Is our digital marketing campaign driving sales? What is the ROI? A very straightforward questions that Amazon Attribution can finally provide answers for!
Amazon understands its role in the digital ecosystem and is now allowing brands to gain insight into their coveted sales data. For the first time, we are able to see how our brand media works to drives sales on Amazon. This is not your ecommerce budget, but instead your paid search campaigns on Google, a programmatic display campaigns run with programmatic display partners, or a Facebook/Instagram campaign. Now we have the ability to see sales tied to these channels.
You are doing yourself a disservice by not leveraging Amazon Attribution Tags for your brand/client.
In this article, I will cover off on everything from:
- Amazon’s importance in the marketplace
- What Is Amazon Attribution
- What Media Can I Measure
- Amazon Attribution Data
The Importance of Amazon
Let’s quickly review why Amazon is SO important to your media mix.
In 2020, ecommerce is expected to account for 12.4% of total retail sales nationwide! That number rises to just under 14% by the end of 2021, and jumps steadily from there over the next 5 and 10 years.
As ecommerce grows, so does Amazon. Amazon’s share of ecommerce sales follows the same upward trajectory in both the short and long-term, rising to almost 50% of total ecommerce sales by 2021.
What Is Amazon Attribution?
Amazon Attribution is an advertising measurement console, that allows marketers to see how your non-Amazon digital marketing tactics help to drive sales on Amazon. For the first time you can measure the impact of all of your digital media channels, based on how your consumers discover, research, & buy your products on amazon.
You do not need to drive your media to an amazon store page in order to see data. You can drive to any landing page. For example, your brand.com, a 3rd party retailer site (i.e. walmart.com), or an amazon store page. There are some nuances and we will cover those in the following sections.
Amazon uses a 14 day look back window to attribute sales on their platform back to a media exposure/click.
What Media Channels Can I Measure?
Amazon Attribution allows marketers to measure all of the following channels:
- Programmatic Display
- Paid Search (Google/Bing)
- OLV
- Social (clicks only)
The below chart showcases what you can and cannot track for each channel:
You are not able to track impressions for Facebook, however you can track clicks. In order to track clicks, your landing page needs to be set to your amazon store.
In all other channels, you are able to have the landing page set to whatever landing page you would like. You can drive to your brand.com. You can drive to a 3rd party page. The choice is yours.
Amazon Attribution Data
Now we don’t leverage Amazon Attribution tags because of the rich impression or click tracking capabilities. We want the good stuff. The sales data.
Whether you are a legacy brand whose Amazon sales are a smaller but growing piece of the P&L, or you are a disruptor brand who was born in digital and drives a majority of your sales via Amazon, having an understanding of how your consumer gets to amazon and converts is key to scaling your marketing and media efforts efficiently.
Let’s take brand XYZ. Below is a chart of the backend amazon metrics that are available.
MEDIA METRICS
- Detailed Page Views (DPV) = The total number of consumers who have either seen or clicked on an ad and afterwards have visited XYZ’s Amazon Store Page.
- Add To Carts (ATC) = The total number of consumers who have either seen or clicked on an ad and afterwards have added a products from XYZ’s store page to their Amazon cart.
- Purchases = The total number of consumers who have either seen or clicked on an ad and afterwards have purchased a product from XYZ’s Amazon Store page.
- Units Sold = The total numbers of units/products sold
- Sales – USD = Total Sales in dollars
AUDIENCE INSIGHTS
Along with sales data, Amazon shows us which audiences and interest groups have driven those sales.
Amazon sales data combined with their audience data now paints a clear picture for digital marketers. Those high performing audiences can then be added to your media plans to try to increase the likelihood that you are speaking to the right customers. For additional strategies on how to choose the best targeting strategies click here.
The Amazon Audience data is broken down into similar categories that digital marketers are used to seeing, including Lifestyle (LS), In-Market (IM), Demo (Demo), Lookalikes. Some examples are listed below. I went ahead and bucketed them into larger themes (orange) for illustration purposes. This is only a very very small portion of the total number of audiences. Their are 500+ different amazon audience segments
Downside to Using Amazon Attribution?
Since Amazon is such a powerhouse in terms of advertising within search and other channels, I have come across a few folks who opt out of leveraging these Amazon tags. The thinking is that by implementing these tags, that Amazon has insight into where you are advertising and other details. Through research and conversations with Amazon Attribution teams, they assured me that the Amazon Attribution team is a completely from the rest of the Amazon Sales or Product Teams for that specific reason and they do not cross-share anything with those teams.
So, while I understand the concern of the folks who do not use the Amazon Attribution tags, personally, the value available through the platform outweighs any of the concerns I have with data privacy within Amazon. This is especially true for CPG clients where there is a constant battle to prove and tie media to sales. This information can not only help showcase how your brand media contributes to sales, but can also inform strategic audience planning conversations.
Conclusion
When its all said and done, this Amazon Attribution platform gives businesses insight in key areas of the business, that we would otherwise be blind too. I understand the concern, however, I believe that the pros outweigh the cons here and would recommend running amazon attribution if you are able to for your business or clients.
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