The PPC Den: Amazon PPC Advertising Mastery

The PPC Den
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  • MARKETING
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The world's first Amazon advertising podcast-- hosted by Ad Badger. Here we discuss the ins and outs of Amazon PPC, including tips and tricks to help optimize your ad campaigns. Whether you're a die-hard PPC fanatic or an Amazon seller looking for an edge, this podcast is for you!

  1. 17H AGO

    The Brutal Truth About Amazon FBA (And How to Pivot to D2C)

    Welcome back to the PPC Den podcast! Today we’re catching up with Francis Leger, co-owner of GS Plant Foods, to talk about the harsh realities of selling on Amazon in 2026. Let's be honest, the days of easily launching a profitable product from your bedroom with fifty bucks are long gone. Francis gets totally real about why Amazon has become such a frustrating and expensive barrier to entry, complete with random listing suspensions and endless bureaucratic headaches. Because of this margin squeeze, his two-person team is actively pivoting to build out their own independent D2C website. Instead of just playing around with trendy AI tools, Francis shares a brilliant, practical approach: look at your daily workflow and hand the tedious stuff over to a computer. He even shares a great story about how they built a custom script to automatically check their Amazon Buy Box across all 50 states to catch sneaky account issues instantly.  Grab a coffee and join us for a really honest, refreshing conversation about surviving and thriving in e-commerce today. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 0:00 - Intro 02:40 - Why building a Shopify D2C website is now an absolute must 04:02 - Why you can no longer start on Amazon with just $50 06:30 - The nightmare of arbitrary Amazon delistings  15:21 - How we built a custom AI script to check our Buy Box in all 50 states 19:47 - Stop asking "What can AI do?" and look at your org chart instead 25:25 - The danger of building yourself a job instead of a business 30:44 - How to get a business to run itself  33:23 - The one thing you can never outsource to AI 36:47 - Why the fundamentals of business haven't changed in 100 years 42:10 - Outro 🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising Check out Francis Leger and GS Plant Foods at gsplantfoods.com — where healthy plants (and smart business decisions) are always in season. Successful Ecommerce Entrepreneur On Business, Scaling 10x, and Finding the Right Partners How to Find Products That Sell Organically How To Use Psychology To Master Amazon PPC (Classic) Who to hire for your Amazon Growth Team  (Classic) What’s the Best Way to Manage an Amazon Brand? Exploring Agency Strategies 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Guest Co-Host: Francis Leger Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    41 min

  2. MAR 6

    Ad Sales Tripled, Organic Dropped: Decoding Amazon PPC Cannibalization

    Have you ever scaled your Amazon PPC campaigns only to watch your organic sales completely drop off? In this episode, Michael and Amazon advertising expert Brent Zahradnik tackle a fantastic listener question where a brand's ad sales tripled, but their organic sales actually decreased year-over-year. They dive deep into the real reasons behind this frustrating scenario, exploring whether aggressive ad spend is truly cannibalizing organic placements or if there are other hidden factors at play, such as shrinking overall search volume or overspending on highly dominant branded keywords.  It is a common fear for Amazon sellers and PPC managers alike, but the reality of how the algorithm balances paid and organic traffic is rarely straightforward. To help you navigate this exact problem, the guys break down the actionable strategies and metrics you need to measure true ad incrementality. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 00:00 - Intro 01:50 - Listener Question: Ad Sales Tripled, Organic Dropped 04:05 - What is a "Healthy" Organic vs. Paid Sales Ratio? 06:00 - Defining PPC Cannibalization & Incrementality 08:10 - Scenario A: Overspending on Branded Keywords 10:20 - Scenario B & C: Did PPC Save the Brand or Did the Market Shrink? 15:30 - How to Fix It Step 1: Track Organic vs. Paid Percentage 16:44 - Why Historic Rank Tracking Still Matters 19:10 - Step 2: Using Search Query Performance Data 22:15 - Step 3: Running a Holdout Test with AMC 26:24 - Final Verdict: Does PPC Actually Cannibalize 100% of Sales? 27:50 - Where to Find Brent 🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising Where to find Brent Zahradnik of SellerPlex Managing Amazon Ads in Tough Times to Protect Your Organic Sales How to Find Products That Sell Organically How Can I Grow My Organic Sales Percentage For Amazon PPC Campaigns? 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Guest Co-Host: Brent Zahradnik Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    27 min

  3. FEB 27

    5 Hidden Issues Killing Your Ad Performance

    Are your Amazon sales dropping and your ACoS skyrocketing? Before you take a sledgehammer to your PPC campaigns, you need to look under the hood of your business. In this episode, Michael sits down with Elizabeth Greene from Junglr to discuss why the biggest threats to your Amazon advertising performance usually have nothing to do with your ads. They break down the exact weekly "push-pull" diagnostic report they use to uncover 5 hidden operational issues that are secretly draining your ad budget and killing your profit margins. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 00:00 - Intro 02:15 - Why Non-PPC Issues Are Your Biggest Ad Problem  04:00 - The "Push-Pull" Report: Junglr’s Weekly Diagnostic Flow  12:27 - Issue #1: Inventory & The "45-Day Coverage" Sweet Spot  18:43 - Issue #2: Hidden Buy Box & Regional Shipping Problems  22:51 - Agency Scope of Work: Should Ad Agencies Fix Operations?  27:34 - Issue #3: How Pricing Changes Destroy Sales Velocity  33:12 - Issue #4: Catalog Chaos & Variation Splits Wasting Ad Spend  35:00 - Issue #5: Why High Return Rates Secretly Kill Your Profitability 🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising Where to find Elizabeth Greene from Junglr 10 Steps to Maximize Amazon FBA Inventory Limits How Do I Evaluate Amazon Buyers’ Activity After Black Friday-Cyber Monday? Tackle 70% Wasted Spend with N-Gram Laddering in Amazon Ads 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Guest Co-Host: Elizabeth Greene Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    36 min

  4. FEB 20

    Grow Your Amazon Market Share with PPC

    In this episode, I talk about how Amazon sellers can go beyond just looking at sales and start using PPC and search query data to understand their true market share. I show how you can track changes in search volume, impressions, clicks, conversions, and your share of purchases to see if your ads are actually helping you grow compared to the rest of the market.  By grounding your PPC data with market insights, you can make smarter decisions, adjust campaigns when needed, and stay ahead of competitors. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 0:05 – Most PPC managers check only sales 0:17 – Better question: Did PPC grow your market share? 0:27 – Comparing sales vs. market trends 1:00 – Using search query data to track performance 2:05 – How to access search query data in AdBadger 3:22 – Tracking search volume and impressions over time 5:00 – Measuring brand impression and click share 6:55 – Comparing market vs. brand conversion rate 8:04 – Understanding purchase share and market impact 10:44 – Combining search data with ranking data 11:57 – How to tell your PPC story with market context 12:12 – Using this data to make smarter Amazon decisions🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising Training PPC Managers Who Can Train Others How do I Increase My Amazon Market Share? Unlock Your Business’s Growth Potential With Amazon’s Market Analysis Tools 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    14 min

  5. FEB 13

    How Can I Elevate My Copywriting In My Amazon PPC Campaign? (Classic)

    Humans vs. AI?! Marketing by Emma’s Emma Schermer Tamir sits down with Michael to discuss how to elevate your copywriting. They talk about the rise of AI, finding humility in your writing, premium A+ content, and more! A great episode for those looking to boost efficiency and quality in their marketing and copywriting.  This episode is a rerelease of one of our most popular episodes. Please note the resources and link section for any relevant updates. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 0:00 - What to expect in this episode 3:10 - What’s New With Emma 11:05 - The Journey Through AI 17:45 - Has AI Changed Your Process? 24:06 - Thinking About Goals 26:22 - How Can I Elevate My Copywriting? 32:35 - First Steps 47:15 - Where You Can Find Emma 🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising Where to find Emma, Marketing By Emma How Can I Use ChatGPT To Advance My Amazon PPC Campaign? 12 Free Amazon Features Every Brand Should Be Using! How To Use Bulk Operations On Amazon To Crush Your Competition Balancing Amazon PPC Optimization And Expansion How Do I Create Data-Driven Product Pages On Amazon? 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Guest Co-Host: Emma Schermer Tamir Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    49 min

  6. FEB 6

    6 Essential Amazon Skills to Master in 2026 (Scale Your Brand)

    Is your Amazon strategy spread too thin? In this episode, Michael is joined by Noemi Bolojan (CEO of ScaleWave) to cut through the noise of 2026. After a chaotic few years, the biggest trend for successful sellers isn't doing more—it's doing fewer things at a 10/10 level. We’re diving deep into the "5+1 Essential Skills" you need to master to actually move the needle this year. From the "lifeblood" of your business (Inventory Management) to the hidden goldmine in your Brand Analytics, we break down exactly where to focus your energy so you can stop guessing and start growing. Stop being an "inch deep" in a hundred activities. Tune in to learn how to go miles deep on the metrics that matter. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 00:00 - Intro: The Art of Simplification in 202605:10 - Top 5 Skills to Grow on Amazon06:03 - Skill #1: Inventory Management (The Lifeblood)12:50 - Skill #2: Aligning PPC with Business Goals22:45 - Skill #3: SKU-Based Profit Analytics29:25 - Skill #4: Tracking Non-Converting Spend36:05 - Skill #5: Masterful Bid & Budget Management42:25 - Bonus Skill: Decoding Search Query Data46:50 - Where to Find Noemi🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising Where to find  Noemi Bolojan Scale Wave How Do I Perfect My Amazon Inventory Management? How to align team goals using Amazon PPC data tools? What is the SKU Economics Report and How It Boosts Amazon Ads? Non-Converting Spend: Misunderstood or Mismanaged? A Closer Look at Your PPC Campaigns Advanced Amazon PPC Bid Optimization 5 Ways Search Query Data Boosts Sales 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Guest Co-Host: Noemi Bolojan Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    47 min

  7. JAN 30

    How Many Clicks Before You Kill a Keyword? (The CPS Rule Amazon Sellers Ignore)

    This episode is really about one thing: deciding when “no sales yet” actually means something. Because in real accounts, non-converting spend isn’t some small inefficiency. It’s often 30 percent of spend. Sometimes it’s 50. I’ve seen it hit 80 percent. Ten thousand dollars in ad spend, eight thousand going to search terms that never convert. What changes the way you look at this is separating converting behavior from non-converting behavior. If you include all the wasted spend in your averages, you end up judging new keywords against a broken baseline. Instead, you want to look at what your converting traffic normally does and use that as your benchmark. Another big takeaway is that not all keywords deserve the same level of patience. Branded terms might convert every couple of clicks. Competitor terms might need fifty clicks before you see a sale. If you use one rule across the board, you’ll end up killing keywords that were slow, not bad. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 0:28 – How many clicks before negating 1:07 – Non-converting spend pain 2:39 – Clicks Per Sale (CPS) 3:18 – Conversion rate → CPS math 4:03 – Account-level CPS misleading 5:22 – High-intent traffic benchmark 7:46 – Brand / generic / competitor terms 8:09 – CPS by keyword type 9:31 – Measuring search terms vs CPS 9:45 – 75%-150% CPS range 10:15 – 1.5× CPS decision point 10:39 – Pulling CPS from search term report 11:09 – Keyword failure options 11:29 – One rule beats no rule 🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising How N-gram analysis found a keyword with 200 clicks and 1 order What Should I Do About Invalid Clicks in Amazon PPC? 3 Filters to Use Weekly in Your Search Term Report on Amazon 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    13 min

  8. JAN 23

    Why Amazon Brands Are Starting to Use Meta Ads and Shopify

    In this episode, Michael sits down with Sean of Spillover Commerce to talk about thinking beyond Amazon. They discuss the difference between being an Amazon seller and being a true e-commerce brand. Why does that gap matter? And why not every product — or every brand — should be treated the same across Amazon, Shopify, and Meta. Sean breaks down when Meta ads actually make sense for Amazon brands, and how off-Amazon traffic can spill over into Amazon sales. They also talk about product-market fit by platform. Why some products work on Amazon but struggle on Meta. And why product iteration often beats endless ad optimization. If you sell on Amazon and you’re curious about Meta ads, this episode will help you think more clearly about the next step. We’ll see you in The PPC Den! 🦡 Highlights ​​ 00:00 - Meet Sean Stone of Spillover Commerce 02:45 - Using ChatGPT to challenge your thinking 06:30 - Amazon sellers vs real e-commerce brands 10:40 - Which products work on Amazon vs Shopify 14:10 -  When scaling ad spend actually makes sense 17:55 - How Meta ads increase Amazon sales 20:45 - Shopify + Amazon done right (real brand example) 25:00 - Why follower count doesn’t equal demand 28:20 -  Product-market fit by platform 31:50 - Price, size, and offer iteration 35:40 -  When Amazon brands should run Meta ads 38:45 - Meta ads vs Amazon ads (different playbooks) 42:10 - Final takeaway: thinking beyond Seller Central 🦡 Resources & Links 🦡 GET AD BADGER ➡️ See How Spillover Commerce Achieved $74K Profit Swing Find Michael Erickson Facchin — Ad Badger’s CEO and soul, PPC whisperer, and your go-to guide through the wild world of Amazon advertising Today’s guest is Sean Stone of Spillover Commerce 🛒 Are you ready to escape Amazon dependency? Crack Q4 2025 with AMC Audiences & Deals 4 Techniques Working for Amazon PPC in 2025 Finding Your Zone of Possibility for Amazon PPC Rankings How can you quickly and efficiently improve your Amazon listing? How Can I Grow My Organic Sales Percentage For Amazon PPC Campaigns? 📚 Unlock our FREE comprehensive Amazon Marketing Playbook Subscribe to our newsletter Transform your workflow with our comprehensive Amazon Advertising checklist Review all our show notes - Host and Executive Producer: Michael Erickson Facchin Guest Co-Host: Sean Stone Senior Producer: Nancy Lili Gonzalez Podcast Coordinator & Graphic Designer: Sofiia Podash Video and Audio Editor: Pedro Moreno

    41 min
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The world's first Amazon advertising podcast-- hosted by Ad Badger. Here we discuss the ins and outs of Amazon PPC, including tips and tricks to help optimize your ad campaigns. Whether you're a die-hard PPC fanatic or an Amazon seller looking for an edge, this podcast is for you!

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