Why most supplement brands waste 30-40% of their ad spend and how to fix it.

#1 – You’re Bidding on Everything Instead of What Converts

Here’s the thing about Amazon PPC for supplements: most brands launch campaigns by dumping every keyword they can find into a single auto campaign and calling it a day. Three months later, they’re spending $5K/month with an ACoS north of 60% and no idea what’s actually driving sales.

The fix isn’t complicated. Start with manual campaigns built around 15–20 high-intent keywords. Think “liquid sea moss supplement” instead of just “sea moss.” The more specific the search term, the closer the shopper is to buying.

#2 – Your Listing Can’t Close the Deal

No amount of PPC spend will save a listing with a generic title, stock images, and bullet points that read like an ingredient label. Your ad gets the click. Your listing gets the sale. If your conversion rate is below 10-12%, your listing needs work before you scale ad spend.

We’ve seen brands double their conversion rate just by rewriting their title to lead with the primary benefit instead of the brand name. That’s not a minor tweak it completely changes your unit economics.

#3 – You’re Ignoring Negative Keywords

If you’re running Sponsored Products without a negative keyword strategy, you’re essentially paying for clicks from people who were never going to buy your product. Supplement brands especially get hit with irrelevant searches: people looking for information, recipes, or completely different product types.

Pull your search term report weekly. Any term spending more than $10 with zero sales? Negate it. This alone can cut wasted spend by 20-30%.

#4 – Your Campaign Structure Is a Mess

One campaign with 50 keywords, all match types mixed together, with a single daily budget. Sound familiar? This is the fastest way to lose control of your ad spend. Your best-performing keywords end up competing with your worst ones for the same budget.

Separate your campaigns by match type (exact, phrase, broad). Give your proven winners their own campaigns with dedicated budgets. This gives you the control to scale what works and cut what doesn’t.

#5 – You’re Not Looking at the Full Picture

PPC doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Your organic rank, your external traffic from Meta or TikTok, your review count, your pricing — all of these affect how your ads perform. A brand running TikTok Shop alongside Amazon PPC will often see their Amazon ACoS drop because the external demand boosts organic rank.

If your agency is only managing your Amazon ads without considering the broader strategy, you’re leaving money on the table.

At Karmos, we manage Amazon PPC as part of a full-funnel e-commerce strategy for supplement and CPG brands. If your ad spend feels like it’s going nowhere, let’s talk.