AI Advertising (Product Goal) – A Need-to-Know Guide

Introduction to AI Advertising 

AI Advertising, also known as Product Goal, is a powerful feature within the Helium 10 Ads platform that helps sellers automate their Amazon advertising campaigns using advanced artificial intelligence. Designed as a "set-it-and-forget-it" system, this tool makes it easier for you to manage advertising while focusing on other areas of your business.

Once the initial setup is complete, AI Advertising takes over campaign creation, bid optimization, and keyword management—including keyword promotion and negation—so you don’t have to manually adjust your campaigns daily. Whether you're launching new products or scaling existing ones, this tool is built to evolve with your strategy.

Note: You’ll need to do some initial setup to train the system with your product data and goals, but once that’s complete, the AI can run and optimize your campaigns automatically with little to no supervision needed.

Key Features of AI Advertising (Product Goal)

• Automated Campaign Management: Create and manage campaigns with minimal input.
• Smart Bidding: The AI adjusts bids based on actual performance data.
• Keyword Promotion & Negation: The system promotes top-performing keywords and automatically negates poor-performing ones.
• Performance Optimization Over Time: The AI learns and adapts based on campaign results and adjusts accordingly.

Need-to-Know: What to Expect in Terms of Performance

• AI needs time to learn: Don’t expect immediate results. The system requires a learning phase to understand your product, market, and performance trends.
• Performance will gradually improve: As the AI collects data, it refines its decisions to drive better results over time.
• Continuous optimization: The system doesn’t stop after launch—it constantly adjusts bids based on performance data and changes in the ad landscape.

Why AI Advertising Might Not Perform Well Initially

There are multiple reasons why performance might seem underwhelming early on. Below are five common challenges and suggestions to address them:

1. New Product, Low Historical Data
   • Why: Amazon prioritizes listings with a proven sales record. New ASINs simply don’t have that yet.
   • What to Do: Set a realistic target ACOS, especially for newer products with smaller profit margins. Choosing a higher target ACOS allows the system more flexibility to test different bids and find what works best for your product. Additionally, consider running promotions or driving external traffic through channels like social media or influencers to help build initial momentum. Keep in mind that new products typically require time to gain traction, so it’s important not to expect excellent results immediately. Consistent optimization and patience are key to building a successful ad campaign over time.
2. Competitive Niche
   • Why: Big brands with substantial resources dominate ad space in saturated markets. They have typically already established strong Amazon relevancy through their advertising efforts.
   • What to Do: Consider increasing your ad budget. While it may not deliver immediate results, a higher budget allows your ads to be shown more frequently, improving visibility compared to maintaining a low or conservative budget cap. Over time, this can lead to better performance and greater opportunities for optimization.
3. Low Ad Rank (CTR or CVR)
   • Why: If people aren’t clicking your ad or aren’t making purchases after clicking, Amazon’s algorithm interprets this as low relevance or poor performance. As a result, over time, Amazon reduces your product’s visibility in search results and ad placements to prioritize ads that drive better engagement and sales. This can lead to decreased impressions, fewer clicks, and ultimately lower sales
   • What to Do: Improve listing images, title, and A+ content to boost click-through and conversion rates. Additionally, optimize your product descriptions and bullet points to clearly communicate key benefits and features. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and respond promptly to any negative feedback to build trust.
4. Low Starting Budget
   • Why: If your daily ad budget is set too low, your ads may stop running early once the budget cap is reached, limiting visibility and reducing impressions, clicks, and sales. Additionally, keep in mind that Helium 10’s AI Advertising creates a structured campaign setup with at least three separate campaigns, which divide the total budget you set across these campaigns. This means the effective budget per campaign is smaller, so an overall low budget can cause each campaign to exhaust its funds quickly.
   • What to Do: Review and increase your daily ad budget to ensure your ads can run consistently throughout the day across all campaign structures. Monitor campaign performance regularly to find the optimal budget that maximizes reach while maintaining cost-efficiency. Starting with a higher budget gives the AI more room to test and optimize bids effectively, helping improve overall campaign results.
5. Is Your Product Ready for Ads? When the AI Can’t Do All the Work
   • Why: Even the best AI can’t save a weak product, as poor listings with low organic performance, no reviews, or poor visuals will negatively impact your paid ads regardless if you use AI or not.
   • What to Do: Enhance your listing with professional images, A+ content, and optimized copy to attract and convert shoppers. Build momentum by ensuring a successful product launch before investing heavily in ads to maximize your campaign’s impact.

Understanding Amazon’s Auction System

Amazon’s advertising operates on a real-time auction model. Here’s how it affects your campaigns:

• Ad Visibility Depends on Bid and Relevance: Amazon determines which ads to show and in what order by evaluating a combination of your bid amount and your product’s relevance. Your bid represents the maximum amount you’re willing to pay per click, while relevance is based on factors such as CTR, CVR, and customer reviews.
  • For example, even if you place a high bid, your ad might not appear frequently if your product has low relevance due to poor CTR, low conversion, or negative reviews. Conversely, a well-optimized product with great reviews and strong CTR may achieve better visibility even with a lower bid. Optimizing your bids and product relevance is key to maximizing ad visibility and getting the most value from your Amazon Advertising campaigns.
• New Products Have Less Authority: On Amazon, products with a strong sales history and positive reviews have more authority, which helps their ads perform better. New products, lacking sales and reviews, are seen as less proven and may get fewer impressions, lower ad placements, or higher costs per click.
  • Imagine you’re launching a new brand of wireless earbuds. Established brands like Apple or Bose have thousands of reviews and consistent sales, giving their products higher authority. With zero reviews and limited sales history, your new earbuds will likely receive fewer impressions and less favorable ad placements. You may also pay more per click as you compete for visibility.
• Competitive Niches Are Costlier: In Amazon advertising, highly competitive niches require higher bids to win ad auctions. More sellers targeting the same keywords increase costs, making it more expensive to get impressions and clicks.
  • Suppose you’re selling running shoes, a highly competitive niche with many well-known brands and sellers. Because so many advertisers are bidding on the same keywords like “running shoes” or “athletic footwear,” you’ll need to place higher bids to get your ads shown. On the other hand, if you sell a niche product like “trail running shoes with waterproof features,” which is less saturated, you may achieve more impressions and clicks with lower bids.

What Can You Do?

• Be patient, give the AI system some time to learn and adjust. Keep in mind, the system does not instantly generate sales for your ads, but with time, it can really help optimize your campaigns to perform better.
• When setting up your product goals, start with a slightly higher budget to help gather performance data more quickly and give your campaigns the best chance to optimize effectively.
• Conduct market research to analyze whether your product can compete effectively within its niche. Compare your pricing and listing quality against top competitors to identify areas for improvement and opportunities to stand out.
• Encourage early reviews through compliant follow-up systems. Listings with better reviews tend to drive significantly more conversions compared to those with fewer reviews, as customers often rely on social proof when making purchase decisions.

Final Thoughts

AI Advertising through Helium 10 isn’t a magic switch that instantly generates sales, but it's a smart tool built to reduce your manual workload and improve campaign efficiency over time. By understanding the realistic expectations and giving the system space to learn, you'll be setting yourself up for long-term advertising success on Amazon.