Amazon Sponsored Brands Benchmarks 2026

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Format averages · Amazon Sponsored Brands · 2026

0.38%

Avg CTR, all SB formats median

Avg CPC

$1.24

Avg ACOS

32.4%

Video CTR

0.68%

Amazon Sponsored Brands ACOS by Ad Format

Sponsored Brand Video consistently delivers the lowest ACOS of any SB format. The video format captures attention earlier in the shopping journey, reduces competitive banner blindness, and communicates product differentiation before the shopper reaches a competing product page. Static formats — particularly Brand Store Spotlight — run higher ACOS because they depend more on brand recall and return visit behavior that does not attribute within a 14-day window.

ACOS = ad spend ÷ ad-attributed revenue. Lower is better. Attribution window: 14-day click, 1-day view. Brand Store Spotlight ACOS reflects direct attribution only — return visits underrepresented.

ACOS Distribution by Ad Format

Sponsored Brand Video's tighter P25–P75 range reflects more predictable conversion behavior — video pre-qualifies shoppers before the click, reducing low-intent traffic. Static formats show wider variance because their effectiveness depends heavily on brand recognition already built through other channels.

P25

22.4%

Median

34.4%

P75

52.4%

Elite

<18%

P25

18.4%

Median

28.4%

P75

44.4%

Elite

<14%

P25

24.4%

Median

36.4%

P75

54.4%

Elite

<20%

P25

20.4%

Median

32.4%

P75

48.4%

Elite

<16%

Amazon Sponsored Brands CTR by Ad Format

CTR for Sponsored Brands reflects format attention-capture, not just keyword relevance. Video's auto-play in search results interrupts the scroll pattern and earns the click before static alternatives register. Custom Image Banners perform above static headlines when lifestyle photography replaces generic product-on-white images.

CTR = clicks ÷ impressions. Higher is better. Video CTR reflects auto-play impressions — click requires viewer to watch or engage. Static formats compete with organic results above which they appear.

Sponsored Products vs. Sponsored Brands: How They Work Together

Run both formats together. Sponsored Brands build brand familiarity that reduces the CPC required to win Sponsored Products auctions from the same shoppers on repeat searches. This synergy is measurable: brands running both SP + SB together typically see 12–18% lower SP ACOS than SP-only accounts in the same category.

What Drives Sponsored Brands Performance

Video creative quality determines everything

For SBV, the first 2 seconds of auto-play video are the only thing that generates a click. Show the product in use within the first frame — do not open with a brand logo or text card. Hook-first creative (problem/product in context) outperforms brand-first creative by 30–50% on CTR in category after category.

Brand Store quality directly impacts ACOS

A Brand Store with 3+ pages, lifestyle video content, and a complete product catalog converts Sponsored Brands traffic at 2–3x the rate of a generic store with only default product tiles. Investment in Brand Store content — video, lifestyle imagery, category organization — is a direct ACOS lever, not a vanity project.

Branded keyword targeting reduces wasted spend

Always create a branded keyword campaign within Sponsored Brands. Your branded terms convert at the highest rate and lowest ACOS of any search traffic on Amazon. Without a branded SB campaign, a competitor can run Sponsored Products ads on your brand name — paying to show up while you remain undefended. Branded SB campaigns typically deliver ACOS 40–60% below non-branded campaigns.

New-to-brand metrics reveal true incrementality

Sponsored Brands is the only Amazon format with access to New-to-Brand (NTB) metrics, which show what percentage of conversions came from first-time buyers. NTB conversion rate is often the most important long-term KPI — acquiring new customers has higher lifetime value than converting existing buyers. Monitor NTB rate alongside ACOS when evaluating SB campaign value.

How to Improve Amazon Sponsored Brands Performance

Video first. Store second. Keyword discipline third. The order matters.

Use Sponsored Brand Video — it has 2x higher CTR than static

SBV is the single highest-leverage format in the Sponsored Brands suite. If you do not have a produced video, a simple product demonstration filmed on a smartphone with a clean background outperforms static by significant margins. Auto-play video in search results is genuinely disruptive attention — invest in the creative before allocating budget to static headline formats.

Drive traffic to a Brand Store page — never a single ASIN

Sending Sponsored Brands clicks to a product detail page wastes the format's brand differentiation advantage and exposes the click to competitor Sponsored Products ads on that page. Build a Brand Store with at minimum a home page, 2–3 category pages, and a Featured Products section. Shoppers arriving via Brand Store convert at higher rates because the curated experience reduces competitive comparison at point of conversion.

Target branded keywords first before competitive terms

Your highest-converting, lowest-ACOS Sponsored Brands traffic will always be branded searches. Set up branded keyword campaigns at low bids — you should win these auctions easily. Then layer in category and competitive keyword campaigns with higher bids. This sequencing ensures budget flows to proven converts before speculative discovery traffic.

Use lifestyle imagery showing product in use context

For static Custom Image Banner ads, lifestyle imagery — product in a real environment with a human — dramatically outperforms product-on-white imagery. A coffee maker photographed in a styled kitchen produces significantly higher CTR than the same product isolated on white. Test 2–3 creative variants per campaign using Amazon's built-in A/B testing for Sponsored Brands.

Build awareness sequences: SB for discovery, SP for retargeting

Use Sponsored Brands for upper-funnel search queries (broad category terms, competitor brand terms) and Sponsored Products for lower-funnel exact match terms. A shopper who sees your Sponsored Brand video on "best coffee maker" and clicks through to your Brand Store is primed — retarget them with Sponsored Products on product-specific queries. This sequencing mimics a proper funnel within the Amazon environment and reduces total ACOS across both formats.

Amazon Sponsored Brands Benchmark FAQ

Sponsored Products are keyword-targeted ads that appear within search results and link directly to a product detail page. Sponsored Brands (formerly Headline Search Ads) appear above search results as a banner, feature your brand logo and headline, and can link to a custom Brand Store page or a collection of ASINs. Sponsored Brands are an upper-funnel brand awareness format — they drive discovery and store visits rather than immediate single-product conversions. Because they reach shoppers earlier in the decision process, ACOS tends to run higher than Sponsored Products on first-touch attribution, but the brand equity and return visit value is underrepresented in that single metric.

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These benchmarks are drawn from a multi-source benchmark cohort aggregated across industries and regions, covering the period Q1 2023 – Q4 2024. Figures on this page come from the Benchmarketing benchmark dataset: thousands of curated benchmark observations spanning channels, industries, and US metro areas, refreshed on a published schedule. Every statistic traces to a named source — no anonymous “studies show.” Data is sourced from:

• WordStream Google Ads Benchmarks (2024) - Third-party research
• Meta Business Insights (2024) - Platform data
• HubSpot Email Marketing Report (2024) - Third-party research
• Unbounce Conversion Benchmark Report (2024) - Third-party research
• Databox Marketing Benchmark Report (2024) - Third-party research
• AdLiftr Snapchat Ads Cost Benchmarks (2026) - Third-party research
• Ad Badger Amazon Advertising Benchmarks (2026) - Third-party research

The Benchmarketing 4-Band Method reads every marketing metric against four percentile bands — P25 (bottom quartile), median, P75 (top quartile), and elite (top ~10%) — for a specific industry and channel, instead of a single cross-industry average. Averages blend brand and non-brand campaigns, $500/month and $500,000/month accounts, and unrelated industries into a number almost nobody actually has.

Benchmarks reflect median values across large sample sets. Your industry, business model, and account maturity will cause variation. Use P25/P75 ranges to understand realistic distribution.

Written by

Benchmarketing Research Team

Data & Analytics

Reviewed by

Performance Marketing Editorial

Senior Review

Last updated

Reviewed March 2026

Observation period: Q1 2023 – Q4 2024

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