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Want to really stand out on Amazon’s marketplace? Here’s how to use Sponsored Brand ads to carve out valuable eCommerce real estate.

Why Brand Recognition Matters More Than Ever

Sponsored Brands ads build brand recognition by displaying your logo, headline, and multiple products at the top of search results, positioning your entire brand in front of high-intent shoppers rather than promoting individual listings in isolation.

With millions of sellers on Amazon, customers face an overwhelming number of choices. Without strong brand recognition, products get commoditized, and price competition erodes margins fast. Sponsored Brands ads address this directly.

A few reasons this matters beyond the initial click:

Customer Lifetime Value: Branded shoppers typically have higher lifetime values and lower acquisition costs over time, based on established customer behavior patterns.

Premium Positioning: Sponsored Brands let you communicate your unique value proposition, brand story, and quality differentiators. That positions your products as considered choices rather than commodity alternatives.

Cross-Product Discovery: When customers connect with your brand through a Sponsored Brands ad, they’re more likely to explore your full catalog. That cross-selling effect increases average order values and overall revenue per customer.

The Expanding Amazon Marketplace in 2026

Amazon now hosts millions of sellers worldwide, with hundreds of thousands actively selling and new sellers joining daily. This creates both opportunity (more traffic per active seller in many categories) and pressure that requires deliberate brand differentiation.

Key market context for 2026:

• Amazon accounts for roughly one-third of US ecommerce sales
• According to Amazon, tens of thousands of independent sellers generated over $1 million in sales in 2024
• A large share of Amazon sellers now use Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)
• Third-party sellers drive the majority of Amazon’s total sales volume
• Amazon continues to expand ad products like Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands, and Brand Stores into additional marketplaces, with rollout timing varying by region and account

That’s why finding ways to differentiate your brand has become more important, not less.

Amazon Brand Registry: Your Essential First Step

Amazon Brand Registry is a free program that verifies your trademark ownership and unlocks Sponsored Brands advertising, custom Brand Stores, A+ Content, and enhanced brand protection tools. You must enroll before running any Sponsored Brands campaigns.

Establishing brand voice and a unique value proposition is front-and-center for Amazon right now, and Brand Registry is the entry point.

Typical Brand Registry benefits as of 2026 include:

• Custom Brand Store creation
• Access to enhanced A+ Content and AI-assisted tools where available
• Advanced brand analytics and customer insights
• Eligibility for all Sponsored Brands ad formats
• Brand protection tools and IP enforcement

What Are Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads?

Amazon Sponsored Brand ads are cost-per-click advertisements that feature your brand logo, custom headline, and multiple products (minimum of one). Unlike Sponsored Products that promote individual listings, Sponsored Brands promote your entire brand and require Amazon Brand Registry enrollment.

Sponsored Brand ads appear at the top of search results and on product detail pages on both desktop and mobile, helping drive brand discovery among customers shopping for similar products. You can direct shoppers to your Amazon Store, a new landing page, or a custom URL.

We wrote about getting started with Amazon Sponsored Products ads. If you’re just beginning your Amazon advertising journey, that post is a perfect place to start. This series also covers Amazon Sponsored Display if you want to see how all three campaign types fit together.

Much like a Sponsored Product Ad, a Sponsored Brand Ad is cost-per-click, and may target keywords, categories, and/or products. If you’re still working out how Amazon advertising fits your budget, our breakdown of how much Amazon advertising actually costs covers what to expect across campaign types.

How Sponsored Brands has evolved in 2025–2026

As of 2025–2026, Amazon has steadily expanded Sponsored Brands capabilities, including:

• Goal- and AI-driven bid automation that helps you stay closer to your target costs
• More robust New-to-Brand (NTB) metrics and controls for acquisition campaigns (availability varies by marketplace)
• Additional video placements and more flexible creative editing for Sponsored Brands video
• Deeper integrations with Amazon Marketing Cloud for brands that have access to AMC

Who Can Use Amazon Sponsored Brands?

Amazon Sponsored Brands are available for:

• Professional sellers enrolled in Amazon Brand Registry
• Vendors
• Book vendors
• Agencies
• Authors in India, Mexico, Netherlands, and Japan can now run Sponsored Brands campaigns

Important: Brand Registry enrollment is mandatory for most Sponsored Brands features, as it verifies your brand ownership and unlocks advanced advertising capabilities.

What Products Are NOT Eligible for Amazon Sponsored Brands?

The following products cannot be advertised with Sponsored Brands:

• Adult products
• Used products
• Refurbished products
• Products in closed categories

For a full list of permitted and prohibited categories, review the creative acceptance policies for Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products. Amazon has also improved its image compliance reporting, providing more detailed guidance on why creatives may be rejected, which helps sellers avoid listing suppression.

How Do New-to-Brand Metrics Help Acquire Customers?

New-to-Brand (NTB) targeting lets you increase bids specifically for shoppers who haven’t purchased from your brand in the past 12 months, making customer acquisition more measurable. Amazon has expanded NTB audience options in Sponsored Brands campaigns over the past year, giving brands more control over how aggressively they bid for first-time customers. Rollout and feature depth can vary by marketplace, so always confirm which NTB metrics and controls are available in your specific ad console view.

Why New-to-Brand Matters

Using ACoS and TACoS alongside New-to-Brand data gives you a fuller picture of campaign performance. ACoS or ROAS alone don’t tell you whether your Sponsored Brands campaigns are actually growing your brand audience. New-to-Brand metrics let you track:

• Orders and sales from first-time customers
• Bid adjustments at the audience level
• Performance insights specific to NTB shoppers
• Acquisition campaign scale over time

Applying NTB in Campaign Setup

When setting up an acquisition campaign, apply percentage-based bid adjustments for New-to-Brand audiences. Increasing bids by 100% means you’ll pay up to double your base bid when targeting first-time customers. Advertisers using higher NTB adjustments typically see improved new customer acquisition rates, though often at higher initial ACoS. The long-term value of those customers frequently justifies the investment.

For more on how to think about bid adjustments across campaign types, see our Amazon PPC bid strategy guide.

Which Sponsored Brands Ad Format Should I Use?

There are three Sponsored Brands ad creative formats: Product Collection, Store Spotlight, and Sponsored Brands Video.

1. Product Collection

Product Collection lets you promote multiple products from a landing page using lifestyle or product imagery. This is where you can show prospective customers your brand story with ads that feature rich custom imagery.

After selecting your product collection, you’ll choose a landing page and a minimum of one product to feature in your creative.

Recent enhancement: When your products are running eligible deals, Amazon may surface promotional call-outs in your Sponsored Brands creatives automatically. The exact treatment can vary by category and marketplace.

Canopy Pro Tip: For KDP Authors, Sponsored Brands puts your personal brand front and center. Your ad’s landing page takes shoppers into a virtual bookstore with features like highlighted books, reviews, summaries, and other ASIN metadata.

2. Store Spotlight

For sellers with Brand Registry, Amazon Stores let you build a free branded storefront using custom layouts and pre-made templates. Store Spotlight takes that investment further by featuring your Store directly in Sponsored Brands campaigns.

Before running Store Spotlight campaigns, it’s worth making sure your Store is set up to convert. Our Amazon Store optimization guide covers what to prioritize.

Requirements and features:

• Your Store must have a minimum of three subpages to be eligible
• Each subpage needs a unique product
• You can showcase up to three Store subpages
• Customize headlines, subpage images, and labels
• First three subpages are preselected but can be changed

As of 2026, many advertisers now see AI-powered headline suggestions in Sponsored Brands (including Store Spotlight) based on their products. These suggestions are designed to follow policy guidelines and speed up creative testing, though availability and quality can vary by account.

3. Amazon Sponsored Brands Video

Video is a scroll-stopper. Sponsored Brands Video displays auto-playing content in shopping results and consistently shows higher engagement rates than static ads across most categories.

Video Ad Specifications:

• Duration: 6 to 45 seconds
• Display: Auto-playing in mobile and desktop shopping results
• Targeting: Keywords relevant to your product
• Destination: Product detail page or Brand Store

Recent Sponsored Brands video updates include:

• More prominent placements, including top-of-search positions in some categories
• The ability to link directly to a Brand Store or product detail page
• More flexible creative editing in many accounts, often preserving much of your historical performance data rather than treating every edit as a new campaign (check how your specific ad console handles changes before making large edits)
• Expanded options to align video campaigns with keyword, category, and product targeting

Important: Sponsored Brands Video runs in its own ad placement and auction. Running a Sponsored Brands video won’t compete against your other sponsored ads.

Canopy Pro Tip: Canopy Management’s Creative Services team recently won two gold AVA video awards for work on our partners’ Amazon advertising campaigns. Our creative department covers full listing optimization, research and copy, photography, and video. Reach out if you’d like a head start.

Advanced Campaign Goals and Cost Controls

By 2026, Amazon has leaned heavily into goal-based and AI-assisted bidding for Sponsored Brands. Rather than managing bids manually, you can align campaigns to specific objectives and let Amazon’s systems adjust bids toward those goals.

Brand campaigns and organic rankings aren’t separate strategies. If you’re not sure how they interact, this post walks through the relationship between paid brand advertising and organic visibility.

Common campaign goals in Sponsored Brands include:

1. Grow Brand Impression Share

• Focus: Maximize brand visibility and awareness
• Measurement: Based on clicks and views
• Best for: New brand launches and market penetration

2. Acquire New Customers

• Focus: Drive first-time purchases
• Measurement: Based on clicks
• Best for: Customer acquisition, features NTB targeting for added precision

3. Drive Page Visits

• Focus: Encourage engagement with your Brand Store
• Measurement: Based on clicks
• Best for: Building brand consideration and discovery

Cost Control Features

In many Sponsored Brands setups, you can define a target cost or goal, and Amazon’s systems will adjust bids to help you stay near that target over time. Instead of managing individual keyword bids, you set a budget, a goal, and let the system handle most of the fine-tuning. The exact controls and reporting available can differ by account size, marketplace, and ongoing Amazon tests.

Optimizing for Customer Acquisition

For brands focused on growing their customer base, pairing the “Acquire New Customers” goal with New-to-Brand bid adjustments creates a strong acquisition setup.

In our work with brands managing substantial advertising budgets, we’ve observed that strategic customer acquisition campaigns, even when operating at higher ACoS, generate long-term value through repeat purchases that traditional ACoS calculations miss. The key is measuring customer lifetime value alongside first-purchase ACoS to understand true acquisition economics.

AI-Powered Features in Sponsored Brands

Amazon has integrated AI across the Sponsored Brands experience, making campaign management more efficient. That said, the depth of these tools varies by account size, marketplace, and where Amazon is testing features.

Automated Optimization

• Smart Bidding: AI adjusts bids based on performance data and campaign goals
• Budget Sharing: Unspent budgets can automatically reallocate within portfolios
• Placement Optimization: Ads appear in locations based on performance and conversion data

Some of these controls and reporting views can differ by account; check what’s available in your console before building a workflow around them.

Creative Intelligence

• Headline Suggestions: AI generates policy-compliant headlines based on your products
• Image Optimization: Automated suggestions for better-performing creative assets
• Video Builder: Customizable templates for video creation

Some of these tools appear as inline suggestions in the console and may still be labeled as beta or early access.

Audience Intelligence

• Enhanced Targeting: AI tools for targeting strategy development
• Behavioral Analysis: Identification of high-value customer segments based on browsing and purchase patterns
• Cross-Device Optimization: Campaigns adjust for desktop, mobile, and tablet delivery

Advertisers with access to Amazon Marketing Cloud and newer audience tools have the deepest controls. Smaller accounts may see a more streamlined version of these capabilities.

How to Launch Your First Sponsored Brands Campaign

Step 1: Campaign Setup

• Navigate to Amazon Advertising Console
• Select “Create Campaign” > “Sponsored Brands”
• Choose your campaign goal
• Set campaign duration and daily budget

Step 2: Creative Development

• Select your ad format (Product Collection, Store Spotlight, or Video)
• Upload your brand logo and create a headline
• Choose products to feature (minimum of one)
• Select your landing page (Brand Store, product page, or custom URL)

Step 3: Targeting Strategy

• Keyword targeting: Target specific search terms
• Product targeting: Show ads on competitor or complementary product pages
• Category targeting: Reach shoppers browsing specific categories
• Apply NTB bid adjustments if using customer acquisition goal
• Set keyword bids or use Amazon’s suggested bids

Step 4: Launch and Optimization

• Review all settings and creative assets
• Submit for review (typically approved within 72 hours)
• Monitor performance and adjust bids, budgets, and targeting as needed

Creative Best Practices

Static Ads

• Use lifestyle imagery that tells your brand story and demonstrates product usage in context
• Highlight what makes your brand unique
• Include valid offers visible on product detail pages to drive click-through
• Maintain consistent visual identity across ads

Video

• 15–30 seconds is optimal for engagement (Amazon allows 6–45 seconds)
• Front-load your most compelling content in the first 5 seconds
• Subtitles recommended for accessibility and silent viewing
• Show the product in action, not just the packaging
• Newer Sponsored Brands video workflows allow more creative edits to live campaigns, often preserving much of your historical performance data. Check how your specific ad console handles changes before making large edits.

Budget guidance: Start with 20–30% of your total advertising budget allocated to Sponsored Brands. New brands building a customer base may want to push that toward 40–50%. These are directional starting points. The right split between Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Products depends on your margins, category competition, and growth targets.

Allow at least 30–45 days before making major strategic changes. The algorithm needs time to accumulate data before meaningful optimization is possible.

How Canopy Management Can Help

Amazon advertising has become more complex over the past few years, and 2026 is no exception. AI integration, expanded targeting options, and goal-based campaign management give brands more control than ever, but that complexity cuts both ways.

Canopy Management is a full-service omnichannel agency based in Austin, Texas. We run Amazon, Walmart, TikTok Shop, Shopify, Meta, and Google for brands doing $20K to $1.5M in monthly revenue, with the same dedicated brand manager owning the account for the life of the engagement.

The numbers we lead with: $3.3 billion in partner revenue, 84% average year-over-year profit increase, and 99.1% partner retention. 

Schedule a strategy session to see how we’d approach your account.

Frequently Asked Questions