Ever wonder how people who run Amazon ads for thousands of SKUs do it? Well, in this article, I’m going to let you in on one of those secrets, organization. Sounds simple, but proper Amazon ad account organization is the key to efficiency and managing at scale.
Today I’ll be breaking down three organization areas: campaign naming, report naming, and storage folder structure. I’ll also give you a peek into the same system we use at Junglr to manage thousands of SKUs across multiple accounts and marketplaces.
The trick is to keep your naming conventions and structure simple enough to be efficient, but not so many internal acronyms that new team members get lost.
Campaign naming structure in Amazon ad account – Don’t launch that campaign yet!
Proper campaign naming will set you up for long-term success.
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It may seem no big deal to launch a quick campaign named “Auto” now, but when you add additional products to the mix, or over one automatic campaign, that gets messy fast.
A solid campaign naming system lets you see the below items at a glance.
- Advertised product(s)
- Campaign type
- Match type
- Keywords/Targeting
- Campaign Strategy
- Date Launched
The above hierarchy is the order we’ve chosen to use in our naming system. You can adapt this in any way that makes sense for your Amazon ad account, but I would argue all these identifiers should be included.
Campaign name breakdown in Amazon ad account
Here is an example of a campaign name you might find in one of our accounts.
Metal Water Bottle – SP E – Ranking – H10 – 021220
{product identifier} – {ad type} {match type} – {campaign strategy} – {keyword set} – {date}
{product identifier}
The first section tells us what we’re advertising. Some sellers also like to include the ASIN or SKU. I prefer a mix of readability and specificity. Since I rarely memorize ASINs, I prefer to have something that helps me understand the product at a glance.
An alternative may be Metal Water Bottle(ASIN) or Metal Water Bottle(SKU).
{ad type}
The “SP” tells me this is a Sponsored Product campaign. We use SB, SD, and SBV to specify the other ad types.
{match type}
The “E” stands for an exact match. You can use P, B, A (for auto), etc.
So far, I can tell this is a Sponsored Product exact match campaign advertising our Metal Water Bottle product, but let’s keep going.
{campaign strategy}
Next, you’ll see “Ranking,” which tells me this is a ranking campaign. Again, I like to keep this section short and readable. If there’s a specific campaign strategy you often use, you might want to abbreviate it. In case you use acronyms or abbreviations, I suggest you create a document containing a naming key so you can easily share your system with new team members.
{keyword set}
H10 in our agency stands for Helium 10. This tells me these keywords were discovered by doing keyword research using Helium 10.
{date}
Last but not least is the date launched. We prefer to include this as there are some places where it’s not easy to see the date the campaign was created. This makes it apparent if this is a new campaign or not.
The above structure allows for quick insights into the campaign contents of an Amazon ad account. This can save hours of clicking around in the campaign manager. It will also help you analyze reports or any other place where you might see the campaign name—even an external management tool.
Report naming in Amazon ad account – Open the right report the first time
Speaking of reports, we’re going to be diving into that naming structure next. Resist the urge to use the default report name! Again, readability is vital here as well.
(Don’t do it!)
Example report name
Let’s go through two examples. This report’s name is for a Sponsored Product Search term report.
Better Baby Stuff – SP STR – August 12 to September 20, 2021
Or
Better Baby Stuff – SP STR – 30 day – 9/2/21
{account name or brand name} – {ad type} {report type} – {date range in report}
{account name or brand name} – {ad type} {report type} – {date range} – {date report was pulled}
{account name or brand name}
The first part of your naming structure should include the account name or the brand in the account.
{ad type}
Next, we include the ad type. In this case, “SP” for Sponsored Products.
{report type}
This part shows the report type, “STR,” for the Search term report. We also use “TR” for targeting reports, “APR” for advertised product reports, etc. I suggest you keep a reference document if you decide to use acronyms.
{date range in report} OR {date range} – {date report was pulled}
This naming section is important because it tells you what the date range of the report is. The first example shows a custom date range, and the second shows what we use when selecting a default report period, such as “last 30 days.”
Being specific in your report naming makes it easy to quickly find what you’re looking for and take full advantage of any search functions. It means less time looking and more time analyzing the reports.
Amazon ad account – Folders and storage
A single folder is OK until it isn’t.
Like with campaign names or even reports, you can get away with being simple, but trust me, you’ll quickly outgrow a single folder labeled “Advertising Reports.” It’s FAR easier to begin well organized than having to move hundreds of reports into a new structure. Been there, hopefully, you don’t have to do that.
Pro tip: If you’re using Google Drive, creating a shared drive would be a good idea. You will need to set up a Google Workspace account (formerly known as G Suite) for this, but in my opinion, it is well worth it.
If someone leaves, they still own any docs they uploaded in a regular shared Google folder, even if you remove access. In a shared drive, you retain ownership of all contents even if someone else created the document.
Recommended folder structure
I’m going to lay out a recommended folder structure to use with your advertising. It can be modified to fit your Amazon ad account.
Note: This structure is only for advertising, but it’s a good idea to have a well-structured folder system for your entire organization.
Folder breakdown
Overall Account or Brand Folder – This is a master folder that will house all of your content for this account or brand. Chances are you already have a folder for this.
Advertising Reports – This sub-folder is where you’ll keep all of your advertising reports. It’s further broken down into sub-folders for each ad type.
- Sponsored Products
- Sponsored Brands
- Sponsored Brands Video
- Sponsored Display
Bulk Files – You may or may not be using bulk files. If not, you can skip this folder and set it up if or when you need it.
- {Bulk Files} – The downloaded bulk files get stored in the general Bulk Files folder.
- New Bids
- New Campaigns
- Account Changes
- Negative Keyword Uploads
Advertising Creatives – This folder is for any creatives you might need for your Sponsored Brand or Display ads.
- Brand – Optional sub-folder to separate creative assets for different brands.
- Logo
- Images
- Videos
As you can see, this structure has a place for everything, and everything goes in its place. Resist the urge to leave important reports stuck in your download folder! The trick here is to have a system that gives you enough sub-folders to find what you need quickly, but not so many sub-folders you have to click five layers deep to find what you need.
If you’d like to create your structure, you can copy the example folder structure and modify it using Google drawings.
Why it matters
The whole point of the Amazon ad account organization is to eliminate the need to spend brainpower on unnecessary tasks (like figuring out what’s in a campaign or where exactly you put that file) and focus on the important things (like optimizing and launching campaigns).
A solid system is also instrumental to good collaboration and transparency between team members.
The good news, no matter the size of your Amazon ad account, it’s never too late to start getting organized!
About the author
Elizabeth Green is one of the Founders of Junglr, an Amazon advertising agency.
She stepped into this role as a way to help other sellers, and somewhere along the journey, uncovered a deep love for all things spreadsheets and data.
Wife and mom of six. If she’s not at the computer exploring the latest ad update, you’ll find her enjoying time with her family.
