If you’ve ever looked at your campaign search terms and thought, “Why am I paying for that click?”, you’ve already felt the power of match types. In Amazon advertising, keyword match types are the “rules of engagement” between the shopper’s query and the keywords you choose. They determine how much reach you get, how much control you keep, and—crucially—how efficiently your budget turns into sales.
This article is an Amazon keyword match types explained guide with a practical lens: how match types shape impressions, CPC, conversion rate, and ACoS/ROAS—and how to turn that into a repeatable Amazon ads keyword strategy.
The three match types (and what Amazon says they do)
In Sponsored Products manual campaigns, you’ll typically use Broad, Phrase, and Exact. These are the core Amazon PPC match types you’ll rely on to structure your account and control how Amazon interprets your targeting.
Amazon defines them in straightforward terms:
- Broad: can match searches containing all your keywords in any order, including variations and related terms.
- Phrase: can match searches containing your phrase in the same order (with additional words before or after).
- Exact: matches the keyword or phrase most tightly—effectively the closest control you have.
That’s the official baseline. In practice, match types behave like a control dial. They don’t just decide “show” or “don’t show”. They decide:
- how wide your keyword can stretch into related searches
- how many search term variations you’re willing to pay to test
- how predictable your conversion rate and ACoS will be over time
- how clean (or messy) your optimisation data becomes
Here’s the simplest way to think about it:
- Broad = exploration + scale (more search term variety, more “surprises”)
- Phrase = controlled expansion (keeps the core intent, allows modifiers)
- Exact = precision + efficiency (best for proven, high-intent queries)
This is why the question isn’t “which match type is best?” The question is: what job does this match type need to do inside my Amazon PPC keyword targeting system?
Why match type directly affects your PPC metrics
Match type choice cascades through every performance metric. When sellers struggle with performance, it’s often because they’re asking the wrong lever to do the wrong job—expecting broad match to behave like exact, or expecting exact to discover demand like broad.
1) Impressions and reach
Broad gets the most reach because it’s eligible for more query variations. Exact is narrowest. That matters if you’re launching, entering a new niche, or trying to dominate category demand. It also matters when your category has long-tail search behaviour, where buyer intent is expressed through combinations of size, use case, material, compatibility, colour, or pack quantity.
2) Click-through rate (CTR)
Tighter relevance generally improves CTR. Broad can drag CTR down if you match to loosely related searches. Phrase tends to stabilise CTR because it keeps the core phrase intact; Exact often delivers the cleanest CTR once you’ve found the right terms and your listing aligns with the promise of that query.
3) Cost-per-click (CPC)
CPC is an auction outcome, but match type influences how often you enter auctions where you don’t belong. Broad can inflate CPC via wasted participation—clicks from shoppers who are not truly aligned with your product. Exact can reduce waste but may force you to compete harder on a smaller set of highly competitive terms. The point is not “broad is expensive” or “exact is cheap”; the point is that match type determines how much irrelevant opportunity you allow into your spend.
4) Conversion rate (CVR) and ACoS/ROAS
Exact typically converts best once you’ve validated intent, simply because the search is closer to what you sell. Broad can still convert, but variability increases: you might discover new winners—or fund a lot of non-buying traffic along the way. This is where the true “broad vs phrase vs exact Amazon PPC” trade-off sits: reach and learning vs control and predictability.
So when people ask broad vs phrase vs exact Amazon PPC, the most useful answer is: broad is a research engine, phrase is a scaling lever, exact is an efficiency weapon. Strong accounts run all three intentionally.
Match types as “intent layers” (a smarter way to structure campaigns)
A high-performing Amazon PPC keyword targeting approach treats match types as layers of intent, not interchangeable settings. This creates a system that improves over time rather than staying static.
Layer 1: Discovery (Broad / Auto)
Goal: find converting search terms you didn’t think of.
Use:
- Broad match keywords for category exploration
- Auto campaigns for additional query mining (then harvest from the search term report)
Discovery is not about “winning” ACoS on day one. It’s about building a pipeline of real customer language. Your job here is to control the cost of learning: lower bids, tighter budgets, and early negative keyword discipline to prevent obvious waste. In a mature account, your discovery layer should continuously feed your control layer.
Layer 2: Expansion (Phrase)
Goal: grow volume while keeping relevance anchored.
Use phrase match for:
- “Head term + modifiers” patterns (size, pack count, use case, feature)
- Category-specific intent you want to include without opening the floodgates
- Scaling a proven theme where exact match alone limits impressions
Phrase match is often where performance becomes more stable. It allows variation, but not chaos. When managed properly, phrase match can generate higher-quality search term discovery than broad match, because the shopper’s language remains closer to your core phrase. For many brands, phrase match is the most reliable blend of scale and control.
Layer 3: Control and Profit (Exact)
Goal: turn known winners into predictable sales at your target ACoS.
Use exact match for:
- Proven converting queries harvested from broad/auto/phrase
- Branded terms (your own brand and hero product names)
- High-intent non-branded terms with consistent conversion patterns
Exact is where you get the cleanest data and the clearest levers. If you’re serious about building an Amazon ads keyword strategy that scales responsibly, exact match should house the keywords you’re willing to defend and invest behind—because they reliably convert and support profitability targets.
The optimisation loop: mine → harvest → isolate → protect
If you want match types to improve performance over time (instead of just “running”), you need a repeatable process. The strongest Amazon PPC accounts do not rely on occasional “tidying up”. They run a loop.
Step 1: Pull the Search Term Report regularly
Your search term report tells you what shoppers actually typed, not what you hoped they would type. This is where wasted spend reveals itself. It’s also where your next best-performing keywords often come from.
When reviewing search terms, avoid judging too quickly from tiny sample sizes. Instead, look for patterns:
- terms that consistently attract clicks but rarely convert
- terms that convert efficiently but are underfunded
- themes that repeatedly show up across products or ad groups
Step 2: Promote winners into tighter match types
When a search term converts consistently, sits within acceptable efficiency targets, and aligns with your product’s promise, promote it. Add it as Phrase or Exact inside a dedicated control structure.
This is a core principle of Amazon keyword match types explained in practical terms: you do not “set” match types once. You graduate keywords through match types as you learn what truly drives orders.
Step 3: Use negatives to stop paying twice (and stop wasting spend)
Negative keywords are not optional. They are how you maintain clean intent signals across campaigns and ensure that your budget is spent where it has the highest probability of producing sales.
Two essential uses:
- Waste reduction: exclude irrelevant or low-intent searches that repeatedly fail to convert.
- Traffic sculpting: stop Broad/Phrase campaigns from cannibalising Exact campaigns once you’ve isolated winners.
If your exact keyword is profitable but broad or phrase is still triggering that same search term, you can end up bidding against yourself across your own campaigns. The fix is simple: add a negative exact (or negative phrase) in the broader campaign so the query funnels into your exact control layer.
Step 4: Bid by match type (because the economics differ)
A practical structure for most accounts:
- Broad bids: lower (you’re paying for exploration)
- Phrase bids: medium (controlled scaling)
- Exact bids: highest (you’re paying for proven purchase intent)
This approach also makes performance easier to interpret. If a broad campaign is winning, you know it’s discovering high-quality intent at a controlled cost. If an exact campaign is winning, you know it’s converting efficiently and deserves protection and budget stability. That clarity is the real advantage.
Advanced control: when Broad is too broad
Broad match is valuable, but it can become noisy—particularly in categories with overlapping use cases, ambiguous language, or heavy accessory searches. In those situations, use tighter discovery guardrails:
- segment broad keywords by theme (rather than mixing unrelated concepts)
- apply negatives early for obvious mismatches (wrong material, wrong size, wrong compatibility)
- cap budgets so discovery does not drain profitability
The goal is not to eliminate broad match. The goal is to ensure broad match remains a learning tool, not a budget leak.
Sponsored Brands note: matching behaviour may feel broader
If you run Sponsored Brands, keyword targeting can behave differently from Sponsored Products. In practice, you may see broader interpretation of shopper intent. The solution remains consistent: rely on search term data, isolate winning queries, and apply negative keyword discipline to keep performance stable as spend scales.
Common match type mistakes (and how to fix them)
Mistake 1: Going Exact-only too early
Exact-only can starve new campaigns of learning. If you don’t yet know the converting queries, you’ll limit reach and stall.
Fix: keep a Broad/Phrase (or Auto) research lane running with controlled budgets and clear learning objectives.
Mistake 2: Letting Broad spend like it’s Exact
Broad can burn budget quickly when it matches loosely.
Fix: lower broad bids, set budget limits, and add negatives aggressively based on repeated non-converting patterns.
Mistake 3: Not separating match types (or not adjusting bids)
Mixing match types with one bid blurs performance and slows optimisation.
Fix: split match types into separate ad groups (often separate campaigns) and bid by intent level.
Mistake 4: Paying twice for the same query
If your Exact keyword is profitable but Broad/Phrase is still triggering the same search term, you may end up bidding against yourself across campaigns.
Fix: add a negative exact (or negative phrase) in the broader campaign to funnel that query into your Exact control structure.
A simple weekly workflow you can stick to
Here’s a realistic cadence for most brands:
- Weekly: review search terms and sort by spend, orders, and efficiency (ACoS/ROAS).
- Promote: move converting search terms into Phrase/Exact targets in control campaigns.
- Prune: add negatives for irrelevant terms and high-spend no-sales terms (once you have meaningful click data).
- Rebalance bids: reduce Broad bids if efficiency is slipping; increase Exact bids on proven winners where impression share is limited.
- Repeat: your discovery campaigns should consistently feed your exact match performance.
This is where Amazon PPC match types become a growth mechanism. You’re not guessing new keywords every month. You’re systematically converting real shopper language into controllable, profitable targeting.
Final takeaway: match types are a budget allocation model
Think of match types as a way to intentionally distribute spend:
- Broad spends to learn
- Phrase spends to grow
- Exact spends to profit
If you build your account so search term data flows from Broad/Auto into Phrase/Exact, and you protect your winners with negatives and match-type bidding, you’ll see steadier gains in CTR, CVR, and ACoS over time—without constantly “guessing” new keywords.
Next steps: If you want expert support tightening your PPC structure and improving performance, contact Lezzat. You can also browse our other blog posts for strategy guides and tactical optimisations, and explore our case studies to see how we help brands build scalable Amazon advertising systems that hold up as spend grows.
