Amazon DSP buys ads across Amazon and the open web. What makes it different from other display platforms is who it can reach: audiences built from Amazon's own shopping data. Choosing those audiences well is most of the work of a DSP campaign. Choosing them badly turns a good creative and a fair budget into impressions shown to people who will never buy.

This guide explains the main audience types in Amazon DSP, what each one is good for, how to combine and exclude them, and how to match them to the stage of the funnel you want to reach. If you are new to the platform, getting started with DSP covers the first campaigns.

In-market audiences

In-market audiences are shoppers Amazon identifies as actively considering a category, based on recent shopping behavior such as browsing, searching or buying related products. They change as people's needs change: someone shopping for a stroller this month may not be next month.

They are the closest DSP gets to search intent, which makes them the usual starting point for prospecting. A seller of kitchen knives might target people in-market for cookware or kitchen tools. Because these shoppers are already in a buying frame of mind, in-market campaigns tend to show more direct sales than broader audiences.

Lifestyle audiences

Lifestyle audiences describe longer-running interests and habits: home cooks, runners, new parents, pet owners. They are built from patterns over time rather than one recent shopping session.

They are useful for reaching people likely to care about a product before they start shopping for it. That makes them suited to launches, awareness campaigns and products people do not search for until they see them. Expect fewer immediate sales and more new-to-brand reach than in-market audiences.

Because lifestyle audiences are broad, they are easy to overspend on. Use them with tighter frequency caps and a clear measure, such as new-to-brand purchases or branded search lift, so the campaign is judged on what it is meant to do.

Contextual targeting

Contextual targeting places ads based on the content being viewed rather than the person viewing it. On Amazon, that can mean product pages or categories related to yours. Off Amazon, it can mean pages about relevant topics.

Its strength is that it does not depend on knowing much about the individual shopper. That matters as privacy rules and browser changes limit what platforms can track. It also suits products where the moment matters: an ad for a camping lantern next to content about camping trips.

Remarketing audiences

Remarketing audiences are built from people who interacted with your own products: viewed a detail page, added to cart, or bought. You choose the lookback window and the action.

Viewers who did not buy are the classic retargeting audience, and usually the best-performing DSP campaign for a seller. Past purchasers are useful for replenishment products and for cross-selling a related item. DSP retargeting covers lookback windows and exclusions.

Lookalike and advertiser audiences

Lookalike audiences find shoppers who behave like an audience you already have, such as your recent purchasers. They extend reach while keeping some of the quality of the source audience.

Some advertisers can also bring their own audiences into DSP, such as hashed customer lists, under Amazon's data rules. This is more common for brands with direct-to-consumer customer data. Amazon Marketing Cloud can build custom audiences from combined sponsored ads and DSP data. The AMC guide covers what is possible there.

Combining and excluding

Audiences become sharper when combined. In-market for a category plus a lifestyle interest reaches people both shopping now and likely to care. Contextual placement plus an in-market audience narrows further.

Exclusions matter as much. Exclude recent purchasers from prospecting and retargeting, unless the product is a replenishment item. Exclude your retargeting audience from prospecting campaigns, so the two do not compete for the same shoppers. Exclude audiences you know convert poorly.

For an illustrative example, Sunhollow Supply selling outdoor gear might run three campaigns: retargeting recent viewers of its own products, prospecting to shoppers in-market for camping equipment with recent viewers excluded, and a smaller lifestyle campaign aimed at outdoor enthusiasts with both other audiences excluded. Each campaign reaches a different group and can be judged on its own measure.

Watch size as you combine. Each layer shrinks the audience. If a campaign cannot spend its budget, the audience is too narrow. If it spends easily but frequency climbs and results fall, it may be too broad or too repetitive.

Matching audiences to the funnel

Awareness: lifestyle and broad contextual audiences, judged on reach, new-to-brand share and branded search lift.

Consideration: in-market audiences and lookalikes, judged on detail page views and new-to-brand purchases.

Conversion: remarketing to recent viewers and cart abandoners, judged on ROAS.

Loyalty: past purchasers for replenishment and cross-sell, judged on repeat purchase rate.

Most sellers start at the bottom and work up as results justify it. DSP targeting options covers the controls beyond audiences, and Sponsored Display vs DSP covers when a simpler tool will do the job.

Frequently asked questions

What is an in-market audience in Amazon DSP?

A group of shoppers Amazon identifies as actively considering a category, based on recent shopping behavior such as browsing or buying related products. In-market audiences are the closest DSP gets to search intent, which makes them the usual starting point for prospecting campaigns.

What is the difference between lifestyle and in-market audiences?

In-market audiences are built from recent shopping activity in a category and change as shoppers' needs change. Lifestyle audiences describe longer-running interests and habits, such as fitness, cooking or parenting, built from patterns over time. Lifestyle reaches people likely to care about a product, in-market reaches people likely to buy soon.

How large should a DSP audience be?

Large enough to spend the budget without showing the same people the ad too often, and small enough to stay relevant. There is no single right size. If a campaign cannot spend its budget, the audience is too narrow. If frequency caps are hit quickly and results are weak, combine or exclude segments to sharpen it.

Off Hours keeps your sponsored ads foundation on dayparting, budget and performance rules plus bid adjustments, so your search campaigns stay efficient while DSP builds the audience. Start a free 14-day trial.