Sponsored Products are bringing in orders. Now you want more shoppers to recognize your brand, and your budget can support one new Amazon ad type. Should you try Sponsored Brands or Display?
For most low-awareness brands in categories with search demand, start with Sponsored Brands. It can put your name, products, Store or video in front of people who are already searching for the category. Display can be the better first test when shoppers spend more time browsing product pages than searching, or when you have an audience worth bringing back.
Either way, don’t expect an awareness test to match the return on ad spend (ROAS) of a campaign aimed at shoppers who already know what they want. Your first job is to reach new people at a useful moment. Sales and brand-search growth can follow. That’s a different assignment, so grade it accordingly.
Your next step after Sponsored Products
Sponsored Products are a sensible foundation: they promote individual listings in shopping results and product pages. If you want a refresher on campaign setup and targeting, see our Sponsored Products guide.
The next step depends on how shoppers find and compare products in your category. If they search for a product type, ingredient, use case or problem your product solves, Sponsored Brands can help you meet them in search results. If shoppers browse competing product pages, or if you already have visitors to retarget, Display may fit better.
You’re choosing where the next dollar has the best chance to introduce the brand. That’s not quite the same question as “Which campaign had the highest ROAS last month?” Your answer should reflect what you want shoppers to do next, and where they’re most likely to do it.
Sponsored Brands and Display, side by side
Sponsored Brands ads can feature a logo, headline, products, image or video. Depending on the format and campaign setup, they may appear at the top of search results, within shopping results or on product detail pages. You can use keyword, product and category targeting. Clicks can lead shoppers to a product detail page, a Store or another eligible Amazon landing page.
Common Sponsored Brands formats include video, product collections and Store Spotlight. A Store Spotlight ad features selected Store subpages, so it’s useful when you have a Store with pages worth sending shoppers to. Video is another option, not a requirement for every Sponsored Brands campaign.
Amazon has updated its naming and advertising setup since many sellers first learned the term Sponsored Display. Its current self-service display campaign type is called Display. Existing Sponsored Display campaigns continue to run, while Amazon’s broader display offering also connects campaigns with wider display workflows. So don’t treat “Display” as a single fixed package, or assume broad off-Amazon reach belongs only to DSP. Placements depend on the campaign, targeting and buying option you select.
In self-service Display campaigns, contextual targeting can reach shoppers as they view related products or categories. Audience targeting can reach people based on shopping signals, including people who viewed products. Depending on the campaign and tactic, ads may appear on Amazon and third-party sites or apps. Display ads can use automatically generated product creative, with options to add brand assets such as a logo, headline or lifestyle image. That doesn’t mean every Display campaign gives you a custom video or the same inventory and controls as every other Amazon buying option.
| What to compare | Sponsored Brands | Display |
|---|---|---|
| Typical placements | Top of search, shopping results and, for some formats, product detail pages. | Depending on targeting and campaign setup, product detail pages, shopping results, Amazon properties and third-party sites or apps. |
| Targeting | Keywords, products and categories, plus available audience bid adjustments. | Contextual targeting of products or categories, and audience targeting such as views or other eligible shopper segments. |
| Creative | Logo, headline, product collection, Store Spotlight or video, depending on format. | Often product-based, automatically generated creative; some campaigns support added brand assets. Creative and placements vary. |
| Brand Registry or Store | Amazon requires sellers to be enrolled in Brand Registry. A Store is needed for Store Spotlight, but other formats can use eligible product pages or other landing pages. | Requirements depend on advertiser type, campaign and destination. A Store is not a general requirement for every Display campaign. |
| Billing | Commonly cost per click (CPC); available pricing can depend on campaign goals and format. | CPC or viewable cost per thousand impressions (vCPM), depending on optimization and campaign setup. |
Both ad types can be run with a budget you control, and Amazon’s self-service campaign options don’t require the same minimum spend as some managed-service arrangements. But “cheaper to launch” doesn’t mean “cheaper per useful visit” or “better for awareness.” A low daily budget can still spend on the wrong audience with impressive efficiency.
Why low awareness changes the choice
When shoppers don’t know your brand, they’re unlikely to search for its name. They’re more likely to search for the category, the product’s job or a feature they care about. Your ad needs to appear in that existing stream of demand, or alongside products shoppers already compare.
That’s why awareness on Amazon is tied to the buying moment. A shopper may notice your product in search, see how it differs from a competitor, and then decide whether it deserves a click. An impression by itself isn’t a business outcome, but it can be the first step toward a new customer.
Plan to look beyond ROAS. Track new-to-brand orders, the share of orders from new-to-brand shoppers and changes in branded search. If more shoppers start searching your brand name, that can be a sign your advertising is reaching people who didn’t know you before. It’s a useful signal, not proof that one campaign caused every extra search. Promotions, social activity and other marketing can contribute too.
Keep the difference between discovery and conversion in view. Sponsored Products may capture demand already close to a purchase. Sponsored Brands or Display may introduce the brand earlier, when shoppers are still comparing. A lower initial ROAS can be a planned cost of reaching unfamiliar shoppers, but the campaign should still have a clear audience, sensible spend limits and a way to measure progress.
Why Sponsored Brands is the usual first test
If shoppers search your category, Sponsored Brands gives you a direct route into those searches. Your ad can appear in a prominent position, and category or competitor keyword targeting can put your products in front of people weighing several options. You don’t need shoppers to know your name in advance. They need to be searching for something your product can credibly solve.
Say you sell a compact travel mug in a crowded category. Bidding on relevant terms such as “leakproof travel mug” or competitor brand terms can put your ad in front of people already looking at that type of product. The ad still has to earn attention with a clear benefit, a strong listing and an offer worth considering. Buying the impression is not the same as winning the shopper.
Video can make the first introduction more useful. A brief demonstration can show a product feature, explain a use case or give a shopper a reason to click. You don’t need a glossy brand film. You do need a clear opening, readable visuals on a phone and a product that appears quickly. Amazon’s own guidance recommends keeping the message direct and the video short enough to hold attention.
Sponsored Brands also offers audience bid adjustments, including an option for new-to-brand shoppers. Amazon introduced the new-to-brand audience option for Sponsored Brands in 2025. You can use it to raise bids for eligible shoppers who haven’t purchased from your brand during Amazon’s measurement period. Treat the adjustment as a way to prioritize an audience, not a promise that the campaign will find only first-time buyers.
Sponsored Brands reporting includes new-to-brand measures, so you can review how many orders came from shoppers who were new to your brand under Amazon’s definition. Check the reporting window and metric definitions in your account before comparing results across campaign types. “New to your brand” has a specific reporting meaning; it doesn’t necessarily mean the person has never encountered your brand anywhere.
Sponsored Brands is usually the more straightforward first test when your category has search demand, your product pages are ready to convert and you can build a useful ad. A Store or video can help, but neither is a reason to postpone every campaign. Choose the format that supports the next step you want the shopper to take.
When Display deserves the first test
Display may be the stronger opening when category search volume is thin, but shoppers spend time comparing products on detail pages. Contextual targeting can place your product alongside similar or complementary products, giving you a chance to be considered while the shopper is still evaluating options.
Competitor product pages can be especially useful if the products attract the same kind of shopper and your offer has a clear point of difference. Think through the comparison before you bid: Is your price in range? Does the image explain what you sell? Can your detail page answer the questions shoppers will have when they see an unfamiliar brand beside a familiar one? A placement can bring attention. It can’t do the listing’s homework.
Display can also suit remarketing. If shoppers have viewed or added one of your products to their cart, an eligible audience campaign can help bring them back. This tends to make more sense once you have enough traffic to create a useful audience. With little prior traffic, there may not be much of a group to retarget yet.
Display offers flexible budgets and does not set a minimum spend for self-service campaigns. That can make it accessible for a smaller test, but it doesn’t guarantee lower costs or better results. Billing may be CPC or vCPM, depending on how you set up the campaign, and the right choice depends on whether you’re optimizing for clicks or viewable impressions.
One important correction to older advice: self-service Display is not automatically limited to basic product-page ads, and third-party reach is not exclusive to DSP. Current Display options can include Amazon and third-party placements, depending on the campaign and targeting. The broader Display, Video and Audio offering and Amazon DSP may provide different buying, placement and management options. Check the specific campaign setup instead of assuming the name tells you exactly where an ad will run.
Start with Display when product-page discovery or re-engaging prior visitors is a better match for the buying path than search visibility. If shoppers actively search for the category, Sponsored Brands is often the cleaner first test. If they mostly browse, compare and come back later, Display may have the better opening.
A short checklist for choosing
Answer these four questions before you move budget:
- Do shoppers search for your category or use case? If relevant searches have real volume, test Sponsored Brands against category terms. If search demand is sparse, look harder at product and category browsing through Display.
- Are shoppers comparing you with known competitors? If they’re searching competitor names or visiting competitor detail pages, both ad types may fit. Sponsored Brands can meet the search; Display can appear in a product-browsing context.
- Do you have a useful video or a good Store? If yes, Sponsored Brands has creative options that can introduce the brand or guide shoppers through your products. If not, you can still use other eligible formats. Don’t make a video just to have one.
- Do you have enough past traffic to retarget? If shoppers have already viewed your products or added them to carts, Display audience targeting may give you a practical way to reconnect. If your traffic is minimal, build discovery first.
Quick route: Search-led category plus limited traffic? Start with Sponsored Brands. Product-page browsing or a significant visitor audience? Consider Display. Both patterns? Choose the one most closely tied to your near-term goal, then add the other after you have enough data and budget to tell what it contributes.
A 60-day test plan
Weeks 1–2: Set the baseline and build the first campaign
Before launch, note current branded search volume, organic sales, Sponsored Products performance and any available new-to-brand measures. Choose a small, clear set of products with competitive detail pages and enough stock to support extra demand. Confirm that the product images, price, reviews and key details make sense to a shopper who has never heard of you.
For the first Sponsored Brands campaign, group category keywords and competitor keywords in a way that lets you see which type is doing the work. Avoid combining every possible term into one hard-to-read campaign. Use a relevant landing page, and consider a video if it explains the product faster than a headline and image can.
Set a budget you can maintain through the test. If you use the new-to-brand audience bid adjustment, record the setting and watch how that audience performs. Keep other major campaign changes limited during the first stretch, or you’ll make it hard to tell which adjustment mattered.
Weeks 3–6: Let Sponsored Brands collect evidence
Give the campaign time to serve and gather clicks and orders. Review search terms, placements, spend, new-to-brand orders and listing performance. Add relevant terms if the campaign is too narrow. Exclude clearly unrelated searches. If a keyword has impressions but no clicks, check the fit between the search and the creative before raising the bid.
Use the results to separate reach from conversion. Strong new-to-brand orders with a weaker overall ROAS may still support the awareness goal. Weak reach, little engagement and no growth in new-to-brand activity point to a different problem: the terms, creative, product or bid may not be connecting with shoppers.
Weeks 4–8: Add Display where it has a job to do
If budget allows, start a separate Display test during weeks four to eight. Target relevant competitor or complementary product pages, and add a views or cart audience if you have enough eligible traffic. Keep the campaign’s purpose clear. A product-page test and a remarketing test answer different questions, so don’t bury both in a setup that makes their results hard to separate.
Compare Display with its own goal and billing model. If you optimize for viewable impressions, evaluate reach and viewability. If you optimize for clicks or conversions, examine the corresponding response and sales metrics. Don’t compare vCPM spend with CPC performance as if they were identical measures.
After day 60: Decide what earns the next dollar
Review which campaign type reached new shoppers, which produced product-page visits and orders, and whether branded searches or organic sales moved during the test. Keep in mind that two months of activity won’t prove that ads caused every change. The goal is to make a better next decision than “we spent money and the dashboard had numbers.”
If branded search is growing and the brand wants to reach shoppers beyond Amazon search and product pages, consider whether a separate DSP test makes sense. DSP is one buying option within a wider advertising toolkit, not an automatic next step after Display. The audience, creative, reach and budget all need to justify it.
How to judge the test
Use a small group of measures rather than one headline number:
- New-to-brand share of orders: What portion of attributed orders came from shoppers classified as new to your brand? Read this alongside total orders and spend.
- Branded search volume: Watch how often shoppers search for your brand name and related branded terms. Amazon’s Search Query Performance report can help you understand query-level activity. Our Search Query Performance guide explains what the report can and can’t tell you.
- Top-of-search impression share: If it’s available for your campaign and account, track whether your ad is earning visibility in the search placement you’re trying to reach. Check the report’s definitions before treating this as a direct measure of category-wide awareness.
- Organic sales alongside ads: Look for changes in organic orders and sales while the campaigns run. Organic movement can be encouraging, but it’s not a clean causal read on its own. Seasonality, price changes and other marketing may be in play.
Expect that ROAS may start below your Sponsored Products benchmark. People who don’t know the brand may need more than one exposure, and category or competitor searches can be more expensive or convert at a different rate than your established branded traffic. That can be an acceptable trade if the campaign is acquiring new shoppers and building signals you value.
“Awareness” isn’t a permission slip for an unbounded campaign. Set a test budget, decide what evidence would justify continuing, and check that the ads send shoppers to a page that can close the sale. If you see impressions but no significant engagement, it may be time to change the audience, message or listing, not simply to wait for recognition to arrive by carrier pigeon.
Common mistakes to avoid
Using Sponsored Products ROAS as the only scorecard
A discovery campaign and a conversion campaign have different jobs. Keep ROAS in the review, but also track new-to-brand orders, branded search activity and the quality of traffic. A weaker ROAS can be acceptable during a defined test. It isn’t a reason to ignore spend or keep funding a campaign that shows no useful progress.
Putting competitor names in the ad headline
You can target competitor names as keywords where permitted, but keep competitor names out of your ad copy. Use the headline to explain your product’s value, not to borrow another brand’s name. Review Amazon’s current ad policies before launch, and make sure the creative is accurate and compliant.
Using a keyword list that’s too narrow
Niche categories may have fewer obvious searches, but that doesn’t mean one exact keyword represents the whole market. Include relevant product terms, use cases and category language. Check search-term results, then add terms that match your product. Broadening the list doesn’t mean buying every vaguely related query.
Stopping before the test has a fair chance
Don’t call a test after a handful of clicks. Plan to run for at least four to six weeks if budget, inventory and campaign delivery allow. Then make changes based on enough data to see patterns. If the product page has a serious problem or the campaign is spending on irrelevant traffic, fix it promptly; “wait six weeks” is not a rule to keep a broken setup running.
Frequently asked questions
Which ad type should most low-awareness brands try first?
For most brands with sufficient category search demand, start with Sponsored Brands. It can show your brand while shoppers search for the category and gives you ways to feature a product, Store or video. Try Display first when product-page browsing, relevant contextual placements or remarketing better match how shoppers discover your products.
When should Display come before Sponsored Brands?
Consider Display first if shoppers browse competing or complementary product pages more than they search your category, or if you already have enough visitors to retarget. It can also suit categories where search volume is limited. Check the available placements and billing in your campaign setup; the Display label alone doesn’t tell you where every impression will appear.
Do I need a video to run Sponsored Brands?
No. Video is one Sponsored Brands format, not a requirement for every campaign. You can choose another eligible format, such as a product collection or Store Spotlight, depending on your account and campaign goal. If you do use video, make the product and its value easy to understand quickly.
How long should I run the test, and what should I watch besides ROAS?
Plan for four to six weeks before making a broad judgment, unless the campaign needs an earlier correction for clear problems. Watch new-to-brand order share, branded search activity, available top-of-search impression measures and organic sales alongside advertising. Review each metric in context and remember that other marketing and market conditions can affect the same numbers.
The practical starting point
For most low-awareness brands with active category search demand, Sponsored Brands is the clearest first test after Sponsored Products. It can introduce the brand while shoppers search and compare, and its reporting includes new-to-brand measures. Add Display when product-page placements, relevant browsing audiences or remarketing make sense for your buying path.
Start with one clear objective, a budget you can sustain and a product page ready for unfamiliar shoppers. Give the test enough time to show a pattern, then decide whether to refine it, add Display or explore another buying option. You don’t need to run every ad type at once. You do need to know what each one is supposed to accomplish.
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