You're in. You have access to tantalizing amounts of event-level data from Amazon. It seems like the stuff you've been missing all along. You log into the AMC console. You find your first Instructional Query. You push "Run" and......the Excel file is empty.
Don't worry, it's happened to all of us. So how do you run your first AMC query and actually get a response? Check out our quick start tips for using AMC's console and queries.
p.s. If you're not "in" yet due to not having access to AMC, ping us at [email protected]. We can get you access to AMC for Sponsored Advertisers.
TLDR:
Start with Template Analytics. They are the easiest to get going. Type a name, set a date range, and click 'Submit'. If you rather attempt an Instructional Query, be wary of custom parameters being included in your query. These are often the culprit for no data being returned. And remember, sometimes there just isn't enough data for Amazon to aggregate so the identifying fields will be blank for some rows of data in the response.
Run a Template Analytics Query:
Navigating AMC and its Query Options
AMC provides 81 instructional queries, 8 of which are deemed as 'Template Analytics' and require no or very little setup to run. All of the pre-built queries serve as examples of what’s possible with the platform, though they are far from exhaustive. The data in AMC is event-level transaction data, allowing you to combine and analyze it in almost any way.
Starting with Template Analytics
For beginners, the we suggest using template analytics. These are pre-formatted queries that don’t require setup and can give you valuable insights without much customization. Popular templates include queries grouped by campaign groups, which allow you to analyze how customers interact with ads, including insights into new-to-brand customers, time to conversion, and path to conversion.
Notable Queries
New-to-Brand Gateway ASINs: Identifies which products attract first-time customers.
Time to Conversion: Analyzes the time it takes for customers to convert after ad interactions.
Reach and Impression Frequency: Shows how many and how often customers see your ads.
Running a Query
When setting up a query, you can select a time frame (e.g., 90 days) and run it without additional filters to see all relevant campaign data. Results may include gaps if certain thresholds are not met, such as Amazon’s aggregation threshold, which ensures privacy by preventing users from identifying individual transactions.
*Note that when you select a Template Analytics query, Amazon takes you to the Instructional queries view to submit the query. Once the query is run, the results can be seen under the Template analytics view of the console per:
The path is Template analytics (select query here) > Instructional queries (submit query here) > Template analytics (retrieve results here):
Using the Query Editor
Once a Template Analytics query is run, you can view the actual SQL code in the query editor, which allows you to see how Amazon constructed the query, including the data tables and groupings used. This is a useful tool for understanding the structure of queries and learning how to modify or replicate them.
To do so from Template analytics, either click the blue link on the Name of the query in the Results table, or click the 'Actions' drop down to 'Open in query editor' per the screenshot below:
Run an Instructional Query:
If you're ready to move up to Instructional Queries, check out the video below. The key is knowing what the query is filtering on, or the Custom Parameters being used.
Moving Beyond Template Analytics in AMC
Once you are ready to transition from template analytics to instructional queries, there’s a common issue: running the query but receiving no data. This usually happens because of custom parameters being hidden and incorrectly applied.
Understanding Instructional Queries
Many instructional queries start with an exploratory query, which helps gather data or filters for the main query such as groups of Campaigns or ASINs. For example, if you're running a sponsored ads ASIN cross-purchase analysis, the exploratory query will help identify which ad products or ASINs to use as filters in the analysis. However, managing custom parameters from the exploratory query can be tricky.
Common Problem with Custom Parameters
The main issue is that people often struggle to correctly use values from the exploratory query in the main query, leading to no results being returned. This can happen if the original sample campaign or ASIN values are accidentally used (because they're hidden in the custom parameters) or incorrectly formatted values are added to the custom parameters pane.
Solution: Running Queries Without Custom Parameters
To resolve this, you can simply remove the custom parameters and run the query without filters to get the complete response:
Open the query in the query editor.
Find the hidden custom parameters (e.g., a campaign ID string) that are filtering the results.
Remove the problematic parameters directly from the query, ensuring no "AND" statements are left without a preceding condition.
Adjust the time range to ensure enough data is captured (e.g., select 90 days).
Run the query, and it should return data.
Aggregation Thresholds
If you see blanks in the result (e.g., missing ASINs or campaign names), it's likely because you haven't met Amazon's aggregation threshold, which ensures user privacy by preventing identification of individual transactions.
Additional Notes
There are other methods to remove custom parameters such as inserting an asterisk in place of the parameter string, but the simplest method is to remove the filtering statement altogether.
Additional recommendations for getting started with AMC:
As we are all on the AMC learning curve, here's what we're doing to get up and running to get the most out of AMC:
Do the AMC certifications so you can get a feel for what you're working with:
Here's a link to the AMC courses in the Amazon Learning Console: https://learningconsole.amazonadvertising.com/student/collection/8532/path/77501
As a first step, run all of the Template Analytics queries, which are pre-built queries that you don't have to modify to run.
You just set the date range and select some options. Run them all, see what comes back. You can look at the underlying queries to understand what's happening...I've found this the best way to get a feel for the query language itself
Longer term, running queries in AMC is probably someone's job. Identify that person.
It's a steep curve to get beyond the template queries and will take someone willing to dive deep and write SQL (Amazon's SQL that is).