InkProfit
01 - SUMMARY
How to use this manual
This is the operating summary for Publishing and Amazon Ads. It explains the big direction: clearer listings, cleaner intent tests, careful spend gates for new books, and weekly evidence before scaling. Detailed SOP references stay inside the Marketing Team tab.
No secret A10 doctrine: Amazon does not publish an official single "A10 formula." Use A10 as shorthand only. The practical signals we can act on are relevance, conversion, buyer satisfaction, listing clarity, search-term quality, and clean campaign learning.
Version history
| Version | What changed | Status |
|---|---|---|
| v2.1.0 | Current playbook version. Adds Marketing SOP compatibility notes, review-gap launch constraints, audience/theme targeting gates, intent-based campaign naming, and Weekly Flash Report test status. | Current |
The real team split
| Team | Owns | Does not own |
|---|---|---|
| Publishing | Niche fit, book quality, cover, metadata, categories, description, A+, sample readability, and conversion readiness. | Bid changes, campaign harvesting, placement/budget optimization, or hiding a weak page behind more spend. |
| Marketing / Amazon Ads | Sponsored Products structure, keyword/product targeting, budgets, bids, negatives, search-term harvesting, ACOS/CPC/CTR/orders reporting, and diagnosis. | Off-Amazon workflows or pretending SB will fix poor conversion. |
What matters more now
Intent match
Amazon Science's COSMO work is about user intentions, not exact string matching. For us: backend keywords, titles, descriptions, and ad targets must map to different reader intents.
Detail-page answers
Rufus answers buyer questions from listing details, reviews, product Q&A, catalog data, and web information. If the page does not answer the buyer, ads only buy confusion.
Sponsored Products first
SP is the daily engine for books: search results, product pages, Kindle, Goodreads, CPC control, keyword targeting, product targeting, search-term reports, and negatives.
Video is useful when precise
Video ads are important, but they should prove the book for a specific target cluster. Broad author-brand buildup and endless hook variations should not replace target quality, listing fit, and sales evidence.
Audit report from one account: broader read
The report should be read as a structure audit, not as a case study about one account name. The numbers are only part of the story. February was strong, March still held reasonably, and April weakened sharply. A major reason is seasonal: Islamic/Ramadan books had natural demand in February/March and then cooled after Ramadan. But seasonality does not explain everything. Some main books, especially SMK-style mystery/curious-kids titles, also became more expensive to convert in April, which points to structure, targeting, and listing-fit problems.
| Audit signal | What it suggests | What the team should do |
|---|---|---|
| Account-level sales fell in April while spend increased versus March. | Do not treat April as only an ad-operator issue. Seasonal demand dropped and conversion efficiency weakened. | Separate seasonal books from evergreen books before making bid or budget decisions. |
| Islamic/Ramadan cluster was strongest in February, weaker in March, and much weaker in April. | Ramadan demand was carrying part of the portfolio. After the season, broad Ramadan/Islamic terms become more dangerous. | Move seasonal campaigns into post-season watch/defense mode; stop scaling generic Ramadan terms after demand cools. |
| SMK-style mystery/curious-kids books worsened in April: more spend, higher CPC, lower CTR, and weaker ACOS. | This is alarming because it is not just seasonality. The search shelf, cover/title appeal, target fit, or listing promise may be weakening. | Run a Publishing + Ads review: search shelf, cover thumbnail, title promise, A+ proof, target clusters, and high-spend targets. |
| Campaign names show heavy BRD/VA/version usage and no TEST/FAILED/DEPLOY status labels. | The team can see activity, but not always the test logic or outcome. This makes old tests easy to repeat. | Add intent and status to new tests through Weekly Flash Reports and campaign naming. |
| There are EXT labels and exact-match rows, but not a clean exact-winner campaign layer. | The old conclusion that exact campaigns are simply under-scaled is too simplistic. Exact/phrase winners are not organized clearly enough. | First identify search-term winners, then rebuild clean exact/phrase deploy campaigns gradually. |
| SB/video may create attention, but broad author-brand buildup does not automatically create sales. | Video is not the problem. Weak target relevance and weak landing-page proof are the problem. | Use video for precise keyword/ASIN clusters where the creative proves inside pages, format, age fit, or book value. |
The review gap is now a launch constraint
For new books, lack of reviews is no longer a small issue. It changes conversion, CPC tolerance, and how aggressive we can be with relevant targets. Amazon's KDP review guidance allows free or discounted copies only when a review is not required or influenced; paid/compensated review systems are not a safe operating base. So the team should assume early reviews will be slower and harder to get.
| Old assumption | Why it breaks now | New operating rule |
|---|---|---|
| Launch hard on relevant targets and reviews will catch up. | Relevant targets are often expensive, and no-review pages lose comparison against authority books. | Use staged exposure. Scale only after CTR, CPC, and conversion show the page can survive the shelf. |
| Broad audience/theme targeting can compensate for low direct demand. | It may create exposure, but without reviews the book can bleed faster because more buyers see the trust gap at once. | Treat audience/theme targeting as a capped test, not a scale strategy. |
| CTR and CPC are enough to decide growth. | With no reviews, high CTR can still convert poorly. ACOS may lag but the bleed is real. | Use CTR + CPC + ACOS + orders + listing diagnosis. Do not ignore CVR completely on no-review books. |
| Same $0.61 starting bid across everything is clean. | Equal bids give equal opportunity to unequal targets. Broad and weak targets can spend before proof exists. | Use bid tiers by confidence: proven/high-intent highest, audience/theme test lower, broad discovery capped. |
The shared diagnostic rule
| Symptom | Likely diagnosis | Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Low impressions | Targeting too narrow, bid too low, eligibility issue, weak relevance, or campaign not indexed into enough auctions. | Ads first |
| Impressions but low CTR | Cover/title/price/review count not competitive at thumbnail level, or targeting is too broad. | Publishing + Ads |
| Clicks but no orders | Detail page promise, description, A+, sample, reviews, price, or reader fit is weak. Do not only lower bids. | Publishing first |
| Orders but ACOS too high | Bid/budget/placement waste, bad broad terms, weak negatives, or breakeven target is wrong. | Ads first |
| Auto finds irrelevant terms | Listing metadata may be confusing Amazon, or auto campaign needs tighter negatives and harvesting. | Both |
Core operating habit: every weekly decision must say whether the problem is targeting, bid/budget, placement, listing conversion, or book-market fit. If the note only says "adjusted bids," it is not a diagnosis.
Important note for the team: we do not know in advance what will work. Red flags are must-avoid items. All other ideas are suggestions: apply gradually, test carefully, record the result, and monitor through Weekly Flash Reports before scaling or making them SOP.
02 - PUBLISHING TEAM
Build the book and page Amazon Ads can honestly test
Publishing should keep using the existing SOPs for idea research, cover generation, listing checks, A+ review, and sample/readability. This tab adds the Amazon Ads handoff layer: the page must be clear enough for the Ads team to test intent without guessing.
Publishing decision flow
1. Reader thesis: One sentence only: "This book helps [specific reader] solve [specific problem] so they can [specific outcome]." If it sounds like it could fit 500 books, reject it.
2. Review mining: Pull at least 30 review phrases from competitor or adjacent books. Sort into pain, desired outcome, complaints, objections, and words readers repeat.
3. Search shelf check: Search the 10 seed phrases Ads may target. Screenshot the results. Ask: does our cover/title belong here, and can it win the click?
4. Product promise: Lock the promise before design. For workbooks/journals/activity books, promise the use case. For fiction, promise genre/trope/emotional payoff. For nonfiction, promise problem/outcome.
5. Listing build: Title, subtitle, description, categories, keywords, cover, A+, and sample pages must all reinforce the same reader expectation.
6. Ads handoff: Send the Ads team a targeting packet before launch. No packet means Ads starts with guesses.
Metadata that does not waste ad learning
| Element | Standard | Red flag |
|---|---|---|
| Title | Matches the cover exactly, names the core promise, and avoids repeated generic terms. | "Journal Notebook Gift" style stuffing or title on cover not matching KDP title. |
| Subtitle | Adds audience, format, outcome, or differentiator. | Repeats the title with synonyms. |
| Backend keywords | One intent angle per slot: reader, problem, format, occasion, outcome, comparable context, long-tail use case. | Seven slots that all say the same keyword variant. |
| Categories | Relevant to the actual book and audience, not only chosen because they are easy to rank. | Misleading categories that bring wrong readers and bad conversion. |
| Description | First screen answers: who it is for, what it helps with, what is inside, and why this book is different. | Long hype paragraph before any concrete details. |
| A+ Content | Supports conversion: who it is for, what's inside, page previews, objections answered, readable mobile text. | Pretty image-only modules with text too small to read. |
No-review book readiness
Publishing cannot manufacture compliant reviews on demand, so the page must carry more proof before Ads pushes exposure. If a book has no reviews, the listing must over-explain value without hype.
| Listing stage | No-review requirement | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Cover | Must clearly beat or match the target shelf at thumbnail size. | No reviews means cover/title carries more of the trust burden. |
| Title/subtitle | Must make reader, outcome, and format obvious without relying on brand authority. | New books cannot assume buyer patience. |
| Description | First screen must answer: what is it, who is it for, what is inside, why trust it? | Ad clicks need proof fast. |
| A+ | Show inside pages, structure, age/level fit, format, and use case. Do not use fake urgency or review-like claims. | A+ becomes the substitute proof layer when reviews are missing. |
| Sample | Look Inside / sample must immediately confirm the promise. | If the sample feels generic, ads will not fix it. |
Listing-stage failure map from Ads data
| Stage | What can be wrong | How the report exposes it | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| Niche | Demand exists, but the title is entering a shelf where competitors have stronger trust, reviews, or clearer promise. | Relevant targets get impressions/clicks, but conversion stays weak across multiple campaigns. | Stop scaling. Recheck search shelf, price/review gap, and whether this book has a real differentiator. |
| Title/subtitle | Too broad, too long, or not matching the exact buyer intent being targeted. | Low CTR on relevant targets, especially product/ASIN placements. | Rewrite for reader + outcome + format. Remove generic stuffing that does not help the buyer choose. |
| Cover | Cover does not win thumbnail comparison even when target is right. | Impressions are healthy but CTR drops versus similar campaigns/books. | Test cover beside the exact search terms and ASINs Ads is targeting, not in isolation. |
| Description | Buyer clicks but does not see the promise, contents, age fit, format, or proof fast enough. | CTR is acceptable, clicks are relevant, orders are weak. | Move reader problem and contents to the first screen. Answer the top objections from reviews. |
| A+ / sample | A+ is decorative or sample pages do not prove the promise. | Video/SB or precise SP targets bring clicks, but conversion does not improve. | Add page previews, use-case proof, comparison/inside-the-book modules, and mobile-readable text. |
Ads readiness checklist
Before Ads launches
- Cover readable at Amazon search-result thumbnail size.
- Title/subtitle clear without opening the detail page.
- Description answers the top 5 buyer objections from review mining.
- A+ is compliant and useful, not decorative filler.
- Sample/Look Inside does not contradict the promise.
- Categories and backend keywords match intended ad targeting.
- Book has a clear launch priority: test demand, scale, or fix listing first.
Handoff packet to Amazon Ads
| Packet item | What to send | How Ads uses it |
|---|---|---|
| Primary reader | One reader profile, not a broad category. | Builds problem/audience keyword campaigns. |
| Main promise | One-line reason this book should win. | Checks whether ad targets match listing promise. |
| 10 seed keywords | Problem, audience, format, outcome, use case, genre/category terms. | Manual exact/phrase and auto discovery seed direction. |
| 10 competitor ASINs/books | Direct alternatives, close substitutes, and books with similar reader intent. | Product targeting and competitor research. |
| Buyer objections | Top doubts from reviews: age fit, difficulty, page quality, examples, length, genre promise, etc. | Diagnoses high-click/no-order cases. |
| Breakeven notes | List price and royalty if available. | Prevents fake "profitable/unprofitable" calls. |
Publishing red flags Ads should send back
Red Flags
- CTR is weak across relevant targets
- Clicks come in but orders do not
- Auto campaign matches irrelevant reader intent
- Competitor ASIN targeting gets clicks but loses conversion
- Search terms reveal a different reader than the listing speaks to
- A+ or sample does not prove the promise
Publishing Response
- Retest cover/title against the search shelf
- Rewrite first 2 description paragraphs
- Add missing objection answers to A+
- Fix backend keyword intent confusion
- Improve sample pages or page preview clarity
- Decide if the book-market fit is too weak to keep spending
Weekly publishing actions
- Review one Ads low-conversion title with Marketing and identify the conversion blocker.
- Update one weak description using actual search terms and buyer objections.
- Check one cover at thumbnail size against the search shelf.
- Audit one A+ page for mobile readability and compliance.
- Prepare handoff packets for upcoming launches before Ads setup begins.
03 - MARKETING TEAM
Amazon Ads playbook: Sponsored Products first
Marketing means Amazon Ads. The main engine is Sponsored Products. Sponsored Brands and video are supporting formats when the target and listing justify them. This tab builds on the current SOPs from Trainee's Hub: campaign naming, testing ads, diversifying results, target research, optimization levels, and Weekly Flash Reports.
SOP context for Ads team: keep using the existing SOPs as the base process. This manual adds the A10-era intent layer: name tests by intent, record TEST/FAILED/DEPLOY status, avoid unmanaged broad discovery, and use Weekly Flash Reports to decide what to keep, modify, or stop.
What can be wrong with the broader structure
| Problem | Evidence | Correct move |
|---|---|---|
| Too much broad/version density | The audit found many BRD and VA/version-style campaigns, but no status labels and only limited clean phrase/exact structure. | Do not only add more campaigns. First mark what is TEST, FAILED, WATCH, or DEPLOY in Weekly Flash Reports. |
| Video/SB judged by attention | High CTR can hide weak sales efficiency when the target is broad or the page does not prove the promise. | Keep video, but tie it to precise targets and listing proof. Do not judge it only by CTR. |
| Generic terms still leak spend | Very broad topic terms often attract curiosity clicks but not enough buyer intent. | Segment generic terms into capped discovery or negatives. Do not let them sit unchecked in broad campaigns. |
| Campaign density hides decisions | Many names show format, VA, BRD, PRM/SEC, date, or source, but not the hypothesis or result. | Use intent + status: TEST, FAILED, WATCH, DEPLOY. Do not mass rename old campaigns; apply to new tests and active revisions. |
| Listing problems are treated as ad problems | High-click/no-order patterns appear on several books and video assets. | Ads must send Publishing a page-stage diagnosis: niche, title, cover, description, A+, or sample issue. |
Audience/theme targeting: test, not scale strategy
The audience/theme approach can be useful when direct topic targets are too expensive, low-volume, or dominated by authority books. But it is dangerous for no-review books because broad exposure can reveal the trust gap faster than it creates sales. Use it only as a controlled hypothesis.
| Part of approach | Keep | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Theme/audience targeting | Use themes like history, mystery, adventure, education, facts, inspiration, teens, kids when they represent real buying settings. | Do not treat theme as relevance by itself. Each target must answer: would this buyer realistically choose our book next? |
| Top sellers with matching price/theme | Good. These are better than random scraping. | Also check review gap, publisher authority, format, age fit, and whether our page has a visible advantage. |
| Self-published low-review sellers | Good. These can reveal reachable shelves. | Do not assume low reviews means weak competitor. Check BSR, cover, price, sample, and review quality. |
| High-volume keywords with great CTR potential | Useful for discovery. | Do not optimize only on CTR/CPC. For no-review books, low conversion is a signal, not noise. |
| Equal starting bids across everything | Simple for testing. | Risky. Use confidence tiers instead of one bid across all targets. |
| One portfolio with a large budget cap | Easy to organize. | Can bleed quickly. Use campaign/group caps and stop-loss rules, not only portfolio cap. |
Recommended bid tiers for no-review tests
| Target confidence | Examples | Bid posture |
|---|---|---|
| High | Very close ASINs, exact problem phrases, proven search-term winners, weak competitors where our cover/page is stronger. | Highest test bid, but still capped until orders appear. |
| Medium | Audience/theme ASINs with matching use case, adjacent phrase keywords, category-refined targets. | Lower than high-confidence. Expand only if CTR and orders support it. |
| Low | Generic theme terms, broad audience gifts, high-volume curiosity terms. | Small capped discovery only. Kill quickly if search terms or ACOS are poor. |
Campaign architecture we should actually use
| Campaign type | Purpose | When to use | Red flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auto discovery | Find search terms and product matches Amazon associates with the listing. | Launch and ongoing discovery with controlled budget. | Auto is the whole strategy and nobody harvests it. |
| Exact winners | Control spend on proven converting terms. | After search terms produce orders or strong signal. | Exact campaigns filled with unproven guesses. |
| Phrase expansion | Expand around a known reader phrase while keeping some control. | When exact term works but volume is limited. | No negative routine, so phrase becomes broad waste. |
| Broad discovery | Explore adjacent language and intent. | Small controlled budget only, with strict negatives. | Broad campaign absorbs the budget and teaches nothing. |
| Product/ASIN targeting | Show beside direct competitors or related books. | When Publishing provides competitor ASINs and the cover/title can win comparison. | Targeting big competitors with no conversion advantage. |
| Category targeting | Explore a shelf or subcategory. | When the book is genre/category-correct and bids are conservative. | Category too broad, no refinements, no negatives. |
Campaign naming SOP revision
This builds on the current SOP How to Name the Campaigns. Keep the familiar pieces: book code, format, target type, match type, video version, and campaign count when split. The change is the meaning of the old PRM / SEC / TER field. New tests should focus on intent, then end with a test status.
| Old field | Problem | Revised field |
|---|---|---|
| PRM / SEC / TER | Relevance level is useful, but it does not explain why the target should convert. | Intent: Problem, Audience, Competitor, Own, Category, Format, Gift, Season, Trope, Proof, SearchTermWinner. |
| VA1 / VA2 | Version number says which video, not why it exists. | Keep VA1 / VA2, but add intent and status so we know what the video is testing. |
| AMS / CVR / ST | Good source labels, but they should not replace intent. | Use source plus intent where needed: ST-Problem, ASIN-CompWeakReviews, KW-Season. |
New test naming format
A10 - [BookCode] - [Format] - [AdType] - [TargetType] - [Intent] - [Match/Refinement] - [Status]
Use A10 at the beginning only for campaigns created under this new intent-testing logic. At the end, use TEST, FAILED, or DEPLOY based on Weekly Flash Report results.
Examples
| Use case | Example name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| SP keyword test | A10 - SMK - PB - SP - KW - Problem - PHR - TEST | Testing problem-intent phrase keywords for the paperback. |
| SP exact winner | SMK - PB - SP - KW - SearchTermWinner - EXT - DEPLOY | Search term already proved itself; deploy for controlled scaling. |
| SP ASIN competitor test | A10 - RSK - PB - SP - ASIN - CompWeakReviews - EXT - TEST | Targets competitor books where our page has a clear advantage. |
| Video target test | A10 - RSK - PB - VA1 - ASIN - Proof - EXT - TEST | Video is used to prove inside pages/format against precise ASIN targets. |
| Failed broad test | A10 - QSK - PB - SP - KW - GenericTopic - BRD - FAILED | Keep the learning visible instead of silently rebuilding the same test later. |
Rollout rule: do not rename every old campaign immediately. Use this structure for new tests first. For old PRM/SEC/TER campaigns, revise gradually when a campaign is edited, moved to deploy, or marked failed.
Audit correction: do not assume the account already has a clean exact-campaign layer just because some rows or campaign names contain EXT. First check whether exact/phrase winners are actually separated, named clearly, and tied to a specific test result.
Weekly Flash Reports: required test record
| Field | What to write |
|---|---|
| Hypothesis | What do we think will work and why? Example: precise ASINs with weaker reviews should convert better than broad category terms. |
| Campaign name | Use the A10 naming format for new tests so the report and ad console match. |
| Red / suggestion | Red = must avoid or fix now. Suggestion = gradual test, not a rule. |
| Monitoring window | Give the test enough time/clicks for a fair read. Do not declare success from tiny data. |
| Result | Failed, Modify, Watch, or Deploy. |
| Next action | Negative, lower bid, isolate winner, move to exact/phrase, rewrite listing, or stop the test. |
No-review launch gates
| Gate | Spend posture | What must be true to continue |
|---|---|---|
| Gate 1 - Proof of shelf fit | Small controlled spend on highest-confidence SP targets only. | Impressions arrive, CTR is not obviously weak, CPC is tolerable, and search terms are relevant. |
| Gate 2 - Proof of page fit | Expand only to adjacent phrase/ASIN targets that match the same buyer intent. | Clicks produce orders or enough carts/sales signal to justify continued spend. If not, Publishing reviews page proof. |
| Gate 3 - Proof of scalable intent | Move winners into DEPLOY campaigns. Keep discovery capped. | ACOS is within agreed launch tolerance and buyer terms are repeatable. |
| Gate 4 - Review gap watch | Do not flood broad audience/theme targets just because early CTR looks good. | Review count, rating, A+ proof, and sample quality are strong enough to handle wider exposure. |
Manager rule: if a no-review book hits the agreed spend cap or ACOS ceiling before clear buyer proof, stop expansion and record the reason in Weekly Flash Reports. Do not keep spending only to learn faster.
First 30 days after launch
| Timing | Ads action | Decision rule |
|---|---|---|
| Days 1-3 | Confirm campaigns are serving, budgets are not blocked, and targets match the handoff packet. | If no impressions, check eligibility, bids, target volume, and campaign setup. |
| Days 4-10 | Watch CTR, CPC, search-term relevance, and first conversion signals. Do not overreact to tiny data. | If relevant impressions but poor CTR, send cover/title issue to Publishing. If CTR is fine but orders are weak, inspect page proof and review gap. |
| Days 11-20 | Pull Search Term Report, isolate promising terms, add obvious negatives, and compare theme targets against direct topic targets. | If clicks are irrelevant, targeting/metadata is wrong. If clicks are relevant but no orders, listing proof/review gap is likely blocking conversion. |
| Days 21-30 | Identify search-term winners, rebuild clean exact/phrase deploy campaigns where justified, reduce waste, and check high-spend no-sale targets. | Decide: continue test, scale winners, fix listing, or pause spend. |
Weekly optimization routine
Every week, every active title
- Pull Search Term Report.
- Add converting customer search terms into clean exact/phrase deploy campaigns when there is enough evidence.
- Add irrelevant or wasteful terms as negatives.
- Check high-spend/no-order targets before changing campaign-wide bids.
- Check CTR separately from conversion: CTR is shelf appeal, conversion is page/book fit.
- Review CPC and ACOS against the book's actual royalty/list price, not a generic benchmark.
- Check placement/budget concentration so one target or placement is not draining learning budget.
- Send Publishing a short issue note when listing conversion appears to be the blocker.
- Record the test status in the Weekly Flash Report: Failed, Modify, Watch, or Deploy.
Bid and budget rules
| Situation | Do | Do not |
|---|---|---|
| High spend, no sale | Check term relevance, product page fit, price/reviews/cover, then lower/negate/pause. | Keep raising budget because impressions look good. |
| Good orders, high ACOS | Calculate breakeven, reduce waste targets, isolate winners, tune bids slowly. | Kill the whole campaign without separating winners from waste. |
| Low impressions | Check bids, eligibility, keyword volume, target relevance, and campaign status. | Assume the book failed with no delivery. |
| Good CTR, poor conversion | Tell Publishing: promise/page/sample/reviews/price likely need work. | Only reduce bids and leave the page untouched. |
| Auto finds useful terms | Move winners into clean manual deploy campaigns and keep auto/broad for controlled discovery. | Leave winners buried inside auto/broad forever. |
Sponsored Brands and video: target-based use
Position: Video is important. The problem is not video itself; the problem is using SB/video as broad author-brand buildup or endless hook testing without precise target logic. Use Sponsored Products as the control engine, then use SB/video when the target is very precise: proven keyword cluster, proven ASIN cluster, strong series fit, or a visual explanation that improves buyer confidence. Judge video by sales efficiency, target relevance, and listing fit, not CTR alone.
| Format | Use when | Skip when |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsored Products | Default for launch, testing, harvesting, product targeting, and scaling proven reader intent. | Only skip if the listing is not ready or the book has no clear target reader. |
| Sponsored Brands | Use for narrow, high-relevance author/series/product clusters where brand context helps the buyer decide. | Broad author-brand buildup, weak series identity, low conversion page, or targeting that is only loosely related. |
| Video | Use when the video shows book value quickly: inside pages, format, age fit, activity type, promise, or why this book beats the target. | Video is only hook variation, moving cover art, unreadable on mobile, or not tied to a precise keyword/ASIN target. |
Ads red flags
Red Flags
- Running ads before Publishing handoff is complete
- One auto campaign only
- All keywords mixed into one campaign
- No negatives for 7+ days
- Bid changes made without Search Term Report
- High clicks/no orders ignored
- SB used because it exists, not because it has a job
- Video run as broad hook-testing instead of target proof
Operator Response
- Get the handoff packet first
- Use auto for discovery, manual for control
- Separate by intent and stage
- Add negatives weekly
- Harvest before bid changes
- Escalate conversion problems to Publishing
- Use SB/video only for precise target clusters
- Audit video target fit, not just existence
Weekly Flash Report note format
One test, one diagnosis, one next action
Example: A10 - SMK - PB - SP - KW - Problem - PHR - TEST. CTR acceptable, clicks relevant, orders weak. Status: Modify. Next action: send Publishing request to improve first description section and add sample-page proof to A+ before increasing spend.
Marketing SOP compatibility log
This log is for strategy-related SOPs from Trainee's Hub. It does not judge general onboarding, HR, or communication SOPs. The goal is to show which SOPs still fit, which need careful use, and which clash with the newer A10-era intent-testing approach.
How to use this log: OK to use means continue. Be careful means use the SOP, but add the note in this manual and record changes in Weekly Flash Reports. Avoid means do not use as strategy unless a manager explicitly revives it with a new test plan.
OK to use
| SOP | Status | Note for team |
|---|---|---|
| How to calculate breakeven ACOS | OK | Keep using. It prevents false decisions based on generic ACOS benchmarks. |
| Creating ads for a book? Use this checklist | OK | Keep using. Add the Ads handoff packet from this manual before campaign setup. |
| Diversifying Results: How to Identify What's Failing in Amazon Ads | OK | Strong fit. It already says the issue can be bids, targets, structure, or the book itself. |
| Where to find which Changes on the Accounts | OK | Keep using before major changes. History checks protect the team from undoing another person's work. |
| Sales and Holidays Affecting Ads Performance | OK | Keep using. Seasonal drops should not trigger panic bid/budget changes without context. |
| What is Target Research and How to Do it Smartly | OK | Keep using. Strengthen it with intent labels: Problem, Audience, Competitor, Format, Season, Gift, Proof. |
| Ideas Research for Existing Pen Name | OK | Keep using. It already focuses on same audience, same topic, competitor proof, and red flags. |
| How to Design the Cover? We no longer design, we generate. | OK | Keep using, but always add Amazon thumbnail and search-shelf checks before ads launch. |
Use carefully / revise
| SOP | Status | Revision note |
|---|---|---|
| How to Name the Campaigns | Revise | Do not remove the old structure. Add the intent + status layer: A10 - Book - Format - AdType - TargetType - Intent - Match - TEST/FAILED/DEPLOY. |
| Testing Ads: SP KW, SP ASIN, SP CAT, SP Custom Text, SB Video, SB Author, Country | Revise | Keep the test types, but stop treating all tests equally. SP remains the control engine. Video/SB should be precise target-proof tests, not broad hook volume. |
| Running tests: Best Practices | Revise | Add Weekly Flash Report fields: hypothesis, campaign name, red/suggestion status, monitoring window, result, next action. |
| What is Level 1, 2, 3 and 4 of Optimisation | Revise | Make sure levels include search-term harvesting, negatives, placement/budget checks, and publishing handoff, not only bid changes. |
| What is Lowest / Conventional / Competitive / Aggressive Bidding | Be careful | Useful as bid language, but do not choose bidding posture before diagnosing target intent, conversion, and breakeven. |
| Amazon Suggestions: When to apply | Be careful | Use suggestions as inputs, not instructions. Record any accepted suggestion as a test in Weekly Flash Reports. |
| Best Bids to Start With | Be careful | Starting bids should depend on marketplace, target type, book economics, and test purpose. Avoid one-size rules. |
| Defense vs Attack: When to use which strategy? | Revise | Keep the concept, but map it to intent: Own/Defense, Competitor/Attack, Category/Discovery, SearchTermWinner/Deploy. |
| Ad Creatives: Do it fast, do it yourself | Be careful | Speed is useful, but video/creative must prove book value against a precise target. Fast generic creative should not scale. |
| Portfolio Budget: What exactly it is for | Be careful | Portfolio budgets should not hide book-level or target-level waste. Always inspect where spend concentrates. |
| The Campaigns Comeback: Yesterday's Loser, Tomorrow's Winner | Be careful | Useful reminder, but do not revive a loser without a new reason: changed listing, season, target, bid, or competition. |
| What to do when you are just a WATCHER for an account | Revise | Watchers should flag abnormalities and red items. They should not silently optimize around a listing problem without handoff. |
| Testing variables: Bestseller badge, reviews, new description or A+ | Revise | Good test category. Add status labels and require before/after notes in Weekly Flash Reports. |
| Amazon Ads: KPIs Recap | Revise | Keep CTR, CPC, ACOS, orders, sales. Add conversion diagnosis and target-intent quality so KPI review does not become ACOS-only. |
| Amazon Features Update April 2024 | Revise soon | Likely stale by date. Replace with a living update note for Rufus, COSMO/search intent, Amazon Ads format changes, and KDP compliance. |
Avoid / retire unless explicitly re-tested
| SOP / approach | Status | Why |
|---|---|---|
| DO NOT USE THIS - A9AMS Pilot | Avoid | The SOP title already says do not use. It also clashes with the current intent-led testing approach. |
| DO NOT USE IT - Ranking Pilot / Dominate Top of Search | Avoid | The SOP title already says do not use. Do not revive ranking-push logic without a fresh manager-approved test. |
| Broad author-brand buildup as the main SB/video strategy | Avoid | Clashes with current evidence: attention does not equal sales. Use SB/video only for precise target clusters, proven series/author fit, or video that proves the book value. |
| Generic broad discovery with no negatives | Avoid | Directly conflicts with the search-term harvesting and negative routine. Broad can test; it cannot be unmanaged. |
| Bid-only optimization | Avoid | Clashes with Diversifying Results. Diagnose target, structure, book/page, placement, and search terms before bid-only action. |
| Renaming all old campaigns immediately | Avoid | Creates confusion and breaks history. Apply new naming to new tests and gradual revisions only. |
Required log behavior
Weekly Flash Reports must include
- Which SOP or test idea was used.
- Status: OK, Be careful, Red flag, Failed, Modify, Watch, or Deploy.
- Evidence: CTR, CPC, spend, orders, ACOS, search terms, and listing diagnosis where relevant.
- Decision: keep, lower, negative, isolate, rewrite listing, pause, or deploy.
- Owner: Ads, Publishing, or both.
SOURCES
Research basis
Sources and internal SOPs are here for grounding. This page should be read with Trainee's Hub: How to Name the Campaigns, Testing Ads, Running tests, Diversifying Results, Target Research, and Weekly Flash Reports.