Shopee PH dominates Philippine ecommerce. Sellers running Shopee Ads typically report ROAS of 3–5x within the first 30 days once campaigns are structured correctly — but most new advertisers miss that window by skipping keyword targeting and budget fundamentals. This guide walks you through every setup step, from Ads Manager access to scaling your first winning campaign.
Before You Start
Before creating your first Shopee Ad, confirm you have:
- Active Shopee Seller Centre account in the Philippines
- At least 5 product listings published and available for sale
- Product photos meeting Shopee’s quality requirements (clean background, clear product image, no watermarks)
- GCash, credit/debit card, or linked payment method for ad credit top-ups
- Initial testing budget of at least ₱1,000–₱3,000 to generate meaningful data in the first two weeks
- Your top 3–5 best-selling or highest-margin products identified before entering Ads Manager
- At least 5–10 existing shop reviews (optional but significantly improves conversion rates on ad traffic)
Step 1: Open the Shopee Ads Manager
Log in to your Shopee Seller Centre account and navigate to Marketing Centre → My Ads in the left sidebar.
If this is your first time running Shopee Ads, you’ll see a prompt to activate advertising on your account. Tap Get Started, review Shopee’s advertising terms, and confirm. Your Ads Manager dashboard loads — this is where you’ll track impressions, clicks, spend, and ROAS across all active campaigns.
Bookmark this dashboard. During your first active campaign, check it daily.
Step 2: Choose Your Shopee Ads Campaign Type
Shopee offers three core ad formats for Philippine sellers. Match the format to your goal, not just your budget.
Search Ads (Keyword Ads): Your products appear at the top of search results when buyers type matching keywords. These are the highest-intent ads on Shopee — buyers who searched your keywords are already looking to buy. Best for established products with proven demand.
Discovery Ads: Your products appear on Shopee’s homepage, “You May Also Like” sections, and category pages. These reach buyers who aren’t actively searching for your product. Lower purchase intent than Search Ads, but useful for new product launches and building product awareness before buyer intent exists.
Shop Ads: Promotes your entire shop rather than individual products. Useful for boosting follower count and overall shop visibility. Less conversion-focused than product-level ads.
For most Philippine sellers starting out, Search Ads deliver the fastest return because you’re capturing buyers who already want what you’re selling. Start here before testing Discovery Ads.
Step 3: Select Your Products to Advertise
From Ads Manager, click Create Campaign, then select the products you want to advertise.
Start with your top 3–5 best-selling products — not your full catalog. Products with existing sales history give Shopee’s algorithm real conversion signals to optimize against. New products with zero orders need review-building before ad spend pays off.
When choosing between similarly performing products, prioritize by margin: a ₱500 product at 40% margin can sustain more ad spend than a ₱200 product at 15% margin even at the same ROAS. Filter your catalog by conversion rate (in Shopee Seller Centre under Products → Performance) and start ads on your highest-converting listings first.
Step 4: Set Up Keyword Targeting for Search Ads
This step applies to Search Ads only. Discovery Ads skip keyword configuration and use Shopee’s audience targeting instead.
After selecting your products, click Add Keywords. Shopee provides two keyword methods:
Automatic Keywords: Shopee’s algorithm selects keywords based on your product title, category, and description. Lower setup effort, suitable for beginners who want to capture broad initial data before going manual.
Manual Keywords: You enter specific search terms buyers use. More control over spend allocation, but requires research into how Philippine buyers actually search for your product.
For manual keywords, start with three types:
- Exact product name: (“wireless earphones philippines”, “silicone phone case iphone 15”)
- Category terms: (“earphones for calls”, “protective phone case”)
- Problem-based terms: (“earphones for online class”, “shockproof phone case”)
Aim for 15–25 keywords per product campaign. Avoid broad one-word terms like “electronics” or “fashion” — these generate irrelevant clicks and drain budget without converting.
Use Broad Match for discovery (finds more impressions, reveals how buyers search) and Exact Match for proven converting terms after your first two weeks of data.
Step 5: Set Your Daily Budget and CPC Bids
Shopee Search Ads run on a cost-per-click (CPC) model. You pay only when a buyer clicks your ad.
Daily budget: Shopee’s minimum is ₱50 per day per campaign. For meaningful optimization data within 14 days, set ₱150–₱300 per campaign daily. At ₱50/day with average CPCs of ₱3–₱5, you’ll see only 10–16 clicks per day — not enough volume to identify performance patterns.
CPC bids: Start at Shopee’s recommended CPC (displayed in the Ads Manager next to each keyword). If your ads aren’t generating impressions after 48 hours, your CPC is likely below the competitive market rate — increase in ₱0.50–₱1.00 increments until impressions appear.
| Budget Tier | Daily Spend | Est. Daily Clicks | Time to Reliable Data |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | ₱100–₱150 | 20–40 clicks | 2–3 weeks |
| Growth | ₱200–₱400 | 50–100 clicks | 10–14 days |
| Scale | ₱500+ | 100+ clicks | 7–10 days |
CPC and click estimates based on Philippine consumer goods and fashion categories. Beauty, electronics, and high-demand categories typically see higher CPC rates.
Step 6: Configure Your Ad Schedule
Shopee Ads run 24/7 by default. Philippine sellers commonly report peak purchasing activity between 11am–2pm (lunch break browsing) and 7pm–10pm (evening sessions before bed) — though this varies by product category and audience.
During your first two weeks, run ads 24/7 to capture full performance data across all hours. Once you have 14 days of hourly ROAS data in your Ads Manager, use Ad Scheduling — available under campaign settings — to concentrate budget during your highest-converting time windows and reduce spend during overnight hours where conversion rates are typically lowest.
Do not apply Ad Scheduling before you have real data. Assumptions about peak hours often differ from actual buyer behavior for your specific product category.
Step 7: Launch and Monitor the First 72 Hours
Click Submit to launch your campaign. Shopee reviews new campaigns within 1–24 hours before ads go live.
In the first 72 hours, check your Ads Manager daily for these three signals:
Impressions at zero or near-zero: Your CPC bid is likely below the competitive threshold. Raise it by ₱1–₱2 and check again in 24 hours.
CTR below the 0.5–1% typical range for search ads in your category: Your product image or title isn’t compelling buyers to click. Audit your main product photo — it competes against 8–10 other listings in search results and needs to stand out clearly at thumbnail size.
High clicks, zero orders: Buyers are clicking but not converting. Check your product page for missing size guides, unclear pricing, low reviews, or slow loading on mobile. The ad is working; the listing isn’t.
Do not make keyword or budget changes in the first 72 hours. Let the algorithm collect initial click data before you start optimizing.
Step 8: Optimize Keywords and Bids After Day 7
After 7 days, open your Keyword Report in Ads Manager and apply these rules:
Pause zero-order keywords that spent ₱200 or more. A keyword generating clicks but no orders after ₱200 in spend is not converting for your product. Pause it and shift that budget to performing keywords.
Increase bids by 20–30% on keywords with 3+ orders. These terms are driving purchases — more impressions mean more sales. Raise CPC gradually rather than doubling overnight.
Review your Search Term Report. This shows the actual phrases buyers typed before clicking your ad. Add irrelevant searches as negative keywords to stop paying for unqualified traffic.
Adjust daily budgets. If campaigns consistently hit their daily cap before 6pm, you’re leaving peak-hour impressions on the table — increase the budget by 30–50% and monitor ROAS.
Step 9: Scale Winning Campaigns and Pause Underperformers
At day 14, calculate ROAS per campaign: total ad revenue ÷ total ad spend = ROAS.
- ROAS above 4x: Scale. Increase daily budget by 30–50% every 5–7 days while ROAS holds.
- ROAS 2–4x: Optimize before scaling. Review keyword efficiency, product listing conversion rate, and pricing against competitors.
- ROAS below 2x: Pause and diagnose. Poor ROAS at low spend usually reflects a product or listing issue, not an ad structure issue. Check your reviews, pricing, and product photos before increasing spend.
Before scaling budgets significantly, use the ROAS calculator to verify your break-even ROAS based on your actual cost of goods. A ROAS of 3x is profitable at 35% product margin but unprofitable at 15% margin.
Not sure how to size your initial budget before your ROAS data exists? The ad budget calculator estimates monthly ad spend based on your revenue target and expected ROAS.
| ₱50/day minimum | 3–5× ROAS | ₱2–₱8 per click |
|---|---|---|
| Shopee PH minimum daily budget per campaign | Typical first-month ROAS for PH consumer goods sellers | Average CPC range on Shopee PH Search Ads |
ROAS and CPC ranges based on Philippine consumer goods, fashion, and home categories. Actual results vary by product, competition level, and listing quality.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I budget for Shopee Ads in the Philippines?
Philippine sellers typically start with ₱100–₱300 per day on Shopee Ads to generate enough click data for optimization decisions within two weeks. Shopee’s minimum daily budget is ₱50 per campaign, but at that level the algorithm has limited data to work from. Start with ₱200/day per campaign, then scale campaigns hitting ROAS above 3x.
What’s the difference between Shopee Search Ads and Discovery Ads?
Shopee Search Ads appear when buyers search specific keywords, targeting high-intent buyers already looking for your product. Discovery Ads appear on Shopee’s homepage and category pages to buyers not actively searching. Search Ads typically deliver better ROAS for established products with proven demand; Discovery Ads work better for new product launches targeting awareness rather than immediate purchase intent.
How long does it take for Shopee Ads to show results in the Philippines?
Most Shopee PH campaigns take 5–10 days to exit the learning phase and show stable performance data. During the first week, click-through rates fluctuate as Shopee’s algorithm identifies which buyers respond to your ads. Avoid making major keyword or budget changes in the first five days — premature adjustments reset the learning cycle and extend your path to reliable optimization data.
Can I run Shopee Ads with a new shop that has few reviews?
Yes — Shopee Ads are available to any seller with at least one published product listing. However, conversion rates are significantly lower for shops with fewer than 10 reviews. Sellers commonly report that shops with 20+ reviews see meaningfully higher click-to-purchase rates than new shops with no reviews — the exact difference varies by category and price point. Build your review base through initial orders before allocating significant daily ad budgets.