$5 Says You’ll Love This Ad Strategy

“Andy, is $5/day even worth it?”
I get this question almost every week from sellers stuck between tight budgets and big dreams.

Here’s the truth: Yes, $5/day can move the needle. But only if you know exactly how to spend it.

Today, I’m pulling back the curtain on how one Amazon seller turned pocket change into steady daily sales — without burning money or playing the guess-and-pray ad game.

📖 Meet Jake — The $5 Underdog

Jake’s a 32-year-old dad from Ohio. Works full-time in logistics. Sells BBQ meat shredders on Amazon as a side hustle. When he reached out to me, he had just launched, was sitting on 300 units, and was ready to try Amazon ads.

His budget? $150/month.
His goal? Just get sales trickling in.

He was nervous. Rightfully so.

“I’ve watched 19 YouTube videos, Andy. I’m more confused than when I started.”

😅 Been there. So we built a $5/day plan that would do one thing well:
➡️ Get Jake in front of his ideal customer at the exact moment they were ready to buy.

Here’s the exact blueprint I gave him 👇

🔢 The $5/Day Ad Blueprint (That Works for Real People)

Step 1: Only Use Sponsored Product Ads (Forget the Fancy Stuff for Now)
This is Amazon’s bread-and-butter ad type. They show up directly in search results and on competitor listings.

Jake started with just one campaign. Sponsored Products.
He used manual targeting with keywords he pulled straight from his top 5 competitors using Helium 10’s free tool.

Step 2: Start With These 3 Keyword Types
We split his $5 like this:

• $2.50/day – Exact Match Keywords
  Target “BBQ meat claws” and “shredder claws for meat.” These are high-intent, buy-now keywords.

• $1.50/day – Phrase Match
  To catch longer searches like “best claws for shredding pulled pork.”

• $1/day – Product Targeting
  We added 3 direct competitors whose price or reviews he could beat.

Step 3: Keep Bids Low, Let the Algorithm Learn
We set bids between $0.35–$0.60. That’s it.
Amazon still gave Jake impressions — because his product had decent images, a clear title, and early reviews (he got 5 via friends and the Vine program).

Step 4: Watch, Don’t Touch (Yet)
For 7 days, Jake didn’t tweak.
By day 5, he had 2 sales.
By day 10, he had 5.
And by day 30? Jake was averaging 1.2 sales per day off his $5 budget.

And here’s the kicker:
He was breaking even — and slowly climbing in organic rank.

🎯 The Big Takeaway?
Amazon ads don’t have to be a money pit. But they do need focus.

Spending $5/day without a plan is like setting fire to your wallet.
But spending $5/day on high-intent keywords with smart bidding and one campaign?
That’s how you grow on a ramen-budget.

💬 Say It With Me:
“Small budgets demand sniper aim — not shotgun blasts.”

🙋‍♂️ Wanna do this yourself?

✅ Start with ONE manual campaign
✅ Use only 5–10 keywords
✅ Keep your bids low
✅ Be patient for 14–21 days

Oh, and don’t forget: this only works if your listing doesn’t suck. (That’s a whole other post 😎)

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👋 That’s all for today, friend.

Stay lean, stay sharp,

Andy Splichal

Founder & Managing Partner of True Online Presence & Author of the Make Each Click Count Book Series

P.S. You’ve got products to sell and a business to scale. If PPC feels like a second job (or a black hole for your budget), let me handle it. I’ve scaled dozens of FBA brands profitably.
💬 Book a quick discovery call — I’ll show you what’s possible.