How to Reduce ACoS on Amazon: 7 Practical Steps That Work in 90 Days

If You're Running Amazon Ads, You Know This Feeling

Sales are coming, but profits are not.

The most common reason? High ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale).

Many brands think the solution is to "reduce ad spend." That's wrong.

The real solution is better campaign structure, keyword control, and catalog optimization.

In this guide, we'll walk you through 7 practical steps that Amazon specialists use to reduce ACoS within 60–90 days — without killing sales.

Step 1: Fix Your Campaign Structure (Most Accounts Are Messy)

A very common mistake is running:

• 1 auto campaign
• 1 broad manual campaign
• Hundreds of keywords dumped together

This gives Amazon too much freedom and no data clarity.

Correct Structure:

• Auto campaign (for discovery)
• Manual Broad (research)
• Manual Phrase (refinement)
• Manual Exact (scaling winners)

Each campaign has a clear purpose.

This alone can reduce wasted spend by 15–25%.

Step 2: Harvest Search Term Reports Every 7 Days

Your Search Term Report is gold.

Every week:

• Find converting search terms from auto & broad campaigns
• Move them into exact match
• Add them as negative in auto/broad

This stops Amazon from wasting money "re-discovering" what you already know works.

Most sellers never do this consistently. That's why ACoS stays high.

Step 3: Aggressive Negative Keyword Strategy

High ACoS is usually caused by irrelevant traffic.

Add negatives for:

• Non-buying keywords
• Competitor terms that don't convert
• Informational queries
• Irrelevant variations

Think of negatives as plugging holes in a leaking bucket.

Step 4: Bid Based on Placement Data (Top of Search vs Others)

Inside your campaign reports, check:

• Top of Search performance
• Product Page performance
• Rest of Search performance

Often, Top of Search converts 2–3x better.

Instead of raising bids everywhere:

• ➡ Increase Top of Search multiplier
• ➡ Reduce base bids

Same spend. Better results. Lower ACoS.

Step 5: Your Listing May Be the Real Problem

Ads don't fix bad listings.

Check:

• Main image clarity
• Keyword-rich title
• Bullet points answering objections
• A+ content
• Reviews (less than 50 reviews? Expect higher ACoS)

Better conversion rate = lower ACoS automatically.

Step 6: Separate Branded and Non-Branded Campaigns

Never mix these.

Branded keywords have very low ACoS.
Non-branded are expensive but bring new customers.

If mixed, you think campaigns are profitable — but you're blind to where money is actually leaking.

Step 7: Kill Emotional Bidding

Many sellers:

• Increase bids when sales drop
• Panic when ACoS rises

Instead, optimize based on:

• 7-day data
• Conversion rate
• Cost per click trends

Optimization is math, not emotion.

What Results Can You Expect?

With proper execution, brands typically see in 90 days:

Metric	Expected Improvement
ACoS Reduction	20–40% drop
Conversion Rate	15–30% increase
Organic Ranking	Better due to efficient ads
Profitability	Higher without reducing sales

FAQs

What is a good ACoS on Amazon?

It depends on margins. Most brands target 20–35% for profitability.

How long does it take to reduce ACoS?

With correct structure and weekly optimization, results show in 4–8 weeks.

Should I stop ads if ACoS is high?

No. You should optimize structure and keywords instead.

Can I reduce ACoS without hurting sales?

Yes. The goal is efficiency, not cutting spend. Better targeting means more sales at lower cost.

What tools help with ACoS optimization?

Amazon's native Campaign Manager, Search Term Reports, and third-party tools like Helium 10 or Jungle Scout.

How often should I optimize campaigns?

Weekly for search term harvesting and bid adjustments. Daily monitoring for budget pacing.

Is low ACoS always good?

Not always. Very low ACoS might mean you're not scaling aggressively enough to capture market share.

What's the relationship between ACoS and TACoS?

ACoS measures ad efficiency; TACoS (Total ACoS) includes organic sales, showing overall ad impact on business.

Final Thoughts

High ACoS is not an ad problem.
It's a structure and optimization discipline problem.

Brands that follow these 7 steps consistently see dramatic improvements without increasing budgets.

👉 Want a free 15-minute audit of your campaigns?

We'll show you exactly where your ACoS is leaking and 3 quick fixes you can implement immediately.