6 Months Into Amazon Prime Video Ads: What We Have Learned

“Streaming TV advertising is growing quickly and off to a strong start.”

That was Amazon CEO Andy Jassy’s observation in April, three months after introducing advertising to live sports and original programming on Amazon’s Prime Video service. Jassy may even have been underselling the initiative’s success: the service has already reached a monthly audience of 200 million viewers across its programming.

While Amazon’s reach is undoubtedly impressive, it takes more than a robust audience to operate a successful CTV advertising business. A successful platform also requires data, measurement and attribution. It’s all easier said than done — so how has Amazon performed in these areas in their first six months? Who can take advantage of Prime Advertising? And for those who can’t, are there other approaches that allow them to benefit from Amazon’s unique offering?

What Amazon Offers Advertisers

Amazon’s advertising assets offer a unique set of strengths (and some challenges they are still addressing) when compared with other video marketing channels:

Data

The Good:

• Amazon’s eCommerce marketplace dominance provides unparalleled access to data, particularly in specific verticals like food, drink, CPG, entertainment, fashion, and home and garden. This data extends beyond the eCommerce platform to include shopping data from Whole Foods, allowing for comprehensive attribution offerings.
  
  
• The combination of data and reach makes Amazon’s audience the most compelling on the market, allowing advertisers to track various conversion metrics such as branded searches, cart additions, purchases, and total sales.

The Challenges:

• Leveraging Amazon’s data requires advertisers to have significant internal capabilities and resources. They must know how to find their audience and analyze results effectively.
  
  
• Not all advertisers can take full advantage of Amazon’s data due to the need for scale and sophisticated data handling capabilities.

Reporting

The Good:

• Amazon’s robust reporting capabilities allow for an extensive range of insights due to the sheer volume of data it collects.

The Challenges:

• The reporting can be overwhelming for some advertisers, as it may be too complex and offer more data than can be easily interpreted or acted upon. Amazon would benefit from making the reporting more client-centric by focusing on delivering a smaller number of highly actionable insights.

User Experience

The Good:

• Amazon Prime Video delivers a viewing experience with fewer ads compared to linear TV and other streaming competitors, allowing advertisers to better manage frequency and reduce viewer fatigue while serving ads alongside premium content.
  
  
• The platform’s strong original series should be particularly appealing to advertisers.

The Challenges:

• Amazon’s DSP user experience is still evolving and is not as intuitive or feature-rich as competitive offerings from legacy DSPs. The platform's appeal to marketers will grow as it becomes more user-friendly and functional.
  
  
• Customer support is an area where Amazon must develop and streamline its processes, leaving room for improvement both for the platform and its users.

Innovation

• With all that it already has to offer in the data department and otherwise, Amazon is also focused on showcasing beta opportunities–like Fire TV rotator, Whole Foods Digital Out of Home (DOOH), and others. They continue to roll out these new opportunities for advertisers to test new capabilities that leverage the broad footprint of their properties and showcase their unique access points, transforming them into new media opportunities. 

How to Leverage Amazon's Broader Ad Ecosystem When Prime Isn't the Right Fit

Not every advertiser can tap into Amazon’s Prime Video opportunities in the same way. Prime Video advertising demands exceptionally high standards, requiring TV-quality creative assets. Advertisers relying on lower-cost content tailored for digital video channels simply won’t meet the mark.

Prime Video’s stringent requirements for scale and creative quality mean that it’s primarily accessible to large, well-resourced advertisers who can fully leverage Amazon’s vast data and audience reach. However, numerous advertisers face category restrictions that limit or even prohibit their participation—categories like healthcare and eCommerce come with tough regulations, while political advertising is prohibited.

So, what can marketers do if they can’t meet Prime Video’s demands but still want to harness Amazon’s unique data assets and audience targeting? The solution lies in exploring other Amazon inventory options that don’t require the same level of rigor and approval. Channels such as Fire TV, FreeVee, and Online Video offer the same robust data-driven targeting capabilities. Advertisers can tap into Amazon’s extensive data to find in-market shoppers or target specific audience profiles, activating campaigns across alternative channels that benefit from Amazon’s powerful data ecosystem.

Ultimately, Amazon—whether through Prime Video or its broader CTV properties—presents an unparalleled opportunity for advertisers. There is no better platform to connect content with commerce, even for those not directly selling on Amazon. As Amazon continues to expand its advertising offerings, staying informed about these opportunities is crucial for both large and small brands. Amazon’s data-rich properties are unmatched for reaching active shoppers and capitalizing on targeted consumer profiles.

Test Out Amazon's Ad Ecosystem with Strategus

At Strategus, we have direct access to Amazon DSP and the expertise to navigate the complexities of its vast advertising ecosystem. Whether you're a perfect fit for Prime Video or find that channels like Fire TV, FreeVee, or OLV align better with your goals, we’re here to help you leverage Amazon’s unparalleled data and audience targeting capabilities. Contact us to learn more about how we can help you take full advantage of everything Amazon has to offer.