At the Amazon unBoxed 2022 event, Amazon shared new tools, insights and endless possibilities for the very near future. A team from DEPT® flew to New York to participate in this innovative, informative and in-person (finally!) event and returned with a wealth of knowledge on what’s happening and what’s to come.
From October 25-27, Amazon Ads leadership and customers shared firsthand insights with vendors, sellers, agencies, sponsors and technology partners from around the globe, to help inform their advertising strategy. The event was a hotspot for networking, revealing new products and features, inspiring talks and the latest insights on all things Amazon.
During the event
Leaders of major companies around the globe, like Paramount+ and Samsung Italy, shared how they are using inventive marketing strategies to grab and keep audience attention. Through telling their brand stories and sharing insights, they exemplified the possibilities of using Amazon Ads to increase reach and drive brand and product awareness.
Amazon also debuted many exciting new ad solutions and features as well as the latest updates and trends in ad tech. Inclusive marketing and new product tours and explanations were plentiful with a strong focus on creative services. Some highlights include:
Amazon Marketing Cloud features to help advertisers plan, measure and optimise campaigns
New opportunities with streaming media, like the Quick Draw Sponsorship in What to Watch App (beta)
New DSP digital signage ads in physical stores
Sponsored Brands video builder customisable templates
Sponsored Display for brands that aren’t selling on Amazon
Performance recommendations for Sponsored Product campaign optimisation
Our Major Takeaways
Amazon Ads is growing – in a MAJOR way
Amazon Ads is a very strongly and quickly developing environment with a major focus on the upper funnel. Amazon ads increased 25% in Q3 to $9.5 billion – a growth rate that dwarfs the two biggest players, Google and Facebook. While Amazon is still smaller than the latter, this incredible advertising growth (more than 10x that of Google, including YouTube) shows that it may catch them sooner than we think.
If you haven’t yet integrated things like DSP and streaming TV ads into your advertising strategy, now is the time.
It’s time to get on board with Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC)
AMC undoubtedly served as the unofficial star of unBoxed 2022 event, proving its integral role in any Amazon Ads strategy. AMC is a platform for analysing Amazon data & combining it with other data sources in order to provide new insights and ultimately prove the effectiveness of your campaign. So what exactly is this cloud-based analytics tool?
Launched in 2021, the Amazon Marketing Cloud is the first of its kind in terms of transparency and flexibility and it provides the analytics advertisers need from across all media channels. It uses Amazon Web Services (AWS) for data services and is privacy-safe.
AMC provides advertisers with an overview of their marketing campaigns and audience behaviours, not only from Amazon, but also combined with the option to upload pseudonymous data sets into the AMC clean-room environment.
From impressions and engagement to conversion and revenue, AMC provides a variety of valuable data. In addition, you have the ability to structure customised reports and evaluate how different media channels affect your audience discovery, engagement and purchasing with the Custom Attribution Analysis.
When used correctly, AMC can help you discover the true impact of your cross-media investments by breaking down your exact customer journey. It is helping brands reach audiences by offering aggregated data that help them understand their shoppers. Customise your measurements and analyses to help you reach your specific goals.
unBoxed 2022 helped inform attendees about the AMC and how it could fit into their strategy. In addition, Amazon unveiled new features and improvements that make AMC an even more valuable tool.
Valuable additions to AMC
Signal Coverage
Deeper understanding of the impact of different formats and cross-media attribution thanks to Sponsored Display and digital subscription events and integration with Sizmek Ad Suite (beta). This also means a much more comprehensive understanding of the customer journey.
Ease of use
The library grew from 10 to 50+ pre-built search queries, in order to help advertisers get started with AMC. Queries can be personalised and allow advertisers to use AMC with just one simple click.
DSP Audience Management
Advertisers will be able to create custom audiences to meet campaign goals using an SQL statement. Amazon will be rolling out the ability to manage DSP audience within AMC during the next year.
Partner programmes
Agencies, tool providers, system integrators and software vendors will soon be able to earn Partner certifications. This will make it easy for advertisers to find potential partners based on their business needs.
What’s to come?
The most valuable insight we took from unBoxed 2022 is that it’s time to reframe how we look at Amazon.
Brands are transitioning from transactions into developing relationships with consumers by meeting them where they are and offering the ability for them to shop in any way they want. Accordingly, Amazon is making a definite shift from a sales and retail channel with an advertising component into a marketing channel with a sales and retail component.
Amazon Ads’ current growth rate has brought it to a nearly $40 billion annual run rate – a 10-fold increase over the past 5 years. Amazon Ads is showing the company’s ability to reach beyond the bounds of the retail site – ads appear outside of the site and are now available for businesses that don’t sell on Amazon, like restaurants and hotels.
Amazon’s advertising ambition is in the same league as the biggest players and could eventually mean surpassing them, it is time to acknowledge this shift, to remain informed about all Amazon has to offer and to get it involved in your business strategy.
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