Hey everyone,
I recently joined a new company and I'm running into an ad situation I've never dealt with before. Hoping someone here can point me in the right direction.
The situation:
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FBM
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Product is in a competitive category with high CPC
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I've run ads on other products before without issues — usually bidding at the low end of suggested worked fine
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But here, even bidding well above suggested isn't getting results
What I've tried:
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Bids: suggested is $1.50, I've tried $2.30–2.50, also tried $1.50 + 50–80% top-of-search adjustment
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Auto campaigns work — they generate impressions and the search terms are relevant — but conversion is weak
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Manual campaigns on keywords are getting almost no impressions, even with high bids
The bigger picture:
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FBM — only 1 out of the top 100 competitors is FBM; the rest are FBA
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Price — we're $15–25 higher than competitors (they're at $30–40 for similar specs)
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Product — fairly commoditized, not a lot of differentiation
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Company won't lower the price or switch to FBA (at least for now)
I'm out of ideas. I've never dealt with this combination of factors before. Would really appreciate any insights from people who've been in a similar spot.
Answers (6)
Think of it this way: if you need 10,000 impressions to get meaningful data, and $2 bids aren't getting you there, then you go higher. There's no rule that says you have to stay near the suggested range.
Also, with a new listing and no history, the ad algorithm has no idea how to value your clicks. It takes time and spend to build that data.
One more thing — check where your impressions are landing. If most are on product pages rather than top of search, that could explain low CTR. You might need higher bids or placement adjustments to move up.
Here's a blunt take: FBM + higher price + commodity product is a losing combination unless you have something else going for you (unique feature, better branding, etc.).
If leadership won't change price or fulfillment, I'd put together a data sheet:
Sometimes leaders need to see the math before they'll agree to change course.
If they still won't listen — and you're the one responsible for making it work — it might be worth asking yourself if this is a situation you can succeed in.
The suggested bid is just a reference. If you need more exposure, keep increasing it until you get the impressions you need. There's no magic number.
That said, FBM is a real disadvantage. We tested this: to get the same ad placement, FBM needed about 20% higher bids than FBA.
Also check your bidding strategy. If you're using "up and down" on a new product with no history, Amazon will sometimes drop your bid as low as $0.02 on clicks it doesn't think will convert. That kills impressions. Try "fixed bids" instead.
And if you're going after big head terms with high competition, switch to long-tail keywords first. Don't try to win the big keywords out of the gate.
But honestly? FBM + higher price + commoditized product is a really tough starting point. Ads are just a traffic tool — if the listing itself isn't converting, no amount of ad optimization will fix it.
I was in a similar spot with FBM. Here's what I learned:
If manual campaigns on keywords are getting zero impressions, double-check that you're using the right match type and that the keywords are actually relevant. Sometimes a keyword looks good but Amazon doesn't see it as relevant to your listing.
Also, try running a campaign on product pages only. CPC is usually lower there and you can sometimes pick up impressions that wouldn't show on top of search.
But again — if the core issue is that your listing isn't competitive on price or fulfillment, those are tactical fixes. The strategic problem is the offer itself.