April 17, 2018
Amazon has released a new dashboard feature for the Seller Central marketing platform. This latest marketing platform update comes on the heels of the new reporting options Amazon launched earlier this year. Found in the Seller Central campaign manager, the dashboard makes it easier than ever to visualize your campaign data.
Dashboard Features
The new feature lets you plot two KPIs on a graph and view the data over a customizable date range. You can also choose an additional three KPIs to show at the top of the graph, but they will not plot in the visual data. The KPIs include:
- Impressions
- Clicks
- Spend
- Sales
- Orders
- Advertising Cost of Sales (ACoS)
- Click-Through Rate (CTR)
- Cost Per Click (CPC)
Having the ability of plot the data visually is very beneficial, as it allows you to more easily interpret the data and gain valuable insights into your account. The customizable date range is also beneficial if you are wanting to compare performance for specific date ranges.
I do want to note that the customizable range is only available for the last 90 days. To go further back requires the date range to be set for year-to-date or lifetime. This is the only downside to the new dashboard beyond availability, which is currently limited.
KPI Comparisons
When looking at the KPIs, you will want to make sure what you are comparing makes sense. For instance, comparing clicks and impressions would make sense as you can visually see an ebb and flow – as impressions increase, clicks increase and vice versa. It can give you an idea of when your ads perform best, which can help in budget planning and strategy.
Look at that beautiful data.
On the other end of the spectrum, comparing CPC to ACoS would not make sense, as both metrics have so many factors in play that it would be difficult to infer accurate and actionable insights.
Not nearly as beautiful as the last graph. Such a shame.
To further ensure you are getting the most from the new dashboard, Amazon created a guide for comparing different metrics and how they relate to your overall account.
Image via Amazon.com, Inc.
Dashboard Availability
For those unaware, Amazon has two internal platforms for selling products on Amazon – Vendor Central and Seller Central – each with their own set of marketing options and tools. At the time of writing, the dashboard tool is only available in the Seller Central campaign manager and only for the sponsored product campaigns. If you are running campaigns through Amazon Marketing Services in Vendor Central or running the headline search ads in Seller Central, you will not see the new dashboard tool.
If you are unsure of your account status or want to dive deeper into the differences in Vendor versus Seller central, check out our guide comparing the two Amazon platforms.
Conclusion
The new dashboard is another cool improvement to the Amazon marketing platform making it even easier to report and take away insights from your marketing campaigns. The ability to visually compare KPIs can help in monitoring campaign and account health. It is a great addition to the Seller Central platform and I hope to see a similar tool being launched in Vendor Central sometime soon.
How do you feel about the new dashboard? Are you finding value in the tool? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter! I love to talk about Amazon any chance I can get.