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Advanced Amazon PPC: Optimizing Multi-Keyword Campaigns with Placement Modifiers
Written by Brett @ FBAExcel on Jul. 15th 2025
Amazon PPC is no longer a game of guessing what works — not if you're serious about scaling. While many sellers focus solely on base bids, mastering placement modifiers across multi-keyword campaigns is where the real leverage lies.
In this article, we’ll walk through the math-driven strategy behind our Multi-Keyword Placement Optimization logic. It’s a structured, ACOS-aligned system that dynamically adjusts both base bids and placement modifiers based on real keyword and placement performance — not assumptions.
🎯 Why Multi-Keyword Campaigns Require Smarter Logic
In a recent post here we discussed auto optimizing base bids and placement modifiers in single-keyword campaigns, which is relatively straightforward since all performance data flows from one keyword. But in multi-keyword campaigns, placements reflect a mix of keyword behaviors, which makes optimization more complex.
If your campaign has dozens or hundreds of keywords with mixed performance, you need a system that:
✅ Balances bid pressure across all keywords
✅ Feeds placement performance back into your rules
✅ And most importantly, aligns every bid and modifier with your target ACOS
That’s what this method does
🚀 Multi-Keyword Bid Logic — Full Step-by-Step Guide
*Special Note: the strategy outlined in this post works better for multi keyword campaigns where the majority of keywords in the campaigns have conversions. This is because the more keywords in the multi keyword campaign there are without conversions, the more impact averages have on the calculations.
Step 1: Calculate Adjusted Revenue Per Click (RPC)
The first step is to figure out the revenue/click of the current base bid performance across each keyword.
If the keyword has sales:
Adjusted RPC = Sales ÷ Clicks
If no sales:
Adjusted RPC = Average RPC of converting keywords
Why it matters:
> Keeps bids grounded in real performance data
> Prevents underbidding or overbidding on keywords with no sales by anchoring them to average performance
Step 2: Determine Calculated Bids Based on Target ACOS
Next, we multiply the RPC from step 1 by our Target ACOS to figure out the optimal base bid to hit our Target ACOS
Formula:
Base Bid = Adjusted RPC × Target ACOS
✅ If you are using Adtactix Autopilot the Target ACOS is dynamically pulled from the Autopilot Dashboard. This allows each rule or campaign to follow its own profitability goal.
Special rule for non-converting keywords:
Base Bid = avgRPC_of_converters × Target ACOS
Why it matters:
> Every keyword's bid is directly tied to its ability to generate revenue at your target ACOS
> Campaigns with a wide keyword spread can still remain tightly ACOS-aligned
Step 3: Normalize Calculated Bids
Because multi-keyword campaigns contain a wide range of bid values, we then normalize them to rebalance the bids around a common average — ensuring consistent keyword-level bidding and allowing campaign-level placement modifiers to function properly in alignment with your overall ACOS target.
These normalized bids become your new optimized base bids in your multi keyword campaign.
Formula:
Normalized Bid = (Base Bid ÷ Max Base Bid) × Avg Calc Base Bid
Max Base Bid = the highest bid from Step 2
Avg Calc Base Bid = average of all Step 2 base bids
🧠 What Does "Normalize" Mean Here?
Normalization keeps your bid structure stable and proportional:
> Converts raw base bids into a 0–1 scale
> Rescales them to align with a consistent average
> This maintains the hierarchy of high vs. low performers while smoothing out outliers
Why it matters:
> High-performing keywords still get higher bids
> Outliers don’t distort the system
> Bid levels stay consistent across updates — even when sales shift
Step 4.1: Calculate Placement RPCs
Now that we have our new base bids we need to finish up figuring out the modifiers required to allow these bids to be "boosted" to hit our Target ACOS across each placement.
The work out this calculation we start by figuring the RPC for each placement
Formula:
Placement RPC = Sales ÷ Clicks (for each placement)
Placements analyzed:
> Top of Search
> Product Page
> Rest of Search
> Amazon Business
Why it matters:
Different placements often perform wildly differently. This step helps quantify where your clicks are most valuable.
Step 4.2: Calculate Expected Bids for Each Placement
Formula:
Expected Bid = Placement RPC × Target ACOS
Why it matters:
This calculates what you should be bidding for each placement if you're aiming to hit your Target ACOS
Step 4.3: Calculate Placement Modifiers
Last step! Finally we can calculate the modifier percentages to boost our base bids.
Formula:
Modifier = (Expected Bid ÷ Average Normalized Bid) – 1
🧠 Since bids are normalized in Step 3, the modifier must be calculated using the average of the normalized bids to stay consistent with the bidding structure.
Why it matters:
> Boosts placements that are outperforming your campaign average
> Suppresses weaker placements naturally without relying on unsupported negative modifiers
> Keeps bid pressure aligned with your actual placement performance
🔄 Automate This with Adtactix!
Doing these calculations manually across multiple campaigns can be time-consuming and error-prone, but Adtactix handles the entire process in seconds — from RPC calculations to bid normalization and placement modifier updates — so you can focus on strategy, not spreadsheets.
Want to learn more? Check out the video below that covers how this logic is built into the Adtactix Autopilot, which runs these steps on your behalf using your actual Bulk Operation files, ACOS targets, and placement data.
In just minutes, you can:
> Pull fresh performance data
> Apply the logic above
> Upload new bids + placement modifiers for every MKW campaign
And the best part? It works across your entire account.
Let Us Help Take Your PPC to the Next Level!
3️⃣ Need 1-on-1 Help?
If you want expert help implementing this system — without giving up control of your ad account — book a call with us to learn about the Scale Assisted Plan.
With our Scale Assisted plan, our team well versed on all things FBAExcel will become an extension of yours.
We help you:
✅ Set up and maintain your FBAExcel PPC tools
✅ Run weekly/monthly SOPs that can be tedious to maintain consistently
✅ Ensure your team stays focused on the top tasks to drive your business forward
✅ Access unlimited support via our private Discord
You stay in control of Seller Central. We handle the heavy lifting in the background.
👉 Book a call with Brett and we’ll walk you through how Scale Assisted can help you master your PPC and streamline your FBAExcel setup.
💭 Final Thoughts
Optimizing Amazon PPC in 2025 means thinking beyond just base bids. With smarter placement-aware strategies like this, you can finally stop wasting spend on underperforming traffic and start scaling the keywords and placements that drive real results.
Whether you’re a solo brand owner or a large-scale agency, mastering this logic gives you a critical edge — and if you want help putting it into practice, we’re here for that too.
Let’s optimize smarter — not harder.
About the Author: Brett @ FBAExcel
I spent 10+ years climbing the corporate ladder as an engineer before learning I wanted to be an entrepreneur when I grow up. Now I focus my time on growing Amazon brands, helping other sellers at FBAExcel.io and building SaaS tools. If you are an Amazon junky drop your email below and follow the journey.
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