Amazon launches AI tools, new capabilities for advertisers
Participants in the Amazon retail media network have a range of new AI-equipped solutions and insight-based features available to them.
At its annual unBoxed 2024 conference for advertisers on its Amazon Ads retail media platform, the e-tail giant unveiled a number of new tools based on generative AI, as well as a suite of new advertising capabilities designed to bring together insights from across the marketing funnel.
Following are highlights of each set of new offerings:
Generative AI solutions
Amazon Ads introduced AI creative studio and Audio generator, two new self-service generative AI tools. Audio generator is designed to make it easier to build and activate new campaign creatives with little more than information from an Amazon product page.
Amazon Ads is also releasing AI creative studio, which brings Amazon Ads AI-powered creative generators into a single application that lets advertisers build and scale campaigns in various ways.
And recently, Amazon Ads announced a new feature that uses generative AI technology called Video generator. Using a single product image, Video generator curates custom AI-generated videos tailored to a product's distinct selling proposition and features.
Amazon also introduced a new live image capability that makes it fast and easy for brands to create short, animated campaign images—like steam rising from a cup of coffee, or flowers swaying in the breeze. Live image capability will be offered as part of the generative AI-based Image generator solution introduced in October 2023.
[READ MORE: Amazon bolsters ad capabilities with generative AI images]
"We’re excited to introduce these new AI-powered creative tools, which have the potential to transform how brands connect with Amazon customers," said Jay Richman, VP of creative experiences for Amazon Ads, in a corporate blog post. "By reducing the complexities of working across multiple formats and placements, these innovations empower advertisers to more easily reach their target audiences at every stage of the marketing funnel. They can also easily update creatives seasonally, generate fresh, trend-driven content, and tailor ads to different use cases. This leads to a more dynamic and engaging customer experience, ultimately helping to drive overall campaign performance."
Available now in beta, U.S. advertisers can gain access to Audio generator via the Amazon demand side platform (DSP).
Advertising capabilities
At unBoxed 2024, Amazon Ads also launched a suite of new advertising capabilities.
"Our mission is to be the most customer-obsessed advertising service by giving all brands the measurement and data-driven, machine learning optimization capabilities they need to drive business growth through simple, easy-to-use tools," said Paula Despins, VP of ads measurement at Amazon Ads. "Today’s launches put our most sophisticated full-funnel measurement and optimization capabilities into the hands of all marketers from small businesses to major brands."
New product campaigns are a fully-managed service designed to help brands introduce new products to customers within the first 90 days of their introduction through advertising placements across Amazon’s properties and other broadcasters and publishers.
For example, a customer could see an ad for an espresso machine while watching Prime Video. A week or so later, the customer may hear an ad for that espresso machine on Amazon Music. The next time they’re shopping on the Amazon site, they may see a display ad for the same espresso machine. According to Amazon, advertisers using these media plans saw a 9% increase in their weekly sales growth on average compared to those that did not.
Amazon Ads also rolled out audience bid boosting to re-engage shoppers reached on streaming TV through Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products ads.
Advertisers using the new Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) Amazon Ads secure clean room technology, can now adjust their Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products bids specifically for high-value audiences.
The first two AMC solutions rolling out are high-value audience and optimal frequency analyses. Advertisers can use the high-value solution to visualize how their customer base is distributed by total spend levels over a period of time.
With a few clicks they can create related audience segments and activate them in future campaigns. Leveraging the optimal frequency solution, advertisers can monitor how KPIs like conversion rate and return on ad spend evolve as ad interactions increase, and from there, determine the most efficient frequency caps for their campaign.
In addition, Amazon Ads announced a new multi-touch attribution model designed to help advertisers understand how their marketing works to drive conversions. Using advanced machine learning models to analyze trillions of shopping, streaming, and browsing signals, multi-touch attribution determines the relative impact of ad interactions along the path to purchase.
It uses techniques like hundreds of thousands of randomized control trial experiments – A/B tests – to establish impact. For example, if an advertiser uses streaming TV, display, Sponsored Products, and other ad types in their campaigns, multi-touch attribution will show the relative contribution of each tactic to their sales. Amazon Ads will start to test multi-touch attribution later this year, with a full rollout planned for 2025.
Other new capabilities Amazon Ads is developing include conversion path reporting to show brands their top-converting paths to purchase from the previous 30-days. It will soon be available self-service in ad console and Amazon DSP reports and is currently in closed beta and will be available to U.S. advertisers in open beta later this year.
And a long-term sales insights feature provides Amazon Ads campaigns with credit for a new product page visit based on the historical outcome from customers who have also visited a product page. Long-term sales insights are currently in closed beta and will be available to U.S. advertisers in open beta later this year.
