If one of your products has a high ACOS, avoid guesswork and follow this structured optimization process.
Step 1: Check Active Campaigns (Most Important)
First, identify which Sponsored Products campaigns are running for the product:
Sponsored Products
Keyword Targeting
Broad
Phrase
Exact
Product Targeting (ASIN targeting)
Category Targeting
Defensive Targeting (your own ASINs)
Competitor Targeting (other sellers’ ASINs)
You must clearly understand where your ad spend is coming from.
Step 2: Verify Keyword Isolation
Once you confirm the product is active in discovery and exact campaigns, verify this critical point:
Are the keywords you are targeting in Exact campaigns added as Negative Exact in Broad, Phrase, and Auto campaigns?
If not, keyword overlap will cause wasted spend and higher ACOS.
Important: Do Not Negate Without Checking Performance
Before negating any keyword from discovery campaigns, always check:
Is this keyword performing better in Exact (or SKC) than in Broad, Phrase, or Auto?
If yes, add it as Negative Exact in discovery campaigns.
If no, do not negate it yet.
Best Practice: Use SKC Strategy
If a keyword is not performing better in Exact:
- Create a Single Keyword Campaign (SKC)
- Push only one keyword with proper bidding
- Once it performs better in Exact SKC than in discovery campaigns
- Then add it as Negative Exact in Broad, Phrase, and Auto
This reduces wasted spend, improves control, and helps lower ACOS consistently.
Step 3: Control Bleeders and High-ACOS Targets
Pause bleeder keywords.
Reduce bids on high-ACOS keywords.
Example:
30+ clicks
1 order
150–200% ACOS
Pause immediately.
Apply the same rule to product targeting ASINs, category targets, and competitor targets.
Step 4: Search Term and Target Optimization
Add negative keywords from search term reports.
Pause poor-performing, tested terms in discovery campaigns.
Pause or optimize search terms, ASIN targets, and category targets.
Step 5: Budget and Bid Optimization
Reduce budgets on poor-performing campaigns.
Increase budgets only on profitable campaigns.
Slightly increase bids for keywords or targets with good ACOS.
Reduce bids or pause those with bad ACOS.
Final Result
If you follow this process correctly, you should start seeing ACOS improvement within 7 days.
Pro Tip
Always run exact keywords inside SKC campaigns.
Use discovery campaigns strictly for research.
Scale product and category targeting only after keyword performance is stable.