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More than 55% of consumers begin searching for products online on Amazon. Because of this, Amazon has become a necessary vehicle for brands to gain awareness and sell products. Amazon has evolved into a platform for brands to influence purchase decisions. To do so, advertisers invest in Amazon Advertising and Amazon DSP. Brands that implement this combination of advertising strategies can see their sales double.

Although DSP is powerful, it’s crucial to understand the nuances associated with measuring success. Continue reading to understand how to measure the success of Amazon DSP.

Determine a Goal Before Launching a Campaign 

Before getting started, brands should establish an end goal for their campaigns. This will determine the best metrics to consider when measuring success.

For example, when using Amazon DSP to support a new product launch a brand may measure detail page views, branded searches, and new-to-brand sales percentage. And on the other hand, when focusing on a different group of products, measurement, and KPIs will be different. 

Below we dive into each goal on a deeper level to help brands understand what to consider when measuring the success of DSP campaigns.

Awareness

Over the past few years, Amazon has become more crowded and competitive than ever. To drive awareness on Amazon, brands need to focus on engaging upper-funnel audiences. DSP helps do this through an array of custom lifestyle, in-market, contextual, and demographic audiences fueled by Amazon’s robust 1P shopper data. 

At this stage, brands should consider measuring impressions, reach, click-through rates, branded searches, and video completion rates.

Consideration

To reach audiences beyond the awareness stage, brands can use DSP's retargeting capabilities. Doing so follows shoppers as they visit product detail pages, read reviews, and add products to a wish list or cart. 

This tactic is crucial to sales growth because of the research shoppers do before buying. With this in mind, brands leverage DSP to actively influence decision-making. Clicks, branded searches, and video completions all contribute to driving shoppers into the consideration phase. 

Below are the following metrics important when evaluating the success of retargeting:

• Detail Page Views
• Cost-Per Detail Page View
• Product Review Page Views 
• Add-to-List Metrics 
• Add-to-Cart Metrics 

We’ve also seen behavioral shifts on mobile, where shoppers tend to use the cart more like a ‘save for later’ list. They add products with the intention of researching them from another device later. This is important to remember during measurement.

Purchase

When measuring for conversions, keep in mind DSP uses the same 14-day attribution window as search advertising. 

Because of this, all ad-attributed sales are deduplicated across DSP and search campaigns. So credit for conversions goes to the last ad click or view made available through DSP. 

It’s important for brands to understand the return on ad spend for both DSP and Amazon Advertising. But the last-click attribution model can create some confusion.

For example, there are instances where a DSP ad can assist in conversions by driving a branded search. But the shopper would be captured by the search advertisement and it would receive the credit instead. 

New-to-brand metrics can introduce another caveat to DSP measurement. An increase in sales from new customers generally causes a decrease in return on ad spend. So, if your DSP campaigns appear to be less efficient, remember this. Your DSP efforts are likely still contributing to growth by supplementing search campaigns.

Loyalty

Brands focused on repeat buyers rather than new customers should enroll in Amazon's Subscribe & Save Program. DSP can use this to track enrollments and loyalty. However, this metric doesn't reflect anything else about the transaction. Because of this lack of sales data, return on ad spend will likely decrease as Subscribe & Save increases. 

To measure loyalty through another lens, the DSP platform has the Audience Insights report. It reflects retail sales data, including repeat purchase behavior dating back 13 months.

DSP helps brands strongly position themselves against the competition. But measuring results is important and requires specific knowledge. We expect the reporting capabilities of DSP to grow with the offering and look forward to seeing what becomes possible.

If your brand could use the support of a strategic partner, schedule a free consultation. Or, if you have any questions about how to measure the success of Amazon DSP, we're here to help. For a more in-depth look at the Rebirth of Amazon Display Advertising, download this guide for free.

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