Amazon Marketing Cloud shows you all your advertising data in one place so you can learn how to grow your business. It’s like having a special assistant who tells you the best way to reach more customers and maximize your advertising budget based on real-time data.
Top Amazon sellers are already using AMC to improve their marketing, and you can too. This guide will show you everything you need to know about AMC, including how it works, how to get access, and practical strategies for implementing it in your business.
What is AMC?
Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a cloud-based platform that contains insights about your customers, such as how they interact with your ads, what drives them to make purchases, and which marketing strategies bring the best results. Think of it as a giant database that collects all your Amazon advertising data in one place, making it easier to see what’s working and what’s not.
Additionally, AMC allows you to dive deeper into your marketing data than most Amazon analytics tools. With its advanced analytics and reporting capabilities, you get a clearer picture of your advertising data. This means you can optimize your campaigns better, and ultimately grow your business more effectively on Amazon.
Now, let’s take a closer look at how Amazon Marketing Cloud works and how it can help you achieve these results.
How Does Amazon Marketing Cloud Work?
Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) collects and organizes all your advertising data from Amazon’s ad types, like Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display, into one easy-to-use platform. It processes this data with advanced analytics, allowing you to track how each ad type performs without jumping between different reports.
What makes AMC especially valuable is its ability to dive deep into your data, including customer behavior and sales records, to show you how shoppers interact with your ads from start to finish, on Amazon and other channels. This gives you a behind-the-scenes view of your entire customer journey on Amazon, so you can see exactly what’s driving results.
AMC also uses a query-based system, which is a fancy way of saying you can ask specific questions about your data. For example, if you want to know which ads are driving the most sales or how different audiences respond to your sponsored display campaigns, you can type in your question, and AMC will provide clear answers with detailed reports.
This level of detail lets you make smarter decisions, like shifting your budget to the channels that perform best, refining your audience targeting, and ensuring every advertising dollar is spent on what is already working.
While AMC doesn’t have built-in dashboards and reports, you can easily export your data to tools like Excel, Tableau, or Amazon QuickSight for further analysis and visualization.
How to Get Access and Minimum Eligibility Requirements
Step 1: Check Your Eligibility
To access AMC, you need to meet the following criteria:
- Amazon DSP Master Service Agreement: You must have an executed Master Service Agreement with Amazon Demand-Side Platform (DSP).
- Active DSP Campaigns: While AMC supports Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display ads, you must have planned or live DSP campaigns within the last 28 days.
- SQL Knowledge: AMC doesn’t provide pre-built reports or dashboards, so someone on your team should know SQL to explore the data.
- AWS Account: While basic use of AMC does not require an AWS account, you will need one if you plan to use AMC APIs for programmatic management and data integrations.
- Geographical Availability: AMC is available in 17 global marketplaces, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and major European and Asian markets. Your business must operate in one of these supported regions to access AMC.
Step 2: Request Access to AMC
If you meet the above requirements, you can request access to AMC through your Amazon Advertising account manager. If you don’t have a dedicated rep, you can reach out to Seller Support.
An Amazon representative assigned will verify your eligibility and provide you with an access request form that includes basic details about your account and your intended use of AMC.
Step 3: Set Up AMC
Once your request is approved, you’ll receive an onboarding package with instructions on how to set up your AMC environment.
Inside the AMC console, you’ll be able to connect your Amazon advertising data and upload your first-party data, such as customer CRM records. Follow the setup prompts to ensure all your data sources are properly integrated.
Strategies to Implement AMC into Your Business
To get the most out of Amazon Marketing Cloud, you need strategies that help you use the data provided to achieve your business goals. Here are some practical steps to help you get started:
- Create Custom Audiences
AMC allows you to combine your own customer data, like purchase history and browsing behavior, with Amazon’s insights to build precise audience segments.
For example, you can set up these segments in AMC to target customers who frequently purchase or those who have viewed your products but haven’t bought yet.
To do this, you must upload your first-party data from your CRM or sales records to AMC. Next, AMC’s system will merge this data with Amazon’s audience insights.
From here, create custom queries to identify specific audience traits, such as recent product views, high spending, or frequent purchases.
Once you have your segments, you can use them directly in your Sponsored Display and Amazon DSP campaigns. This allows you to tailor your ads to resonate more with your targeted audiences.
This approach also improves your return on ad spend by allowing you to focus your budget on the most promising segments. - Align Your Campaigns
Although AMC focuses on Amazon-specific data, you can use your uploaded first-party data to gain a broader understanding of customer behavior. This helps you create a seamless experience where each ad and message builds on the previous one, guiding your customers through their buying journey.
To get started, set up custom queries to identify patterns, such as which ads drive initial interest and which ones close the sale. This lets you see how your customers interact with your ads across different touchpoints.
Based on these insights, align your offers and ad creatives across all channels to guide your customers smoothly through their buying journey.
For example, if you find that customers often engage with Sponsored Brand ads before converting on Sponsored Display, you can invest more in SB ads and set up SD ads that target shoppers who have seen your SB ads.
This ensures that every ad works together to improve results and maximize your advertising spend. - Forecast Future Trends with Predictive Analytics
By analyzing trends in your AMC data, you can forecast future outcomes, such as peak buying times, seasonal spikes in demand, or the effectiveness of certain ad formats over time.
To leverage this, set up predictive queries in AMC to explore potential future scenarios. For example, you can predict how changes in ad spend could impact sales during upcoming promotional periods, or which products will be most popular based on past customer behavior.
Use these insights to adjust your budgets, bids, and Amazon advertising strategy ahead of time, so you’re always one step ahead of market trends. - Automate Your Reporting Process
Instead of manually pulling data from multiple sources, you can set up automated queries in AMC to regularly extract the metrics that matter most to your business.
This means you can automate reports on key performance indicators like conversion rates, ACoS, or customer acquisition costs.
To get started, determine which metrics are most critical for your business and set up corresponding queries in AMC.
Next, schedule these queries to run at regular intervals—such as daily, weekly, or monthly—and have the results automatically exported to your preferred visualization tools like Excel, Tableau, or Amazon QuickSight.
This way, you always have access to up-to-date insights without the stress of manual data gathering. This also ensures that your decision-making is based on the latest data.
Wrapping Up
By using AMC, you can target the right people, invest your ad spend wisely, and grow your business on Amazon.
Start exploring AMC’s capabilities today, and you’ll unlock new opportunities for Amazon PPC optimization and achieve even greater success.
