How to Use Amazon Sponsored Brands Ads

What are Sponsored Brands?

Sponsored Brands are banner ads that appear at the top of Amazon search results. They show your brand logo, a custom headline, and up to three products. They're designed for brand building and driving traffic to your Store or product listings.

Unlike Sponsored Products (which look like regular search results with a "Sponsored" tag), Sponsored Brands are visually distinct: they span the full width of the search results page and include your brand identity. This makes them the most prominent ad placement on Amazon. When a shopper searches for "bamboo cutting board," your Sponsored Brand ad is the first thing they see.

The strategic value goes beyond individual product sales. Sponsored Brands introduce shoppers to your brand, drive traffic to your Brand Store where they can browse your full catalog, and create brand recognition that improves conversion across all your listings. Sellers who run Sponsored Brands alongside Sponsored Products typically see higher overall conversion rates because shoppers recognize the brand from the top-of-page banner.

Requirements

You need Amazon Brand Registry enrollment. This requires a registered trademark in the country where you're selling. If you're not brand-registered yet, see our guide on setting up Brand Registry.

Additional requirements:

• Brand logo meeting Amazon's specs (400x400px minimum, white or transparent background, no URLs or social media handles)
• At least 3 eligible products to run product collection ads (products must be in stock and Buy Box eligible)
• A Brand Store (required for Store Spotlight format, recommended for all Sponsored Brands)
• For video ads: a 15-45 second product video meeting Amazon's creative guidelines

Ad formats

Product Collection: Your logo, a custom headline, and 3 featured products. Clicking the logo or headline takes shoppers to your Store or a custom landing page. Clicking a product takes them to that product's detail page. This is the most common format and works well for showcasing your product range.

Store Spotlight: Showcases up to 3 pages of your Brand Store with custom images and labels. Best for brands with a diverse catalog that benefits from browsing. Drives traffic directly to your Store, which typically has lower bounce rates than individual product pages.

Video: An auto-playing video in search results featuring a single product. This is the highest-engagement format. Video ads consistently achieve 2-3x the click-through rate of static ads because motion captures attention in a page of still images. The video plays automatically (muted) as shoppers scroll through results, making it impossible to miss.

Most brands should run all three formats simultaneously, each targeting appropriate keywords and serving different stages of the purchase funnel.

Headline writing tips

Your headline is one of only two text elements shoppers see in your Sponsored Brand ad (the other is your brand name). It needs to communicate value in under 50 characters. Here's what works:

• Lead with your differentiator: "Organic Bamboo Kitchen Essentials" tells shoppers why you're different. "High Quality Products" tells them nothing.
• Include your category: Make it instantly clear what you sell. "Premium Kitchen Knives. Japanese Steel." works because shoppers know exactly what they'll find if they click.
• Avoid generic claims: "Best," "top-rated," and "premium" are used by every brand. Instead, be specific: "Made from Moso Bamboo" or "Handcrafted in Vermont."
• Test multiple headlines: Amazon lets you run multiple headlines in the same campaign. Create 3-4 variations and let data decide which performs best. Small wording changes can impact CTR by 20-30%.

Amazon's editorial guidelines are strict. You can't use claims like "#1" or "best-selling" without verification. Avoid exclamation marks, all caps, and subjective claims. Focus on factual differentiators.

Bidding strategy

Sponsored Brands compete in the same auction as Sponsored Products, but the placements are different (top of search vs in-line results). This means bidding strategy should be tailored:

Start with bids 20-30% higher than your Sponsored Products bids. Top-of-search placements are competitive and limited. There are only 1-2 Sponsored Brand slots per search, compared to many Sponsored Product slots. Higher bids are needed to win these premium placements.

Use keyword targeting for brand discovery keywords. These are broad category terms where shoppers are exploring options ("kitchen gifts," "cooking accessories"). Sponsored Brands are ideal here because you're introducing your brand to shoppers who haven't chosen a specific product yet.

Bid on your own brand name. Defensive brand bidding prevents competitors from showing Sponsored Brand ads when shoppers search for your brand. If you don't bid on your brand name, competitors will. Brand searches typically have very low ACoS because shoppers are already looking for you.

Budget allocation: Start with 15-20% of your total ad budget for Sponsored Brands. As you see results, adjust. Some brands find that Sponsored Brands drive enough awareness to improve Sponsored Products conversion rates, making the overall advertising portfolio more efficient.

Measuring performance

Don't judge Sponsored Brands purely on ACoS. The value of Sponsored Brands extends beyond direct-click conversions:

• New-to-brand metrics: Amazon shows what percentage of your ad-driven sales come from new customers. This is the most important metric for Sponsored Brands, since you're buying brand awareness.
• Brand search volume: Track searches for your brand name over time. An increase in branded searches after launching Sponsored Brands indicates your awareness campaign is working.
• Store visits and pages per visitor: If linking to your Store, track how many shoppers visit and how many pages they browse. More pages = more product discovery = more future sales.
• Halo effect on Sponsored Products: Compare your Sponsored Products conversion rate before and after launching Sponsored Brands. Many sellers see a 5-10% improvement in SP conversion because shoppers recognize the brand from the top-of-page banner.

A "good" ACoS for Sponsored Brands is typically 5-10 points higher than Sponsored Products. This is acceptable because Sponsored Brands drive awareness that feeds your entire sales funnel. If your Sponsored Products ACoS is 20%, a Sponsored Brands ACoS of 25-30% can still be a smart investment.

Common mistakes

Only running product collection: Video ads consistently outperform static formats. If you have Brand Registry, you should invest in a simple product video and test the video format. Even smartphone-quality video with good lighting outperforms no video.

Linking everything to product pages: Test linking to your Brand Store. While individual product page links have higher immediate conversion, Store links drive multi-product discovery that increases average order value and lifetime customer value.

Not bidding on your own brand: If you're getting brand searches and not bidding on them, competitors are showing their ads when shoppers look for you specifically. This is the highest-ROI keyword you can bid on.

Using the same keywords as Sponsored Products: Sponsored Brands work best with broader, category-level keywords where brand discovery matters. Highly specific long-tail keywords are better served by Sponsored Products.