Amazon Ads Audit Process: Expert Amazon PPC Agency Reveals Common Mistakes

Hi guys, welcome to another video. Today I have a guest Vadim from PPC Jumpstart and we will talk about what how we usually do our PPC audits, what are the common mistakes and we're going to compare how I do it and how he does it. So I think there will be a plenty of uh things to be learned if you're serious about Amazon PPC. Vadim, welcome. Tell us a little bit about yourself. Yeah. Um, hi everyone. Well, first of all, very excited to be on this podcast, Eager. You know, we've been wanting to get on this podcast for a while. Um, I know you're deep into the Amazon PPC. So am I. Um, so very excited about this topic a bit about PPC Jumpstart. We are a boutique Amazon PPC agency working with uh several clients at the time. Small team at the moment, very very boutique. Um, you know how I initially started? I used to be a seller myself back in like 2021 or 2020 >> selling my own products. Um I had this product in the fitness niche selling workout gloves. >> You know I you know I did all the sourcing the design getting the stuff on Amazon and then I realized that half of the battle is just figuring out how the ads work. Um >> yeah yeah and then uh you know I I figured out on my own through courses etc. There wasn't as much information at the time as there is now. And then just someone contacted me asking me to manage their advertising. So, you know, I'm like, okay, I guess I could, you know, I could do it for someone else. So, I've done it for them. Got them like very good results. In fact, it was like their two best months in a row in terms of like revenue. >> Yeah. And you know that's kind of how the agency started. You know as when I saw that I could put these skills that I learned myself to other people. I you know I I became a freelancer at the time getting you know clients helping them with Amazon ads and yeah that's how I began. >> That was a proof of concept right? >> Somebody asked you to help them and then there you go two months in and sales have increased. That's you know >> that's a confirmation of your of your services right there. >> Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. And you know and from that moment I I was motivated to actually go ahead and help people cuz you know just hearing that firsthand experience from someone like hey you like helped our business a lot. >> Yeah >> that's good to hear. >> Yeah. So regarding audits I know it's something that um needs to be done [laughter] almost daily >> and you know sometimes it's time consuming uh sometimes pretty easy. uh when people ask me how do you know like if everything was done properly or not you know and I usually like to say it's when you enter similar when you enter the kids' room you know when you go to the room it's either chos or it's neat and polished you know everything is is folded and and stuff so it's same when you have enough experience in in PPC you know once you open up campaign manager you can like after a few clicks you can see >> if it's going good or not or is there any any good invention >> I suppose with you. >> Uhhuh. Yeah. No, I can I can certainly speak on that. Uh you know I'm sure that also that's something that you you got with experience as well. Usually like within the first few minutes I look at the campaign manager I can tell you know whether this is account that's easy to fix or you know or VPC is running very well. Um so I get I get on a lot of calls with like you know like potential clients etc. And I always tell them our first call is introduction like what are your problems and then the second call is me doing audit and figuring out if I can help you fix these problems. Um and you know what these people typically tell me after the audits you know they are impressed and then they say you know that you know they've seen other audits and it's nothing that I've developed like you know other people not name is anyone specific but a lot of people they think of an audit it's just like one pager in a in a Google document >> is a few comments right but it's a lot more than that um so I do have like um I show the clients like 10 15 slides presentation that goes into in depth um you know of interesting yeah >> yeah in each of the aspects is that how you approach the audits too you agree >> something similar something similar yeah I I kind of like to focus on on PPC only because you know that's my expertise but I kind of also like to cover like the overall approach you know I'm not an expert in creatives you know I I do know what works well and what's not you know because of just of the experience experience and talking with the creative agencies seeing the results but I like to start with business reports just as an overall view I like to check you know what's the uh one of the first things I like to to to see is are there any B2B sales because that can be an opportunity you know with campaign manages and all these additional business placements >> adjustments then I like to check mobile to desktop ratio which is usually at least 60 40% % towards mobile. Sometimes I even saw like 85% of people coming from mobile which which was huge. >> And then I like to compare right after that on top sellers top four to five if they're >> that many. I like to see okay is is the listing optimized or not because >> you know it's going to give me a sense like what's working not are there any uh possible improvements and then I like to start with brand metrics inside campaign manager just as a confirmation from like what I saw >> in listings then I check the conversion rate like is it >> close to category medium category top and then and then I dive into campaigns And yeah, campaigns it's it's it's a different story than what what to do. So, and how do you usually start? Does is it somewhere similar? >> Yeah, it's Yeah. Yeah. It's it's very similar. Um, you know, I'm glad you mentioned business reports and business placements. That's also one of the things I consider. You know, there's different brands. There's a brand that's selling toys for kids that's maybe not as business B2B driven, but I work with other brands that's selling electronics. Half of their sales is B2B. So as you can guess there is a lot of opportunity in business placements in day parting etc. >> Uh yeah and you know like you like you mentioned starting with like a very top level observation what I want to figure out first is do we have a bad offer and bad PPC or do we just have one of this >> uh and and how how do we find that? So first of all again like the listing is the listing optimized uh do we have images brand story? Do we have a plus content? Do we have um you know a back end optimization than you know al text uh backend search terms um as far as image goes um you know I'm also like BPC gem start is not a creative energy we do have this we do have this as an add-on service if your offer is lacking but you know the general idea is like do you have a lot of images on your u do you have a lot of text on your images is it too cluttered >> just a general design aspect >> um Yeah. And then of course I looked at I look at the brand metrics. Brand metrics, you know, this is a good way to check how you convert versus your over overall category. If if like say your listing is at 5% and category median is 10% or it's just as twice as good. Um two times better than you know um I know that we need to work on the listing as well. >> Yeah. um PPC wise uh the very very first um you know t first step of the audit what's our overall tus what has the client told me needs to be the goal >> um so this is the very first step so that kind of tells me okay how how how bad is this situation currently uh and then and then we start working on the we start working through individual products so What is the tacos on each of the product SKUs? Which products are um they are being under advertised, which are over advertised um you know and that just helps me you know to understand how is the budget distributed. Do we have 20 products but we have PPC going towards like 90% of PPC going towards one >> sort of thing or it's like all over the place. >> Um yeah. >> Yeah. And what so can you tell me what are like top three red flags when you start your PPC audit like only on PPC side? >> Yeah the PPC side um is it just to confirm is it three red flags just uh like from the you know bird's eye view or like deep deep in the vids I can give you both >> whatever comes to your mind like what is it like top three things that you keep seeing that brand owners are missing you know managers. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um, so number one is um segregating branded and non-branded. Uh, >> me too. Yeah. >> Yeah. Traffic across campaigns. >> Yeah. >> Like I'm working with this supplement brand who has like huge presence outside of Amazon and you know they don't have just branded searches. they have so many variations of this of this branded searches that you know they that has to be excluded from your non-branded campaigns. So I'd say this is number one. It's very important to have non-branded campaigns and branded completely split apart. So and so you know that way we can really judge effectiveness of our BBC. Uh second one is I would say placement placement optimization. Uh, and you know, this one is kind of basic, but I still see people sellers overlook it. So, just spending um on placements that don't convert well to product pages. >> Yeah. >> Sometimes, you know, in very bad accounts, they have like 50% of their spend going to going towards product pages, it converts like as twice as top of search or rest of search. Um, and then I would say the number three is just um is you know is so it's it's not having a proper plan like you know I've audited accounts that are completely driven by auto campaigns that that have no negations um you know there is no strategy at all it's just what Amazon suggested you do >> set and forget >> yeah set and forget and what's worse if you do set and forget and you launch campaigns with default settings unfortunately and I don't know if Amazon did it on purpose. This default settings they're bad cuz you know all like say auto campaign by default is going to be up and down bidding. >> Yeah. So it's just giving so much control to Amazon and yeah the third one is lack of lack of prep strategy and planning and how about yourself like what are the top three things maybe something that I not mentioned that you find >> yeah I I agree with you on those things for me I think one of the cases that mostly come up in audits is a lack of proper structure which I think aligns with what you said like Not there's no clear goal on what you want to accomplish with that. So so like you have whatever it's not just the number of campaigns. So it can be 50 or 500 but you know like a campaign just called you know car [laughter] you know toy. So you have any idea I mean only the the one who created the campaigns know what's what's in there. So, so proper campaign structure which aligns with proper naming conventions you know is it like is it branded campaign is it auto is it multi ad group or a single ad group you don't know anything you know so >> uh and then once we start implementing some kind of a naming convention it immediately immediately opens eyes to like we know is it a multi ad group or not and very often you know just when you go inside you see that it's it's chaos you know it's recently I saw an account where in in every campaign they had like seven to 10 ad groups and then inside every ad group there are bunch of keywords. >> Yeah, >> it's I I think it's it's it's hard to salvage any any of that but we'll see. >> So so campaign structure that aligns with goals is usually number one thing. Then uh yeah mix of branded keywords inside non-branded campaigns. Even when the campaign name says non-brand, you go inside and you see branded search terms, not keywords, but you see branded search terms. So the the results are, you know, better than the realities. So th those kind of stuff. Yeah, I really I really do agree, you know. Um yeah, so it's it's a lot of work to just lay out the proper structure. Sometimes you know recently I had >> like it took it took us a month to just have everything laid out properly because we don't just cut in slashes you know we try to salvage build on on top what's >> Yeah. Yeah. And and um yeah and uh you know uh thank you for bringing up the campaign structure. you know this is you know this is just of course everyone talks about right like it's often discussed so I'm just I'm curious guys when you do an audit on your on board account like what type of uh campaign structure do you follow like for me personally the best and most granular structure is the one I use which is single keyword campaign structure um sometimes it's not workable on accounts with like thousand squs uh but like how do you guys approach um in your audits. I kind of I like to use single keyword campaigns but I do it only for ranking campaigns >> and when I want to have absolute control over a single keyword you know >> like but mostly on ranking campaigns single keyword campaigns are for ranking for for most of the control I don't go like having know single keywords for all the keywords um simply because I don't think it's that necessary you know uh I like to have exact act match campaigns grouped like depending on the search volume uh maybe similar search volume top relevant keywords I would go with five keywords if the volume is kind of midway through >> or maybe two to three keywords if they're high volume and then also for broad match phrase match like not more than five seven eight keywords maximum. know we we start with 10 but then we see that some of them are not working and and it's a it's a living thing you know so we try to optimize >> yes having everything is single in the single keyword campaigns is definitely where you have the most control >> but I've seen that if we have single match type in a single ad group with not many of the keywords we get we kind of balance that like the the level of control that we have with placements >> adjustments with negatives and and stuff. I find it to be pretty like a like a good balance of not going too granular. >> Yes. >> And grouping everything together. That that's that's how I do. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And um also a bit more on that topic. I find you know with accounts I audit like if there is a campaign with more than 10 keywords usually not more than like say three or four keywords in this campaign are getting spent the rest are just sitting. So yeah, you know, I call this like impression suppression where Amazon, you know, it has its um own algorithm and it decides, okay, I'm going to test this keywords in a campaign and if they get spent, I'm going to give them more spent and the rest of the keywords, they'll just sit there. So I think >> I agree. Yeah, it's something that I keep seeing Yeah. all over. >> Yeah. So yeah, that is important. And you know, five keywords in a campaign that's that's probably the most outused. Yeah. Um >> yeah. Uh wanted also to talk a little bit, you know, I don't know. I just keep telling everybody about that tool because I keep getting surprised how many people even the PPC managers are not aware of that at least not those that that I spoken with. >> Yeah. But brand metrics that single tool unlocks so many it's an eyeopener for brand owners you know when we are on audit so it's not like I'm telling them that their offer is bad you know I just open that and I select the proper subcategory so this is you you know this is your subcategory like I don't know plastic toys for for boys whatever >> and they see that they're converting like 6% category median is 12 you know category top is 30%. And their price is not they're not premium. So that's not the reason why the lower conversion rates, you know, if they're twice as priced as all the others. So they're okay with the prices, but they're still, you know, not converting that much. So, you know, there you go. And I I let it sit for a few seconds, you know, to see their facial expression because that's the point. You know, we are not here to talk fairy tales. you know, you have a problem and we're here to tell you where the problem is for your sake, for mutual benefit, you know, so we can help you drive meaningful traffic, but >> if you don't if your offer is bad, you know, that's it. You know, you're wasting money with with us, we're wasting time with you, you know, it's not going to work, you know. So, find that really >> something that I like that when when Amazon introduced that tool, I was like, yes, finally. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. is it's definitely an eye openener like um and do do you sort of have like a limit like let's say the brand conversion is 5% and the category is 10%. So in that case like do you not take some other client? I'm just curious. >> I usually tell them that that's something that you need to work for or work on >> get it fixed then we can talk again or if they're uh anxious to start uh because know they like what what they hear and see then we can start you know working on the campaign structure because that takes time and it's really sensitive pro process. while they do that on the creative side and on offering it. So we kind of save some time over there. No, but yeah, in the past I've had many occasions where I said, you know, this is something that you have to fix. Before that, you're just waiting wasting money, you know, that that's why your is at 60%, you know, it's not about >> Yeah, exactly. >> your account. So it's not there. It's >> Yeah. And um you know uh so besides looking at brand metrics, right? There is like for example there is also the search query performance I use um you know and that's just to see the conversion on individual keywords um and uh and also besides that you know what I also find find and it's kind of like counterintuitive but your PPC I know the way you approach PPC it can either decrease or increase your conversion rate of the listing if that makes sense like this brand could be going for top of funnel keywords like shoes and that is going to worsen its PPC conversion and also the overall listing conversion. So when we fix the PPC and we get this set up say on the say we have like our top five converting keywords and that's where we allocate most of the spend like you could also see the lift in brand brand metrics after doing this adjustment. Yeah, it's it's something I also found like the brand metrics could be could be bad, but then I also look at PPC like maybe the PPC is really bad. Maybe they're just, you know, throwing money, right? Yeah. >> Yeah. There are so many different different things you know but I also feel like that's the aspect the technical aspect of the audit you know but I also what I found >> val valuable is that you know when we deliver that we kind of really try to be as transparent as possible as I said we're not telling anybody fairy tales we're not overpromising simply because you know that will put us in a sensitive situation if we all promise >> deliver but I find that >> mhm >> the way we structure the responses and deliver that value in the audit people actually really value the honesty and value the straightforward approach you know it's not like >> your product is great you are great everything is great you just need us and then then we'll take off we're going to everything is going to Cool. And sometimes I even know we didn't end up working on that that account, but they were like they were stunned like >> we by by the value they got and they they realized that okay I even got I have several occasions when I told them after doing the audit I said guys this is perfect. Yeah, >> I wouldn't change anything. You know, why are you trying to step away from this company or inhouse team because everything is absolutely perfect. I don't see any issue. They were kind of surprised. [laughter] >> Yeah. >> Didn't sell anything, you know, but that that's also worth saying and I I think that's that's kind of an integrity, you know. I would do the same, you know, when they were like, hey, I we saw the spike in a cost or whatever. I said like, so what? you know, it's a it's not a linear thing. So, don't expect have your a cost flat. So, something happened, your competitor lowered the prices drastically, had a discount or whatever. So, your conversion rate dropped or a cost increased or whatever. Just keep the guy and move on, you know. And they were like, "Yeah, but you're so transparent and honest now. We want to work with you because you're that transparent and he's not." And I said, "It's not worth it because you've been working with that guy for two years. He knows your account in and out. He knows you. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Just it's not worth the change, you know. I'm do myself a favor, but you know the point of my statement is that it's also how you communicate the results, you know. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And this is and you know you touched on a few important things here. Uh the first one is being honesty. So you know in the like for us marketing agencies there is you know you know I think in this space you know there is a certain like stigma or just uh like or or a belief that you know usually every marketing agency they promise you the moon but they don't deliver like that I I think that is like the common s in the society. So what I find is like when I'm honest with clients and I and I promise them the results but like I say like hey for example there is going to be five 10 or 5 to 10 15% sales growth in the next months I don't say it's 100%. They're like you know I appreciate your honesty like all these other people promising to double our results and the fact that you're like being so like you know like uh not overpromising. I think I think you always want to underpromise, right? And then overd deliver if you can instead of >> I know vice versa. >> Yeah. Instead of overpromising and underd delivering and then the Yeah. And and then the other thing about um so then the second one you mentioned is expectations, right? Uh so the point of the audit is to also qualify the client for me like is this a good fit for my agency? Can I get them the results? Second one, do they have the right expectations? Like you said, there could be days where you know there could be a day where a spikes that is that is still our under control but there are going to be days like that and you know I tell the clients we have week over week um analytics let's use that instead of a single day. Um and then the third one you mentioned I think that was about um I'm sorry I'm forgetting I think you were talking about honesty right so honesty oh no that was about communicating communicating results um so about communicating results I think as as agency owners we have to understand that some of these people they they might be not as technical some of them are technical so you know I like I I always have to adjust my like say weekly reporting based on the client. If it's someone who doesn't understand a tacos, then I'm going to adjust my message to his to his understanding. >> But if it's someone's if it's someone who is you know who knows very well is obsessive as me then you know the the message the email is going to be totally different. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Um, Vim, uh, I don't think we should talk too much because, uh, we I think you shared pretty good, um, insights and how you do. I want this episode to to be like as concise as it can. >> As concise. Yeah, sounds good. >> Yeah. So, >> sounds good. >> Yeah. So, I would ask you just for um like a closing notes. What is it like some of the recommendations for anybody out there like uh agency owners of do it yourself brand owners just what to look for what to do what not to do and then we'll share a little bit of information on the how people can contact you. >> Yeah. Um so for closing notes um I'd advise everyone like you know if you're in if you are in the market for PPC agency or whether you're not on your working with someone already just if you can do and a five minute audit yourself the first things you would check is you know search term report top highest converting keywords how much budget are we allocating to this keywords typically it should be at least you know 30 to 40% a good portion of your budget should be going towards something that converts as well. Um, second one is like and like you already pointed out the campaign structure. What what is currently the campaign structure there? And then the third one is placements. How well are they optimized? Um, you could do like um you could download a placement report, do a pivot table and just see what kind of spend allocation that you have towards this placement stop restertion product pages. Um, yeah. And then another thing is like like we both talked about brand metrics and if it's something that needs work if your conversion is a lot worse than category then you know this is also something that could be done outside of PPC like listing optimization. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. That's good. That's good. I think it's I was afraid you were going to start with something too technical. >> Oh no no no. Yeah. >> Yeah. But I I would say something similar. um like avoid having branded uh such terms of keywords in non-branded campaigns. Negate them as a phrase match. If your brand name is Coca-Cola at Coca-Cola is a phrase negative match in all campaigns uh except the the branded one of course then I would probably say again brand metrics evaluate how you're standing against the competition. And the last one, I would say if you're spending too much time managing PPC, it's probably a time to consider somebody else, you know, because >> yeah, can be overwhelming if you're if it's not something that you do every day, you know, I I >> I cannot even imagine somebody managing everything plus the PPC, you know, uh that can be that can be really challenging, you know, at times. >> Yeah. Uh uh Vadim, thank you very much. Please tell us if somebody uh liked what you shared today. What would be the best contact option for you? Is it the website or email or what do you like? >> Yeah. Uh the best contact would be through website. Um or you could just send me an email at vadimpppcjgemstar.com. Um I'm also pretty active on LinkedIn if you guys want to check out some of my some of the more content. Um, yeah, we could get on a quick call and then see if you know if the audit is the next step logically. Yeah. >> Awesome. Awesome. Thank you, Vadim. Uh, I wish you good rest of the day and I was enjoying our conversation. >> Yeah, thank you. You as well. Thanks for having me on your podcast. Right.