Amazon PPC helps sellers show products to the right buyers. It can bring sales fast. But many sellers still make basic mistakes. These mistakes waste money and slow growth. This guide explains the most common Amazon PPC errors and how to avoid them.

Not Setting Clear PPC Goals

Many sellers start ads without a clear goal.
They just turn on campaigns and hope for sales.

Common goal problems include:

• No target for ACOS

• No daily budget plan

• No focus on profit vs visibility

Before running ads, decide:

• Do you want more sales?

• Do you want more reviews?

• Do you want keyword data?

Without goals, results are hard to judge.

Using Automatic Campaigns Only

Automatic campaigns are useful.
But relying only on them is a mistake.

Auto campaigns:

• Spend money on weak search terms

• Show ads for unrelated products

• Reduce control over bids

In the second phase of ads, sellers should switch to manual campaigns. This is where impactwolves often advises sellers to use data from auto campaigns and move only winning search terms into manual ads.

Manual campaigns give:

• Better control

• Lower wasted spend

• Stronger results

Not Using Negative Keywords

This is one of the biggest mistakes.

Without negative keywords:

• Ads show for wrong searches

• Budget drains fast

• Sales stay low

Example:
If you sell premium shoes and ads show for “cheap shoes,” you lose money.

Always:

• Check search term reports weekly

• Add poor terms as negatives

• Block irrelevant traffic

Experts at impactwolves see many accounts losing money only due to missing negatives.

Bidding Too High or Too Low

Wrong bidding hurts performance.

High bids:

• Increase ACOS

• Burn budget quickly

Low bids:

• Kill impressions

• Stop sales

Many sellers guess bids instead of testing.

Better approach:

• Start with mid-range bids

• Adjust slowly

• Track results for 7 days

Balanced bidding keeps ads stable. impactwolves often recommends slow bid changes instead of daily big moves.

Ignoring Match Types

Some sellers use only broad match keywords.
Others use only exact match.

Both are mistakes.

Each match type has a role:

• Broad finds new searches

• Phrase gives better control

• Exact brings strong intent

A healthy campaign uses all three.
This structure helps control spend and sales flow.

Not Checking Search Term Reports

Search term reports show what buyers actually type.

Ignoring them means:

• Missing winning keywords

• Paying for bad traffic

• No learning from ads

Every seller should:

• Review reports weekly

• Find converting terms

• Pause non-performing ones

Teams like impactwolves use search term reports as the core of Amazon PPC cleanup.

Sending Ads to Weak Listings

Ads do not fix poor listings.

If your product page has:

• Bad images

• Weak title

• No reviews

• High price

Ads will struggle.

Before scaling PPC:

• Improve images

• Fix bullet points

• Add A+ content

• Work on reviews

Even the best PPC setup fails with a weak listing. impactwolves often audits listings before touching ads.

Running Too Many Campaigns at Once

More campaigns do not mean more sales.

Too many campaigns cause:

• Budget split issues

• Hard tracking

• Missed insights

New sellers should start simple:

• 1 auto campaign

• 1 manual campaign

• Few keywords

Then grow slowly. Simple accounts perform better and are easier to control.

Not Tracking Profit Properly

Many sellers track clicks and sales only.
They forget profit.

This causes:

• High ACOS panic

• Wrong decisions

• Over-scaling losing products

Always track:

• Product cost

• Amazon fees

• Ad spend

• Net profit

impactwolves focuses on profit-based PPC, not just sales numbers.

Making Changes Too Fast

Daily changes ruin campaigns.

Amazon needs time to learn.

Frequent changes:

• Reset data

• Confuse results

• Slow growth

Best practice:

• Wait 5–7 days

• Change one thing at a time

• Track results

Patience brings clearer data and better decisions.

Final Thoughts

Amazon PPC mistakes are common.
Most sellers repeat the same errors again and again.

To avoid losses:

• Set clear goals

• Use manual campaigns

• Add negative keywords

• Track search terms

• Fix listings first

A clean PPC system saves money and improves results. Many sellers work with impactwolves to fix these mistakes and run ads with clarity and control.