It’s November 20 and the monthly budget is already gone. Right before Black Friday, the biggest week of the year, your campaigns shut off. Or the opposite: the month ends, 30% of the budget is left over and nobody knows why sales didn’t grow. Both stories share the same problem: nobody was controlling pacing.
I’m Alonso Jiménez, a Retail Media account director. I manage campaigns on Amazon, Walmart, Target, Instacart and Mercado Libre every day, for brands in the US, Mexico and Latin America. In the accounts I manage, pacing is checked every day, especially during peak season. In this tutorial I explain what pacing is in Amazon Ads, how to calculate it, how to build your own tracking dashboard and what to do when you are over or under plan.
⚡ THE ESSENTIALS IN 20 SECONDS
- Pacing compares what you have spent with what you should have spent by today according to your plan.
- The most useful formula: actual spend ÷ expected spend to date. Between 90% and 110% you are on pace.
- Split the budget into periods with different weights (normal days, event lead-in and peak days) and recalculate every day how much you need to spend to land on plan.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What pacing is
Pacing: the speed at which an advertising budget is being spent compared with the planned speed. It tells you whether you will end the period overspending, underspending or right on plan.
You spend faster than planned and run out of budget before the key days.
You spend too slowly: money is left over and you miss sales you could have bought.
Spend follows the plan and you reach peak days with budget.
Note: Amazon manages daily budgets per campaign and, on some days, a campaign can spend above its daily budget without exceeding its monthly total. That is why pacing is controlled on the brand side, with a monthly or seasonal plan, not only with the daily budget in the console.
How to calculate it
| Method | Formula | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Pace | Actual spend ÷ expected spend to date | 100% = on pace; 130% = 30% over |
| Gap | % of budget spent − % of period elapsed | 0 = on pace; −11 points = behind |
Illustrative example: your monthly budget is US$30,000 and you are on day 15 of 30. Expected spend is US$15,000. If you have spent US$18,000, your pace is 120%: you are over. If you have spent US$12,000, your pace is 80%: you are under.
The most useful number day to day is required spend per day: remaining budget ÷ remaining days. If you have US$12,000 left and 10 days, you need US$1,200 per day. Comparing yesterday’s spend with that number tells you instantly whether to speed up or slow down.
Pacing doesn’t ask how much you spent. It asks whether you will finish the period the way you planned.
Budget by periods: not every day is worth the same
The most common mistake is dividing the monthly budget by 30. In peak season, one Black Friday can be worth a normal week. Split the budget into periods with their own weight.
| Period (November example) | Days | % of budget | Budget (of US$30,000) | Daily spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start of month | 18 | 30% | US$9,000 | US$500 |
| Event lead-in | 7 | 24% | US$7,200 | US$1,029 |
| Thanksgiving | 1 | 8% | US$2,400 | US$2,400 |
| Black Friday | 1 | 10% | US$3,000 | US$3,000 |
| Weekend | 2 | 17% | US$5,100 | US$2,550 |
| Cyber Monday | 1 | 11% | US$3,300 | US$3,300 |
Figures are illustrative: each brand sets its percentages from its own sales history. With this table, pacing is measured against the period, not the whole month, so US$500 per day early in the month is fine even if it looks low.
Your pacing dashboard
A spreadsheet is enough. For each brand, product line or campaign group, build these columns:
| Column | What it is |
|---|---|
| Plan | Budget for the period (week, month or season phase) |
| Carry-in | What was left over or overspent last period, added or subtracted |
| Adjusted budget | Plan + carry-in |
| Spend to date | What you have spent so far (MTD or WTD) |
| Expected by now | Adjusted budget × % of period elapsed |
| Pace | Spend ÷ expected |
| Status | Under (below 90%), on pace (90–110%), over (above 110%) |
| Needed per day | Remaining budget ÷ remaining days |
| Yesterday vs needed | Yesterday’s spend ÷ needed per day |
| Brand | Weekly budget | Spend | Expected | Pace | Status | Yesterday vs needed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand A | US$8,000 | US$3,560 | US$3,430 | 104% | On pace | 99% |
| Brand B | US$700 | US$390 | US$300 | 130% | Over | 220% |
| Brand C | US$1,400 | US$530 | US$600 | 88% | Under | 93% |
| Total | US$10,100 | US$4,480 | US$4,330 | 103% | On pace | 104% |
Add a season view: one row per brand and one column per week, with past weeks colored by pace and upcoming weeks showing the planned budget. At a glance you see who is drifting and how much is coming in each peak week.
What to do if you are over or under
If you are over plan (above 110%)
- First check whether the overspend is profitable: if ACOS is within target, it may be better to ask for more budget than to slow down.
- Lower bids on the least profitable terms and campaigns, not on your best sellers.
- Review aggressive placement adjustments and bidding rules.
- Check automatic and broad match campaigns, which tend to accelerate spend.
- Correct gradually: a sharp cut can cost you rank right before an event.
If you are under plan (below 90%)
- Look for campaigns out of budget, paused or with products out of stock.
- Raise bids on profitable terms with low impression share.
- Open new keywords, match types or product targeting.
- Add Sponsored Brands or Sponsored Display once search is covered.
- If the gap is due to low demand, move budget to another brand or to peak days.
Amazon tools that help
- Portfolios with budget caps: group campaigns and cap spend by date range or month.
- Budget rules: increase budgets on specific days, hours or events.
- Bid rules and bidding strategies: control how fast spend accelerates.
- Alerts and daily reports: the base for your dashboard.
- Third-party tools: automate tracking when you manage many brands.
Common mistakes
- Splitting the monthly budget evenly across days.
- Checking pacing only at month end.
- Cutting everything when you are over, without checking which campaigns are profitable.
- Not carrying leftover or overspend into the next week.
- Measuring pacing only for the whole account, not by brand or product line.
Good pacing isn’t spending everything. It’s arriving at your biggest sales day with the budget that day deserves.
Agency secrets for pacing
How we control it in peak season.
We split budget using sales history for each phase of the season.
From November to December, pacing is checked every day by brand.
This number drives adjustments more than the monthly percentage.
Leftovers or overspend are redistributed across the following weeks.
We never judge spend without looking at ACOS and sales at the same time.
The worst client conversations I’ve seen were not about a high ACOS. They were about a budget that ran out before Black Friday. Since we started measuring pacing by period and by brand, that conversation disappeared.
Conclusion
Controlling pacing in Amazon Ads means comparing actual spend with expected spend every day, splitting the budget into weighted periods and adjusting with the required spend per day. With a simple dashboard and daily reviews in peak season, you reach peak days with budget and avoid month-end surprises.
Need help with your account? Let’s talk or see my services.
Frequently asked questions
What is pacing in Amazon Ads?
It is the speed at which your advertising budget is being spent compared with the planned speed.
How do you calculate pacing?
Divide actual spend by expected spend to date. Between 90% and 110% is considered on pace.
Why not divide the monthly budget by 30 days?
Because not every day sells the same. In peak season, assign more budget to peak days.
What should I do if I’m over budget?
Check whether the spend is profitable and lower bids first on the worst performing campaigns and terms.