Using Search Query Reports to Outperform Your Competitors

November 6, 2025
By The Badger

Have you ever wondered what your customers really search for on Amazon — not what you think they search for, but the exact words they type before they buy (or don’t)?

For most advertisers, the answer hides in plain sight — inside Amazon’s Search Query Performance data. While typical reports tell you how your campaigns are performing, search query data tells you why.

In the latest PPC Den episode, Michael Erickson Facchin sat down with Maryna, an experienced Amazon strategist, to uncover five game-changing ways this data can transform your ad performance.

Because once you know what your audience truly searches for, every click, every conversion, and every keyword decision becomes intentional.

Let’s dive into how data — when read correctly — reveals not just numbers, but human intent.

The Search Queries Your Tools Never Suggested

Every Amazon advertiser has faced this moment: you’ve built a meticulous keyword list, polished your campaigns, optimized your bids — and yet, sales plateau.

The problem often isn’t the ads themselves. It’s the language. Your tools, your reports, your spreadsheets — they all rely on the keywords you already know. But customers don’t always speak your language.

That’s where Search Query Performance data changes everything.

Unlike generic keyword tools that rely on aggregated or estimated data, this report is built on first-party search behavior — the actual words buyers type before clicking and converting.

Hidden-gem keywords often reveal themselves in the tension between two metrics: high market impressions and low brand impressions.

In simple terms, lots of people are searching for something relevant to your product, but your brand barely appears — or doesn’t appear at all. When you combine that with an above-average click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rate (CVR) for the few impressions you do get, you’ve just uncovered a goldmine of untapped opportunity.

A single report might not show the full picture — because search queries come and go. A term might appear for one week, vanish the next, and reappear a month later. That’s why the smartest advertisers collect multi-week or multi-month datasets, stitching them together into one evolving table.

Once that data lives in one place, you can start comparing how your brand performs against the broader market: how many impressions you capture versus how many exist, and how users react when they do see you.

When analyzing the data, focus on patterns where your brand’s click-through and conversion rates outperform category averages, yet your impression share remains tiny. That imbalance is your signal. It tells you the market is already primed for your product — you’re just not showing up enough.

Start by isolating those promising terms and building exact-match campaigns around them.

Give each small cluster of related keywords its own campaign structure — not buried in an auto campaign, but visible, measurable, and easy to optimize.

If performance holds, expand them into phrase-match campaigns to explore long-tail variations and new angles of customer intent.

At the same time, consider what those keywords are teaching you about how people actually name your product.

Maybe customers don’t call them “handkerchiefs” — they call them “rags.” If that’s the case, reflect that language in your listing titles, bullet points, and backend keywords.

So make it a habit: store your data, revisit it monthly, and look for the outliers where market demand already exists but your brand doesn’t. Because sometimes, the most profitable keywords aren’t the ones you research — they’re the ones your customers whisper right to you.

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Low Impression Share, but High Click-Through and Conversion Rates

Not every keyword that performs well is being given the stage it deserves. Sometimes, your best-performing search queries are the quiet ones — the ones that get buried deep within your ad structure, receiving minimal exposure despite proving their value every time they appear.

These are the keywords with low impression share but high CTR and CVR, and they represent one of the most underutilized opportunities in Amazon advertising.

Let’s break down what this actually means.

A low impression share indicates that your brand appears rarely for a given search term compared to the total number of searches happening in the market.

Yet when your ad does appear, people click — and more importantly, they buy. This combination signals one clear truth: your offer is relevant, your creative resonates, and your audience responds — you’re just not visible enough.

The reasons behind this imbalance are often structural rather than strategic. These keywords may be hiding at the bottom of an auto campaign, limited by default bids, or overshadowed by broader, higher-volume terms in mixed ad groups. The system is quietly under-delivering your strongest performers.

This is where strategic restructuring begins.

When you identify a keyword with strong CTR and CVR but low impression share, it deserves more than just a mention in your keyword list — it deserves its own campaign.

Once separated, you can begin to control placement — for instance, testing Top of Search bid adjustments.

Many advertisers underestimate the power of positioning, but a keyword already proven to convert well often performs even stronger when shown in the top results, where intent is highest. Increasing Top of Search bids by even 20–30% can transform a low-volume, high-efficiency keyword into a consistent revenue driver.

This strategy also demands careful data interpretation. A high CTR shows that your creative works; a high CVR confirms product-market fit. Together, they justify higher visibility.

But it’s crucial to track whether that performance remains stable once impressions increase. As exposure grows, audiences diversify, and conversion rates might shift. The goal is to scale sustainably — to grow without losing efficiency.

At its core, this practice teaches a broader lesson about Amazon PPC: success isn’t just about discovering new keywords, but about recognizing which ones you’ve already undervalued.

So the next time you analyze your Search Query Performance report, don’t just look for new opportunities. Look for the quiet performers — the keywords that have already proven their strength but haven’t been given the budget or structure to shine.

High Impression Share but Low Click-Through Rate

Appearing in front of customers doesn’t always mean you’re truly being seen.

Sometimes, your product dominates impressions — showing up frequently in search results — yet fails to attract clicks. This imbalance, where impression share is high but click-through rate is low, reveals a deeper creative or positioning problem.

When a product receives a high number of brand impressions but very few clicks, it signals that shoppers notice your ad but don’t feel compelled to engage. They see it — and scroll past.

This behavior can stem from several subtle but critical factors: the image doesn’t connect with the intent behind the search, the title feels mismatched, the price looks uncompetitive, or the offer simply fails to stand out in a crowded results page.

In essence, your listing appears where it should — but doesn’t communicate why it matters.

This is where the Search Query Performance report becomes an invaluable diagnostic tool.

By comparing brand CTR to the market CTR for the same keywords, you can identify exactly where your creative fails to convert attention into action.

When your brand’s CTR is consistently below the category average — despite strong impression share — you’re not dealing with an algorithmic issue. You’re dealing with a human perception problem.

The fix begins not in data sheets, but in visuals and messaging. Start by examining your main image. Does it pop against competitors? Is it clear, lifestyle-oriented, or emotionally resonant?

Sometimes, the difference between a 1% CTR and a 3% CTR is as simple as replacing a flat, sterile product shot with an image that tells a story — one that instantly communicates value or solves a pain point.

Next, look at your title and price positioning.

If your thumbnail displays a keyword that doesn’t appear in your title, the relevance signal weakens.

The shopper doesn’t immediately see confirmation that your product matches their query. And if your pricing sits noticeably higher without clear justification (such as visible premium packaging or added benefits), it can deter clicks even when your product is top-tier.

There’s also the matter of placement.

Amazon counts impressions even when your listing appears at the very bottom of a results page. This means you might technically have “high impressions,” but few real eyeballs are actually reaching your product. In such cases, low CTR can be a symptom of poor positioning rather than poor presentation.

Check where your ads are displayed — and whether your bids are winning top-tier placements that align with real engagement potential.

Once you’ve diagnosed the cause, implement controlled experiments. Run A/B tests on images and titles using tools like PickFu or Amazon Experiments to measure which variations increase click intent. Refine pricing and promotional language. Then revisit your Search Query Performance data after a few weeks — your CTR metric will show whether perception has shifted.

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High Impression Share and CTR, but Low Conversion Rate

Sometimes, the data looks good — really good.

Your ad appears frequently, your CTR is solid, and traffic flows steadily to your listings. And yet, sales aren’t keeping pace.

This is the scenario where high impression share and high CTR meet low conversion rate — a subtle but critical warning that the problem isn’t advertising, it’s the listing itself.

High CTR tells you that your creative works: your thumbnail, title, and initial messaging resonate enough to attract clicks.

But once a shopper lands on the page, something breaks the chain. This disconnect can manifest in multiple ways: missing bullet points, unclear images or videos, weak product descriptions, or even a missing Buy Box.

Price is another common culprit. Even with perfect targeting and a compelling click, a product that’s overpriced relative to competitors will struggle to convert. Or, in other cases, your listing might be technically complete but lacks persuasive storytelling — showing features without demonstrating the value or problem it solves.

Competitors with slightly better images, enhanced content, or a more compelling offer can easily capture those conversions instead.

The solution starts with diagnostic analysis.

Use your Search Query Performance data to identify which keywords and search terms are driving clicks but not purchases. Then, audit your listing with those terms in mind.

Are your keywords in the title and bullet points? Are your images telling a clear, customer-centric story? Are your offers competitive?

From there, implement targeted experiments: refine images, adjust copy, or test different pricing strategies. Track how these changes affect CVR for the specific terms you identified.

Losing Market Share Despite Rising Search Volume

Imagine this: the search volume for your product or category is climbing.

People are looking for what you sell, interest is increasing, and yet your brand is slowly losing market share. It’s a scenario that looks paradoxical on the surface — more demand, but fewer conversions for your product. This is the fifth critical insight from Search Query Performance data: rising search volume paired with declining purchase share.

This situation is a wake-up call for strategic reassessment. Rising search volume indicates that the market is expanding or shifting, creating potential growth opportunities. But if your market share is dropping, it means competitors are capturing that growth faster than you are. The problem could be underinvestment in key campaigns, bidding too low on high-performing search queries, or simply not being visible to the right segment of buyers.

The first step is identifying the gap.

Search Query Performance reports can reveal which clusters of keywords are driving the surge in searches. Are these terms underrepresented in your ad campaigns? Are competitors dominating the top placements for these queries? Are your listings fully optimized to convert the increased traffic?

Next, make data-driven adjustments. For underfunded high-volume keywords, consider increasing bids strategically or creating dedicated campaigns. If competitor strength is overwhelming and the cost-per-click is prohibitive, look for adjacent, high-intent keywords with lower competition — hidden gems that can provide a more cost-efficient path to growth.

Finally, track performance over time. Market share is a dynamic metric, influenced not only by your efforts but also by changes in search behavior, new product launches, and evolving competition.

This scenario highlights a critical principle of advanced Amazon advertising: volume alone doesn’t guarantee growth. Visibility and interest must be matched by execution and strategy.

Conclusion

Amazon’s Search Query Performance data isn’t just another dashboard; it’s a map for uncovering opportunities, optimizing campaigns, and staying ahead of competitors.

Across the scenarios we explored, a clear pattern emerges: every insight, from hidden gem keywords to losing market share despite rising search volume, is a signal for action.

Finding hidden gem keywords demonstrates the power of uncovering search terms your competitors overlook, where even small adjustments can drive significant sales.

Low impression share with high CTR and conversion rate highlights undervalued opportunities that deserve dedicated campaigns and budget allocation.

High impression share but low CTR teaches that visibility alone isn’t enough, and creative elements such as images, titles, and pricing must truly resonate with potential buyers.

High impression share and CTR paired with low conversion rate emphasizes the importance of listing optimization — it’s not sufficient to attract clicks if they don’t convert into purchases.

Finally, losing market share despite rising search volume reminds us that even as demand grows, competitors can capture attention faster if strategy lags.