Amazon Sponsored Brands: A Complete Guide for Amazon Sellers

Maximize your brand's potential with Amazon Sponsored Brands. Learn key strategies to target the upper sales funnel and drive your products to best-seller success.
Amazon Sponsored Brands - A Complete Guide for Amazon Sellers

Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads are indispensable for achieving dominance in Amazon’s Search Engine Result Pages (SERPs). As an Amazon seller, understanding and leveraging Sponsored Brands is crucial for elevating your products and brand above the competition. In the right hands, Sponsored Brands are the essential tool to help propel your products into the best-sellers list! Using diverse ad formats and prominent placements, these campaigns can also help you engage new-to-brand (NTB) customers to get to know your brand. This article will serve as your comprehensive guide, unraveling every detail you need to harness this potent tool effectively for achieving your Amazon PPC targets. Let’s dive into the world where visibility meets conversion and explore how Sponsored Brands can transform your Amazon selling experience.

What is Sponsored Brands in Amazon?

Amazon Sponsored Brands, previously known as Amazon Headline Search Ads, are banner ads offering more creative freedom than Sponsored Products. These Sponsored Brand Ads feature the brand logo, a custom headline, and multiple products, predominantly displayed at the top of Amazon search results. In 2020, Amazon enhanced this feature by introducing video ads in search results, providing a dynamic way to engage potential customers.

Sponsored Brand Ads on Amazon Search Results Page (Top of Search and Video Ad Placement)

Whether you’re a seasoned seller or new to the platform, mastering Sponsored Brands is critical to securing a dominant position in the crowded Amazon marketplace, driving visibility, and ultimately, accelerating your path to best-seller status.

Ad Formats

Sponsored Brands can appear in various formats, such as Product Collection, Store Spotlight, and Video Ads.

  • Product collection: With this ad format, you can promote your products from a landing page of your choice. These ads feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and three or more products. When Amazon shoppers click on a product’s image, it takes them to the product detail page. Clicking the brand logo or the headline will direct shoppers to your Store or a custom landing page.
  • Store Spotlight: This ad format can help drive traffic to your Store. These ads feature your brand logo, a custom headline, and your Store on Amazon. When Amazon shoppers click the ad tile, it will direct them to the subpage within the Store. Clicking the brand logo or the headline will direct shoppers to your main Store page.
  • Video: This ad format features a video of a product that links to the product detail page. Video ads are eligible for mobile and desktop placements in shopping results.

Eligibility for Amazon Sponsored Brands

To utilize Sponsored Brands, sellers must be enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry. Additionally, the brand must have a published Amazon Store with at least 3 subpages to use the Store Spotlight Ad.

Ad Placement

Sponsored Brand Ads are usually placed at the top of search results, alongside results, or at the bottom of the page, offering significant visibility.

Bidding and Budgeting

Sponsored Brand ads are purchased on a CPC (cost-per-click) or vCPM (cost per 1,000 viewable impressions) basis. No minimum budget is required, and you control how much you spend by setting a daily budget and choosing how much to bid per click or 1,000 viewable impressions. The cost type depends on the campaign goals, which are either to grow brand impression share or drive page visits. You can choose only 1 goal per campaign, and this goal can’t be changed after the campaign is created; however, you may launch different campaigns with different goals. Effective bidding and budgeting strategies are essential for maximizing visibility while managing costs.

Drive page visits goal has a CPC cost type with an aim to drive traffic to product detail / landing page with Clicks as a success metric; whereas Grow brand impression are charged per 1,000-view (vCPM). The success metric is Top of Search Impression Share (IS).

Targeting Options

Sponsored Brands allow targeting based on keywords or products. Keyword targeting involves bidding on relevant words or phrases, while product targeting focuses on similar or complementary products and categories.

Measuring Success

Amazon provides detailed reports to track ad performance, with metrics like impressions, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), advertising cost of sales (ACoS), Return on Ad Spend (ROAS), Top of Search Impression Share, and New to Brand Metrics. Regular review and adjustment based on these metrics are crucial for improving ad performance.

Where do Sponsored Brand Campaigns Fit in the Sales Funnel?

Sponsored Brands, as an integral part of Amazon Advertising, fall into the upper to middle stages of the sales funnel, specifically the”Awareness” and “Consideration” stages. They play a crucial role in introducing your brand to new customers and influencing customer preferences early in their shopping journey.

Awareness Stage

At this stage, potential customers are just beginning their buying journey. They may not be aware of your specific products yet. Sponsored Brands are effective here because they are more visually prominent and can include your brand logo, a custom headline, and multiple products. This visibility helps introduce your brand and product line to new customers. The goal at this stage is to capture attention and make a memorable impression, which can lead to brand recognition.

Consideration Stage

In the consideration stage, customers look at different options and compare products. Sponsored Brands can be tailored to highlight specific product features, promotions, or unique selling points that make your products stand out among competitors. Directing users to your Amazon Store or a custom landing page provides them with more information, which can help in their decision-making process.

Best Practices for Sponsored Brand Campaigns

1. Strategically Craft Your Ad Creative

In the competitive Amazon marketplace, ads that lack visual appeal and clear messaging get lost in the shuffle. Many sellers struggle with creating ads that stand out amidst the crowded Amazon marketplace. Poorly designed ads with unclear messaging can lead to low engagement and click-through rates. This results in wasted ad spend and missed opportunities to connect with potential customers, hindering brand growth and sales. Remember to adhere to the following guidelines:

Professionally Designed Visuals

Use high-quality, visually appealing product images that showcase your items attractively. The visual component is often the first thing that catches a shopper’s eye and drives conversion. Additionally, for running Store Spotlight Ads, it is paramount to have a professionally designed Amazon Store to maximize the ROAS.

Expert Copywriting

Write concise, compelling ad copy that clearly states what you offer and why it’s beneficial. The tagline should encapsulate your brand’s essence or highlight a unique selling proposition.

Brand Consistency

Ensure the ad’s aesthetic and tone are consistent with your overall brand image. Your brand logo and tagline are prominently displayed for immediate recognition. This approach increases ad effectiveness and customer engagement and helps build brand recognition and trust.

2. Optimize Keyword Strategy

Sellers often face challenges in targeting the right audience, leading to inefficient ad spend and low conversion rates. This is usually due to a lack of proper keyword research, using too broad or irrelevant keywords, and poor campaign optimization, leading to inefficient ad spend. This lack of precision in targeting attracts less interested shoppers to your product pages, reducing the potential for conversions and impacting ROI negatively. The solution lies in:

In-depth Keyword Research

Conduct extensive keyword research to identify both broad and exact match terms relevant to your products. Look for keywords with high search volumes but relatively low competition.

Regular Refinement

Regularly review the performance of your chosen keywords. Remove underperforming keywords and add new ones based on market trends and search data. Remember, Amazon is a dynamic marketplace that requires continuous monitoring and refinement.

Negative Keywords

Implement negative keywords to exclude irrelevant traffic. This improves the efficiency of your ad spend by focusing on more likely-to-convert audiences.

3. Leverage Diverse Ad Formats

Relying on a single ad format limits the ways in which you can engage with different segments of your target audience. This approach is a missed chance to dance with different customer rhythms, leaving significant portions of your audience untouched and unengaged. Instead of a single Ad format, orchestrate an array of ad formats, from captivating carousels to mesmerizing videos. This isn’t just format selection; it’s crafting a multi-dimensional customer experience.

Format Variety

Use the variety of formats available within Sponsored Brands, such as store spotlight, video ads, and product collection ads, to keep your advertising dynamic and engaging.

Video Ads

In particular, utilize video ads for storytelling or product demonstrations. Videos can be highly engaging and informative, helping to increase conversion rates. Keep videos short, informative, and engaging.

Tailored Messaging

Choose the format that best fits your campaign goals and product type. For example, use product collection ads to showcase a range of products or video ads to demonstrate a product’s use.

Amazon Sponsored Brand: Video Ad

4. Utilize Data-Driven Insights for Optimization

Ignoring the goldmine of campaign data is like navigating a ship in a storm without a compass, leading to misguided decisions and lost potential. This is the silent killer of campaigns, quietly bleeding resources while the treasure chest of actionable insights remains locked away. Failing to analyze and act on campaign data leads to continued investment in underperforming ads, draining resources and limiting growth potential.

Turn data into your guiding star. Regularly delve into performance metrics to understand the narrative behind the numbers. A few essential pointers to keep in mind are:

Performance Analysis

Regularly analyze metrics like click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and return on ad spend (ROAS) to gauge campaign effectiveness.

Customer Insights

Use the data to understand customer behavior and preferences. For example, if certain products have higher click rates, consider featuring them more prominently.

Continuous Improvement

Use these insights to tweak your campaigns continually. Test different variables like ad copy, keywords, and images to see what yields the best results.

5. Regularly Refresh Your Campaigns

Ads that are not updated regularly become stale, leading to decreased customer interest and lower engagement. Continuously running the same ad creatives can lead to ad fatigue among your audience, reducing the impact of your advertising efforts. The solution lies in keeping your campaigns fresh and aligned with the target audience. Here are a few pointers for your consideration:

Update Creatives

Infuse new life into your campaigns regularly with fresh creatives and product spotlights. Refresh ad creatives periodically to avoid ad fatigue. This keeps your content fresh and engaging for repeat customers.

Product Rotation

Rotate featured products based on seasonality, stock levels, and performance data. Highlighting new or seasonal products can attract more interest.

Align with Trends

Align your messaging with the pulsating rhythm of market trends and seasonal waves. Tailor your campaigns to fit holidays, special events, or shopping trends like back-to-school or Black Friday sales.

Changes & Latest Updates Regarding Sponsored Brands

Custom Image Requirement – 31 January 2024

Starting January 31, 2024, all new and revised product collection ads on Amazon will require a custom image. Ads without custom images can still run until May 31, 2024. This change is due to Amazon’s data showing that ads with branded creative, like custom images, significantly outperform those with only product images, leading to a 50% increase in click-through rates and 60% more branded searches.

FAQs

What is the difference between Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands?

Sponsored Products are targeted ads for individual product listings, ideal for driving sales at the bottom of the sales funnel by driving direct product sales. Sponsored Brands, on the other hand, focus on brand promotion through enhanced creatives targeting top / prominent search result placements suitable for the upper end of the sales funnel.

Regarding thinking along the lines of Sponsored Products vs Sponsored Brands, Amazon sellers should understand that both campaign types are a part of Amazon advertising, and they should be used to complement each other according to business and product objectives at their particular stage of the lifecycle.

On which pages do Sponsored Brand Ads appear?

Sponsored Brand Ads primarily appear at the top of Amazon search result pages (SERPs), offering high visibility for brand promotion. They can also be interspersed within search results and are occasionally found at the bottom of these pages, effectively capturing customer attention at various stages of their search and browsing experience.


Sponsored Brands offer a powerful avenue for Amazon sellers to elevate their brand presence and boost sales. By understanding the nuances of creating, managing, and optimizing these ads, you can significantly enhance your brand’s visibility and appeal to your target audience. Remember, the key is to test and refine your strategies continuously, keeping your brand’s unique story and customer needs at the forefront.

Facing challenges with Amazon advertising?

You’re not alone. Many sellers face challenges in optimizing their Sponsored Brands campaigns for maximum impact. As a premier seller account management agency, we specialize in transforming these challenges into opportunities for growth. Reach out to us for Professional Amazon PPC Management.

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