Isolating Keyword and Product Targets with Tactics
Another way to aggressively target specific keywords and products is by using tactics. Unlike focus or brand defense strategies, tactics offer the additional capability to restrict the algorithm from bidding on certain targets.
1. Creating a Tactic
Select the Tactic Type: Choose between keyword or product targeting tactics to push specific targets more aggressively.
Choose or Create a Segment: You can select an existing segment or create a new one. For this demonstration, I’ll use a pre-existing segment. After pressing "Next," the target list will auto-populate with the keywords saved in your segment.
Save and Activate: Once saved, the tactic is ready to go.
2. Understanding Tactics vs. Strategies
Tactic vs. Focus/Brand Defense Strategies: Unlike focus and brand defense strategies, a tactic is not a standalone strategy and adheres to the same algorithm as the main strategy. Focus and brand defense strategies are generally better for aggressively targeting specific groups of keywords or products, especially if you want them to follow a different rule set from your main strategy.
3. Practical Applications of Tactics
Top of Search Only: If you want your algorithm to bid only for top-of-search placements, create a "top of search only" tactic. In this case, the algorithm will bid only if it can achieve placement on the first page; otherwise, it will not bid. This is useful if you believe the increased conversion rate will justify the higher cost of top-of-search bids. To activate this option, toggle the "Only top of search placement" setting.
Blacklisting: Tactics are also highly effective for blacklisting specific keywords or ASINs that you want to exclude from your campaigns. By using a blacklist tactic, you prevent the algorithm from bidding on irrelevant or low-performing terms, which helps conserve ad spend and improve overall efficiency. For example, if you’re managing a strategy for a “stainless steel water bottle”, you can blacklist terms like “plastic water bottle” or “glass bottle” to avoid unrelated traffic and prevent clicks that won’t convert. While Astra’s AI will automatically pause low-converting keywords over time, proactively blacklisting certain terms allows you to optimize faster and maintain focus on high-potential targets.
Once you created the tactic, you can update its segment by clicking on the pencil on the right of the tactic. There you can add keywords or ASINs to the segment so that they will be used in the tactic.
For products: Write each ASIN on a new line
For keywords: Write each keyword on a new line
Keep in mind to click on Add to update the segment
Keyword targeting
Product targeting
