The Amazon Ads Unboxed 2024 event, hosted in Austin, Texas, was a big success, filled with insightful keynotes and exciting updates that promise to elevate advertising strategies for brands of all sizes. From automated ad creation to improved data tools, Amazon rolled out a series of new features designed to optimise ad performance and streamline campaign management.

Here are the key highlights and takeaways from the event:

1. Performance+

Amazon launched Performance+, an automated ad creation tool that lets brands build comprehensive ad campaigns in just four clicks. It’s positioned as a direct competitor to Google’s PMax and promises a 51% improvement in CPA (Cost Per Acquisition). More details are expected soon, but this tool could be a game-changer for simplifying ad creation.

2. New Bid Modifier Option for B2B Customers

Amazon trialled a new bid modifier for B2B customers over the past six months, yielding some impressive results:

  • 3x higher RoAS (Return on Ad Spend)
  • 12% increase in traffic and sales

While this may not be suitable for every brand, it offers more granular targeting options for B2B advertisers, helping brands better segment their audience and optimise their budget.

3. Improved DSP Interface

Amazon’s Demand-Side Platform (DSP) is getting a much-needed facelift. The refreshed interface will:

  • Provide a more intuitive user experience
  • Deliver better insights, faster
  • Help advertisers save up to 26% of their budget
  • Faster Campaign Creation: Features like inherited settings and saved groups reduce setup time, allowing advertisers to launch campaigns more quickly.
  • Better Optimisation: New tools, such as frequency controls, enable real-time adjustments for maximum impact.
  • Smarter Insights: Insight cards provide curated performance insights, helping brands make data-driven decisions to enhance campaign performance.

This makes the DSP easier to navigate and use, helping brands get more value from their ad spend.

Picture from Amazon Ads

4. Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) for Sponsored Products & Brands

One of the most significant updates is the expansion of AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud) to Sponsored Products and Brands. Here’s what that means for their ads:

  • Brands can now build custom audiences and target users like abandoned cart customers
  • Access better strategic planning, activation, and measurement using AMC’s data
  • Additionally, AMC audiences are now powering deals on Amazon Publisher Cloud (APC). This integration allows brands to leverage their custom audience data alongside premium publishers’ first-party data through Amazon DSP. This helps create more effective programmatic deals, leading to optimised campaigns that drive both brand outcomes and customer experience.
  • Audience Bid Boosting: Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands can now benefit from audience bid boosting, which allows brands to adjust bids for custom audience segments, such as new shoppers or those exposed to streaming TV ads. This helps increase engagement by effectively reaching target audiences and enhancing conversion potential.
  • Ads Data Manager: Amazon unveiled Ads Data Manager, simplifying first-party data integration across Amazon’s advertising ecosystem. This new feature enhances conversion attribution, audience targeting, and campaign optimisation, driving improved marketing outcomes.

Overall, these updates help brands make smarter, data-driven decisions to increase their ROI.

Picture from Amazon Ads

5. Prime Video Ads

With 115 million monthly users, Prime Video Ads are growing in reach. Amazon has announced expansion into several new markets, including:

  • Brazil
  • Japan
  • India
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand

This increases the potential for reaching a global audience through video advertising.

Ad Relevance Feature: Amazon has also introduced an Ad Relevance feature that leverages AI to match ads to relevant opportunities without the need for third-party cookies. This enhancement improves ad performance by ensuring ads are shown to high-purchase-intent audiences, contributing to greater efficiency and effectiveness.

6. ‘Glitch with Twitch’

Amazon introduced a new product activation feature within Twitch, a gaming-focused platform. Brands like Pringles have already jumped on board. This opens up fresh opportunities for those targeting gaming audiences by embedding product activations within video games.

7. ‘Buy It Now’ Series

Amazon’s new ‘Buy It Now’ Series is set to offer live product showcases, where both in-studio and at-home viewers can purchase products in real time. It’s a format similar to Dragons’ Den meets QVC, and it could be a great platform for brands to connect with their audience.

8. New Sports Partnerships

While not relevant to all advertisers, Amazon continues to build on its sports-related ad inventory, including a new NBA partnership. For those advertising in the UK, the Six Nations rugby tournament is another prime example of available ad space.

9. Optimal Frequency & Multi-Touch Attribution

New tools from Amazon are providing better insights into the customer journey. Features like optimal frequency and multi-touch attribution will allow brands to:

  • Understand the touchpoints that lead to conversions
  • Improve how brands can track and optimise their campaigns

The multi-touch attribution (beta) feature provides a holistic view of the entire customer journey by attributing credit to all touchpoints that influence a purchase. Unlike traditional last-touch attribution, this approach helps brands identify which ads contribute most to conversions, making it easier to optimise campaigns and maximise ROAS. Metrics like ROAS and eCPP are now available through Amazon DSP, Ads Console, and API.

Picture from Amazon Ads

Long-Term Sales Metrics: Amazon has introduced Long-Term Sales (LTS) metrics, providing insights into the 12-month impact of brand campaigns. This feature estimates revenue from new-to-brand customers, helping brands understand the long-term effects of their advertising efforts.

11. New Product Campaigns

Amazon introduced New Product Campaigns, now generally available in the U.S. This service helps brands effectively launch new products during the first 90 days by using Amazon’s full-funnel advertising approach. It combines curated first-party and third-party inventory across audio, video, and display with advanced insights from Amazon Marketing Cloud, providing an efficient way for brands to reach consumers across different touchpoints.

Picture from Amazon Ads

10. Audio Ads & AI-Powered Creative Studio

Amazon is also rolling out new AI-powered tools to streamline ad creation, including:

  • Audio ads via an audio generator
  • The new AI Creative Studio (beta) for creating, refining, and publishing high-quality images and videos. This tool provides access to features such as an Inspiration Gallery, a Sandbox for testing ideas, and expert-level controls. The studio aims to simplify and speed up the creative process, making content development more accessible for all advertisers.
Picture from Amazon Ads

These tools are designed to reduce the bottleneck in content creation, allowing brands to quickly create fresh ad creatives using AI.

Amazon Ads announced new updates that are soon coming, which will revolutionise how brands advertise on Amazon. From the launch of Performance+ for quick and efficient ad creation to the improved DSP interface that enhances usability and saves budget, these tools are designed to help brands streamline their campaigns. The expanded capabilities of Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) mean better audience targeting and data-driven decisions, which can lead to higher ROI.

With features like Prime Video Ads expansion, ‘Glitch with Twitch’ gaming activations, and the AI-powered Creative Studio for content creation, Amazon is providing more ways than ever for brands to engage audiences effectively. These updates are all about empowering brands to reach new customers, optimise performance, and drive growth on the platform.

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