As Amazon, the world’s leading online retail marketplace, continues to grow in popularity amongst consumers, brands need to consider how they can make the most of this third-party platform. In this blog, we will explore Sponsored Brands videos on Amazon and share insights on best practices for implementing them into your Amazon marketing strategy.
What are Sponsored Brands videos?
Time and time again, video has proven to be more effective than static images in captivating users’ attention. Sponsored Brands videos are a hugely efficient and engaging ad format available to advertisers looking to maximise their Amazon marketing strategy, with a higher return on advertising spend than standard Sponsored Brands campaigns. This ad format is an eye-catching, compelling way to portray your brand story and occupy prime real estate within search results.
Sponsored Brands videos are available for desktop and mobile placements in shopping results, and will auto-play as users scroll through the page. Implementing this ad format can easily help shoppers discover your brand and the products you offer, and ultimately boost conversion rate. They are keyword targeted and link customers directly to your product page, where they can find more details about the product and make a purchase.
Currently, this feature is available in a number of countries, including the UK and US.
Key specifications
When creating a Sponsored Brands video, it is important to make sure that your video complies with the following format restrictions from Amazon:
- File resolution – 1920 x 1080px, 1280 x 720px, or 3840 x 2160px
- File size – smaller than 500MB
- File format – MP4 or MOV
- Display aspect ratio – 16:9
- Video duration – 6-30 seconds long
- Minimum audio bitrate – 96 kbps
Targeting options for Sponsored Brands videos
When it comes to targeting options for Sponsored Brands video ads, marketers have the option to target by keyword, individual products or categories of products. You can also refine categories by brand, price range, and review star ratings. Picking the right keywords, products and categories will place your product among the top Amazon search results, so you get more impressions from potential customers.
Keyword targeting
Keyword targeting allows you to choose keywords against which to show your products in customer searches and detail pages. It’s best to use this strategy when you have detailed insights on the search terms that shoppers tend to use when searching for products similar to yours.
Product targeting
Product targeting allows you to choose specific products, categories, brands, or other product features that are relevant to the product in your ad. This strategy is effective in helping shoppers discover your product when exploring and searching for other products on Amazon.
Best practices for Sponsored Brands videos
Introduce, inspire and educate
It’s important that you create content that is product-focused, educational and demonstrative, so that your video gives value to shoppers. Your video should provide users with clarification and key details about your product. From watching your videos, customers should have no questions or doubts about how your product can meet their needs.
Always product-focused
Your Sponsored Brands video ad should highlight the product you are trying to market, and its unique selling point should be clear within the first couple of seconds of the video. The first few seconds of a video ad are pivotal in grabbing the attention of a shopper.
Keep it on point
While your video ad can be anywhere from 6-30 seconds long, the optimal length for a Sponsored Brands video is 15-30 seconds. The content should be limited to only a few key selling points that will convey your brand message and captivate your audience.
Consider your format
When autoplay kicks in, no music or sound from your ad will play unless the user actively unmutes the video. Therefore, it is important to create an ad that is visually captivating and informative enough for users to understand its key message without audio. You may also want to consider adding on-screen text for captions to help users follow along with the visuals.
Be mindful of the auto-loop
It is important to keep in mind that Sponsored Brands videos will automatically loop. However, advertisers are given the option of either making the loop seamless, or adding in an end card to allow for some space before the repetition. This will ultimately depend on what best suits your brand and the specific video ad.
Focus on the feeling
Create an experience for consumers. You want your audience to truly feel your brand and its products when viewing your Sponsored Brands video, so it’s important that you choose the right music or audio that’s representative of the message you are trying to convey.
Why your video ad might be rejected
There are a number of reasons why your Sponsored Brands video might be rejected by Amazon, so it’s best practice to ensure that none of the points below apply for your video:
- There are black or empty frames at the beginning or end of your video ad.
- Your edit is too abrupt for the maximum video duration, so customers may think your video is incomplete.
- Your video has Amazon trademarks, products, or references to Amazon products or services. This is forbidden by Amazon.
- Your video includes customer reviews or star ratings.
- Text might make the interface confusing to use or is below 30pts, and therefore not legible (for example, the play or pause buttons are not easy to see).
- The content within the video must not obstruct the user interface (check the safe area template).
- The language of your video doesn’t match the target region.
Learn more about Amazon’s sponsored ads creative acceptance policies here.
Sponsored Brands videos can be a great way to get in front of shoppers on Amazon and stand out amongst competitors, so you may want to consider investing in this ad format. If you’re interested in learning more about Sponsored Brands video ads or Amazon marketing, please get in touch with our team!
