What should an Amazon agency do in the first 30 days?

In the first 30 days an agency should secure the right access, audit your ads, listings, inventory and account health, calculate margin after fees, agree target ACoS or TACoS with you, and deliver a written plan with priorities and dates. Big campaign changes should wait until targets are agreed.

How do I give an Amazon agency access to my account?

Use User Permissions in Seller Central, where Amazon advises adding outside companies as authorized partners with only the permissions they need. Then invite the agency separately in the Amazon Ads console with an editor or custom role. Never share your own password or login details with an agency.

How long does it take an Amazon agency to show results?

Cutting wasted ad spend can show up within weeks, while organic rank and listing gains usually take longer and depend on category, stock and pricing. A reasonable expectation is clear progress against the agreed plan by day 90, not guaranteed numbers promised before the agency has seen your data.

What information does an Amazon agency need from me?

Expect to share Seller Central and Ads console access, product and landed costs, target margins, your stock and promotion calendar, brand guidelines and existing creative, any past reports, and clear goals. A named person on your side who approves changes keeps onboarding moving quickly.

Should a new agency rebuild all my campaigns at once?

Usually not. A safer approach is to launch the new structure alongside existing campaigns and move spend over as the new campaigns prove themselves. Switching everything off at once can disrupt sales velocity and the ad history that supports organic rank, so ask the agency how it plans the transition.

First 90 Days With an Amazon Agency: What to Expect

What changed: A 30, 60 and 90 day onboarding plan for a new Amazon agency
When: Updated October 2026
Who it affects: Brand owners and sellers starting with a new Amazon agency
What to do: Grant access in week one and agree targets before any campaign changes

Key takeaways

Grant Seller Central partner access and separate Amazon Ads console access in week one; never share passwords.
Month one should end with agreed margin based targets and a written plan with dates.
Rebuild campaigns gradually and expect a fixed reporting rhythm by day 90.

Your first 90 days with an Amazon agency

Week 1
Seller Central and Ads console access granted
Day 30
Audit done, targets agreed, written plan
Day 60
Quick wins live, campaign rebuild underway
Day 90
Listing fixes, tests and reporting rhythm

What a good first 90 days looks like

Agency onboarding is not a single setup call. It is a sequence where each stage depends on the one before it. An agency that changes bids before it has read your margins, or rewrites listings before it has seen your search term data, is guessing. The order below is the one most experienced Amazon account management teams follow, even if the labels differ.

Think of the 90 days as three blocks: understand the account, fix what is clearly broken while rebuilding the structure, then settle into a measurable routine. By day 90 you should know exactly what was changed, why, and how it is being tracked.

Days 1 to 30: access, audit, targets and plan
Days 31 to 60: quick wins, campaign rebuild, first listing fixes
Days 61 to 90: listing and A+ work, testing, reporting cadence
Every stage ends with a written summary you can check

Week one: access and permissions

Nothing useful happens until the agency can see your data. In Seller Central, the primary account user invites others through User Permissions, which Amazon says is available on the Professional selling plan. Amazon staff guidance on the Seller Forums says outside companies and contractors should be added as authorized partners rather than as secondary users, and that you should grant only the permissions each person needs. Our guide to Seller Central user permissions walks through the screens.

Advertising access is separate. The Amazon Ads console has its own users with admin, editor, viewer or custom roles, so an agency that can see Seller Central may still be blocked from your campaigns. Grant both on day one, and never share your own login or password.

Seller Central: authorized partner access with the permissions agreed
Amazon Ads console: editor access for campaign work, admin only if needed
Brand Registry: access if the agency will handle A+ Content or brand tools
Read access to any outside tools you use, such as inventory or profit software
A named owner on your side who approves changes

Days 1 to 30: the audit and the plan

The first month is mostly listening and measuring. A thorough audit covers advertising structure, wasted spend on search terms that never convert, listing quality, inventory health, pricing and account health. If you want to see what a structured ads review covers, our Amazon PPC audit page lists the checks.

The most important output of month one is agreed targets. Target ACoS or TACoS should come from your real product margin after Amazon fees, not from an industry average. If the agency cannot explain how it set your target for each product group, ask before it touches a bid.

Month one ends with a written plan: what will change, in what order, what you expect to see and when. A plan with no dates or owners is a wish list.

Account and ads audit with findings ranked by impact
Margin after fees for each hero product
Target ACoS or TACoS per product group
Priority list for listings, ads and inventory
Agreed reporting format and meeting schedule

Days 31 to 60: quick wins and the campaign rebuild

Quick wins are changes that are low risk and clearly supported by data: adding negative keywords for search terms that spend without selling, fixing budgets that run out early on profitable campaigns, pausing ads on out of stock products and correcting broken listing elements. These should be documented one by one.

The campaign rebuild is bigger. Many accounts arrive with years of overlapping campaigns. A good agency restructures gradually, launching the new structure alongside the old one and moving spend across as data builds, rather than switching everything off at once. Abrupt shutdowns can cost the ad history and sales velocity that support organic rank. Our Amazon PPC management page explains how we approach this structure.

Negative keywords from wasted search terms
Budget and bid fixes on proven campaigns
New structure by product group and match type
Old campaigns wound down only once replacements perform
Change log shared with the brand

Days 61 to 90: listings, testing and reporting rhythm

With cleaner ads data, the agency can see which search terms actually convert, which feeds directly into titles, bullets and backend keywords. Month three is when listing optimization and A+ Content updates should land, usually starting with the products that get the most traffic.

By day 90 reporting should be routine. You should know which report arrives when, who reads it, and which numbers the agency is accountable for. Weekly updates on spend and sales and a monthly review against the plan are a common rhythm, but agree whatever fits your team.

Listing updates based on converting search terms
A+ Content refresh on top products
Structured tests with a start date and success measure
Weekly performance update, monthly strategy review
Day 90 review: what changed and what comes next

What your brand needs to provide

Agencies can only move as fast as the information they receive. The brands that get the most out of onboarding prepare these items before the kickoff call.

Seller Central and Amazon Ads access, with a named approver
Product costs, landed costs and target margins
Launch calendar, promotions and stock plans for the next two quarters
Brand guidelines, approved claims and existing creative files
Past agency reports or change history if you have them
Clear goals: profit, growth, launch or a mix

What your brand provides

Seller Central partner access
Amazon Ads console access
Product and landed costs
Stock and promo calendar
Brand guidelines and creative
A named approver

Warning signs in the first 90 days

Some problems show up early. If you see these, raise them at the next review rather than waiting for the contract term to run out. Our guide on how to choose an Amazon agency covers the questions to ask before you sign, and many apply mid-engagement too.

Requests for your login and password instead of user permissions
Large campaign changes before targets are agreed
No written plan by the end of month one
Reports full of charts but no actions or next steps
Results claimed without showing how they were measured

How long until you see results?

Some changes, such as cutting wasted ad spend, can show up in reports within weeks. Others, such as organic rank gains from better listings and steadier sales, usually take longer and depend on your category, competition, stock and pricing. Be wary of any agency that promises specific numbers before it has seen your account. A fair expectation is visible progress against the plan by day 90, with the bigger growth bets running into the following quarter.

How PPC Spider runs onboarding

PPC Spider is an Amazon and marketplace agency. In onboarding we set target ACoS from each product's margin after fees, and our SpiderOS platform monitors bids, budgets, search terms and stock so problems are flagged during the rebuild rather than after. PPC plans start from $995 per month and full-service management from $1,950 per month; see Amazon agency pricing for details. If you want to see what an audit would find first, start with a free Amazon audit.

Sources

Amazon Seller Forums: Managing Your Seller Account Access: User Permissions Guide (sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/c1d879bd-456f-4cde-a616-78062dda2498)
Amazon Ads: A guide to the Amazon Ads advertiser account (advertising.amazon.com/library/guides/advertiser-account)
Amazon Ads: Custom access controls for Amazon Advertising console (advertising.amazon.com/resources/whats-new/custom-access-controls)

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