Move over blue-sky thinking, the future of Amazon Advertising and marketing are all about the cloud. Whether you are a new Amazon seller, established Amazon vendor, or somewhere in between, Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is the future when it comes to providing marketing growth and efficiency on the channel. As businesses continue to invest heavily in paid ads, they increasingly require deeper insights and levers to optimise their marketing efforts. Amazon AMC offers actionable levers while maintaining customer privacy, making it an ideal choice for established sellers aiming to scale even further. This blog discusses what AMC is, the key features you should know, and how it may benefit Amazon-focused businesses in 2024 and beyond.
What is Amazon Marketing Cloud?
In 2022, Amazon's ad revenues reached an impressive $37.7 billion, fueling intense competition and the need for tailored, niche-specific refinement. Amazon has expanded its advertising reach across the web, making it more convenient to schedule and operate DSP and Sponsored Brands campaigns. To take the platform even further, Amazon has now introduced AMC. Built entirely within Amazon Web Services (AWS), AMC handles data in accordance with strict internal and regulatory privacy policies. AMC can support advertisers with campaign-level measurement, wider audience analysis, media optimization across channels, and more.
According to Amazon: “AMC is a secure, privacy-safe, and cloud-based clean room solution, enabling advertisers to perform analytics and build audiences across pseudonymized signals, including Amazon Ads signals as well as their own inputs.”
But what exactly can AMC do at this point, and what features are most impactful? The Amazon Ads platform increasingly provides more sophisticated info and data for sellers of all sizes, but it’s clear that larger businesses require more strategic cross-media insights for enterprise-level operations and marketing spends.
Features of the Amazon Marketing Cloud
Because the AMC is a nebulous and new system, it’s important to understand the features of the programme and who they best serve.
Comprehensive Data Integration
One of the biggest benefits of the AMC is integrated data across various Amazon advertising channels (such as Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Amazon DSP) and other Amazon retail insights (including streaming and the Amazon App). With so many different use-cases and needs, this integration provides businesses with a more comprehensive view of how their budget and efforts influence customer behaviour on a wider scale.
Custom Analysis Capabilities
To unlock a greater range of data, AMC allows advertisers to run custom queries using SQL (structured query language). This offers improved granularity for in-depth analysis of specific aspects of campaigns, platforms, events, and audience behaviours. This allows for more tailored analysis for marketing spend effectiveness. Example reports might include audience reach and total impact during Black Friday or Prime Day events, the path to conversion, and full or segmented channel reach (regardless of creative, campaign type, etc.).
Increased Privacy
Privacy is a central tenet of AMC, which aggregates and anonymises data, ensuring that advertisers can access insights without compromising customer privacy. Customer data remains secure and cannot be exported or accessed even internally by Amazon. This feature is particularly important for enterprises or businesses operating across multiple countries or legal domains.
Expanded Metrics
AMC's SQL options provide a wide range of metrics that cannot be accessed using Amazon Advertising. These include conversion rates, sales attribution, audience definition, and customer reach. The use cases for this might include understanding a full customer journey, evaluating previous campaigns during specified performance periods, strategising for upcoming plans, and stretching budgets further. Without a doubt, more robust metrics help advertisers understand campaign effectiveness and identify improvement areas. This is particularly useful for enhancing ROI with large advertising budgets where even small tweaks can result in millions of pounds of business.
Who Should Use Amazon Marketing Cloud?
All businesses hope to become more empowered with the ability to make more effective decisions in advertising. Stretching budgets further, saving significant time and resources, and ensuring a more effective spend are all paramount. Regardless of the business model or size, custom KPIs and personalised queries can help businesses meet their goals. But how do you know if AMC is right for your business?
While AMC is technically open to all sellers, Amazon only recommends the platform for “mature” sellers. If you aren’t spending a substantial amount on ads (hundreds of thousands or more across multiple ad types and platforms), AMC is likely not beneficial. The ability to analyse cross-channel data from search, display, audio, and video ads across platforms like Facebook, Google, and streaming services is one of the main benefits of AMC. If these ad types aren’t currently part of your strategy, AMC isn’t worth it. Also, sellers should already be using AWS for data storage to ensure they can unlock all of the features of AMC.
There are also a range of other technical requirements. Users must have executed a DSP Master Service Agreement (MSA) and have run campaigns within the last 28 days. AMC also requires SQL proficiency, so your business will need a team member capable of executing these queries. Full-service Amazon agencies or advertising agencies may already be using AMC for enterprise accounts. If in doubt, Amazon recommends contacting an Amazon Ads account manager.
To access AMC, advertisers can log in to their Amazon Advertising account. From there, users can configure AMC to their specific needs and set up particular queries. Amazon also provides resources and guides to help maximise the service’s capabilities, including documentation on how to run certain query types and data analysis.
Need more help with Amazon Advertising?
Newer or smaller Amazon sellers and vendors, as well as those managing smaller Amazon Ads budgets might find AMC too complex for their needs. However, it’s beneficial to be aware of available options as your business grows and scales its Amazon and/or omnichannel presence. Despite the learning curve and specific use cases, AMC is a comprehensive tool every seller should be aware of. If you need a full-service advertising solution, eCommerce Nurse is an Amazon Ads verified partner, ready to assist and grow your business. Have questions about AMC or other advertising and marketing strategy needs? Check out our services or contact us today.
