Hey there,
Sometimes Amazon rolls out an update that makes me stop and think okay, this changes things.
Last month, Amazon announced that Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) now provides instant, self-service access for sponsored ads advertisers directly within their Amazon Ads account.
Until now, AMC could be mostly seen in DSP or deep reporting dashboards.
This finally lets you take those audience insights and use them to reach the right shoppers in real time through sponsored Products, sponsored Brands, and sponsored display.
It's clear Amazon wants to give every brand access to the kind of data that used to be limited to big players.
For the first time, you don’t need an enterprise setup or partner access just to use AMC.
Advertisers can now access AMC directly without partner assistance, onboarding delays, or enterprise-tier budget requirements. If you're running Sponsored Ads, you have the same audience intelligence previously reserved for brands spending millions on Amazon’s demand-side platform.
AI does the heavy lifting
Amazon introduced a SQL generator at CES 2025, a GenAI capability that builds insights using natural language. You don't need to be a data scientist anymore. I can type "show me shoppers who viewed my product and saw my video ads but didn't purchase in the last 30 days" and AMC builds the query instantly through a unified chatbot interface.
Audiences activate inside your campaigns
You can now use AMC audiences directly inside Sponsored Ads campaigns. Instead of only seeing clicks and conversions, you understand how people actually move through the funnel before they buy. That behavioral data becomes actionable targeting in the same place you manage campaigns.
Instead of guessing why some campaigns work and others don't, AMC shows the actual customer journey.
With this newfound access, you can now:
Activate AMC audiences directly in Sponsored Ads – Build rule-based or lookalike audiences in AMC and apply them to Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Sponsored Display campaigns without manual list exports
Inform bid adjustments with shopper behavior – Use AMC insights to guide bid boosts and targeting strategies, so your campaigns reflect real customer behavior instead of assumptions
Compete with larger brands using the same insights they have – Your competitor's massive enterprise budget doesn't automatically give them better data and insights anymore
The playing field just got a lot more level.
Our PPC and analytics teams have already started experimenting with AMC audiences.
We're seeing how audiences respond when we blend Sponsored Ads and DSP.
Our early testing focus:
Cross-channel attribution mapping – We're seeing how DSP, Sponsored Ads, and organic search work together instead of treating them as separate silos. Certain audience segments respond better to Sponsored Products after DSP exposure
Audience layering strategies – Combining behavioral signals (viewed product, added to cart, searched category) with demographic patterns creates hyper-targeted segments. The granularity beats standard Amazon audience options significantly
Bid optimization based on funnel position – We’re learning where shoppers are in their journey and adjusting bids based on their intent. Someone who's viewed your product five times gets treated differently from a first-time browser
And the early results look promising. Some convert faster and others take more time.
Our ultimate goal is to transform complex data into something brands can actually use, not just another buzzword or black box.
It's one more way to give clients a clear picture of who they're reaching and how to reach them better.
Brands treating AMC like a magic button that automatically improves performance is where things can easily go sideways.
AMC gives compelling data, but data without a strategy is just noise.
Advertisers are building dozens of custom audiences without clear hypotheses about what they're testing or why.
To avoid this:
Test one variable at a time so you know what's driving results
Set clear success metrics before activating AMC in campaigns
Don't abandon foundational targeting while chasing AMC sophistication
Run Your First AMC Audience Test
The best way to understand AMC is by using it. Here’s a simple way to get started:
Check if your account has AMC access via Amazon Ads. If not, request access first
Use the AI SQL generator to create a simple audience (e.g., shoppers who viewed your top product but didn’t purchase in the last 30 days). Make sure the audience meets the minimum size requirements for activation
Apply this audience in a Sponsored Ads campaign either as a bid boost or a targeting segment, depending on the ad format
Run the campaign for 14 days with a modest budget ($20-50/day depending on scale)
Compare results to your standard auto-targeting campaigns to see how AMC-driven audiences perform differently
Your goal isn’t to overhaul your entire strategy yet and rather just to learn how AMC audiences behave and what insights they provide.
Most brands struggle with AMC because they're not sure what to ask.
Here are three use cases that consistently deliver actionable insights:
"Which touchpoints matter most in my customer journey?"
Map the sequence of interactions before purchase. You might discover shoppers who see your Sponsored Brand video ad and then click a Sponsored Product ad convert at 3x the rate of those who only see one touchpoint. That's measurable attribution data you can act on, not a hunch.
"Why are my high-engagement shoppers not converting?"
Build an audience of people who've viewed your product detail page multiple times but haven't purchased. See what else they're viewing, what price points they're comparing, whether they're bouncing to competitors. Then create a Sponsored Display campaign with targeted messaging addressing their specific hesitation.
"Which customers are most likely to repurchase?"
Segment existing buyers by purchase frequency, category overlap, and engagement patterns. Identify your highest-value repeat customers and build lookalike audiences to find more shoppers with similar behaviors. This is loyalty marketing powered by actual behavioral data, not demographic guessing.
Amazon's move to open up AMC audiences almost feels like the start of a new chapter.
It's clearly more inclusive and actionable.
It lets every brand compete at a higher level without needing enterprise-level budget.
I'll keep sharing what we're learning as we test, but for now, know that the data is there.
Now it's all about what we do with it.
COMING NEXT WEEK:
The Next Big Stream – Netflix × Amazon Ads
Jess
CEO, AO2
P.S. Have you tried AMC yet or does it still feel a little overwhelming? Send me your take as it helps us steer what lands in your inbox with the subsequent issues.
P.P.S. After Accelarate in Seattle, we’re headed to Amazon unBoxed, in Nashville from Nov 10-12th. If you’re attending and want to connect in-person, block some time here so that we can chat on the sidelines when we meet!