Expand your ad strategy with lookalike audiences

Introduction

Kenton Snyder:
Welcome, everyone, to this Intentwise webinar! I’m your host, Kenton Snyder. Today, we’re diving into a powerful topic that’s becoming essential in retail media and Amazon advertising: expanding your ad strategy with lookalike audiences.

If you're wondering how to scale your reach, improve targeting, and get more out of your existing Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) data, you’re in the right place.

Why Lookalike Audiences Matter

Let’s start with the big picture. In 2025, brands can’t afford to rely solely on their existing audiences. With increasing competition and rising CPCs, it’s crucial to find new audiences that behave like your best customers—that’s where lookalike modeling comes in.

Lookalike audiences let you target people who are similar in behavior, preferences, or purchase patterns to those who already convert well. It’s a proven strategy across paid media channels—and now you can do it in AMC.

How to Build Lookalike Audiences with AMC

At Intentwise, we’ve helped dozens of brands go from interest to implementation with lookalike targeting. Here's a simplified breakdown of how it works:

1. Start with your seed audience – For example, people who purchased in the last 60 days.
2. Profile your seed audience using AMC data—think ASINs, keywords, paths to conversion, geography, device types, and more.
3. Use AMC queries to identify users who share similar behaviors but haven't converted yet.
4. Push this lookalike segment to Amazon DSP to target with upper and mid-funnel campaigns.

This process helps you scale beyond your base without targeting blindly.

Best Practices for Lookalike Audience Segmentation

Here are some real-world best practices from the brands we work with:

• Time-Frame Specificity: Use a defined lookback window (e.g., last 60 or 90 days) to keep behavior relevant.
• Segment by Intent Signals: Consider different segments—like product viewers vs. repeat buyers.
• Don’t Just Copy & Paste: Your seed audience should be narrow but high quality—think of it like a control group in testing.

Where Lookalike Audiences Fit in Your Funnel

A common question: where do lookalikes belong in your media strategy?

These are mid- and upper-funnel audiences. They’re not totally cold, but they’re not existing customers either. You should use creatives that educate, drive awareness, and reinforce value props.

For example:

• Top-of-funnel: Showcase category-level solutions
• Mid-funnel: Product USPs and brand benefits
• Lower-funnel (retargeting): Push to purchase with offers or urgency

Case Study Example

One of our clients in the beauty category started with a small seed audience of high-value repeat purchasers. After modeling a lookalike in AMC and pushing that segment into DSP, their CTR jumped 28% and conversion rate increased 14%—all without increasing budget. That’s the power of strategic targeting.

Common Pitfalls to Avoid

Let’s cover a few things to watch out for:

• Too Broad a Seed Audience dilutes the quality of the lookalike.
• Ignoring Frequency Caps can lead to ad fatigue.
• Lack of Measurement—always tie performance back to AMC to understand what’s working.

Getting Started with Lookalikes

If you're already using AMC, this is a low-lift, high-impact strategy. With Intentwise, we help you:

• Write custom queries (or use our templates)
• Build dynamic audience pipelines
• Push to DSP with complete visibility
• Monitor and iterate using AMC-based metrics

Closing Thoughts

Lookalike audiences give brands a powerful way to scale smartly and convert more efficiently. With Amazon Marketing Cloud and DSP working together, your ad strategy doesn’t have to stop at what’s already working—it can go a whole lot further.

If you're curious how Intentwise can help implement this or want a walkthrough, feel free to reach out.

Thanks again for joining us!