Walmart advertising guide: how Walmart Connect Sponsored Search works for brands

Walmart Marketplace has become a meaningful second channel for many Amazon brands, and Walmart Connect is how shoppers discover new products there. This guide explains how Walmart advertising works for marketplace sellers, how it differs from Amazon, and how to build campaigns that pay back.

What is Walmart Connect?

Walmart Connect is Walmart's retail media business. For Marketplace sellers, the core product is Sponsored Search: ads for your items that appear in Walmart search results, on category pages and on product pages. Sponsored Search is generally bought on a cost-per-click basis through an auction.

Campaign types

• Automatic campaigns: Walmart decides where to show your items based on relevance. Useful for discovery and gathering search term data.
• Manual campaigns: you choose keywords and match types and set bids. Useful for control and scaling proven terms.
• Sponsored Brands and video formats: available for eligible brands, featuring your brand and multiple items.

Formats and eligibility change, so check the current Walmart Connect options for your account.

Listing quality comes first

Walmart places heavy weight on content quality and relevance. Before spending on ads, make sure titles, descriptions, key features, attributes and images are complete and accurate. Walmart's Listing Quality score in Seller Center is a helpful guide. Ads sent to weak listings waste budget faster on Walmart than many sellers expect.

How Walmart differs from Amazon

• Search behavior and terms often differ; do not copy Amazon keyword lists without checking.
• Competition in many categories is lower, which can mean lower costs per click.
• Content requirements and attribute fields differ.
• Reporting and the ad console work differently.
• Fulfillment options and delivery speed affect visibility.

Building your first campaigns

1. Start with an automatic campaign for your best items to collect search term data.
2. Review search terms weekly; move converting terms into manual campaigns.
3. Add negatives for irrelevant terms.
4. Set bids per item based on margin and goal.
5. Scale budget toward items and terms with proven return.

Metrics to watch

• Ad revenue and ROAS.
• Units sold from ads vs total units.
• Click-through and conversion rates.
• Search term performance.
• Total sales trend, to see whether ads lift overall marketplace sales.

A real example

In one account we manage, Walmart Connect Sponsored Search delivered $5,872.46 in ad revenue (+32%) at a $2.37 ROAS with units up 44% over a seven-day period, and monthly Marketplace GMV grew from $1,271 to $16,855 between October 2025 and March 2026. See the full case study.

Common mistakes

• Advertising items with incomplete listings.
• Copying Amazon campaign structures without adjusting.
• Never reviewing search terms.
• Ignoring inventory and fulfillment, which affect visibility.

Getting help

We manage Walmart advertising and Walmart Marketplace alongside Amazon for brand owners.

Budgeting for Walmart

Start with a test budget focused on your best-selling items, long enough to collect meaningful search term data, typically several weeks. Judge results on both ad metrics and total Walmart sales, since ads often lift organic visibility too. Scale budget only after content and conversion are solid.

Seasonal planning

Walmart traffic follows retail seasons closely, including back to school, holiday and major sales events. Plan inventory and budget increases ahead of these periods, and make sure listings are fully optimized before peak traffic arrives.

A real Walmart example in more detail

In one account we manage, Walmart Connect Sponsored Search attributed sales grew from $9,578.48 in February 2026 to $12,980.97 in March and $18,834.21 in April. ROAS improved from $1.80 to $2.72 in March, then settled at $2.54 in April as spend rose to $7,411.30 to reach more shoppers. Impressions grew from 1,332,756 to 1,850,390 over the same months.

Total marketplace sales followed: $13,324.18 in February, $16,855.46 in March and $21,646.35 for April 1–27, with units rising from 600 to 749 to 870. The listing quality score improved from 57% to 67%, mainly through better ratings and reviews, and the account achieved Walmart Pro Seller status. The lesson: ads, listing quality and reviews moved together.

Understanding Walmart's listing quality score

Walmart's listing quality score in Seller Center combines several components, including content quality, ratings and reviews, shipping speed, availability and price competitiveness. A listing can have excellent content and still score poorly overall if reviews are thin or stock runs out. Checking the component breakdown tells you where to focus before scaling ads.

Keyword research for Walmart

• Start with your Amazon search term data, then validate it against Walmart search results and auto-campaign reports.
• Watch for differences in how shoppers phrase searches on Walmart.
• Add negatives early; irrelevant matches waste budget quickly on smaller campaigns.
• Group keywords by product and intent so bids can be set sensibly.

Walmart Pro Seller and why it matters

Walmart's Pro Seller badge recognizes sellers who meet performance standards such as on-time delivery, low cancellations and good customer experience. It can help shoppers trust your listings. Meeting those standards also tends to improve overall marketplace performance, which supports advertising results.

When to bring in help

If you already sell on Amazon and Walmart is underperforming, the issues are usually listing quality, catalog setup and ad structure, all fixable. We manage Walmart for brand owners alongside Amazon so research and content work once across both channels.

Sponsored Search campaign types

• Automatic campaigns: Walmart matches your ads to relevant searches. Good for discovery and building keyword data.
• Manual campaigns: you choose keywords and bids. Best for scaling proven terms with control.
• Sponsored Brands: show your brand and several products at the top of search results, where eligible.
• Sponsored Videos: video ads in search results, where eligible.

Key takeaways

• Fix listing quality before scaling ads; content, reviews and availability all affect results.
• Start with automatic campaigns to collect data, then move winners into manual campaigns.
• Track ROAS, CPC and total sales together, not just ad sales.
• Expect some ROAS change as spend grows; judge it against total sales growth.
• Manage Walmart alongside Amazon to reuse research and content.

A simple monthly Walmart review

1. Compare spend, attributed sales and ROAS to last month.
2. Check total marketplace sales and units.
3. Review the listing quality score breakdown.
4. Add negatives and move winning terms into manual campaigns.
5. Check stock levels before raising budgets.

Read more on our Walmart advertising page or the Walmart case study.

Frequently asked questions

Is Walmart worth it if we already sell on Amazon?

Often yes, as an extension. Much of your research and content can be reused, and competition can be lower in some categories.

What ROAS should we expect?

It depends on margins and category. Set targets from your break-even point, then judge ROAS together with total sales growth.

Next steps

Check your listing quality score and its breakdown in Seller Center, fix the weakest areas, and make sure your best products are in stock. Then launch an automatic Sponsored Search campaign with a modest budget, review search terms weekly, and move proven keywords into manual campaigns. Once ROAS is steady, scale budgets on the products with the healthiest margins.

Review results monthly against your Amazon data so both channels learn from each other.