What is Amazon Attribution and How Can It Help?

Do you know where your Amazon sales are really coming from? Chances are if you’ve been advertising your Amazon products on social media or Google, then you’re probably unaware of how well the ads have boosted your sales. This is because Amazon had no way of allowing sellers to measure their external advertisements. Amazon sellers and vendors were concerned that if they buy ads externally, like through Google and social media, then they wouldn’t be able to analyze their sales performance. The new Amazon Attribution tool aims to provide you with insight into these numbers.

In the past, Amazon only offered reporting on the performance of their own ads. Amazon Attribution makes it easier to pinpoint successful off-Amazon campaigns and platforms for driving Amazon sales.

How does Amazon Attribution work?

Amazon Attribution beta launched last year, offering sellers and vendors the ability to track the performance of the traffic that they are sending to their Amazon listings from outside traffic sources. The Attribution tool generates attribution tags, which are specific URLs with tracking parameters. These URL tags, effectively similar to Pixels, replace the ad’s original destination URLs. Info gathered from these tags are safe and are only used for attribution and analytical purposes. As examples, Amazon Attribution data helps brands identify how different marketing channels perform:

• Measure activity and identify success with a tool for many sources.
• Optimize campaigns with real-time traffic and sales tracking reports.
• Plan future campaigns based on your findings and test your theories.
• Prove to management or clients that your ads are profitable.

Tracking works across Google search, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, display, video ads, and email marketing outside of Amazon. Analytics shows vendors how consumers are discovering, researching and buying their products on Amazon. This is the first time Amazon has made third-party marketing performance data accessible within the Amazon Advertising platform. Instead of relying solely on post-campaign reports to see the numbers, Amazon Attribution provides access to real-time conversion reporting for your digital marketing campaigns.

Amazon Attribution analytics will be able to provide reports on different KPIs based on last-touch attribution:

• Click-throughs
• Publisher
• Page Views
• Adds to Cart
• Purchases
• Units Sold
• Product Sales (revenue)

Why is Amazon Attribution important?

Return on investment (ROI) is often the number one indicator of ad performance. It’s difficult to feel confident in social media ads, for example, when you can’t tell whether or not they’re driving sales. Amazon Attribution helps clarify performance by providing the most relevant KPIs for external marketing channels. You might find that Facebook ads are pulling in a lot of customers, while your Instagram ads aren’t getting the same traction. This can help you find where your audience is most interested in purchasing your products.

When it comes to Google Search ads, the Amazon Attribution tags can be placed on up to three different levels: ad group, ad, and keyword. This means you can track specific parts of your ads, based on the type of ad. Different placements of tags will allow you to compare how your ads perform and run A/B tests to validate your hypotheses.

Vendors also may find that certain ads aren’t performing well. If a vendor finds search ads aren’t bringing in the expected traffic, they might want to optimize their keywords. This can help them test theories on what is driving traffic on different platforms. If changes are made and those numbers stay low, then they can test other changes or switch channels altogether. If changes are made and sales numbers improve, then they can continue advertising in a similar fashion to see if the changes hold up.

Not only can Amazon Attribution help you see where time and money are most efficient, but it can also help brand owners and vendors understand their audiences. The more they understand their top buyers, the more they will be able to effectively target their primary audience.

How can vendors and brands use Amazon Attribution?

Amazon sellers, vendors, and agencies can all sign up to use the beta Amazon Attribution tool. New features are being released as Amazon continues to improve this tool. You can add the products you want to measure conversions on and generate tags for marketing strategies that will be added across your digital marketing content. You can add more users or partners to your Amazon Attribution console by selecting “Management,” then “User Management” and then adding the users.If you're looking for help with strategic planning and ad reporting, then consider contacting us. We will provide you with the ins and outs of Amazon selling. We stay on top of industry changes and help our clients get the most out of their sales. We can help you find solutions that are right for your business. Contact us today.