Case Study: How Upthrive Scaled a Gym Brand’s Amazon Sales by 247% in 6 Months
Client: FitCore Gear
Industry: Gym & Fitness Equipment
Location: United States
Duration: 6 Months
Service: Full Amazon PPC Management & Listing Optimization
Agency: Upthrive – The Amazon PPC Growth Partner
🧩 Introduction: The Fitness Market on Amazon
The gym and fitness equipment industry on Amazon has experienced explosive growth, especially post-2020, as consumers shift to home workouts. With thousands of sellers, increasing competition, and fluctuating ad costs, brands face major challenges breaking through the noise.
FitCore Gear was one such brand — offering premium home gym products but struggling with stagnant sales and poor ad ROI. They had a great product line, solid reviews, and competitive pricing, but their visibility and conversion rates were falling short.
That’s when they reached out to Upthrive for a complete PPC and listing strategy overhaul.
🚨 The Challenge
Before partnering with Upthrive, FitCore Gear faced multiple issues:
- Poor Ad ROI: ACoS consistently above 60%, eating into profits
- Limited Keyword Coverage: Their ads were targeting fewer than 50 keywords
- Low Organic Ranking: Few page-one placements for high-volume search terms
- Neglected Sponsored Brands & Display Ads
- High Ad Spend with Low Returns: ~$8,000/month spend with little control or data segmentation
- Weak Product Listings: Unoptimized titles, bullet points, and poor image sequencing
Their team had attempted to manage PPC internally using Amazon’s automatic campaigns and minimal manual bidding — but the results were far from ideal. They needed a specialist partner who could take over and deliver sustainable results.
🧠 Step 1: Deep Audit & Strategic Planning
Our engagement started with a full Amazon account audit that covered:
- Ad structure breakdown (sponsored products, brands, display)
- Keyword performance mapping
- Listing health & keyword indexing
- Budget allocation vs. profitability analysis
- Competitor landscape review
From this, we discovered:
- 67% of their spend was on underperforming keywords
- No brand defense strategy in place
- Sponsored Brands and Display ads were completely untouched
- Many products were missing backend keywords and had weak listing SEO
📊 Key Metrics (Pre-Upthrive):
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Monthly Revenue | $19,800 |
| Total Ad Spend | $8,200 |
| ACoS | 62% |
| TACoS | 41% |
| Total Keywords Targeted | 48 |
| Conversion Rate | 6.5% |
🎯 Step 2: Campaign Rebuild & Listing Optimization
We implemented a multi-pronged growth strategy focused on visibility, efficiency, and scalability.
🔁 Campaign Restructure
We restructured their campaigns into a clean architecture:
- Sponsored Products (Manual Exact, Phrase, Broad Match Types)
- Product Targeting Ads for competitor conquesting
- Sponsored Brands for brand reinforcement and cross-selling
- Sponsored Display for retargeting
We created new campaigns with over 400 curated keywords, categorized by product focus and match type for granular control.
🧬 Listing Optimization
Next, we overhauled their listings to improve conversion:
- SEO-optimized titles, bullets, and backend keywords
- Enhanced images with lifestyle visuals and feature callouts
- A+ Content integration for all top products
- Created a cohesive brand story across listings
We also helped them enroll in Brand Registry to unlock full creative features like Sponsored Brands Video and Brand Store.
💡 Step 3: Advanced PPC Strategies
With the foundation in place, we executed more advanced strategies.
📌 Keyword Harvesting & Expansion
We used Search Term Reports, Helium 10, and in-campaign data to regularly harvest high-converting long-tail keywords and negative out the poor performers.
Result:
- 3x increase in keyword reach
- Reduced wasted ad spend by over 38% in the first 60 days
🛡️ Brand Defense
We created branded campaigns to protect their own listings from competitors bidding on their name — a major hole in their previous strategy.
🔁 Retargeting with Sponsored Display
We rolled out retargeting campaigns for cart abandoners and product viewers using Sponsored Display, increasing returning customer conversions.
📽️ Sponsored Brand Video (SBV)
We launched SBV ads showcasing their best-selling resistance bands with a dynamic, 30-second video. These consistently delivered ACoS under 25%.
📈 Results After 6 Months
🚀 Performance Snapshot (After Upthrive):
| Metric | Before | After | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly Revenue | $19,800 | $68,900 | +247% |
| Total Ad Spend | $8,200 | $11,600 | +41% |
| ACoS | 62% | 28% | -55% |
| TACoS | 41% | 16.8% | -59% |
| Total Keywords Targeted | 48 | 497 | +935% |
| Conversion Rate | 6.5% | 13.2% | +103% |
Additional Wins:
- 7 of their top 10 products are now ranking on page one
- Over 22% of monthly revenue is now from repeat buyers (retargeting win)
- SBV campaign became their highest-converting ad type
💬 Client Testimonial
“We thought we had Amazon under control until Upthrive stepped in. Their PPC expertise didn’t just grow our sales — it gave us clarity, control, and confidence. We now understand what’s working and why. The growth has been incredible.”
— Amanda Reyes, Co-Founder, FitCore Gear
🔎 Lessons Learned
This case study revealed some key truths about Amazon PPC for gym & fitness brands:
- Precision > Volume: More keywords don’t mean better performance. Smart segmentation and continuous optimization drive true results.
- Brand Defense is Non-Negotiable: Many competitors were poaching FitCore’s own traffic — until we locked that door.
- SBV Ads Work: Sponsored Brand Videos are still underused and offer incredible ROI, especially in visually engaging categories like fitness.
- Listing Optimization Fuels PPC: You can’t scale ads effectively without strong listings. They go hand-in-hand.
- Retargeting Converts: Sponsored Display is a game-changer when used strategically.
🏁 Conclusion
In just six months, Upthrive transformed FitCore Gear’s Amazon performance — not just with better ads, but with a smarter strategy that aligned with their business goals. By optimizing their listings, restructuring their campaigns, and applying cutting-edge Amazon PPC techniques, we helped them scale profitably and sustainably.
At Upthrive, this is what we do. Whether you’re a fitness brand or in another competitive category, we help you stop wasting ad spend and start scaling with confidence.
📣 Ready to Scale Like FitCore?
Let’s talk. Whether you’re spending $2K or $20K per month, we’ll audit your account and show you the exact path to growth.
