What Is Amazon Marketing Cloud And How To Use It? (A Beginner's Guide)

Introduction

With 740 million people turning to Amazon for their shopping needs, standing out requires more than products – it demands data-driven advertising strategies to reach a wider audience.

Recognizing this need, the eCommerce platform launched Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) in 2021 – a privacy-safe, cloud-based analytics tool for advertisers.  

Whether you are new to Amazon selling or a seasoned seller, this game-changing tool helps make data-driven decisions to maximize return on ad spend. Using attribution modeling, audience segmentation, and ad performance measurement, you can refine your marketing strategies with precision for better results.

In this blog, we will cover:

• What is Amazon Marketing Cloud?

• How does Amazon Marketing Cloud work?

• The Key Features of Amazon Marketing Cloud

• Benefits of Amazon Marketing Cloud

• How Can You Use Amazon Marketing Cloud?

• How Do You Register For Amazon Marketing Cloud?

• FAQs

What is Amazon Marketing Cloud? 

Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a secure, cloud-based analytics solution that helps advertisers gain deeper insights into their campaign performance across Amazon’s ecosystem.

Unlike traditional reporting tools for Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads, AMC’s advanced insights provide a comprehensive view of how customers engage with ads, what motivates them to make a purchase, and which marketing strategies yield the best outcomes. The AMC report integrates impressions, clicks, and conversions, along with your data, to help you optimize your campaigns and grow your business on Amazon more effectively. 

How does Amazon Marketing Cloud work?

AMC operates within a secure, cloud-based environment that combines data from multiple Amazon advertising sources, including Sponsored Ads, Amazon DSP, and third-party integrations. It uses advanced analytics to process the data and provides unified insights into your ad campaign performance without the hassle of shifting reports.

Additionally, it also gives a behind-the-scenes view of customer behavior data, helping you understand how shoppers interact with your ad from start to finish.

AMC takes this a step further by allowing you to upload your first-party data, such as customer lists or website traffic insights. AMC matches this data with Amazon’s aggregated audience data, offering a deeper audience segmentation and more precise campaign analysis.

AMC protects user data by anonymizing their personal identifiable information (PII). This means that while you are able to assess the action of each customer, you are not able to identify the customer information from AMC. Hence the name - clean room.

The Key Features of Amazon Marketing Cloud

Amazon Marketing Cloud offers several features that help enhance advertising strategies.

Multi-Touch Attribution

Attribution is essentially a model to help figure out how much credit should be given to different marketing campaigns or touch points for a customer’s conversion or sales.

In conventional ad reporting, the attribution is assigned to a customer’s last touch point, also called the last-click attribution model. For example, a potential customer sees your DSP ad and then your sponsored brand ad. But they also find your sponsored product ad and click on it to buy the product. The credit is assigned to the sponsored product ad.

AMC allows you to change the ad that gets credit for the sale. You can use the first-touch attribution model, which assigns credit to the first ad the customer sees.

Alternatively, you can also use custom attribution or multi-touch attribution to define your own rules based on your unique business goals. In this case, you can set weighted values to different ad interactions. If we take the above example, you can assign the following weight:

DSP Ad – 50% credit

Sponsored Brand Ad – 30% credit

Sponsored Product Ad – 20% credit

You can use this method to analyze every touch point that leads to conversion. It helps you understand how different ad formats work for you through the buying process and determine which ad plays a greater role in driving conversions.

Audience Insights & Custom Audiences

AMC’s advanced audience insights unify data across multiple ad types, including Amazon DSP, Sponsored Ads, and external integrations. It tracks user engagement at different stages of the buying journey offering a holistic view of customer behavior. This helps you analyze engagement patterns, refine targeting strategies, and distinguish between high-intent shoppers and casual browsers.

With the help of such granular insights, you can create custom audiences – segment shoppers based on factors like engagement level, shopping frequency, and cart abandonment. You can leverage the data to create highly targeted campaigns like loyalty campaigns for repeat buyers, re-engaging shoppers who abandoned their cart, or retargeting customers who clicked the ad but didn’t convert.

AMC Sandbox

The AMC Sandbox is a testing environment for running different queries and analyzing data sets without affecting live campaigns.

In this feature, you can explore different data models and test new audience segmentation strategies before applying them to real-world advertising platforms. Free from the stress of looking at real time data and finding insights, you can try your hand on different queries and the process to set them up.

Custom Reporting with SQL 

AMC allows you to create custom reports using SQL-based queries for in-depth data analysis. As opposed to traditional Amazon DSP or Sponsored Ads reports, this feature enables you to focus on extracting detailed information on specific metrics like cross-channel attribution, purchase patterns, or audience engagement trends.

You can choose from pre-built query templates for quick insights or create fully customized queries that align with your business goals. Through this flexibility, you can uncover hidden trends and make data-driven decisions to optimize ad spend and launch Amazon DSP campaigns.

Data Visualization

Amazon Marketing Cloud integrates with tools like Amazon QuickSight and third-party Business Intelligence (BI) platforms to transform complex data into easy-to-understand visuals.

Instead of sifting through raw data, you can use custom charts, heat maps, and trend graphs to spot patterns in ad performance and customer behavior. The interactive dashboard and visual reports can help optimize advertising campaigns, identify growth opportunities, and adjust advertising strategies.

Benefits of Amazon Marketing Cloud

Amazon Marketing Cloud offers a range of benefits for sellers on the eCommerce platform.

Improved Campaign Performance

AMC aggregates and analyzes data from multiple sources, offering a holistic view of your advertising efforts not only on Amazon but across different platforms and channels. Using this data, you can analyze how different ad formats, placements, and audience segments contribute to conversions, pinpointing the most effective strategies. This comprehensive analysis helps you identify high-performing areas that drive the highest engagement and conversion, allocate budgets more strategically, and improve campaign performance.

Advanced Audience Targeting

AMC’s features allow you to create custom audience segments based on behavioral data like engagement records, conversion, preferences, and more. This enables you to focus on high-targeted segments and tailor campaigns to address the unique interests and needs of different customer groups. Personalized campaigns resonate better with shoppers and foster a strong connection between the brand and its audience, ultimately driving high conversion rates.  

However, taking out data for audience targeting requires writing SQL queries. But atom11’s AMC suite helps you gain customer insights without having to do that.

It shifts your focus from campaign-level insights to customer-centric insights by offering a comprehensive view of your customer journey, from discovery to purchase. With single-click set-up reports, you can analyze various metrics like how customers interact with your brand at various touch points, best-performing search terms, optimal ad exposure levels, and duration from first interaction to conversion. 

Greater Transparency & Data Ownership

Unlike traditional reports, AMC provides deeper transparency into ad performance metrics and helps you explore granular data insights of how your ads are performing across various segments and touchpoints. Moreover, it fosters a sense of data ownership, as you can access data directly and utilize it per your business objectives.

Cost Efficiency & Budget Optimization

Another key advantage of AMC is the ability to analyze comprehensive performance data across various Amazon ad placements. Instead of relying on broad assumptions, you have access to detailed breakdowns of performance metrics, including click-through rates, conversion rates, and revenue generated from each placement. You can leverage this data to pinpoint high-performing ad placements and make data-driven decisions on allocating budget effectively while reducing ad spend on underperforming placements.

For detailed insights into how you can leverage AMC, read our blog on AMC benefits.

How Can You Use Amazon Marketing Cloud?

Amazon Marketing Cloud is a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of marketing purposes. Here are some of the most common use cases:

Cross-Channel Attribution Modeling

Sellers utilize various channels both on and off Amazon to promote their products, including videos, displays, and sponsored ads. However, accurately attributing conversions to different marketing efforts can be challenging. AMC simplifies this process.

You can track the customer journey from start to finish to identify which campaigns and touchpoints contribute most to conversions. For instance, you may discover that customers who see your ads on Facebook alongside a video ad on Amazon end up purchasing your product. Then, you can coordinate your campaigns across these channels to enhance sales and optimize ad spending.

Event-Based Marketing Strategy

AMC helps you prepare for high-traffic shopping events like Prime Day and Black Friday by analyzing past campaign performance and identifying trends.

For example, if the AMC report reveals that sponsored display ads performed best in the week before these sale days, while sponsored product ads were more effective in driving last-minute purchases then using this data, you can adjust your bidding strategies, reallocate budgets, and refine audience targeting. These data-driven marketing strategies ensure that you receive the highest ROI during peak events. 

Lifetime Value (LTV) vs. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Analysis 

Understanding the balance between the total value a customer brings to your business over time and the cost of acquiring that customer, i.e. LTV vs CAC, is crucial for sustainable growth. AMC provides the tools to measure this relationship. You can track repeat purchases, average order values, and engagement levels to identify high-value customers and adjust your strategy accordingly.

For example, an AMC analysis might show that customers acquired through Sponsored Brand ads provide a higher LTV than the rest of search ad placement. You can invest more in sponsored brand ads to retain valuable customers and maximize profitability, ensuring long-term growth in this competitive marketplace.

Custom Audience Segmentation for Sponsored Ads & DSP

AMC empowers you to create highly targeted audience segments based on shopping frequency, product interactions, behavioral patterns, and demographic data. You can use these insights to build precise audience lists for Amazon DSP and Sponsored Ads like customers who engaged with video ads but didn’t convert, people who repeatedly bought from sponsored product ads or shoppers who abandoned their carts.

For example, a fitness gear brand might retarget past buyers of protein supplements with an ad for a complementary product like resistance bands.

Furthermore, AMC also enables new-to-brand customer analysis that helps identify first-time buyers while differentiating them from returning customers. You can segment these audiences and create awareness campaigns to nurture new customers.

Creating personalized ads ensures that your message reaches the right audience at the right time, improving overall campaign performance and reducing ad spend. 

Optimizing Ad Spend & Campaign Performance

While you can track different ad formats, ad placements, and audience segments, AMC also enables ASIN-level queries. Using this, you can gain detailed insight into which product is generating higher engagement and conversions, especially for sellers with a vast product catalog. This allows you to focus your campaign and ad spend on high-performing ASINs and improve returns on ad investments.

Overall, AMC’s data-driven insights help analyze campaign performance at a granular level and allocate budgets effectively. The atom11’s AMC suite goes a step further with insights and Amazon Ads bid booster to enhance sponsored ad campaigns.

It helps you stay ahead of the competition with smarter ad placements, reach out to upper-funnel audiences, improve visibility, and boost bids for high-performing audiences. These strategies can help you optimize ad spend while reaching the right shoppers at the right time.

How Do You Register For Amazon Marketing Cloud?

Step 1: Check Eligibility 

To access AMC, you need to meet the following minimum requirements:

• You have an Amazon Web Services AWS account.  

• You are an Amazon DSP direct advertiser or a partner registered with Amazon Ads Partner Network serving clients with or without Amazon DSP usage.

-   You or a person in your team should know SQL to explore the data, as AMC doesn’t provide pre-built reports or dashboards.

-   Your business should operate in one of the 17 marketplaces where AMC is available: the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Japan, India, and Singapore. 

Step 2: Request Access

Once you meet the minimum requirements of eligibility, go to the AMC application page.

You will be required to choose your country of operation and complete the contact form with your information. Submit the form to proceed with the application.

After that, an account manager from the AMC team will contact you to set up your account. The process can take three to five business days.

Step 3: Set Up Your AMC Account

Once the request has been approved, Amazon creates an AMC instance, which stores data from the past 28 days and continues accumulating it for up to 12.5 months. Or you can skip all of this and simply write to us at ask@atom11.com and we will set you up in 24 hours.

After the instance is active, you can access AMC through the Web-based UI to run SQL queries and view reports. Additionally, you can use AMC API to automate workflows and integrate external tools.

You can start querying data, generating insights for campaigns, and leveraging first-party signals to refine your advertising strategies.

Conclusion

With the help of AMC, you can gain insights into your customer journeys and marketing efforts, which can help you target your advertising more effectively and make an efficient use of your investment.

To optimize your Amazon ads strategy with advanced analytics, audience insights, and actionable data, atom11 is here to help you.

Atom11’s AMC suite provides single-click set-up reports that help you understand your customer journey from discovery to purchase. It helps you create audience segments that drive results while aiding you to boost bids for high-performing audiences on sponsored products and brand campaigns.

Want to transform your brand’s performance? Book a demo with atom11 today.

FAQs

What is Amazon Marketing Cloud used for?

Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a range of marketing tools and services that help Amazon sellers create, manage, and optimize their marketing campaigns across various channels. Using AMC, you can track individual customer actions and leverage the information to optimize your advertising strategies, improve campaign performance, and achieve your brand advertising goals.

How much does Amazon Marketing Cloud cost?

Amazon Marketing Cloud is available free of cost to eligible advertisers.

When was Amazon Marketing Cloud launched?

Amazon Marketing Cloud was launched in 2021.

What does “data clean room” mean?

A data clean room is a secure, privacy-first platform that allows users to share and analyse data from multiple sources, including Amazon, while protecting personal identifiable information (PII).

How does Amazon Marketing Cloud support omnichannel marketing efforts for businesses?

Amazon Marketing Cloud supports omnichannel marketing efforts for businesses by offering a comprehensive platform that allows sellers to analyze customer data across various channels, including Amazon and other third-party sources, such as websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms. This allows advertisers to optimize ad campaigns, create new audiences, and deliver seamless experiences for customers across channels.