Amazon Match Types: The Trilogy to Skyrocket Your Amazon Ad Sales (Exact, Phrase and Loose)

Keeping the uses for broad match, exact Amazon match types, and phrase match in mind while creating Amazon pay-per-click ads, and even choosing product keywords can help launch your store to success by helping you reach the right customers.

The Amazon search tool functions in a similar way to Google search by matching the entered search words to available products. That’s where match types come into play. 

Knowing how to utilize each one is key when it comes to making the most of Amazon PPC ads.

As you might expect, with exact Amazon match types, Amazon will only show your PPC ad to customers who have entered that exact term into the search bar.

For example, if your product includes only the keywords “Blue Dog Collar,” Amazon will only show that ad to customers who have typed those exact terms into their search bar.

Exact Amazon match types are a good option for products that cater to a niche market, or for sellers looking to target shoppers who are looking for something very specific.

In other words, if the shopper searches for the phrase “dog collars” or even just “amazon blue dog collar,” your ad for a product using only the keywords “Blue Dog Collar” wouldn’t appear in the results.

You can see the difference in the results for these two searches with similar but slightly different keywords in the images above.

Each search yields a different PPC ad because one of them did not include the correct keywords.

So, how should you use keywords to ensure your ad reaches as many relevant shoppers as possible? Use more keywords!

When using exact Amazon matche types, be sure to try to include any potential words or phrases someone might search for when looking for your product.

The more keywords you’re able to include, the better the odds your PPC ad appears at the top of a shopper’s search results.

If you’re using phrase match, Amazon will show your PPC ads to customers who use your exact keyword amongst a sequence of words.

In the image below, the PPC ad shown at the top of the search results likely used phrase match with one of the keywords included in the search term.

This means that when shoppers include keywords like “Blue Dog Collar” or even search something like “Red Dog Collar,” Amazon will still show your ad.

With a Broad Amazon Match Type, Amazon will show your Amazon ads to customers who have entered any of the terms in your keyword phrase, along with plural forms, acronyms, misspellings, abbreviations, and accents.

So, “blue dog collar” could also match “buy blue dog collars amazon,” “dog collars for sale,” or “where to buy dog collars.”

Choosing a broad match is a good way to cast a wider net and reach the largest number of shoppers.

However, there is a fine line between reaching the maximum number of interested parties and wasting time your Amazon ads to people who aren’t interested.

Going back to the previous example 

Going back to the example above, a customer searched “Red Dog Dollar” and because we used a phrase match to target the customer, your blue dog collar still showed up.

Assuming the customer is looking for a red collar, your product isn’t the right ‘fit’ in this situation and you may end up spending money for a customer who just wasn’t looking for your item

Now if you had a red dog collar to advertise….different story.

You might be increasing traffic, but not increasing qualified traffic. It’s important to keep your specific target audience in mind to be sure your ad reaches the right people.

The best way to perfect your Amazon broad match targeting formula is to use Amazon’s keyword tool or another keyword tool. This will help you learn important information like the average monthly searches for a specific keyword and the competitiveness of that keyword.

You can also use this tool to get ideas for other keywords related to your product. Once you have a list of targeted keywords, you can use them to refine which customer demographic sees your Amazon ads when using broad match.