Introduction

One of the most common mistakes Amazon sellers make is:

👉 Running ads on every product

This leads to:

❌ Wasted ad spend
❌ High ACOS
❌ Low overall profitability

The reality is:

Not every product should be advertised the same way.

In this guide, we’ll break down:

• How to identify which products to advertise

• How to prioritize SKUs

• How to allocate the right budget

We’ll use a shoe seller example to make this practical.

🧠 Step 1: Classify Your Products

Before running ads, categorize your SKUs into 3 buckets.

Example: Shoe Seller Catalog

Let’s say you sell:

• Running Shoes (Black, White, Blue)

• Casual Sneakers (Multiple colors)

• Formal Shoes (Low sales)

1️⃣ Hero Products (Top Performers)

Example:

👉 Black Running Shoes

• High sales

• Strong reviews

• Good conversion rate

These are your revenue drivers

👉 These should get maximum ad spend

2️⃣ Growth Products

Example:

👉 White Running Shoes
👉 Blue Running Shoes

• Good product

• Lower visibility

• Limited reviews

👉 These need strategic advertising to scale

3️⃣ Low-Priority Products

Example:

👉 Formal Shoes

• Low demand

• Poor conversion

👉 Avoid aggressive advertising here

📊 Step 2: Evaluate Key Metrics

Before deciding ad spend, evaluate:

1. Conversion Rate

Example:

• Black Running Shoes → 18% conversion

• White Running Shoes → 10%

• Formal Shoes → 4%

👉 Insight:

• Scale Black

• Improve White

• Avoid Formal (for now)

2. Margins

Example:

• Running Shoes → 35% margin

• Sneakers → 25%

• Formal Shoes → 15%

👉 Insight:

Formal shoes cannot sustain aggressive ads.

3. Search Demand

Example:

• “Running shoes” → High demand

• “Casual sneakers” → Medium

• “Formal shoes” → Low

👉 Insight:

Focus on categories with search volume

💰 Step 3: Budget Allocation Strategy

Now let’s allocate budget using this example.

Monthly Budget: ₹1,00,000

Hero Product (Black Running Shoes) → ₹55,000

• Scale aggressively

• Focus on top keywords

Growth Products → ₹35,000

• White Running Shoes → ₹20,000

• Blue Running Shoes → ₹15,000

👉 Goal: Improve ranking and visibility

Low Priority → ₹10,000

• Casual Sneakers / Formal Shoes

👉 Minimal testing only

🔄 Step 4: Variant-Level Decision Making (Very Important)

Many sellers make this mistake:

❌ Advertising all color variants equally

Instead:

Example:

Running Shoes:

• Black → Best seller

• White → Medium

• Blue → Low

👉 Strategy:

• Focus ads heavily on Black variant

• Use ads to push White variant

• Keep Blue minimal unless it shows traction
  
  

🔄 Step 5: Dynamic Budgeting

Budget should NOT be fixed.

Example after 2 weeks:

• White Running Shoes starts performing well

• ACOS improves

• Sales increase

👉 Action:

• Increase budget from ₹20,000 → ₹30,000

• Reduce Blue variant spend
  
  

👉 Think like this:

Shift money to where performance improves

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

❌ Running ads on all styles and colors equally
❌ Scaling low-converting variants
❌ Ignoring margins
❌ Not reallocating budget
❌ Treating all SKUs the same

🧠 Key Insight

Amazon advertising is not just about campaigns.

It’s about:

👉 Deciding which products deserve investment

In the shoe example:

• Black Running Shoes → Scale

• White → Build

• Formal Shoes → Fix before ads
  
  

🚀 Want Help Optimizing Your Catalog Advertising Strategy?

We help brands identify which products to scale, structure campaigns, and allocate budgets efficiently for profitable growth.

👉 Get a Free Amazon Ads Audit
We’ll analyze your catalog and show you exactly where to invest for maximum returns.