Single keyword campaigns have remained a powerful strategy for maximizing pay-per-click (PPC) budgets and reaching high-intent shoppers. Amid fierce competition and evolving shopper behaviors, a single keyword approach powered by AI achieves the granularity and efficiency retailers need to drive sustainable growth. At the same time, retailers have unique needs and benefit from adaptable campaign structures. Having the flexibility to use both single keyword campaigns and traditional campaigns empowers retailers to reap the benefits of AI and customize their strategy simultaneously.
Recently, the buzz has intensified among leading voices about when, why, and how to implement single keyword campaigns. From the beginning, Quartile has recognized the value of this one-to-one approach, offering the most granular bid optimization in the industry. This strategy has uncovered opportunities and increased conversions for thousands of retailers to date.
Explore the benefits of single keyword campaigns, common challenges, and solutions to learn how an adaptable approach can elevate your PPC strategy.
What are single keyword campaigns?
Single keyword campaigns are the foundation of a well organized Amazon PPC account. While a traditional campaign structure may involve one campaign with 100 keywords for both product A and product B, a single keyword campaign can involve 200 campaigns. Of those, 100 are dedicated to product A, each targeting a unique keyword, and 100 are dedicated to product B, each targeting a unique keyword. This structure enables deeper granularity and highly accurate keyword discovery.
Four benefits of a single keyword strategy
By matching one ASIN with one keyword in one match type at a time—and by tracking the performance on an hourly basis—bidding and budget allocation become incredibly precise. Additionally, adjusting bids and placements based on specific hours or days of the week pinpoints the most opportune conversion windows. This granularity enables 100% certainty on which keywords perform well to deliver:
- Higher conversion rates: By targeting audiences with relevant keywords that speak directly to their needs, you create a high-conversion environment. This tailored approach fosters a stronger connection with potential customers, nurturing their interest and guiding them seamlessly toward conversions.
- Greater control: This strategy enables tracking and analysis at the keyword level, providing visibility into performance. Retailers can view which terms are driving valuable traffic and adjust their budget and placements based on clear data. Understanding which keywords are driving conversions ensures that your PPC campaigns are adaptable and effective.
- Increased relevance: Single keyword campaigns amplify ad relevance and reach high-intent shoppers. Optimizing ads with specific keywords increases the likelihood that each ad will appear in shoppers’ search results. This relevance also boosts each ad’s quality score, ensuring a more prominent position in search results. This targeted approach attracts shoppers who are genuinely interested in your products, increasing the probability of conversion and fostering brand loyalty.
- Smarter budgeting: Single keyword campaigns enable a targeted approach to budget allocation. Because this structure considers the performance of each individual keyword, retailers won’t overspend on low-performing terms or underspend on high-performing terms. Conversely, grouping multiple keywords within one ad group gives the system less granular information, leading to imprecise optimization based on generic averages.
Demystifying single keyword campaign challenges
Managing thousands of campaigns can feel overwhelming, but the process is simpler than it appears. With a powerful combination of human expertise and advanced AI, retailers can reap the benefits of single keyword campaigns and drive sustainable growth with confidence. From cannibalization to scalability, our strategists have addressed the following common misconceptions:
- Too many campaigns: Don’t be deterred by the higher number of campaigns associated with a single keyword PPC strategy. This granularity is purposeful—it enables deeper insights into performance metrics and fosters confident decision-making. With the right tools, managing the campaigns becomes more streamlined and scalable. Quartile efficiently manages thousands of ASINs with just a few clicks, adjusting bids based on your advertising cost of sales (ACOS) objectives. Additionally, should advertisers decide to pursue other options in the future, they can reactivate their original campaigns at any time.
- Cannibalization: Retailers sometimes worry that bidding on the same keyword for multiple products will increase their costs per click (CPC) and hurt sales. However, Amazon is a highly customer-centric platform. Thousands of searches are performed daily for a single term, and each shopper’s search history and personalization factors into their results. This means that every product can effectively reach the intended audience, regardless of bidding on the same keyword.
- Not enough products: While a single keyword approach is especially advantageous for top-selling products, brands and sellers of all sizes can benefit from this approach. This strategy hinges on assessing the balance between your budget and the number of campaigns generated, regardless of your product count. This determines whether the one-to-one approach is right for your business. Solutions such as Quartile tailor recommendations to your unique needs, ensuring every strategic decision adds meaningful value.
- Duplicating efforts: Some retailers may have already conducted keyword research and are concerned about redundancy. Fortunately, this presents an opportunity to crosscheck those keywords against historical performance data, ensuring all terms are included from the start and avoiding duplication. At the same time, incorporating automated campaigns to activate continuous keyword discovery is essential for uncovering new keywords and informing successful campaigns
Adaptable solutions for every retailer
Quartile leverages a powerful combination of human expertise and advanced AI to shape smart strategies and boost performance. The platform offers three options for Amazon PPC—single keyword campaigns, importing existing campaigns, and creating custom rules to override the AI where needed. Quartile One enables an AI-powered single keyword strategy, while Quartile Versa enables greater autonomy and customization. Together, these options empower retailers to choose how they want to manage their campaigns based on their preferences.
ROAS is 30% higher on average for retailers who import their existing campaigns within Quartile versus those who do not.
Leverage single keyword campaigns with Quartile One
Quartile One supports retailers with a single keyword campaign structure, powerful AI, custom reporting, and expert guidance at every step. Advanced AI technology isolates every variable for deep granularity and comprehensive analysis at scale. This enables brands and sellers to efficiently manage thousands of active campaigns, freeing them to focus on other important tasks.
AI automatically creates campaigns and optimizes performance by eliminating low-performing keywords and prioritizing high-performing keywords. Additionally, the single keyword structure provides insight into ad placements. This ensures that each ad appears in the most effective placement to reach the right shoppers at the right time. Easily create and manage PPC campaigns at scale with:
- A keyword research tool that discovers the most relevant and profitable keywords
- A bid management software that helps set the right bids for each keyword and maximize ROI
- A reporting suite that provides insights into performance for confident decision-making
Leverage customization and flexibility with Quartile Versa
Quartile Versa empowers retailers to implement Quartile One while choosing their own campaign structure. This provides the flexibility to use single keyword campaigns, fully customized campaigns, or a combination of both—all tailored to specific business goals.
Retailers can import existing campaigns and selectively determine where to leverage AI. According to our database, retailers who import existing campaigns into Quartile experience a 30% higher ROAS on average compared to those who do not. Even without adopting a single keyword approach, retailers increase ROAS and gain greater visibility into their performance. Quartile Versa enables retailers to:
- Set their own strategy and boost results without creating thousands of campaigns.
- Eliminate low-performing keywords by setting custom rules based on specific metrics.
- Adjust ad spend at any level, from across your account to individual ASINs
- Use a drag-and-drop builder and easily segment campaigns for actionable insights
Conclusion
Adaptability is essential for e-commerce retailers navigating intense competition and shifting market dynamics. A single keyword approach can scale your PPC efforts while eliminating time-consuming tasks and wasted spend. At the same time, each retailer has unique business objectives. Quartile offers the flexibility to choose your campaign structure, unlocking greater autonomy, customization, and profitability. This empowers retailers of all sizes to make decisions with confidence, drive profitable growth, and stand out in crowded marketplaces.
Request a demo to explore campaign options and how to achieve your PPC goals.
