Is using dynamic bids up and down worth it? How does Amazon know whether to raise or lower our bid?
Amazon says how they know. They also say that it works best on long performing ads because it has more data to make their algorithm work.
I use bid up and down on ads that are already performing well. It lets me lower my bids overall in the ad which ends up decreasing ACoS (which doesn’t really matter but is a reflection of the effectiveness of that ad versus others) and increases the conversion rate of both sales and page reads.
I already run very optimized keyword lists and I wouldn’t use it on a non-tested list of either keywords or product targets.
I haven’t used it with category ads because I’m unsure how much I trust Amazon to make those decisions yet.
I also use placement bids to grab the top of search. CTR and conversion rate for top of search is insane compared to both product page and other.
I’m going to be testing product page next to see if there’s a way to consistently get the below product description ad space.
But there is no indication that raising the bid for product placement will actually affect that placement or not.
Actually, getting place on the product page is easy (and is the bulk of my impressions and clicks.)
Keep in mind that all ads made before April this year (in KDP dash) were dynamic bid down.
All ads made before January of this year with Advantage were also dynamic bid down.
There hasn’t been enough time to test the effectiveness over ineffectiveness of dynamic bid up and down or fixed bids on the KDP side.
(I’ve been doing it on the Advantage side since January.)
If you understand how Amazon ads really work and have both the ad history and sales history (and have trained Amazon the right targets–which is the hardest part and the easiest to screw up), dynamic bid up and down works better.
Fixed bids give you the power to make the decisions on where ads should be shown. This helps when Amazon has decided one of your targets is irrelevant and won’t show the ad unless your bid is obscene (and even then, they might not.)
Keep in mind with dynamic down you are relying entirely on the relevancy of your ad and book against what whatever you are targeting, and Amazon still makes that determination.
They will reduce your bid to under the winning bid, which can mean everything from less ideal placement to not getting impressions at all.
This is why ads have died in the past.
Relevance.
Be relevant. Focus on converting targets (both sales and page reads. Borrows mean nothing but rank.)
With the exception of a few series (and there are reasons that need to be fixed on this. It isn’t random), I have no issue getting impressions that translate into clicks that translates into money.
Without bids that are unprofitable.