best when you need clear, product-level performance data for each ASIN. Multi-SKU ad groups are suitable for very large catalogs where managing thousands of individual ad groups is impractical. SPAG provides better bid control and helps identify which products drive conversions.

How Often Should I Audit and Adjust Campaign Structure?
Campaigns should be reviewed regularly, with weekly audits for active product launches and monthly checks for stable campaigns. Use audits to merge low-performing campaigns, add negatives from search term reports, and reallocate budgets to high-performing keywords. Regular review ensures campaigns remain profitable and scalable.