Amazon Performance+ is Amazon's AI-powered campaign type for DSP (Demand-Side Platform) that automates audience targeting, bid optimization, and budget allocation using machine learning. Instead of advertisers manually selecting audience segments and setting bids, Performance+ uses Amazon's first-party shopping data to find and convert the highest-value audiences automatically.
It's Amazon's answer to Meta's Advantage+ and Google's Performance Max — the industry-wide shift toward AI-managed campaign types that require less manual input and more trust in the algorithm.
How Performance+ Works
Performance+ simplifies DSP campaign setup:
- Set your objective — Choose from awareness, consideration, or conversion goals
- Provide your creative — Upload ad creatives (display, video, or both)
- Set budget and KPI targets — Define daily budget and target cost-per-action
- AI handles the rest — Amazon's algorithm selects audiences, sets bids, and optimizes delivery in real-time
Under the hood, Performance+ leverages Amazon's massive first-party dataset: purchase history, browsing behavior, search queries, and category affinity signals from hundreds of millions of active shoppers. This data advantage is what makes Performance+ potentially more effective than similar tools from Meta or Google for product-focused advertising.
Performance+ vs. Traditional Amazon DSP
| Factor | Traditional DSP | Performance+ |
|---|---|---|
| Audience targeting | Manual segment selection | AI-selected from Amazon's full graph |
| Bid management | Manual or rules-based | Fully automated, real-time |
| Setup complexity | High (requires DSP expertise) | Low (goal + creative + budget) |
| Transparency | Full visibility into audience segments and placements | Limited — "black box" optimization |
| Best for | Precise targeting, retargeting, specific segments | Broad awareness, prospecting, scaling spend |
What CPG Brands Should Know
For CPG brands considering Performance+:
- It works best at scale — Performance+ needs data to optimize. Brands spending under $10K/month on DSP may not generate enough signal for the AI to work effectively.
- Creative quality matters more — When targeting is automated, creative becomes your main lever. Invest in strong creative testing.
- Measure on contribution margin, not just ROAS — Performance+ may drive high-volume sales at lower margins. Ensure the incremental sales are actually profitable.
- Use it alongside traditional DSP, not instead of — Performance+ is best for prospecting and broad awareness. Keep traditional DSP for retargeting, competitor conquesting, and precise audience strategies.
Example: Testing Performance+ Against Traditional DSP
A mid-market snack food brand spending $45K/month on Amazon DSP split their budget: 70% on traditional DSP campaigns with hand-picked audience segments, 30% on Performance+. Same creative assets, same ROAS target. After 8 weeks, Performance+ delivered 34% more new-to-brand customers at a 12% lower cost-per-acquisition than the traditional campaigns. The AI found audience segments the team hadn't considered, including pet owners (snacks as road trip food) and fitness enthusiasts (protein-focused products). But traditional campaigns still outperformed on retargeting, with 2x higher conversion rates on audiences who had previously visited the brand's detail pages. The lesson matched Amazon's broader trajectory: Amazon's advertising business generated $56.2 billion in 2024 (Amazon Q4 2024 earnings), and Performance+ is how they're making that inventory accessible to brands without deep DSP expertise. Use Performance+ for prospecting, traditional DSP for precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a minimum spend for Performance+?
Amazon DSP generally requires a $35K minimum spend commitment (self-service) or managed service agreements. Performance+ doesn't have a separate minimum, but it needs sufficient budget and conversion data to optimize effectively. Most brands see meaningful results starting at $15-25K/month allocated to Performance+ campaigns.
Can I see which audiences Performance+ is targeting?
Limited visibility. Amazon provides high-level reporting on audience categories and placement types, but not the granular segment-level detail available in traditional DSP campaigns. This is the core trade-off: you give up control and transparency in exchange for potentially better performance through AI optimization.
Is Performance+ worth it for mid-market CPG brands?
It depends on your DSP budget and goals. If you're spending $25K+/month on DSP and want to scale prospecting, Performance+ is worth testing with 20-30% of your DSP budget. If you're under $15K/month, traditional DSP with precise targeting will likely perform better because the algorithm doesn't have enough data to optimize.