I can usually tell within five minutes whether an Amazon account has room to gro
By Elizabeth Greene · July 1, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
I can usually tell within five minutes whether an Amazon account has room to grow.
Not because of the ACoS.
Because of what the account is not doing.
Here are three things I check first.
1. Product targeting
If you're only product targeting your hero ASIN, you're almost certainly leaving revenue behind.
Your catalog has more opportunities than one product.
Most accounts never expand beyond the default setup.
2. Branded keyword spend
This one catches people all the time.
An account can look incredibly efficient because branded search is carrying the performance.
But branded traffic is made up of shoppers who were already looking for you.
That's great.
It's just not the same as acquiring new customers.
A low ACoS doesn't automatically mean your advertising is working well.
Sometimes it just means you're paying to capture demand you already created.
3. Cannibalization
This is the one almost nobody checks.
Are multiple products fighting over the same search terms?
Are variations competing against each other?
If they are, you're splitting spend, weakening your ranking signals, and making your own products bid against each other.
None of these issues are difficult to spot.
They're just easy to ignore.
Too many people judge an account by one number.
If ACoS is low because branded keywords are doing all the heavy lifting, while your catalog isn't expanding into new searches, that's not efficient advertising.
It's an account that's standing still.