Module 3 · Lesson 2

Automatic vs Manual Campaigns

📚 Module 3: Sponsored Products⏱ 6 min read🎯 Core

Every Sponsored Products campaign is one of two types. Understanding the difference — and how they work together — is the single most important idea in this module.

Automatic campaigns: let Walmart find keywords

In an automatic campaign, Walmart’s algorithm decides which searches to show your product on, reading your listing content — title, description, category and related products — to match you to queries. You set one bid at the item level, and Walmart handles the targeting.

• ✅ Easiest to launch — no keyword research needed
• ✅ Broadest exposure; surfaces keywords you’d never have guessed
• ⚠️ Will inevitably match some irrelevant searches, so watch for wasted spend

Manual campaigns: you take the wheel

In a manual campaign, you choose the exact keywords, pick their match types, and set bids at the keyword level. Far more control and transparency — but it needs data to do well, and it primarily serves the Search In-grid placement.

The strategy: graduate winners from auto to manual

Here’s how well-run Walmart accounts actually operate — the two types feed each other:

1. Launch an automatic campaign to gather data cheaply and discover which searches convert.
2. Watch your search-term report. When a term racks up conversions (a common rule: 3+ orders), it has proven itself.
3. Graduate that term into a manual campaign as an exact-match keyword, where you control its bid precisely.
4. Keep auto running to keep discovering, while manual scales your proven winners.

How to split your budget

New accounts don’t have data yet, so start auto-heavy and shift toward manual as your winners emerge:

These are directional starting points, not rules — your category and margins will move them. The direction is what matters: begin with discovery, migrate spend toward proven, controlled keywords.