Automatic targeting is a great option when you’re just starting to advertise on Amazon. Simply set your ad campaign to automatic targeting, and Amazon will optimise placements for you based on relevant queries and products. Over time, data from automatic targeting can help you gain insights for your keyword strategy.

When you choose manual targeting you can bid to target specific keywords and products.
Depending on your keyword research you could target certain categories, books, brands, features, similar authors or genres.

Negative targeting allows you to exclude certain keywords, books or brands that aren’t relevant for your targeting. If you don’t know where to start with ad targeting, don’t worry – you’ll see automatic recommendations in your advertising console. Factor in 24-38 hours for moderation before ads go live, and give your campaigns enough time to run and accumulate useful data.

Your impressions show how many times your ad appeared, while the click-through rate shows the number of clicks the ad received as a percentage of impressions. These figures can indicate how effective your ad creative and bid strategy are

Advertising cost of sales metrics are a feature for Sponsored Product ads. ACOS can help you to understand the amount you’ve spent on your pay-per-click (PPC) campaign as a proportion of the amount earned.

ACOS = (ad spend ÷ ad revenue) x 100

Of course, sales indicate how many people are buying your books. While it’s tempting to rely on sales metrics alone, it’s important to consider other metrics as they can tell you different things about your ad spend.

For example, your new-to-brand metrics will indicate how effective your campaigns are at attracting new customers; your ROAS tells you how much you earn from an ad campaign; and your ACOS can tell you the percentage of increase.