Amazon PPC for Brands Stuck on Page 2

For brands selling on Amazon, cracking page one is the entire game. Landing on page two, however, feels like you’re in a different zip code entirely. You might see some clicks trickle in, but the sales velocity you need for sustainable growth isn’t there. Page two is statistically where customer attention collapses, turning your product functionally invisible.

This is exactly why a targeted Amazon PPC strategy is your escape route. Getting stuck means you’re missing out on nearly all potential sales for your target keywords. It’s a frustrating loop: you get just enough traffic to burn through your ad budget but not nearly enough sales to improve your organic ranking.

Why Page Two Is a Growth Killer

The gulf between page one and page two isn’t just a handful of rankings; it’s a massive drop in shopper engagement. Amazon buyers are decisive and move fast. The overwhelming majority find what they’re looking for on that first page and rarely click “next.” This is the reality for any brand that can’t break through that initial barrier.

The numbers don’t lie. Across Amazon’s marketplace, page two is where products go to die. With roughly 9.7 million sellers worldwide, it’s shockingly easy to get buried on page 3, 5, or even 10 for competitive searches. At the same time, studies show that about 45% of shoppers never scroll past page 2, meaning nearly half of your potential audience is gone if your listing doesn’t make the cut.

1. Page Position vs. Visibility

Being on page two isn’t just a minor setback; it’s a completely different league of performance, and not in a good way.

The data paints a clear picture: if you’re not on page one, you’re fighting an uphill battle for scraps.

2. Financial Drain

Lingering on page two almost always leads to inefficient ad spend. I’ve seen countless brands increase their bids hoping for a breakthrough, only to watch their Advertising Cost of Sale (ACOS) climb without any real lift in rank.

You end up paying for clicks from less-motivated “browsers” who are digging deep into the search results, and those clicks rarely convert at a profitable rate. This financial drain can put your growth on ice indefinitely.

While fixing your PPC, ensure your brand’s foundations are solid. Learning how to fight trademark infringement on Amazon is important to prevent hijackers from undermining your hard work.

3. Path to Page One

This is a fixable problem. A well-executed PPC campaign is the most direct tool for securing page-one real estate. By strategically targeting the right keywords and bidding for top-of-search placements, you can create the sales velocity Amazon’s A9 algorithm needs to see. Once it sees those consistent sales, it rewards you with higher organic placement.

First: Audit Before Spending

Pouring more money into PPC campaigns without a clear diagnosis is the fastest way I know to burn cash. Before you increase your ad spend, you need to run a full performance audit on your product listing and your existing ad campaigns. This makes sure every new dollar has the best possible chance at delivering.

Many brands stuck on page two think the problem is purely about ads. The truth is a weak product listing can kill even the best PPC strategy. If your listing isn’t built to convert, you’re just paying to send shoppers to a dead end.

1. Is Your Listing Ready?

Your product detail page is your digital storefront. A confusing page will tank your conversion rate, which tells Amazon’s algorithm that your product isn’t what customers want.

Here’s a quick checklist:

• Main Image: Does it stop the scroll? Your main image needs to be crisp, professional, and pop against your competitors. Use props or infographics to show scale or call out a key feature.
• Title Structure: The first 80 characters are everything, especially on mobile. Include your most important keyword right at the beginning, followed by a major benefit.
• A+ Content: This is your space to answer questions before a customer asks them. Use high-quality lifestyle shots and comparison charts to sell your product’s value and tackle common pain points.
• Customer Reviews: What’s the recent feedback look like? A sudden dip in your star rating or a string of bad reviews can crush conversions. Address any recurring issues immediately.

A low conversion rate is a massive red flag for the A9 algorithm. Amazon simply won’t give you precious page-one real estate if shoppers click your ad but don’t buy. Fixing your listing is the price of admission.

2. Analyze PPC Performance

Once your listing is in fighting shape, get your hands dirty in your ad account. The mission is to find and eliminate waste before you scale. A successful Amazon PPC for brands stuck on page 2 strategy is about efficiency, not just brute-force spending.

Pull up your Search Term Report for the last 30-60 days. It tells you exactly what shoppers typed into the search bar before they clicked your ad.

Look for these red flags:

1. Money-Draining Keywords: If a search term has many clicks but zero sales and has spent more than 50% of your product’s sale price without a conversion, it’s a bleeder. Add it as a negative exact match.
2. Irrelevant Search Terms: Broad match campaigns can attract some strange searches. If you’re selling “organic dog treats,” you have no business paying for clicks on “cheap dog food.” Add these irrelevant terms as negative phrase match keywords.
3. Keyword Cannibalization: This happens when multiple ad groups or campaigns bid on the same keywords. You end up bidding against yourself, driving up costs. Make sure each keyword has a single home in one exact match campaign.

By cleaning up these messes, you plug financial leaks. That frees up the budget to reallocate to aggressive, focused campaigns that will push your product to page one.

If you’ve done all this and still feel stuck, it might be time to look into other reasons why your Amazon PPC stops working and how to fix it.

Structuring Page One Campaigns

A disorganized campaign structure is a common reason brands get stuck on page two. Pouring money into chaotic campaigns is like trying to fill a leaky bucket; you’ll burn through your budget before seeing any rank improvement.

You need a systematic, multi-layered architecture that lets you discover, validate, and scale keywords efficiently.

This structure is about building a machine that feeds itself data, allowing you to methodically move winning search terms from low-cost discovery campaigns into high-aggression performance campaigns. This control is essential for any Amazon PPC for brands stuck on page 2 strategy because it puts you in charge of your ad spend.

1. Foundation: Broad Match

First, you need a discovery campaign. Think of this as casting a wide net to capture a broad range of customer search terms. This is where you put broad match keywords to work.

Keep the budget here modest. You are paying for market research. Let this campaign run for a week or two, then dive into the Search Term Report to find the exact phrases driving clicks and, more importantly, sales.

2. Mid-Funnel: Phrase Match

Once you’ve found promising search terms from your broad match campaign, move them into a separate phrase match campaign. This is your validation layer. Phrase match offers more control than broad match while still allowing for natural search variations.

For example, if “organic dog treats for sensitive stomach” was a winner in your broad campaign, you’d add “organic dog treats” as a phrase match keyword here. Your ad can now show for searches like “best organic dog treats,” capturing relevant traffic without the unpredictability of a broad match.

3. Front Line: Exact Match

This is where you get aggressive. Your exact match campaigns are for your proven, highest-converting keywords. Since you’re targeting precise search terms, you can bid more competitively to lock down top-of-search placements.

These keywords are your heavy hitters, so this campaign should get the largest slice of your budget. The goal is simple: dominate the placement for these terms. Consistently winning the top ad spot for your best keywords generates the sales velocity needed to move your organic rank from page two to page one.

Key Takeaway: Let data guide your budget. Start with most of your budget in discovery (broad) and validation (phrase). As you identify winners, shift that budget toward your performance (exact match) campaigns to get the most value from high-intent traffic.

4. Defensive Line: Product Targeting

While attacking new keywords, you also have to defend your turf and conquest competitors. This is where product targeting campaigns, both ASIN and category targeting, come into play.

• Defensive ASIN Targeting: Target your own product listings. This creates a “brand block” on your detail pages, preventing competitors from placing their ads and stealing your traffic. It’s a low-cost way to keep customers inside your ecosystem.
• Offensive ASIN Targeting: Go after the detail pages of your direct competitors. Look for rivals with weaker listings, fewer reviews, or higher prices. Placing your ad on their page can siphon their customers away right before they buy.

For a deeper dive into how these targeting types fit together, our guide on automatic vs. manual campaign targeting in Amazon PPC offers a complete breakdown.

5. Gatekeeper: Negative Keywords

A disciplined negative keyword strategy makes this whole structure profitable. Without it, your campaigns will leak cash on irrelevant clicks, sabotaging your push to get off page two.

This has to be a continuous process:

• Weekly Report Dives: Review your broad and phrase match campaign reports every week.
• Find Irrelevant Terms: Look for search terms that have nothing to do with your product. If you sell premium leather wallets, “cheap fabric wallet” is an immediate add as a negative phrase match.
• Cut Underperformers: Identify terms with high clicks but zero sales. If a search term has spent more than your target cost-per-acquisition without a single conversion, add it as a negative exact match in your discovery campaigns.

This constant pruning ensures your ad spend is focused on shoppers likely to convert, making your push for page one both effective and sustainable.

Fine-Tuning Bids and Targeting

You’ve got a solid campaign structure. Now it’s time to get tactical with bidding and targeting. This isn’t a “set it and forget it” process; this is where you make proactive, data-driven moves to outplay competitors for those page-one slots. Your bidding strategy is the engine that powers this entire push.

Competition on Amazon is getting fiercer. Brands stuck on page two can’t afford to run unfocused campaigns. Every click has to move the needle on your rank. In 2026, the average CPC on Amazon is around $1.12, up $0.15 from the previous year. During peak months, that number can climb to $1.19 per click.

When you factor in that Amazon’s platform-wide conversion rate averages between 9-11%, the math is unforgiving. An unfocused campaign that wastes even 30% of its clicks on low-intent search terms can burn through thousands of dollars without generating the needed sales velocity. You can find more of the latest Amazon advertising stats on adbadger.com.

1. Choose a Bidding Strategy

Amazon offers three main bidding strategies. Picking the right one depends on your campaign’s immediate goal.

• Down Only: Amazon will only lower your bids if it thinks a conversion is unlikely. This is best for mature, profitable campaigns where maintaining a target ACOS is the goal.
• Up and Down: Amazon can increase your bids (by up to 100% for top-of-search) if it senses a conversion is likely. Use this strategy for a page-one push in your exact match and ASIN-targeting campaigns.
• Fixed Bids: Amazon uses your exact bid every time. This gives you maximum control but demands constant manual monitoring. It’s best for seasoned sellers running specific, short-term tests.

For any brand trying to get off page two, “Up and Down” bidding is your primary weapon for your performance campaigns. If you want to go deeper, we have a complete breakdown of Amazon bidding strategies.

Choosing the right bidding strategy is about aligning the tool with the job at hand. The table below breaks down which strategy to use for common campaign goals.

Bidding Strategy Decision Matrix

Your bidding strategy isn’t static. As a product moves from launch to growth to maturity, you’ll likely shift from “Up and Down” to “Down Only” to balance visibility with profitability.

2. Use Placement Modifiers

Aggressive bidding isn’t enough. You have to tell Amazon where to focus that aggression. That’s what placement modifiers are for. These settings let you increase your bid by a specific percentage for certain ad placements.

For a page-one push, your focus should be on the “Top of search (first page)” placement. This is the most valuable real estate on Amazon. Applying a placement modifier of 50% to 100% signals to the algorithm that you’re willing to pay a premium to win that first ad slot.

Don’t just set it to 100% right away. Start with a more conservative modifier, like +25%, and watch your placement reports. If you’re still not consistently showing up at the top, increase the percentage gradually.

3. Create a “Halo Effect”

Your Sponsored Products campaigns are workhorses, but don’t ignore Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display. Used together, they create a “halo effect,” surrounding shoppers with your brand message.

• Sponsored Brands: Use these top-of-page banner ads to target your top three to five keywords. A Sponsored Brands ad builds immediate brand recognition and positions your brand as a major player.
• Sponsored Display: This is your retargeting and defensive powerhouse. Use it to follow shoppers who viewed your product but didn’t buy. You can also place these ads on your competitors’ product detail pages to win the sale right before the customer clicks “Add to Cart.”

This multi-pronged approach makes your brand feel omnipresent, increasing the chances of a conversion.

4. Set and Adjust Bids

Setting initial bids can feel like a guess, but you can start with an educated one. Look at Amazon’s suggested bid range for a keyword and start in the middle. The real work begins once the data flows. Adjust your bids based on your Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Conversion Rate (CVR).

• High CTR, High CVR: This is your golden goose. Increase bids here to maximize visibility and sales volume.
• High CTR, Low CVR: You’re getting clicks, but they aren’t turning into sales. This often points to a disconnect between the search term and your product or an issue with your listing (bad image, high price, poor reviews). Do not increase the bid. Investigate the listing first.
• Low CTR, High CVR: When you get clicks, they convert. The problem is you’re not getting enough of them. Your ad isn’t visible enough. Carefully increase the bid to improve your ad position.

Proactive management is the only path to success. You should be in your campaigns at least twice a week, making small, iterative adjustments.

Measuring Success and Planning

Congratulations, you fought your way to page one. This isn’t the finish line, it’s the starting line for a new race. Getting there was about aggression; staying there profitably is about building a brand. You have to know what’s working, why it’s working, and how to keep the momentum going without hurting your profits.

As of 2025, Amazon commands 22.3% of all U.S. search ad spend, with over $47 billion flowing through its platforms daily. Since Sponsored Products campaigns rake in up to 70% of that revenue, the battle for page one is more cutthroat than ever. Structured measurement is the only way a brand fresh off page two can hold its ground.

1. KPIs Beyond ACOS

ACOS (Advertising Cost of Sale) is important, but it only tells part of the story. You need a wider lens to measure the total health of your marketing.

• Total ACOS (TACOS): This is your most important metric. It’s your total ad spend divided by your total revenue (ad-driven + organic). TACOS shows the real impact of PPC on your business. If your ACOS is high but your TACOS is dropping, you’re winning. It means your ad spend is successfully lifting organic sales.
• Organic Rank Tracking: Obsessively watch your organic rank for your top 5-10 keywords daily. Use a tool. Did your rank for “silicone baking mat” shoot from 18 to 7 after you increased your exact match campaign? That’s a clear win.
• Session and Conversion Data: Get comfortable inside your Business Reports in Seller Central. Are sessions (your traffic) and your unit session percentage (your conversion rate) trending up for the ASIN you’re pushing? This confirms your visibility is translating into shopper interest.

As you plan the next quarter, another key metric is your Return On Ad Spend (ROAS). It directly measures campaign profitability. For a full breakdown of which reports to pull, check our guide on essential Amazon Advertising reports.

2. A 30-60-90 Day Plan

Breaking your strategy into a manageable timeline keeps you from getting overwhelmed. This is the roadmap to execute your Amazon PPC for brands stuck on page 2 strategy.

Days 1-30: Aggression

The first month is about getting your new campaigns live and collecting data. Your ACOS will likely be high. Don’t panic. You’re investing in sales velocity.

• Launch: Start your new broad, phrase, exact, and ASIN-targeting campaigns.
• Budget: Funnel the bulk of your budget into exact match campaigns for your most critical keywords.
• Bidding: Be aggressive. Use the “Up and Down” bidding strategy with heavy Top of Search placement modifiers (+50% or more).
• Monitor: Check your search term reports twice a week. Add irrelevant terms as negative keywords to clean your data.

Days 31-60: Optimization

You have a month of performance data. Now it’s time to double down on what works and cut what doesn’t.

• Analyze: Sift through your broad and phrase campaigns. Find search terms with at least 2-3 sales and a respectable ACOS.
• Graduate Keywords: Move these proven search terms into your exact match campaign as new ad groups.
• Prune Losers: Be merciless. Add search terms with high clicks and zero sales as negative exact keywords.
• Scale Bids: Start increasing the bids on your top-performing exact match keywords to defend your new page-one placement.

Days 61-90: Profitability

You’ve made it to page one. The final month is about shifting your mindset from aggressive growth to long-term profitability.

• Adjust Bidding: For stable campaigns, switch the bidding strategy from “Up and Down” to “Down Only” to protect your ACOS.
• Refine Budgets: Reallocate your budget from discovery campaigns (broad/phrase) to your proven exact match and brand defense campaigns.
• Monitor TACOS: This is your primary KPI now. Your goal is to see it steadily decline as your organic rank solidifies, which allows you to gently pull back on ad spend without losing sales.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Long Does It Take to Move to Page One with PPC?

It depends. It’s not an overnight fix. Your timeline is shaped by your category’s competitiveness, ad budget, and current listing conversion rate. For a product in a moderately competitive space, an aggressive campaign can start shifting your rank in as little as 2-4 weeks. For a highly competitive category, expect it to take a solid 60-90 days of consistent, PPC-fueled sales to not just hit page one but stay there.

What Is a Realistic Starting Budget?

There’s no single magic number, but a logical starting point is to drive 10-15 sales per day from PPC for your most important keywords.

Let’s do some quick math:

• Assume your average Cost-Per-Click (CPC) is $1.50.
• Your listing converts at 10% (you need 10 clicks for one sale).
• Your cost per acquisition is $15 ($1.50 x 10 clicks).

To hit a 10-sales-a-day target, you’d need a minimum daily budget of $150 ($15 x 10 sales). You have to be ready to invest at a high ACOS for the first 30-60 days.

Should I Pause Campaigns for High ACOS?

Pausing is almost always the wrong move during a ranking campaign. A high ACOS is a necessary investment in this initial phase. You’re buying sales velocity to improve your organic rank, which will lower your Total ACOS (TACOS) later. Instead of killing the campaign, get granular. Go to the search term report. Hunt down terms with lots of clicks but zero sales and add them as negative exact keywords. If a whole campaign is underperforming after a few weeks, review your keyword strategy or diagnose conversion issues on your listing.

Is It Better to Target Long Tail or High Volume Keywords?

You need both, but sequence matters. The smartest way to run an Amazon PPC for brands stuck on page 2 campaign is to build momentum from the ground up. Start by targeting mid-to-long-tail keywords (phrases with three or more words). Competition is lower, making it cheaper to win ad placements and get initial sales. As your rank climbs for these terms, Amazon’s algorithm sees your product as relevant. Once you’ve built that foundation, you can bid more aggressively on the high-volume “head” terms. Trying to win the most competitive keywords from page two is just a fast way to burn through your budget.