The Challenge
Ember faced an unexpected situation: a mid-month budget reduction requiring rapid spend cuts across all European Amazon marketplaces. With only two weeks to implement changes, there was no time for creative modifications or major strategy overhauls. We needed to optimize what we had, fast.
Our Approach
We focused purely on efficiency improvements through targeted optimizations:
Campaign Pruning
We rapidly analyzed all active campaigns across European markets:
- Paused 37 underperforming campaigns across regions
- Identified high-cost, low-return targets for removal
- Preserved campaigns with proven conversion history
Bid Optimization
Rather than blanket budget cuts, we took a surgical approach:
- Target-level bid optimization on expensive or lower-performing ASINs
- Reduced bids on high-cost keywords with marginal returns
- Maintained competitive positions on proven performers
Focus on Efficiency
With the tight timeline, we focused on what we could control:
- No creative changes — improvements came purely from refined targeting
- Data-driven decisions based on existing performance history
- Quick iteration and monitoring across markets
The Results
Within the two-week window:
- -43% reduction in PPC spend — Exceeding the required budget cut
- +53.3% improvement in ROAS — From 4.02 to 6.16
- -23.8% decrease in average CPC — From €0.92 to €0.70
The key insight: by cutting underperforming campaigns and optimizing bids on marginal performers, we actually improved overall advertising efficiency while meeting the budget constraints.