How often you adjust your bids can make or break your Amazon PPC performance. Optimising too frequently can lead to premature changes based on short-term fluctuations, while optimising too infrequently means missed opportunities to improve efficiency and profitability.
Bid optimisation is essential not just for growth and reach but also for maintaining profitability. The goal is to double down on what’s working while cutting spend from what isn’t, reducing wasted ad spend and improving efficiency.
Finding the right optimisation frequency is key – both under-optimisation and over-optimisation can hurt performance. Adjust bids too often, and you risk reacting to noise rather than meaningful trends. Adjust too infrequently, and you could be leaving money on the table.
Striking the right balance ensures your bids remain data-driven, strategic, and adaptive.
Read our detailed guide on the Fundamentals of Bid Optimisation where we help you define exactly how much data is enough data to perform an optimisation.
Over-optimisation vs Under-optimisation
Over-optimisation can be just as damaging as under-optimisation – a mistake many brands unknowingly make.
The key to success is data-driven decision-making, not reacting impulsively to short-term fluctuations. Constant bid changes based on limited data can create unnecessary volatility, making it harder to see true performance trends. Without a structured approach, too frequent adjustments can disrupt performance rather than enhance it.
Under-optimisation is the opposite problem – failing to adjust bids often enough means missed opportunities to improve efficiency and profitability.
If bids stay static for too long, you could be wasting ad spend on underperforming targets while also losing sales from high-potential keywords that aren’t getting enough traffic. A well-structured optimisation approach ensures that you’re making data-backed adjustments at the right intervals, maximising both efficiency and results.
Pick a Lookback Window
Selecting the right lookback window is crucial for making informed optimisation decisions. As a starting point, consider using a 14 or 30-day window.
This time frame typically provides enough data to identify meaningful trends and patterns, especially for accounts with moderate traffic and spend. A shorter window may result in too little data, leading to decisions based on outliers, while a longer window could dilute recent performance trends.
Adjust the lookback window as needed, depending on your campaign size and how much data your account generates.
Use a Dynamic Lookback Window
Rather than analysing the same fixed time period repeatedly, consider implementing a dynamic lookback window. This means reviewing data since the last time a specific target was optimised.
For example, if you optimised a keyword yesterday based on the last 14 days, today’s optimisation should exclude those 14 days and focus only on the new data generated since then.
This approach ensures your decisions are always based on fresh data, and prevents wasted effort on targets that haven’t had enough time to show the results of previous changes.
Doing this at scale and at a granular target level isn’t realistic, this is where automation can help achieve the optimal optimisation frequency and neither over nor under-optimise.
Allow Buffer Days
When you optimise bids, it’s important to give those adjustments time to take effect. Allow a buffer of e.g. 3-5 days after any changes before evaluating performance again.
This period gives Amazon’s algorithm time to respond and ensures that the data you’re reviewing reflects the impact of your optimisation efforts. Acting too quickly can lead to over-optimisation.
How We Can Help
Managing bid optimisation manually is time-consuming and prone to inconsistencies. At fern, we streamline the process with powerful tools and expert guidance.
💡 Automate Bid Optimisation
Save hours by automating adjustments while maintaining full control over the process: Adjust bids consistently and avoid manual errors.
💡 Granular Control with Transparency
Our automation allows you to create powerful rules with precise conditions, ensuring your optimisation strategy aligns perfectly with your goals.
💡 Easy-to-Use Templates
Quickly implement optimisation strategies with pre-built customisable templates.
💡 Expert PPC Coaching
Through our 1-on-1 coaching services, we work closely with you to optimise your campaigns and achieve your goals.
Unlock the full potential of your campaigns by optimising bids at the right frequency – neither too often nor too little. With fern, you get powerful automation that ensures timely, data-driven bid adjustments without the risk of over- or under-optimisation. Let’s chat!
