Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC): What Advertisers Need to Know
Last updated: May 12, 2026
Reading time: approx. 15 minutes
Standard Amazon Ads reports show you ACoS, clicks and sales — but how many touchpoints did a buyer really need before they converted? Which audiences overlap between your DSP and Sponsored Ads campaigns? This is exactly where Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) comes in.
AMC is Amazon's privacy-compliant, cloud-based analytics environment for advertisers. It lets you run your own SQL queries against pseudonymized Amazon advertising data — giving you insights that no standard dashboard offers. This guide explains how AMC works, which use cases truly matter and what you need to get started.
Table of contents
What is Amazon Marketing Cloud?
Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is a secure, privacy-compliant analytics environment from Amazon in which advertisers can run their own SQL queries on pseudonymized Amazon advertising and shopping data. The data is stored at the user level — not as an aggregate — which makes possible the kind of in-depth analyses that standard reporting simply cannot deliver.
AMC was developed as a response to the decline of third-party cookies and the growing importance of first-party data. With it, Amazon creates an environment where advertisers can make data-driven decisions without individual users being identified — all results are aggregated and only released when they represent a minimum number of users (differential privacy).
Amazon Marketing Cloud at a glance
| Cost | Free (Amazon DSP minimum budget required) |
| Requirement | Amazon DSP access (managed or self-service) |
| Query language | SQL (ANSI-compatible) |
| Data window | 28 days by default (extendable via export) |
| Privacy | Pseudonymized, differential privacy, no single-user output |
| Target audience | Agencies, larger brands, DSP advertisers |
AMC is not a dashboard with prebuilt reports. It is a query environment — you write SQL or use prebuilt AMC templates and get back results that you can process further in your own tools. That makes AMC more powerful, but also more complex, than tools like standard Amazon Ads reporting.
What AMC can do that Amazon Ads alone cannot
Standard Amazon Ads reporting shows you metrics per campaign — in isolation. AMC, by contrast, connects data across campaigns, channels and time frames, making analyses possible that simply do not exist in the normal dashboard.
Cross-channel analysis
AMC shows how Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Amazon DSP affected the same user. You can see whether your DSP retargeting actually brings back users who previously saw a Sponsored Products ad — or whether you are reaching the same audience multiple times with different campaigns.
User journey analysis
How many ad exposures does a user need on average before they buy? Which touchpoint was the decisive one? AMC can evaluate this customer journey at the user level (pseudonymized) and show you whether your funnel works the way you imagine it does.
Custom audiences for DSP
Based on AMC queries, you can build your own audiences and use them directly in Amazon DSP campaigns. Example: all users who bought your product in the last 30 days and have not yet purchased a follow-up product — as a target audience for cross-sell campaigns.
Integrating first-party data
AMC lets you upload your own encrypted customer data (CRM lists, email addresses) and link it with Amazon data. This lets you see how many of your existing customers are Amazon buyers — and you can target them specifically in DSP campaigns without giving Amazon your raw data.
AMC vs. standard reporting: the decisive difference
Standard Amazon Ads tells you: "This campaign had an ACoS of 18%."
AMC tells you: "Users who first saw a DSP ad and then clicked on Sponsored Products are 40% more likely to buy than users who only saw Sponsored Products."
That is the difference between campaign reporting and advertising-impact analysis.
AMC and Amazon DSP: the relationship explained
AMC and Amazon DSP (Demand Side Platform) are closely linked — but not identical. Amazon DSP is the platform for programmatic display and video advertising on Amazon and third-party sites. AMC is the analytics layer that processes the data from DSP campaigns (and other Amazon ad formats).
DSP vs. AMC: what does what?
| Dimension | Amazon DSP | Amazon Marketing Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Function | Run & manage campaigns | Analyze data & build audiences |
| Ad formats | Display, video, Streaming TV | None (pure analytics environment) |
| Data sources | DSP campaign data | DSP + Sponsored Ads + shopping signals |
| Output | Ad delivery, standard reports | SQL query results, custom audiences |
| Access | Managed service or self-service | Via DSP account |
In practice, the interplay works like this: you run DSP campaigns, and the data lands in AMC. In AMC you analyze how those campaigns performed at the user level. Based on that analysis, you build new audiences in AMC that you deploy directly in DSP for the next campaign. A closed loop of data and advertising.
For advertisers who run only Sponsored Ads, AMC offers less added value — the full benefit only unfolds in combination with DSP, because DSP feeds far more audience and behavioral data into AMC.
The most important AMC use cases
AMC offers countless analysis options. These use cases are the most relevant in practice — for both brands and agencies:
1. Reach & frequency analysis
How many unique users did your campaign really reach? And how often did each user see your ad? AMC shows reach and frequency across all campaigns and formats — not just per campaign. This tells you whether you are saturating your audience or still reaching too few users.
Typical question for AMC: "How many users saw my DSP campaign more than 5 times without buying? When is it worth excluding these users from targeting?"
2. Path-to-purchase analysis
How many ad exposures does a user need before they buy? Through which channel does the last click happen? AMC can reconstruct the complete chain of ad exposures before a purchase and show you which touchpoints are truly conversion-driving — and which only build reach.
Typical insight: users who first saw a Streaming TV ad buy after an average of 2.3 additional ad exposures — users without TV exposure after 4.1 exposures.
3. Overlap analysis (audience overlap)
How many users do you see in both DSP and Sponsored Ads campaigns? Are there audiences you reach twice or three times over? AMC makes these overlaps visible and helps you spend budget more efficiently — by separating audiences or combining them deliberately.
4. New-to-brand analysis
Which campaigns truly bring in new customers who did not know your brand before? AMC can isolate new-to-brand buyers (users who have not bought anything from your brand in the last 12 months) and show you which campaign types are most effective at winning new customers. This is decisive for evaluating awareness campaigns, which often look poor in Sponsored Ads reports.
5. Seasonal advertising impact
How long does a seasonal campaign keep working after the event? AMC can measure how many users who saw an ad during Prime Day converted in the following weeks — even if the purchase was no longer directly attributed to the campaign. This reveals the true long-term value of awareness investments.
Building custom audiences with AMC
One of AMC's most valuable features is the ability to build custom audiences based on SQL queries that can be used directly in Amazon DSP campaigns. This goes far beyond the prebuilt audiences in DSP.
Examples of AMC custom audiences
Users who bought from your brand at least three times in the last 60 days — as a basis for lookalike audiences in DSP, to find similar high-value customers.
Users who already bought in the last 14 days — exclude these from DSP retargeting campaigns to avoid wasting budget.
Buyers of product A who have not yet purchased product B — ideal for targeted cross-sell campaigns in DSP.
Users who visited your product page but did not buy (detail page view without purchase) — for intensified retargeting in DSP.
How custom audiences are created in AMC
You write a SQL query in AMC that defines the desired user group.
AMC runs the query on the pseudonymized user data and creates an audience list.
The audience is transferred directly to your Amazon DSP account.
You select this audience as the target group when setting up a new DSP campaign.
Note: audiences need a minimum size (typically 1,000+ users) in order to be used in DSP.
Multi-touch attribution in AMC
Amazon Ads uses last-touch attribution by default: the last ad before the purchase gets credited with the entire conversion. As a result, awareness campaigns (DSP, Streaming TV) are systematically undervalued, because the last click almost always falls on Sponsored Products.
AMC makes it possible to calculate alternative attribution models:
| Model | Logic | When it makes sense |
|---|---|---|
| Last Touch | 100% credit to the last touchpoint | Standard (Amazon default) |
| First Touch | 100% credit to the first touchpoint | Awareness evaluation |
| Linear | Even distribution across all touchpoints | Fair overall evaluation |
| Time Decay | More recent touchpoints get more credit | Short purchase cycles |
| Position Based | 40% each for first and last touchpoint, 20% distributed | Balanced view |
In practice, multi-touch analysis often shows that DSP campaigns and Streaming TV advertising contribute far more to the purchase decision than last-touch reporting suggests. This changes how budgets should be distributed between upper funnel (awareness) and lower funnel (Sponsored Products, retargeting). You can find more on strategic budget allocation in our guide to Amazon Ads reporting.
Real-world example: Streaming TV reassessed
A brand runs Amazon Streaming TV ads and Sponsored Products in parallel. In the standard report, Streaming TV looks poor — no direct ACoS, since TV ads don't work on a click basis. In AMC, a multi-touch analysis reveals: users who saw a TV ad convert after the Sponsored Products click with 35% higher probability than users without TV exposure. The true value of the awareness campaign was never visible in the standard report.
AMC for agencies: managing multiple clients
AMC is especially relevant for Amazon agencies that manage multiple clients with DSP budgets. Amazon has built out AMC so that agencies can use a shared AMC instance for multiple advertiser accounts — with strict data separation between clients.
Standardized analysis templates
Agencies can develop their own SQL templates that are reused for every client — for example, a monthly reach-and-frequency report or a standardized path-to-purchase analysis. This saves development time and ensures consistent reporting.
Differentiation potential
Agencies that actively use AMC can offer their clients insights that go far beyond standard reporting. That is a concrete differentiator against competitors who only present the AMC console.
Privacy compliance
Because AMC pseudonymizes all data and only outputs aggregated results, its use is privacy-compliant. Even so, agencies must ensure that client data uploads (first-party data) are correctly hashed and only happen with the users' consent.
Technical requirements for agencies
- ✓SQL knowledge (ANSI SQL) for custom queries
- ✓Amazon DSP access for each client account
- ✓An understanding of privacy requirements for first-party data
- ✓Optional API integration for automated reporting (AMC API)
Access and requirements for AMC
AMC is not a tool that every seller can switch on at the push of a button. Access is tied to specific requirements:
Step 1: Secure Amazon DSP access
AMC is tied to Amazon DSP. You need either a managed-service DSP account (Amazon manages the campaigns for you, minimum budget depending on the market roughly $10,000–15,000/month) or a self-service DSP account (you manage campaigns yourself, lower minimum budget, higher technical requirements). Agencies can use self-service DSP for their clients.
Step 2: Request an AMC instance
Through your Amazon contact or the DSP interface, you can request an AMC instance for your account. Amazon sets up the environment and links it to your DSP account. The process typically takes a few business days.
Step 3: Write SQL queries or use templates
Amazon provides a library of predefined AMC templates — for reach & frequency, path to purchase and other standard analyses. Custom queries can be written directly in the AMC console or automated via the AMC API. For getting started, the Amazon templates are entirely sufficient.
Step 4: Export and use the results
AMC query results are placed in an Amazon S3 bucket that you configure. From there, you can load the data into your own BI tools (Tableau, Looker, Power BI) or build it directly into dashboards. Custom audiences are transferred straight to DSP — no export needed.
Who is AMC really worth it for?
Frequently asked questions
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