Overview

Vince “Sir TACoS” Montero appeared on Helium 10’s podcast to walk sellers through the newly released Amazon PPC Academy, answer a flood of listener questions, and share hands‑on tactics for using Amazon video ads. The episode, numbered 442, gives a step‑by‑step roadmap for improving paid‑search performance and expanding into richer ad formats, making it a must‑listen for any seller who wants to increase product visibility and sales velocity.

Key Points

• Three‑module curriculum — The Academy is split into Foundations, Optimization, and Advanced Strategies, each packed with short video lessons, downloadable checklists, and real‑world case studies.
• Live Q&A highlights — Vince fielded more than 30 on‑the‑spot questions, covering everything from keyword harvesting techniques to seasonal bid‑adjustment strategies.
• Video ad best practices — He stressed three creative rules: capture the product’s core benefit within the first three seconds, embed a clear call‑to‑action, and enable Amazon’s native caption feature for better accessibility.
• Bid‑to‑ACOS impact — Sellers who adopt the “Bid‑to‑ACOS” framework typically trim wasted ad spend by 15‑20 % during the first 30 days of implementation.
• Performance benchmarks — The Academy reports that applying exact‑match keyword groups alongside daily bid tweaks can lift ROAS by roughly 22 % within six weeks, based on a pilot cohort of mid‑size sellers.

How Amazon PPC Academy Works

1. Foundations Module — Learners start with a 12‑minute video that clarifies the differences among Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display. For example, a newcomer is guided to create a basic Sponsored Products campaign for a “silicone kitchen spatula” using a five‑keyword ad group that mixes broad, phrase, and exact matches.
2. Optimization Module — This section introduces the “Bid‑to‑ACOS” method, where bids are calibrated according to each keyword’s actual ACOS. A case study follows a vendor who reduced the bid on a high‑cost “organic spatula” keyword from $1.20 to $0.85, achieving a 17 % improvement in ACOS while maintaining impression share.