Amazon is no longer just a retail giant; it's an advertising behemoth. In 2024, Amazon's ad revenue exceeded $56 billion, a 20% YoY growth, positioning it as the third-largest digital ad platform globally, behind Google and Meta. With the continued evolution of its marketing tools and data capabilities, Amazon has become a full-funnel, closed-loop marketing ecosystem.
Amazonโs transformation represents both an opportunity and a challenge โ an opportunity to reach high-intent shoppers at scale, and a challenge due to the complexity of tools, attribution, and operations.
Selling successfully on Amazon in 2025 requires more than just uploading a product and launching ads. For companies generating $1Mโ$50M in annual revenue, with experienced in-house eCommerce teams, the challenge is scaling profitably while navigating Amazonโs increasingly complex ad and retail ecosystem.
With over 433 million monthly visits in the U.S. alone, Amazon is not just a sales channelโitโs a full-fledged advertising and shopper engagement platform. And yet, many mid-market brands struggle with fragmented strategies, rising ad costs, and operational inefficiencies.
This guide breaks down how to build a high-impact, financially sound Amazon digital marketing strategyโaligned with how shoppers discover, evaluate, and purchase on the platform.
What is Amazon Digital Marketing?
Amazon Digital Marketing is a unified strategy that blends paid advertising, organic optimization, and brand content infrastructure to drive measurable outcomesโsales, market share, and profitability.
It includes:
- Sponsored Ads (Products, Brands, Display, Video)
- Amazon DSP (off-Amazon programmatic)
- Storefronts, Brand Story, A+ Content
- A9 Organic SEO
- Attribution and analytics tools (AMC, Amazon Attribution)
Aligning with the Amazon Shopper Journey
Customers rarely buy on the first touch. They research, compare, read reviews, and revisit product pages across devices and sessions.
Amazonโs own shift toward a full-funnel advertising model reflects this. From OTT ads on Fire TV to Sponsored Products in search results, Amazon is now capable of guiding a shopper from awareness to loyaltyโall within its ecosystem.
For businesses scaling on Amazon, this demands structured campaigns, clear KPIs by funnel stage, and tight integration between retail and media teams.
Amazonโs Evolution to a Full-Funnel Ecosystem
Amazon's advertising journey began with lower-funnel ad units โ Sponsored Products targeting shoppers with purchase intent. But in 2025, it's a full-funnel ecosystem with ad products that cover:
- Top-of-funnel (TOFU): Video ads, Amazon Live, Fire TV, DSP OTT
- Mid-funnel (MOFU): Sponsored Brands, Sponsored Display
- Bottom-of-funnel (BOFU): Sponsored Products, Deals, Promotions
- Post-purchase: Subscribe & Save, DSP re-engagement, CRM sync
With Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC), advertisers can analyze how multiple touchpoints contribute to a sale. This shift demands that senior leaders build multi-layered strategies that connect paid and organic investments cohesively.
Organic Marketing on Amazon (A9 SEO)
Before investing in ads, ensure that your product content earns visibility and trust on its own. Amazonโs A9 algorithm prioritizes relevance, conversion history, and customer experience signals.
Product Listing Optimization
Each component of your listing should be optimized for both keyword indexing and conversion:
- Title: Include primary keyword, brand, quantity, and variation (e.g., โOrganic Turmeric Capsules โ 120 Count โ High Strengthโ)
- Bullet Points: Use customer-benefit-first language, not just features
- Description: Format with HTML, clarify use cases, reinforce brand values
- Backend Keywords: Fill in synonyms, alternate spellings, and long-tail phrases
Images and A+ Content
Visual assets are your primary conversion drivers.
- Use all image slots with high-res, zoom-enabled photos
- Include infographics, lifestyle shots, and comparison tables
- A+ Content (formerly EBC) increases sales by 5โ10%
Reviews and Q&A
Shoppers trust peer feedback over brand messaging. Listings with 4.2+ star ratings and 100+ reviews perform significantly better.
- Use automated review requests post-purchase
- Proactively answer customer questions
- Monitor Q&A for emerging objections and update bullets accordingly
Amazon Brand Story and Storefront
The Brand Story module and Storefronts add credibility and increase session duration. When structured right, they also:
- Funnel traffic across product lines
- Reduce bounce rate from Sponsored Brand Ads
- Create SEO value through indexed content and internal linking
Sponsored Ads: Core Tactics & Structure
Advertising is no longer optional, itโs Amazonโs primary revenue engine and a pay-to-play model for visibility.
Sponsored Products: Lower Funnel
- Triggered by high-intent keywords (โbuy,โ โbest,โ brand + product)
- Structure campaigns by product or variation group
- Use both auto (for keyword harvesting) and manual (for control) campaigns
- Segment by match type (broad, phrase, exact) for bidding granularity
Sponsored Brands & Video: Mid-Funnel
- Ideal for brand discovery and cross-selling
- SB Video units offer 2โ3x higher CTR than static formats
- Always drive to a Storefront, not a product detail page, to boost AOV
Sponsored Display: Retargeting, Interest-Based Audiences
- Targets shoppers who:
- Viewed your products but didnโt buy
- Are browsing competitor listings
- Fit certain behavioral segments (e.g., โfrequent supplement buyersโ)
Amazon DSP & Off-Amazon Retargeting
DSP is Amazonโs programmatic advertising solution, enabling display and video ads across Amazon and third-party sites.
What DSP Is (and Isnโt)
- DSP is not CPC. Itโs CPM-based (cost per 1000 impressions).
- It allows advanced audience segmentation and off-Amazon reach
- Ideal for:
- Retargeting across devices and channels
- Awareness campaigns via Fire TV, IMDb, Twitch, and third-party sites
- Lookalike audience expansion
When to Use DSP
- Youโve maxed out on Sponsored Display or need better frequency control
- You want to retarget customers post-purchase
- You want view-through attribution and lifetime value modeling
DSP vs Sponsored Display
Budgeting & Bidding for Profit
Managing ad budgets is where most internal teams struggle. Without clear guardrails, ACoS can spiral, and teams unintentionally prioritize spend over profit.
ACoS vs TACoS
- ACoS (Ad Cost of Sales) = Ad Spend / Ad Revenue
- TACoS (Total ACoS) = Ad Spend / (Ad + Organic Revenue)
TACoS is the real health metric. A flat or decreasing TACoS over time = increasing organic efficiency.
Bid Automation Tools
Leverage tools that auto-optimize based on real-time performance:
- AiHello โ Adjusts bids by keyword ROAS, inventory, placement
- Scale Insights โ Automates campaign funnel logic
- Quartile โ Segment-based ad scaling via machine learning
Daily Budgets by Funnel Stage
Allocate budget based on the role of each campaign:
Common Budget Mistakes
- Overspending on branded terms with low incremental value
- Under-investing in DSP or upper-funnel
- Ignoring campaign cannibalization (e.g., same keyword in SP + SB)
Full-Funnel Strategy & Ad Sequencing
True growth on Amazon doesnโt come from converting only high-intent shoppers. It comes from building a repeatable marketing engine that targets users throughout their decision-making journey from discovery to post-purchase engagement. This is especially critical for brands looking to reduce cost-per-acquisition, boost customer lifetime value, and gain sustainable market share.
Letโs break down each funnel stage and the strategic actions to take:
Awareness
The goal here is to reach shoppers who may not yet know your brand exists but are in your category or problem space.
- Amazon DSP Display Ads and Fire TV OTT: Use display banners and video ads on Amazon-owned and third-party properties. With Fire TV OTT, your brand can appear in immersive, non-skippable ad formats during streaming sessions, making it a powerful tool for top-of-funnel awareness.
- Sponsored Brand Video with Broad Match Targeting: These autoplay video ads are prominently placed in search results. When coupled with broad match targeting, they help you introduce your brand to a larger pool of relevant audiences.
- Influencer Integrations with Amazon Live: Partnering with niche influencers for live shopping events taps into real-time engagement. These streams can generate thousands of product views and offer authentic product demonstrations that build trust faster than ads alone.
Consideration
Now that shoppers are aware, guide them toward considering your product over competitors.
- Sponsored Brands to Storefront: Use these ads to funnel traffic to your customized Amazon Store. This creates a curated, distraction-free experience that allows shoppers to explore multiple products within your brand ecosystem.
- Sponsored Display Retargeting: Target customers who viewed your product detail pages but didnโt convert. These ads follow users across Amazon and partner websites, reminding them of what they left behind.
- Sponsored Brands Product Collection Ads: These let you showcase multiple products in a single ad unitโideal for highlighting variety (e.g., different flavors, pack sizes, or product lines), boosting cross-sell potential.
Conversion
This is where you close the dealโand precision is key. Focus your efforts and budget on high-performing keywords and persuasive offers.
- Sponsored Products (Manual + Exact Match): These ads dominate search results and have the highest purchase intent. Use exact match targeting to focus on proven keywords, and segment campaigns by ASIN to monitor ROI at a granular level.
- Prime Exclusive Discounts, Coupons: Offers like 10% off for Prime members not only increase click-through and conversion but also enhance visibility by adding strike-through pricing and green badges in search results.
- Lightning Deals: Use sparingly during peak demand windows (e.g., Prime Day, Black Friday). When paired with aggressive Sponsored Product bidding, they can drive 3โ5x sales spikes in short windows.
Pro Tip: Monitor your Buy Box ownership before running high-intent ads. Losing the Buy Box mid-campaign leads to wasted spend and lost sales.
Retention
Retaining your customers is significantly cheaper than acquiring new ones. Amazon offers multiple retention mechanisms to keep customers coming back.
- DSP Re-engagement Ads: Use DSP to reach past buyers based on time-since-last-purchase or frequency of purchase. Custom messaging (โRunning low on protein powder?โ) can trigger repeat buys.
- Subscribe & Save Programs: For CPG, supplements, and home essentials, enrolling ASINs in Subscribe & Save builds predictable revenue and increases customer LTV.
- Customer Reactivation via Amazonโs Email Tools (Beta): Amazonโs โManage Your Customer Engagementโ tool allows brands to send direct email campaigns to recent shoppersโfor new launches, deals, or content drops. While still in early stages, this tool offers direct CRM-like control, a rare asset in Amazonโs traditionally closed ecosystem.
Advanced Tactics for 2025
For mature brands, the next wave of growth will come from embracing Amazonโs emerging tools and shopper behaviors. These tactics offer differentiation and efficiency gains beyond standard Sponsored Ads.
Voice Search Optimization
- Natural Language Phrasing: Rework titles and bullet points to sound conversational. Voice queries tend to be longer and more natural, such as โWhatโs the best vitamin C for skin?โ
- FAQ Integration: Use the Q&A section to answer common voice-based queries. Amazon indexes this content and may surface it in Alexa search results.
- Backend Keyword Optimization: Include longer, question-style phrases like โhow to fix dry skinโ or โbest pet food for allergiesโ in your backend keywords.
Shoppable Livestreams & Amazon Influencer Program
As social commerce and livestreaming gain ground, Amazon Live has become a powerful mid- to upper-funnel tactic.
- Partner with Micro-Influencers: Work with niche creators who already engage your target demographic. Micro-influencers often deliver better conversion and ROI due to more authentic engagement.
- Limited-Time Bundles: Create stream-specific offersโbuy one get one free, exclusive bundles, or influencer-curated picks.
- Influencer Storefront Cross-Promotion: Allow influencers to build their own Amazon storefronts showcasing your product collections. This content continues to live on Amazon even after the stream ends.
Using 1P vs 3P Data for Segmentation
Understanding and segmenting your audience is key to advanced targeting.
- 1P Data: First-party data includes CRM info, post-purchase surveys, loyalty program data. While Amazon offers limited access to customer info, brands can enrich ad targeting by integrating this with DSP campaigns (via Amazon Marketing Cloud).
- 3P Data: Amazon provides granular insights into customer behaviorโlike purchase frequency, device usage, and locationโacross its ecosystem. This is invaluable for retargeting and audience modeling.
- AMC (Amazon Marketing Cloud): Combine 1P and 3P data to build predictive customer cohorts, identify high-value segments, and structure campaigns for both ROAS and LTV growth.
Attribution Best Practices (Amazon Attribution Tool)
Amazon Attribution allows you to track how non-Amazon channels influence Amazon performanceโcritical for omnichannel brands running Google, Meta, email, or influencer programs.
Use Amazon Attribution to track:
- Google Ads โ Amazon Product Detail Pages: Measure if your Google Shopping or Search campaigns are generating Amazon conversions.
- Email Newsletters โ Amazon Storefront Visits: Tag outbound links to gauge traffic quality and conversion rate from your email database.
- Influencer Swipe-Up Links โ Add-to-Cart Rate: Understand the effectiveness of influencer content in driving direct-to-detail-page behavior.
Final Thoughts
An effective Amazon digital marketing strategy in 2025 goes far beyond isolated campaign launches or chasing short-term spikes in sales. It demands a holistic, data-driven approach where organic optimization, paid media, content infrastructure, and analytics are tightly aligned to drive sustainable, profitable growth.
For mid-sized companies generating $1Mโ$50M in annual revenue, the real challenge isnโt just access to toolsโitโs about building a scalable and resilient growth engine that performs consistently in Amazonโs fast-evolving retail media landscape.
Thatโs where SalesDuo comes in. From streamlining operations to executing full-funnel strategies, we help eCommerce leaders turn Amazon into a high-performing channel with measurable ROI.
Book your 1:1 growth call with SalesDuo to discuss how we can accelerate your Amazon success with the right blend of strategy, execution, and technology.
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About the Author
Atharva Dhokte is a thoughtful problem-solver who enjoys making sense of complex data and driving meaningful outcomes. With a background in analytics and global supplier collaboration, he thrives on challenge and creativity. Outside of work, Atharva is a movie buff, podcast enthusiast, and avid traveler.
