Amazon Marketing Cloud Audiences: How the New Generative AI-Powered SQL Generator Works

Imagine having the ability to know exactly who’s interested in your products, how they shop, and when they’re ready to buy—all before you even launch an ad. That’s the kind of precision Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) is hoping to offer with its new generative AI-powered SQL generator.

This new feature lets advertisers create custom audiences by simply typing requests in natural language (e.g., “Create an audience of shoppers who viewed my product pages and saw my streaming TV ads but didn’t purchase in the last 30 days”). AMC handles the complex SQL coding behind the scenes, making advanced audience building accessible to everyone.

As our Director of Advertising Mansour Norouzi shared on LinkedIn, AMC allows brands to build audiences based on real shopper behaviors—like clicks, product views, purchases, or even time spent browsing a detail page. From running Sponsored Ads or DSP campaigns, you can use AMC to help you focus your ad spend on the customers most likely to convert.

What are AMC Audiences?

AMC Audiences are a powerful tool that helps brands target shoppers more effectively by analyzing real behavior. Instead of guessing, you can create precise audience segments based on actions like clicks, purchases, or adding items to a cart.

Here’s how it works: AMC collects data from across Amazon’s ecosystem, including Sponsored Ads and DSP, to give you a full picture of your customer journey. You can use this data to create highly specific audiences tailored to your campaign goals.

How the New SQL Generator Makes Building Audiences Easier: Traditionally, creating custom AMC audiences required advertisers to write SQL code manually, which could be a challenge for those without technical expertise. The new generative AI-powered SQL generator simplifies this process. You can now type queries in plain language—such as, “Create an audience of customers who heard our audio ads but haven’t made a purchase”—and AMC will write the SQL code for you.

This tool speeds up the process and allows advertisers to explore new use cases and combinations of data. This unlocks even more precise audience targeting across Amazon Ads channels.

Key Features

• Cross-Channel Data Integration: See how shoppers interact with your brand across Sponsored Ads and DSP campaigns, all in one place.
• Generative AI-Powered SQL Generator: Build audiences faster and easier by using natural language queries instead of manually writing SQL code.
• Custom Audience Creation: Use SQL-based tools (now AI-assisted) to build audiences using detailed criteria that matter most to your business.
• Granular Insights: Understand the shopper journey better and optimize your campaigns at every stage of the funnel.

Types of AMC Audiences

AMC offers two main types of audiences to help you connect with the right shoppers:

1. Rule-Based Audiences

These are built using specific criteria you define. For example, you can create an audience of shoppers who spent $500 or more on your products in the last year.

2. Lookalike Audiences

Lookalike audiences help you find new customers who share traits with your best ones. AMC starts with a “seed audience” (like your top spenders) and uses machine learning to find similar prospects.

You can customize how closely these new audiences match your seed group:

• Most Similar: Tight match to your seed, smaller but highly relevant audience.
• Most Broad: Larger group with looser similarities, perfect for expanding your reach.

AMC’s audience types give you the flexibility to go after loyal buyers, new prospects, or a combination of both, depending on your goals.

Best Practices for Building AMC Audiences

To get the most out of AMC audiences, it’s all about starting smart and staying focused. Here are a few tips to help you build audiences that deliver results:

1. Align with Campaign Goals

Match your seed audience to the behavior you’re optimizing for. If you’re aiming for purchases, use past purchasers as your seed—not just ad clickers.

2. Leverage High-Value Seeds

Start with your best customers. These could be your top spenders, frequent buyers, or loyal customers. The more valuable the seed, the more impactful your lookalike audience will be.

3. Get the Size Right

Seed audiences work best when they include 500 to 500,000 user IDs. Too small, and the algorithm struggles; too large, and the targeting becomes less precise.

4. Test and Refine

Experiment with different similarity levels:

• Use Most Similar for precise targeting.
• Go Most Broad when you want to scale up.

Building AMC audiences is part science, part strategy. Start with strong seeds, adjust based on your goals, and let the data guide you.

Activating AMC Audiences in Campaigns

Once your AMC audience is ready, you can activate it across Amazon DSP or Sponsored Ads. With the new SQL generator, you can build cross-channel audiences for full-funnel use cases, such as:

• Retargeting shoppers who interacted with your streaming ads but didn’t purchase.
• Engaging customers who heard your audio ads but haven’t yet added items to their cart.
• Combining behaviors from shopping and streaming data to create hybrid campaigns.

This flexibility allows you to reach the right shoppers with tailored strategies, whether you’re focusing on awareness, consideration, or conversions.

Tips for Effective Campaign Setup

1. Use One Audience Per Line Item: This makes reporting easier and helps you analyze delivery and performance at the audience level.
2. Allow for an 8-12 Week Learning Period: Give the algorithm enough time to optimize and collect meaningful data.
3. Avoid Early Tweaks: Hold off on making major adjustments (besides bid increases for scaling) during the first two weeks. This ensures the algorithm has time to learn.

Benefits of AMC Audiences

AMC Audiences offer several key advantages for advertisers looking to improve performance and drive results:

1. Precision Targeting: Create audiences based on specific shopper behaviors like clicks, purchases, or cart actions, allowing you to target exactly the right people at the right time.
2. Scalable Growth: Use lookalike audiences to expand your reach by finding new customers who share traits with your high-value shoppers. Scale without sacrificing relevance.
3. Smarter Ad Spend: Allocate your budget toward the most promising audience segments, reducing waste and ensuring your investment goes where it matters most.
4. Improved ROI: With AMC’s data-driven insights, you can optimize campaigns to focus on high-potential shoppers, driving better conversions and greater returns on your ad spend.
5. Boosted Productivity: The SQL generator saves time and simplifies audience creation, allowing advertisers to focus on strategy rather than technical details.

Case Examples of AMC Audiences in Action

Retargeting Cart Abandoners with Personalized Promotions

Imagine a skincare brand that sells a premium anti-aging serum. AMC lets you create an audience of shoppers who added the serum to their cart but didn’t purchase. You can then retarget them with Sponsored Display ads offering a 10% discount or highlighting customer reviews. These tailored promotions help nudge high-intent shoppers to complete their purchase.

Using Lookalikes of High-Value Buyers to Attract New Customers

A health supplement company identifies its top spenders—shoppers who purchase subscription packs of vitamins every month. Using this seed audience, AMC creates a lookalike audience of new shoppers with similar behaviors and demographics. The company then targets this audience with ads highlighting the convenience and benefits of their subscription model, bringing in fresh, high-value customers.

Running Seasonal Campaigns by Targeting Past Event Shoppers

A clean beauty brand knows that sales spike during Black Friday and the holiday season. With AMC, they can create an audience of shoppers who purchased gift sets during last year’s events. This audience is then retargeted with Sponsored Brands ads featuring limited-time holiday bundles or exclusive deals, ensuring they capitalize on repeat seasonal buyers.

Getting Started with AMC Audiences

Setting up AMC audiences might seem complex at first, but the SQL generator’s natural language interface makes it much easier. By typing plain-language queries, you can quickly build advanced audiences tailored to your objectives—no coding required. Here’s how to get started

1. Define Your Objectives

Before diving into audience creation, it’s crucial to clarify what you want to achieve. Are you trying to:

• Retarget existing customers (e.g., cart abandoners or past purchasers)?
• Acquire new customers using lookalike audiences based on your top spenders?
• Boost seasonal sales by targeting shoppers who previously purchased during key events (like Black Friday or holiday sales)?

Having a clear goal will guide how you build and activate your audience, ensuring your campaigns align with specific outcomes. This step serves as the foundation for your audience strategy.

2. Use the SQL Generator to Build Rule-Based or Lookalike Audiences

The new generative AI-powered SQL generator makes it easier than ever to create custom audiences in AMC. Instead of manually writing SQL code, you can type queries in plain language, like:

• “Create an audience of shoppers who viewed my product pages and saw my streaming ads but didn’t purchase in the last 30 days.”
• “Find customers who heard my audio ads but haven’t made a purchase yet.”

The SQL generator will automatically generate the necessary code to create your audience. From there, you can fine-tune the audience to ensure it matches your specific campaign goals—whether that’s a rule-based segment (e.g., top spenders) or a lookalike audience designed to scale your reach.

3. Activate Your Audiences in Sponsored Ads or DSP Campaigns

Once your audience is ready, it’s time to put it to work. You can activate your AMC audiences directly in Amazon DSP or Sponsored Ads.

• For DSP: Use AMC audiences for full-funnel campaigns, from upper-funnel awareness (e.g., streaming TV ads) to mid-funnel consideration (e.g., retargeting shoppers who viewed product pages).
• For Sponsored Ads: Focus on bottom-of-funnel tactics like retargeting cart abandoners or targeting loyal repeat buyers with Sponsored Product or Sponsored Brand ads.

AMC allows seamless cross-channel activation, so you can use the same audience for campaigns across audio, video, streaming, and display ads, ensuring your message reaches shoppers wherever they are in the funnel.

4. Monitor Performance and Refine as Needed

After launching your campaigns, it’s important to track performance and make adjustments as needed. AMC’s advanced analytics tools allow you to:

• Measure delivery and performance metrics for each audience (e.g., conversion rates, click-through rates).
• Identify high-performing segments and reallocate budgets to maximize ROI.
• Test and refine your audiences by adjusting your criteria (e.g., narrowing or broadening lookalike similarity levels).

For the first 8-12 weeks, let the campaigns run uninterrupted to allow the algorithm time to learn and optimize. After the learning period, analyze the results and fine-tune your strategy to improve future performance.

The Future of Smarter Advertising Starts Here

AMC audiences are a powerful way to elevate your advertising on Amazon. With tools like the SQL generator, you can build audiences more easily, explore new use cases, and unlock opportunities across the full funnel—from awareness to conversion.

As an Amazon Advanced Advertising Partner, we can give you meaningful insights into your current strategy. Book a free brand audit with us today and discover how AMC audiences can help you maximize your potential on Amazon.