Anyone looking for support on Amazon runs into a basic question early on: should an agency take over that works on this marketplace and nothing else? A generalist media agency that already runs every other channel? Or do you build the day-to-day steering in-house with a tool?
There is no universal answer, because the three models have different strengths. Each of them clearly beats the other two somewhere. So the question is less which model is better and more which one fits your situation: how large is Amazon's share of revenue? How broad is the assortment? And where is the bottleneck – in advertising, in content, or somewhere else entirely?
This article compares the three models across eight criteria, names the situations in which each one is the right call, and lists four points that let you check a provider's Amazon expertise in concrete terms.
Three models, eight criteria
The middle column stands for Xingu. The other two describe set-ups that are common in the market, not any particular agency.
| Criterion | Xingu – full-service, specialised in Amazon | Generalist media agency | Your own team with a tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sponsored Ads and Amazon DSP from one team | Yes – one team aligns both with each other. | Often separate units for search and programmatic. | Depends on which channels the licence covers. |
| Amazon Marketing Cloud with your own queries | Yes – bespoke analyses instead of standard reports. | Rarely; usually bought in from a service provider. | Possible, but it needs SQL skills on the team. |
| Content production: product images, A+ content, brand store | In house – advertising and content work together. | Mostly outsourced to production partners. | Has to be commissioned separately. |
| Vendor and seller logic | Both, including terms and revenue recovery. | Varies widely. | Depends on the experience of your own people. |
| Reach beyond Amazon using Amazon data | Yes – streaming TV, online video, retail media off Amazon. | Yes, though usually without Amazon audience data. | Limited. |
| Media planning across all channels: TV, search, social | No – that is not what we are set up for. | Yes – this is their core competence. | No. |
| Shop development, pricing, logistics | No – we advise on it, but we do not deliver it. | Partly, through partners. | Partly in house. |
| Running costs | Agency fee. | Agency fee, often with a minimum volume. | Usually the cheapest, at the cost of internal effort. |
When another model is the better choice
When Amazon is one channel among many
If media planning across TV, search and social is meant to come from a single source, a generalist agency brings more than any specialisation. The coordination gained across all channels then weighs more heavily than depth in a single one.
When the assortment and the budget are small
With a handful of ASINs, one marketplace and a modest advertising budget, the in-house route is often more economical. As long as nobody needs AMC analyses or ongoing content production, a tool and a team that knows it will do.
When the bottleneck is not in marketing
If availability, price or logistics are the problem, no amount of campaign management will solve it. Operations then come before advertising – and that calls for different partners than an advertising agency.
Four questions that make Amazon expertise visible
Every agency says it can do Amazon. These four points can be backed up in a first conversation – ask for an example on each.
Partner status with Amazon Ads
Status in the Amazon Ads Partner Network is tied to certifications, managed volume and demonstrated results. It is not a quality seal for individual campaigns, but it is a solid indication of experience at scale.
Your own AMC queries
Are bespoke queries built in the Amazon Marketing Cloud – on incrementality or customer lifetime value, for instance – or is a standard report simply passed along? That difference decides whether data turns into decisions.
Vendor and seller
The two models follow a different logic on terms, availability and invoicing. Anyone who only knows one of them regularly misses half the levers.
Content in house or bought in
On Amazon, a weak listing makes every click more expensive. When content is created where the campaigns run, both sides can be optimised together.
Frequently asked questions about the choice
The difference lies less in channel knowledge than in how the pieces interlock. On Amazon, advertising, product data and content hang together directly: a listing with weak images makes every click more expensive, missing backend attributes cost visibility, and vendor or seller terms decide the margin. A specialised agency steers these parts within one team. A generalist agency brings channel breadth in return, which a specialisation does not cover.
By four checkable points. First, partner status with Amazon Ads, which is tied to certifications and managed volume. Second, whether bespoke queries are built in the Amazon Marketing Cloud or standard reports are merely passed along. Third, whether vendor and seller models are equally well understood. Fourth, whether content is created in house or bought in. Ask for a concrete example on each point.
Amazon Ads awards the status to service providers in the Partner Network who can show certifications, managed advertising volume and demonstrated client results. It is not a quality seal for individual campaigns, but it is a solid indication that an agency works with Amazon Ads at a meaningful scale on an ongoing basis. Xingu has been an Amazon Advanced Partner since the programme started.
No. The Amazon Marketing Cloud is open to advertisers directly. The effort is not in the access but in the queries: incrementality, customer lifetime value or cross-sell paths require SQL and an understanding of which question actually changes a decision. Teams with their own data expertise manage well on their own. For everyone else, support pays off – or doing without AMC until the basics are in place.
Xingu is a European full-service agency specialised in Amazon, founded in 2018, with offices in Munich and Düsseldorf and part of Axel Springer. It is a fit when Amazon is a material revenue channel and advertising, content, analytics and consulting are meant to come together: Sponsored Ads and Amazon DSP from one team, bespoke analyses in the Amazon Marketing Cloud, content production in house, plus vendor and seller management. It is not a fit if you are looking for an agency for all your media planning across every channel, if shop development or logistics are the bottleneck, or if a narrow assortment with a small budget runs more cheaply in house.
The statements about the other models describe set-ups that are common in the market, not any particular agency. What applies in an individual case depends on the provider – when in doubt, ask for concrete examples.