#095: Which Amazon Ads Targeting Method Is Best?

Read Time: 3 Minutes

I've been working on putting the finishing touches to my updated for 2025 Amazon Ads Mastery For Authors course over the past few weeks (join the wait list here if you're interested).

And it got me thinking about one of the most common questions I receive from authors about Amazon Ads:

"Which targeting option should I use?"

So today, I thought I'd share the four main Amazon Ads targeting options, when to use each one and my preferred targeting option.

Keywords vs. Category vs. Product vs. Automatic Targeting

Keyword Targeting

What it is: You select specific search terms that readers might use to find books similar to yours when shopping on Amazon.

Best used when: You have a good understanding of your genre/sub-genre's specific terminology and you want to capture readers actively searching for specific books like yours.

Pro tip: Don't just target the obvious bestseller names in your genre. Look for "long-tail keywords" – more specific phrases that have less competition but highly interested readers. For example, instead of just "fantasy romance," try "enemies to lovers fantasy romance."

Category Targeting

What it is: You target all the books in a specific Amazon book category.

Best used when: Your book appeals broadly to fans of a particular genre and you want to increase visibility of your book across a wider audience.

Pro tip: Be selective with categories. The more niche, the better your conversion rate will likely be. For example, "Teen & Young Adult Contemporary Romance" will convert better than just "Romance."

Product Targeting

What it is: You select specific books (and their format – Kindle, Paperback or Hardback) that your ad will appear alongside (on that books product page on Amazon).

Best used when: You know exactly which authors or titles share your audience with or you're looking to "borrow" credibility and visibility from other books and authors.

Pro tip: Don't just target the top 10 bestsellers in your genre – they're expensive and competitive. Look for solid mid-list authors with engaged audiences and similar themes to yours; this will generally result in lower costs and higher conversion rates.

Automatic Targeting

What it is: Amazon's algorithm selects where to show your ads based on your book's metadata and content (i.e. KDP keywords and categories, blurb, etc.).

Best used when: You're just starting out with Amazon Ads and learning the platform and you want to discover keywords you might not have thought of on your own, or you just want to take advantage of Amazon's algorithm and let it do the keyword research for you.

Pro tip: Use automatic targeting campaigns primarily as research tools. After running them for 2-3 weeks, check which search terms have generated orders and/or page reads, then create dedicated keyword campaigns with those terms.

Why I Recommend Keyword And Automatic Targeting

After years of testing all four methods, I've found that a combination of keyword targeting and automatic targeting consistently delivers the best results for most authors.

Here's why:

Keyword Targeting

→ You have more control over who sees your ads – You're targeting readers who are actively searching for specific terms related to your book

→ Better conversion rates – Readers who search for specific terms tend to have higher purchase intent

→ More cost-efficient – You can start with lower bids on longer, more specific keyword phrases (known as long-tail keywords)

→ Easier to optimize – Performance data is clearer and more actionable

Automatic Targeting

→ A fantastic discovery tool that can find valuable keywords you'd never think of if you were using keyword targeting alone

→ The keywords you discover through automatic targeting can be transferred into a manual keyword targeting campaign

→ You can generate a good number of consistent daily sales with low daily budgets and regular optimization

→ It's easy to keep wasted ad spend under control

Category Targeting can work, but I've found it often leads to sporadic results and inefficient spend because Amazon casts such a wide net.

Product Targeting, while tempting (who doesn't want to show up next to a bestseller?), tends to be expensive and harder to convert – you have to deal with reader loyalty; readers looking at another author's book are there for that specific book, not necessarily yours.

And there we have it...

I hope this has given you some food for thought for your own Amazon Ads.

Targeting is one of the most critical parts of running Amazon Ads. Relevancy matters, a lot more than it used to, which is why keyword targeting is so valuable (provided you're doing deep keyword research to find relevant keywords in the first place).

And the automatic targeting campaigns will keep up with constantly evolving reader behavior and trends.

Following this strategy of keyword targeting and automatic targeting, you get the best of both worlds – Amazon's algorithm doing the heavy-lifting for you of discovering new keywords (and ASINs), and keyword targeting to hone in on keywords you're highly relevant for.

That's it for this week; thank you so much for reading and I'll be back with you again next Saturday.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

To Your Success
– Matt