It is no longer a secret that a large part of Amazon’s revenue is from e-commerce advertising, owning 77.7% of the total $24 billion market. As a comparison, Walmart has the second-highest share with around 6%.While the value of data in the marketing world has been well known for years, the recent privacy restrictions are putting an even bigger focus on first-party data. Amazon’s success has motivated other retailers to introduce their own offerings. Most notable are Walmart and Instacart, which have made large investments in their data/advertising capabilities in recent years. Recent examples also include grocery store parent companies such as Kroger and Albertsons.
All of these retailers are essentially becoming data farms in which they can sell this information to advertisers.
Amazon has been the leader in this space and continues to introduce more features that highlight its value to advertisers and, more importantly, strengthens its grip on valuable customer data. Amazon is looking to strengthen brands’ relationships with consumers while keeping conversations in its platform, similar to how a social network operates. During its latest advertising conference, Unboxed, Amazon released several new additions to its advertising capabilities that highlight and strengthen its use of data.
1. Measurement
- Amazon launched Brand Metrics, a self-service measurement tool that allows advertisers to track how many people are considering their product and products in their category.
- Amazon Marketing Cloud is now available to all advertisers using Amazon’s Demand-Side Platform. AMC is a secure, privacy-safe, and cloud-based data clean room solution in which advertisers can perform analytics across pseudonymized signals including Amazon Advertising events and their own marketing data sets. Insight: Amazon is taking a more active role in audience measurement and campaign analytics. Utilizing the Amazon DSP as a part of your media mix will not give you greater insight into your overall campaign and audience performance.
2. Relationship
- Amazon has placed a renewed focus on its previously released ‘follow’ button. Insight: Amazon is utilizing social media features to encourage brand interaction among consumers. This feature will allow Amazon to improve its ability to encourage repeat purchases, which Amazon does not do well, and make the platform more impactful for branding campaigns.
3. Ad Formats
- Twitch livestreams will now feature sponsored display ads alongside which advertisers can display their messages.
- Interactive ads are now available through Amazon Music via any Alexa-enabled device and through IMDb TV via Fire TV. Insight: Amazon has been introducing more interactive ad units in recent years and this is just another step in connecting brands with potential customers.
Amazon is a valuable platform for securing one-time purchasers and is working to strengthen its position in the mid and upper funnel. As data privacy takes center stage over the next two years, the customer relationship across the entire funnel will become more important. In addition to using Amazon and other retail platforms for mid- and low-funnel activations, advertisers should be strengthening their customer experience within their own ecosystems.Vladimir Jones is Colorado’s original independent, integrated advertising agency, with offices in Denver and Colorado Springs. We believe in brilliant brands and love making the world love them as much as we do.
