Top 4 Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) Audiences to Target Through Amazon DSP Ads Today

Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) is a powerful tool for reaching relevant audiences at various stages of the customer journey. By leveraging Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) insights and Amazon DSP ads metrics, advertisers can craft precise targeting strategies to engage high-value customers. In this article, we'll explore the top three AMC audiences that every brand should consider targeting through Amazon DSP ads to drive conversions and improve ROI.

How AMC Audiences Are Activated in Amazon DSP 

Amazon Marketing Cloud provides a privacy-friendly clean room, enabling advertisers to analyze event-level signals without compromising individual user data. After building custom audiences in AMC with aggregated insights, they can be exported directly to Amazon DSP for activation.

In 2026, this process has been optimized. Advertisers can now transition from audience building to campaign activation with lower latency and greater data freshness. This enables high-intent users, such as cart abandoners, to be retargeted while their intent is still high.

Brands can develop faster, privacy-friendly, and results-oriented DSP campaigns by understanding this activation process.

1. Users Who Have Added to Cart but Not Purchased

Who Are They?

This audience comprises users who have expressed clear purchase intent by adding products to their shopping cart but, for some reason, have not completed the purchase. This could be due to distractions, second thoughts, or simply a change of mind in the final stage of the buying process.

Benefits of Targeting This Audience

• High Purchase Intent: These users are extremely close to converting. Since they’ve already engaged with the product and moved it into the cart, they represent a warm lead. A gentle nudge or reminder could be all it takes to encourage them to complete the transaction.

• Customizable Messaging: You can create highly tailored ads that address potential objections to rekindle their interest and close the sale.

• Lower Ad Spend: This audience is relatively small and highly focused, allowing you to allocate a lower budget for more precise targeting, which in turn can yield higher conversion rates.

Why It Works

Targeting users who’ve added products to their cart is an effective strategy because these customers have already demonstrated significant buying intent. By re-engaging them with reminders, you can re-capture their attention and urge them to finalize their purchase. With Amazon DSP’s ability to retarget on & off Amazon’s ecosystem, these ads can appear in various formats on multiple sites, boosting visibility and conversion chances.

Amazon ads reporting also plays a crucial role here. By analyzing the performance data, you can identify which cart abandoners are most likely to convert and adjust your strategy accordingly, ensuring that your re-engagement efforts are as effective as possible.

2. Users Who Have Added to Wishlist but Not Purchased

Who Are They?

Users who add items to their wishlist typically exhibit long-term purchase intent. They are interested in the product but may not be ready to buy immediately. This could be due to price considerations, waiting for a sale, or simply because they like to keep a list of potential future purchases.

Benefits of Targeting This Audience

• High Consideration, Low Pressure: These users are still interested in your product and are likely to buy when the conditions are right. Targeting them can help build long-term relationships, keeping your brand top of mind as they move closer to making a purchase decision.

• Upsell and Cross-Sell Opportunities: Since these users have an active interest in specific products, you can target them with ads that promote complementary products, bundles, or upgraded versions, increasing your average order value.

• Brand Loyalty and Engagement: Targeting wishlist users with Amazon DSP can help you develop a connection with consumers, encouraging brand loyalty by staying relevant throughout their decision-making process.

Why It Works

Wishlist users represent a mid-funnel audience, making them perfect for nurturing over time. By delivering ads that remind them of their wishlist items during promotional periods, you can move them further down the funnel. With the sophisticated targeting options Amazon DSP provides, these ads can be shown to wishlist users at the right moments across Amazon-owned sites & outside Amazon,  helping to maintain their interest and convert them at a later stage.

3. Lookalike Audiences

Who Are They?

Lookalike audiences consist of new users who share similarities with your existing customers, based on data such as demographic information, browsing patterns, and purchasing behaviors. These audiences are built by uploading first-party data such as your D2C customer list to the AMC & creating lookalike audiences thereon.

Benefits of Targeting This Audience

• Expand Reach Efficiently: Lookalike audiences help you reach new potential customers who are likely to be interested in your products, expanding your market without having to guess where your next customers might come from.

• Data-Driven Precision: With Amazon AMC’s advanced machine learning algorithms, lookalike modeling uses real-time data to create highly refined audience segments, ensuring you’re reaching the most relevant users.

• Improved Conversion Rates: Since these users have similar behaviors and preferences to your existing customers, they are more likely to engage with your brand, click through ads, and make a purchase, resulting in better conversion rates.

Why It Works

Lookalike audiences allow advertisers to cast a wider net without sacrificing relevance. Amazon’s vast data ecosystem makes these audiences especially effective, as it can identify user behaviors not just on Amazon, but across the web. By targeting people who resemble your existing high-value customers, you increase the likelihood of reaching individuals who will engage with your ads, click through, and make purchases. This approach significantly reduces wasted ad spend and helps scale your campaigns effectively.

4. High Lifetime Value (LTV) & Repeat Buyers

Who Are They?

High-value customers who have purchased from you several times and have spent a higher amount spent on you. AMC lets advertisers target such users based on historical transaction signals and level of engagement.

Benefits of Targeting This Audience

Maximize Profitability: Such customers are more likely to convert again and may have higher average order values.

Upsell & Cross-Sell Efficiency: Upsell high-end products, bundles, or subscriptions to maximize customer lifetime value further.

Retention-Driven Growth: It is much more cost-effective to retain existing high-value customers than to acquire new ones.

Why It Works

In 2026, advertising that maximizes profitability is set to replace pure acquisition advertising. By leveraging AMC to create audiences based on LTV, advertisers can target customers who are driving profitable revenue growth, not just conversions.

Journey-Based Audiences Using AMC Insights

In addition to behavioral triggers such as add-to-cart, AMC allows brands to build audiences through a complete path-to-purchase analysis. Advertisers can create audiences for users who interacted with Sponsored Ads but didn’t convert, users who were exposed to multiple ad formats, or users who had longer time-to-conversion windows.

This way, brands can allocate budgets precisely, control frequency, and make better retargeting decisions. Brands can also determine the average time users take to convert and make informed decisions about messaging and timing within Amazon DSP.

Conclusion

Amazon DSP, combined with AMC insights, offers unparalleled targeting capabilities to engage high-intent audiences at key stages of their purchasing journey. By focusing on users who have added to the cart but not purchased, those who have added to the wishlist but not purchased, and lookalike audiences, you can optimize your ad spend while driving higher conversions and stronger ROI.

• Cart abandoners offer quick wins with a little re-engagement.

• Wishlist users allow for strategic long-term nurturing and upselling opportunities.

• Lookalike audiences enable brands to scale by reaching new, highly relevant customers.

And with Amazon DSP now spanning display, video, streaming TV, as well as third-party inventory, AMC-built audiences can now be activated throughout a comprehensive omnichannel retail media strategy. While ensuring that the same messaging is applied across all customer touch points.

Incorporating these audiences into your Amazon DSP strategy is a smart way to leverage data-driven insights to get the most from your advertising campaigns today.