The manual keyword targeting allow you to select keywords to bid on, after choosing the keywords Amazon lets you decide the match type, you want to use for these keywords. By using match types correctly, you will achieve a high ad rank.

The 3 main match types are Broad, Phrase, and Exact.

There are also advantages and disadvantages to each match type. By knowing these, you can target the use of these match type according to your campaign objectives.

1. Broad Match

Your keyword(s) will be matched to search terms that related to your keyword. The broad match type allows your keyword/ad combination to have broad exposure. This might include synonyms, misspellings, and variations of your keyword.

The broad match keyword type indeed helps you in getting a larger audience reach, however, the click-through rate might not be very optimal. Shoppers might see your product ad for irrelevant search terms and might click your ad, these costs quickly add up and might not be a very optimal conversion rate set-up. This match type help as research campaign i.e the broad match keyword in PPC can help you identify potential keywords. You could run a broad keyword campaign for a specific period of time, analyze the data and then fine tune the keywords according to the search terms.

For example, if your keyword is “black pen” Broad match can be:

“Black color pen,”

“Pen for black page,”

“black light pen flashlight,” and the like.

Advantages:

1. New keywords can be found from this match type.
2. Allows max exposure, higher impression.
3. Great way to test keyword potential.
4. CPC (Cost per cost) can potentially be low.

Disadvantages:

1. Losing spend on irrelevant search terms.
2. No link between search term and product.
3. Low conversion rate.
4. Do not help in ranking.

2. Phrase Match

With phrase match type, the keywords you are bidding for must be within the customer search term in exact order. It is much tighter and restrictive than broad. The tighter control means more relevant placements for your ads, ensuring stronger keyword relevancy. The phrase match is where you specify a phrase and the keywords are matched with terms before or after. The key feature of phrase match is that it allows you to control the word order.

Variations may include misspellings, singulars and plurals, abbreviations, and acronyms.

For example, if your keyword is “water bottle” Match phrases can be:

“water bottle for boys,”

“blue water bottle,”

“plastic water bottle for home,” and the like.

Phrase match is also a good way to “learn the data,” as it allows for placement on customer search queries with only slight variation. Gathering a slight variation of your keyword that resulted in an order will give you a good and efficient way to scale out your campaigns.

Advantages:

1. Allow tight control over targeting, it prevents over spending.
2. Discovery of customer search terms of high relevance
3. More closest search terms will be there as compared to broad

Disadvantages:

1. Lower impressions as compared to broad
2. CPC higher relative to broad.
3. Low conversion rate.
4. Do not help in ranking.

3. Exact Match

By the exact keyword match you can reach to the customers who are searching exactly for your product. The exact match type allows for the tightest control in your keyword bidding. In this match type, the search term must match the keyword phrase exactly. Exactly meaning in the same order for the keyword/ad combination for the ad to show. The exact match is the most restrictive of the 3 types but can be much more relevant to the search. The exact match type allows for the plural form of a keyword.

An exact match will certainly lower the number of individuals who see your ad, reduce the traffic but those who see your ad are much more likely to click on your ad (because they are search exclusively for your keyword)

For example, if your keyword is “Mobile Cover” Match phrases can be:

“Mobile Covers,”

“Mobiles Cover,”

“Mobiles Covers,”

Advantages:

1. Very tight control, all spending on the keyword is direct.
2. It helps in ranking.
3. High conversion rate if you are targeting your keywords correctly
4. ROI can be really high if keyword and product match exactly what the customer is looking for.

Disadvantages:

1. Affords no discovery of additional search terms
2. CPC higher relatively than the phrase match type
3. Could get into a PPC keyword bidding war with a competitor
4. High budget is required as compared to phrase and broad.

Here is a breakdown of the 3 Match Types:

Once a campaign has been made, you cannot modify the match types. However, you can add incremental keywords with different match types while a campaign is active.

When Broad Match Type should be used?

Broad match types are best used during the early product launch phase. At the beginning of your launch, you want to get as much data as possible. You want to see what customer search queries are converting to order and their corresponding conversion metrics. With a broad match type, you can get lots of impressions quickly.

When your Amazon PPC campaign is more matured, the broad match types can be switched off. When your campaign is matured, you will have a good number of relevant exact and phrase match type keywords that are known to convert for your product.

When Phrase Match Type should be used?

Phrase match types can be used at all times, even if your Amazon campaign is matured. The phrase match type allow relevant customer search term discovery. If your objective to phrase match is new keyword discovery, keep the bid relatively lower than your exact matches.

When Exact Match Type should be used?

Exact match types allow you to rank on that keyword. Ranking on the keywords help in getting organic orders which should be the goat of every seller. When you discover a customer search term driving many conversions and with an acceptable ACoS, use the exact match type on that keyword with a corresponding competitive bid.

Hopefully above information gives you clarity on the Amazon PPC match types. It is important to understand what they are and how to use the different match types to succeed in your Amazon PPC. Lastly, always look at the data, attribute your results by match type and see how they perform over time, so you can make bid adjustments when necessary. Do not restrict yourself at any level, choose the one which is giving you best outcome.

If you have any queries regarding running Amazon PPC campaigns or you are not getting results from your current campaigns feel free to reach out to us!

This post was written by Syeda Hajra from our Brand Building Team.