PPC
The best Amazon Sponsored Brands keyword strategy for every ad format (and why SP tactics don't work)
Build an Amazon Sponsored Brands keyword strategy by ad format. Format-specific targeting for Product Collection, Store Spotlight, and Video ads to cut ACoS.
An Amazon Sponsored Brands keyword strategy that works for one ad format usually flops in the others. Sellers copy their Sponsored Products keyword lists into SB campaigns, watch ACoS balloon, and blame the ad type instead of the tactic. The real issue is that SB has no auto campaigns to harvest keywords from, and its three ad formats each serve a different funnel stage.
This post fixes that. It breaks down which keywords fit Product Collection, Store Spotlight, and Video ads, how to build the list from scratch, and how to structure branded and non-branded campaigns so your data actually tells you something useful.
If you’re running Sponsored Products alongside SB, note that SP uses a completely different keyword harvesting model with auto campaigns and match type ladders. See the Amazon PPC keyword strategy guide for that side of the playbook.
Why does Sponsored Brands need a different keyword strategy than Sponsored Products?
Sponsored Brands is manual-targeting only, serves brand-awareness goals, and offers three ad formats with different landing pages. Each of those points forces a different keyword approach than SP.
The absence of automatic campaigns is the biggest gap. Keyword research must happen before campaign launch, and sellers can’t rely on Amazon’s algorithm to discover converting search terms over time. Sponsored Products lets broad auto campaigns slowly harvest the best-performing terms, while SB demands upfront precision.
SB lives at the top of the funnel. It’s about brand discovery, not the bottom-of-funnel “add to cart” moment SP chases. Someone typing “men’s running shoes” might tap on a Sponsored Brand banner just to see what a brand offers, but that same person won’t click a regular SP ad unless they’ve already narrowed to a specific model.
Landing pages complicate things further. SB campaigns can send shoppers to a Store page, a curated product list, or a custom URL, and each option needs keywords that match what’s on the other side of the click. Send someone searching “waterproof camping tents” to a brand homepage full of sleeping bags and they’re gone in two seconds.
Bidding adds another layer. SB gives sellers two models: standard CPC and vCPM (cost per thousand viewable impressions). With vCPM, broad high-volume category terms make sense because you’re paying for eyeballs. With CPC, you want tight long-tail phrases where every click carries purchase intent.
How should keywords differ across Product Collection, Store Spotlight, and Video ads?
The three SB formats aren’t interchangeable. Product Collection catches people browsing categories, Store Spotlight pulls in folks who already know your brand, and Video ads close the deal on single-product searches.
Product Collection keywords work best with broad category terms and non-branded discovery searches. Queries like “best running shoes for flat feet” or “organic dark roast coffee” fit the format because the shopper hasn’t picked a brand yet. Broad and phrase match do the heavy lifting because you’re casting a wide net.
Store Spotlight keywords favor branded terms and category browsing phrases like “shop Nike running” or “Sony camera accessories.” Use exact and phrase match here for tighter control, since these shoppers already know (or are curious about) your brand. Every click goes to a Brand Store page, so keywords need to line up with what’s on that page. Competitors bid on your brand name too, so defending that territory matters.
Video ad keywords are the sharpshooters of SB targeting. Go after high-intent, single-product searches and competitor conquest terms with exact and phrase match only. Every click lands on a product detail page, so precision beats volume. Amazon’s own reporting has historically shown video CTR running roughly twice that of static SB banners, though the gap varies by category.
| Dimension | Product Collection | Store Spotlight | Video Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best keyword types | Category, comparison, non-branded | Branded, category browsing | High-intent, competitor conquest |
| Recommended match types | Broad, phrase | Exact, phrase | Exact, phrase |
| Landing page | Product list / custom URL | Brand Store page | Product detail page |
| Funnel position | Top (discovery) | Mid (brand exploration) | Bottom (purchase intent) |
| Primary goal | Category visibility | Brand awareness plus Store traffic | Single-product conversion |
| Typical ACoS range | 30 to 50% | 15 to 30% | 20 to 35% |
That’s the strategic layer of any Amazon Sponsored Brands keyword strategy: match the right keywords to the right format. Now for the mechanics of building the list.
How do you build a Sponsored Brands keyword list from scratch?
Build an SB keyword list by mining existing SP search term reports, running reverse ASIN lookups on competitors, analyzing Brand Analytics data, and segmenting into branded vs non-branded groups.
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Start with listing keywords. If your title and bullet points target “vegan leather,” your SB campaigns should bid on those same root phrases. The TFSD framework connects listing content to ad targeting. Review your product title and bullet points for the base list.
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Mine SP Search Term Reports. Converting SP terms are gold for SB. Pull the last 30 days of data, sort by orders, and you have a list of phrases real shoppers used to find and buy your products.
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Run reverse ASIN lookups. A reverse ASIN lookup on competitor best-sellers shows exactly what keywords they bid on. Keywords.am automates this: plug in five competitor ASINs and you get a list of proven phrases to test. It’s one of the fastest shortcuts in competitor analysis.
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Analyze Brand Analytics search data. Look for terms that get clicks but don’t convert well in SP. Broad phrases like that are often perfect for SB awareness campaigns, because someone searching a general category term probably isn’t buying right away, but they’ll add your brand to consideration for later.
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Segment into branded vs non-branded. These segments require separate campaigns. Amazon recommends a minimum of 25 keywords per SB campaign for sufficient impression volume, but don’t pad the list with irrelevant terms just to hit that number.
For a deeper look at the discovery process, the keyword research methodology guide covers volume validation and intent scoring.
How should you split branded and non-branded SB campaigns?
Separate branded and non-branded keywords into distinct SB campaigns with different budgets, bid strategies, and landing pages. That’s the only way to control spend and measure performance accurately.
Branded terms convert at roughly two to three times the rate of non-branded ones. Lump them together in one campaign and your ACoS data lies to you. A blended 25% ACoS might hide branded terms cruising at 5% while non-branded terms hemorrhage at 80%. Separation makes the gap visible.
Budget allocation depends on business goals. A reasonable starting point is 20 to 30% on branded defense and 70 to 80% on non-branded conquest and discovery. New brands need aggressive non-branded spend to acquire customers, while established brands might need heavier defensive spend to protect market share.
Landing page alignment differs by segment:
- Branded campaigns should point to Brand Store pages to reinforce the brand experience and cross-sell related items.
- Non-branded campaigns perform better pointing to Product Collection pages that showcase items relevant to the broad search term.
Defensive bidding on your own brand terms is non-negotiable. Competitors bid on your brand name to steal profitable customers, and bidding on your own brand stays cheaper than acquiring new customers from scratch. If you haven’t enrolled yet, Brand Registry is the prerequisite for running SB at all.
Why do negative keywords matter more for Sponsored Brands?
Negative keywords matter more in SB because higher CPCs mean wasted impressions cost more, and irrelevant brand impressions damage brand perception with shoppers.
The math hits harder in SB. That top banner spot above organic results costs real money, and every irrelevant click burns budget faster than a misplaced SP click would. One poorly scoped broad match keyword can chew through hundreds of dollars in a single day if nobody’s watching.
Your brand is literally on display. SP ads are product-focused and shoppers barely notice the seller, but SB plasters your logo, brand name, and custom headline in the search results. Show up on “cheap dollar store body lotion” when you’re selling luxury skincare and that’s a brand image hit you can’t undo with a bid adjustment.
Stop bidding against yourself. Add your SB exact-match keywords as negative exacts in SP broad and auto campaigns, then do the reverse. Without this you’re competing against your own ads and pushing CPCs up for no reason.
Pull search term reports every week for the first month of any new campaign, then biweekly after. Filter for terms with high spend and zero sales, and route those straight into negative exacts. The full negative keywords guide walks through formatting details.
How do you measure Sponsored Brands keyword performance?
Measure SB keyword performance using New-to-Brand percentage, impression share, top-of-search placement rate, and format-specific metrics like video completion rate alongside standard ACoS.
New to Brand percentage is the metric that separates SB from every other Amazon ad type. It tracks how many of your ad-attributed purchases came from shoppers who haven’t bought from you in the past twelve months. A 40% ACoS is fine when 70%+ of those customers are brand new to you. This is where TACoS becomes a better long-term indicator than ACoS alone.
Impression share shows the percentage of available impressions your ads actually won. Low numbers mean either bids need to go up or the keyword list needs to expand.
Top-of-search bid multiplier is the fastest lever in SB. Bumping it up 10 to 20% can significantly change how often your brand banner shows in the prime spot above organic results.
For video campaigns, watch completion rates alongside CTR. Higher video engagement only matters if people finish watching, so low completion rates signal a creative problem, not a keyword problem.
One more thing on ACoS: SB awareness campaigns and SP conversion campaigns aren’t comparable. Targeting 30 to 50% ACoS for brand discovery is normal. If you’re hitting 15 to 25% on non-branded SB terms, you’re probably being too conservative with keyword bids. Watch conversion rate on the landing pages too, because a keyword problem and a listing problem can look identical in the reports.
Frequently Asked Questions About Sponsored Brands Keyword Strategy
How many keywords should a Sponsored Brands campaign have?
Amazon recommends a minimum of 25 keywords per SB campaign, but top-performing campaigns typically run 40 to 80 keywords segmented by match type. Start with 25 to 30, then expand based on search term report data. Relevance matters more than volume, and padding the list with weak terms usually hurts more than it helps.
Can you use automatic targeting for Sponsored Brands?
No. Sponsored Brands only supports manual keyword targeting, product targeting, and category targeting. There is no automatic campaign option, so all keyword research must happen before campaign launch. Use SP auto campaign data as a starting point for your SB keyword list.
What are the best match types for Sponsored Brands?
Broad match works best for Product Collection discovery campaigns, while exact and phrase match suit Store Spotlight and Video ads. Amazon also supports broad match modifier (add ”+” before words that must appear). Phrase match is a useful middle ground when exact match search volume is too low to sustain a campaign.
How is keyword targeting different for SB Video vs Product Collection?
Video ads target single-product, high-intent keywords that lead to a product detail page. Product Collection uses category-level keywords driving shoppers to a curated product list. The landing page dictates the keyword approach, so Video sends traffic to one product while Collection shows multiple items from a range.
Conclusion
The right Amazon Sponsored Brands keyword strategy treats each ad format as a distinct channel with its own keyword requirements:
- SB is manual-only, so keyword research must happen before campaign launch, not after.
- Each format needs different keywords. Stop using one list for Product Collection, Store Spotlight, and Video.
- Separate branded from non-branded into distinct campaigns with different budgets and landing pages.
- New to Brand percentage is the key SB metric most sellers ignore in favor of raw ACoS.
- Negative keywords matter more because higher CPCs and visible brand impressions raise the stakes on every irrelevant click.
Pull your top 50 converting SP search terms and segment them by format. Route high-intent terms to Video, category-level terms to Product Collection, and branded terms to Store Spotlight. That single exercise turns a generic keyword list into a format-specific strategy that lowers ACoS.
For building format-specific keyword lists from scratch, start with the free Amazon keyword tool and a reverse ASIN lookup on your top competitors. Their paid discovery becomes your shortcut.