Advanced Amazon Advertising: Smarter Campaigns for Bigger Wins

Amazon Advertising has transformed from a simple pay-per-click (PPC) system into a sophisticated ecosystem of ad types, targeting capabilities, and AI-driven optimizations.

For established brands on Amazon, the key to success isn’t just running ads. It’s about running the right ads with advanced strategies tailored to your brand’s goals.

This guide goes beyond the basics, covering everything from Amazon’s latest AI innovations to competitive conquesting tactics. Whether your goal is to acquire new-to-brand shoppers, dominate top-of-search results, or leverage Amazon Marketing Cloud for deeper insights, you’ll find actionable strategies here.

Amazon Advertising: The Landscape in 2025

Amazon’s Advertising platform now rivals Google and Meta in terms of sophistication, offering more tools to drive traffic, conversions, and brand awareness. For established brands, Amazon Advertising has become less about individual campaigns and more about an integrated, full-funnel strategy.

Here are the key trends shaping Amazon Advertising in 2025:

AI-Driven Campaign Optimization: Amazon’s algorithms now auto-optimize bidding and targeting based on real-time shopper behavior.
AMC-Powered Insights: AMC offers granular data to refine your targeting and measure cross-channel impact.
New-to-Brand Focus: With rising competition, targeting shoppers who’ve never bought from you has become a key performance metric.
Visual-First Advertising: From Sponsored Brands video ads to Premium A+ Content, Amazon rewards brands investing in compelling visuals.
Amazon Retail Ad Service: Launched in January 2025, this solution lets retailers use Amazon’s ad tech on their own sites, expanding reach beyond the marketplace.
Live Sports & Original Content: Amazon’s investment in live sports and Prime Video creates premium ad placements to reach highly engaged audiences.

Amazon Ad Types: Which Ones Should You Use?

Amazon offers a wide array of ad types, each serving a specific role in your advertising strategy. Here’s a quick breakdown of the most effective ad levers:

Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform): Full-Funnel Advertising

Programmatic display and video ads across Amazon-owned sites and third-party websites.
Best for brand awareness, retargeting, and driving consideration.
Requires a higher investment but offers unmatched reach and data insights.

Advanced Keyword Targeting and Bidding Strategies

While keyword targeting is the backbone of Amazon PPC, brands can’t afford to rely on simple broad-match campaigns or static bids. To truly maximize ad performance, you need a multi-layered approach that includes precise targeting, real-time bid adjustments, and ongoing optimization. Let’s break down the key components of an advanced keyword and bidding strategy.

1. Building a Strong Keyword Foundation

Effective campaigns start with a balanced mix of branded, category, competitor, and long-tail keywords, each serving a specific role:

Branded Keywords: Essential for defending market share and preventing competitors from poaching your customers.
Category Keywords: Broader terms like “anti-aging skincare” or “best face moisturizer” drive top-of-funnel traffic.
Competitor Keywords: Bidding on competitor brand terms works especially well during tentpole events when shoppers are exploring alternatives.
Long-Tail Keywords: Specific terms like “organic grass-fed chocolate protein powder” often convert at lower CPCs due to higher purchase intent.

💡 Pro Tip: Use Amazon’s Search Query Performance dashboard to uncover high-value keywords competitors might be overlooking.

2. Match Types & Keyword Control

Balancing broad, phrase, and exact match keywords ensures efficient reach and relevance:

Broad Match: Ideal for discovery but requires negative keywords to avoid wasted spend.
Phrase Match: Best for mid-funnel targeting, ensuring ads appear when search terms include your keyword phrase.
Exact Match: Offers the highest conversion rates but often comes at a premium CPC—best for branded and high-performing non-branded terms.

💡 Pro Tip: Run separate campaigns for each match type to control budgets and optimize bidding.

4. Category & Product Targeting

Beyond traditional keywords, category and product targeting help capture shoppers further down the funnel:

Category Targeting: Place ads across entire product categories, such as “Premium Coffee” or “Running Shoes.” This works well during peak shopping seasons when shoppers are browsing but undecided.
Product Targeting: Bid on competitor ASINs to capture their traffic or cross-sell your own products. For example, target your best-selling blender with ads for accessories like travel cups or replacement parts.

💡 Pro Tip: Use Sponsored Display for competitor conquesting and Sponsored Product targeting for upselling.

4. Advanced Bidding & Bid Adjustments

Amazon’s AI-powered bidding system allows you to optimize spend based on real-time conversion likelihood:

Dynamic Bidding (Up and Down): Ideal for high-intent keywords, this setting increases bids by up to 100% when conversion is likely.
Dynamic Bidding (Down Only): Best for brand protection and low-intent keywords to maintain visibility without overspending.
Fixed Bids: Useful when you want complete control, though it sacrifices automation efficiency.

💡 Pro Tip: Apply Top-of-Search Bid Modifiers (30%–70%) for high-performing keywords to secure premium placements (more on this later).

5. Negative Keywords & Dayparting

To avoid wasted spend, negative keywords should be an ongoing part of campaign optimization. Regularly review search term reports to exclude irrelevant queries, especially when targeting competitor ASINs.

While Amazon doesn’t offer native dayparting, brands can use third-party tools to adjust bids based on peak shopping hours:

Peak Hours: Increase bids during evenings and weekends when conversion rates typically rise.
Off-Hours: Lower bids during slower times to conserve budget.

💡 Pro Tip: Analyze hourly performance in Amazon Advertising to identify your brand’s unique peak shopping windows.

Measuring Success & Continuous Optimization

Driving sustainable growth on Amazon requires more than surface-level metrics like ACoS and ROAS. A truly effective advertising strategy hinges on continuous measurement, cross-channel insights, and data-driven optimization.

Tools like Amazon Attribution clarify how both on- and off-Amazon efforts contribute to sales, enabling you to fine-tune campaigns for maximum efficiency. Key metrics include:

ACoS & TACoS: ACoS reflects ad spend relative to ad-driven sales, while TACoS measures ad spend as a percentage of total sales, with a healthy range typically between 10% and 15%.
Impression Share: Shows how often your ads appear for priority keywords, indicating competitive visibility.
New-to-Brand (NTB) Orders: Highlights how effectively campaigns attract first-time customers.

Amazon Attribution further expands performance tracking by measuring how external channels—like Google, Meta, and TikTok—drive traffic and conversions. This helps you identify top-performing platforms and reallocate budgets accordingly.

For example, if a Google Shopping campaign drives clicks but few conversions, refining keywords or creative can improve results.

Pairing Amazon Attribution with the Brand Referral Bonus boosts profitability, earning brands a 10% bonus on sales driven by external traffic.

Amazon Marketing Cloud: Unlocking Actionable Insights

For brands investing heavily in Amazon Advertising, understanding the true impact of campaigns has always been challenging. Traditional metrics focus on last-click attribution, overlooking the complex path shoppers take—from discovery to purchase.

AMC solves this by providing a privacy-safe, cloud-based platform that connects the dots across ad types, audiences, and sales touchpoints. It offers event-level insights that reveal how customers interact with multiple ads before converting.

For example, you can track if a shopper clicked a Sponsored Brand video, viewed your product detail page, and later converted after seeing a Sponsored Display retargeting ad. This full-funnel visibility allows brands to move beyond siloed reporting and optimize campaigns for maximum impact.

One of AMC’s most valuable features is audience segmentation, which enables you to identify high-performing customer groups based on demographics, shopping behavior, and location.

For example, a premium coffee brand might discover that urban shoppers engaging with video ads convert at twice the rate of those exposed to static ads, allowing for smarter budget allocation.

AMC also excels at incrementality measurement, helping you understand how many sales are truly ad-driven versus organic. It reveals whether branded keyword campaigns are cannibalizing organic sales and shows how external traffic sources contribute to Amazon conversions.

AI Innovations in Amazon Advertising

AI is transforming how brands target shoppers, optimize campaigns, and create ad content. AI now powers everything from predictive targeting to real-time bidding and dynamic creative generation, making ad campaigns more efficient and effective. Here are the key AI innovations driving Amazon advertising:

Predictive Audience Targeting:
Amazon’s machine learning algorithms now predict which shoppers are most likely to convert, even if they haven’t actively searched for your product. By analyzing shopping behavior, search patterns, and purchase intent, AI ensures your ads reach high-potential audiences.
Generative AI for Ad Creatives:
Amazon’s Creative Studio uses generative AI to produce high-quality images, headlines, and videos tailored to your target audience. These creatives aren’t generic placeholders. They’re designed based on Amazon’s insights into what resonates within specific categories.
Advanced Dynamic Bidding:
Amazon’s AI now adjusts bids in real-time based on conversion likelihood, competitor activity, and inventory status. If a competitor runs out of stock, the system automatically increases bids to capture their traffic. If competition intensifies, bids scale down to maintain profitability. This automation reduces manual adjustments while maximizing campaign efficiency.
Predictive Performance Insights:
AI-powered reporting now offers predictive ACoS and ROAS estimates based on current campaign trends. If Amazon detects that a Sponsored Display campaign is likely to exceed your target ACoS, it will suggest bid reductions or creative changes before performance declines.
Voice and Visual Search Optimization:
With more shoppers using Alexa and image-based search, Amazon’s AI optimizes ad placements for these discovery methods. If a shopper asks Alexa for the “best collagen supplement,” the AI prioritizes ads with strong reviews, Subscribe & Save options, and high conversion potential. Similarly, for visual search, ads featuring lifestyle imagery aligned with shopper preferences are prioritized.

Amazon Device Ads: Reaching Shoppers Where They Engage Most

Many brands are unaware that Amazon’s Device Ads provide a powerful way to connect with shoppers outside traditional search and product detail pages. These ads appear directly on Amazon-owned devices like Fire TV, Fire tablets, and Echo Show, as well as services like Prime Video.

By integrating seamlessly into the user experience—whether through Sponsored Tiles, Screensavers, or Native Placements—Device Ads allow brands to reach shoppers while they stream, browse, or interact with Alexa.

The key advantage of Device Ads is their exclusive access to Amazon’s ecosystem. With more than 80 million Alexa-enabled devices in use monthly, advertisers can engage a highly active audience throughout their digital journey.

These ads also extend reach beyond Streaming TV ads, with 80% of the audience being unique to device placements. This makes them ideal for expanding brand visibility while ensuring relevance.

According to Amazon, campaigns incorporating Device Ads see a 2.4x increase in brand awareness, a 1.6x boost in brand favorability, and a 1.1x rise in purchase intent compared to campaigns without them. These placements not only increase visibility but also drive meaningful engagement at critical moments.

Winning New-to-Brand Shoppers on Amazon

You can’t scale on Amazon without bringing in new customers. That’s where Amazon’s NTB metrics come in. They show how many of your sales are from first-time buyers, helping you refine your strategy and focus on what’s working.

The best NTB tactics center around Sponsored Brand and Sponsored Display ads. Sponsored Brand video ads are perfect for introducing your products to shoppers who’ve never heard of you, while Sponsored Display campaigns target those browsing similar or complementary items. To boost conversion rates, make sure your creatives highlight product benefits, strong reviews, and what sets you apart.

Amazon DSP takes NTB targeting even further. You can engage In-Market Audiences actively shopping in related categories or Lifestyle Audiences based on broader interests. Retargeting is especially effective. If a shopper checks out your product but doesn’t buy, DSP ads can re-engage them with NTB-focused messaging.

But don’t overlook your Product Detail Pages. NTB shoppers usually need more reassurance before hitting “Buy Now,” so invest in strong A+ Content, verified reviews, and social proof. Offering NTB-specific incentives like Coupons, Subscribe & Save discounts, or Lightning Deals can also tip the scales in your favor.

Top-of-Search Modifiers: Maximizing Visibility

Winning the top-of-search placement on Amazon can transform your campaign performance. Ads in this premium spot convert at 2–3 times the rate of other placements, making it one of the most valuable positions on the platform.

But in crowded categories, getting there takes more than just high bids. It requires a smart, strategic approach.

Top-of-search bid modifiers let you increase bids specifically for ads appearing at the top of search results, ensuring your products are the first thing shoppers see. Most brands set bid adjustments between 30% and 70% for high-performing keywords, especially branded and category-specific terms.

The key is balancing visibility with budget control to avoid overspending. To make your spend more efficient, focus on exact match keywords. These typically convert better in top-of-search placements. Using dynamic bidding (up and down) also helps, letting Amazon’s AI adjust bids based on conversion likelihood.

Keep an eye on Impression Share, ROAS, and conversion rates to fine-tune your bid modifiers and stay efficient. When used correctly, top-of-search placements can protect your market share and keep your brand front and center.

How to Target Your Competitors During Amazon Tentpole Events

Tentpole events like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday are the perfect time to win over competitors’ customers. During these high-traffic periods, shoppers are more deal-focused and open to trying new brands.

The most effective strategy starts with Sponsored Product and Sponsored Display Product Targeting, where you bid on competitor ASINs to place your ads directly on their product detail pages.

Increasing bids during these events helps capture more traffic when purchase intent is at its peak. Sponsored Brand Ads can further boost visibility by targeting competitor search terms with custom creatives that highlight promotions, bundles, or unique features.

Amazon DSP expands your reach by targeting shoppers actively browsing competing products. Retargeting campaigns are especially powerful, re-engaging shoppers who viewed competitor listings but didn’t buy, with tailored, event-specific messaging both on and off Amazon.

After the event, use AMC to analyze which campaigns drove the most conversions so you can refine your strategy for future tentpole moments.

Amazon’s Retail Ad Service: Expanding Ad Reach Beyond Amazon

In early 2025, Amazon introduced its Retail Ad Service at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), allowing third-party retailers to use Amazon’s powerful ad technology on their own websites and apps.

Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the platform helps retailers monetize their digital storefronts through personalized, dynamic ads while enhancing the shopping experience. In essence, Amazon is sharing its ad infrastructure with retailers, enabling contextually relevant promotions without the need for custom-built ad systems.

This service is a win-win for both retailers and brands. Retailers can feature Sponsored Products ads across their sites—on search results, category pages, and product detail pages—while brands get to expand their reach beyond Amazon’s marketplace.

Best of all, everything is managed through the familiar Amazon Ads Console, making it easy to scale campaigns across multiple platforms.

Amazon’s machine learning powers the whole system, serving highly personalized ads based on individual shopping behavior. The result is more relevant promotions without disrupting the browsing experience.

As more retailers adopt the platform, brands will gain access to an ever-growing network of retail sites, making the Retail Ad Service a key player in the future of retail media.

Channel Key Takeaway

Amazon Advertising has evolved into a sophisticated ecosystem where success depends on more than just increasing ad spend. For established brands, the real advantage lies in a strategic, data-driven approach that leverages advanced ad types, precise targeting, and AI-powered optimizations.

It’s no longer about running isolated campaigns but about building a cohesive strategy that drives both immediate sales and long-term brand growth. Tools like AMC, predictive audience targeting, and dynamic bidding make it easier than ever to reach the right shoppers at the right time.

Whether you’re aiming to win new-to-brand customers, target competitors’ audiences during tentpole events, or dominate top-of-search placements, Amazon now provides the insights and automation to execute with precision.

The landscape will keep evolving, but with smart investments, data-backed decisions, and shopper-focused campaigns, your brand can turn every ad dollar into sustainable growth.

Channel Key can help you get there. Our team specializes in advanced Amazon advertising strategies that deliver real results. Contact us today to see how we can elevate your brand’s performance on Amazon and beyond.