Should You Spend on Brand Keywords on Amazon? What AMC Attribution Data Reveals

This is one of the most frequently asked questions in Amazon Ads.

Instead of answering it with opinions, let’s look at data powered by Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC).

Two AMC reports have completely changed how we look at brand keyword spends:

• Multi-touch Attribution at Campaign Level

• First & Last Search Term Orders report

Let’s understand why these reports matter.

• Customer searches on Amazon are not linear. More than 90% of purchases happen after more than one search.

• A shopper may start with a non-brand, competitor, or brand keyword and finish with a completely different one.

• Amazon gives attribution credit to the last search term that received the click.

• This means the non-brand keyword that first introduced your brand often gets no credit for the order.

This is where AMC changes the conversation.

• When you look at first-touch attribution for non-brand keyword campaigns, ROAS usually looks much better.

• When you look at first-touch attribution for branded keywords, ROAS often looks weak.

What does this tell us?

• Branded searches are not always coming from repeat customers or shoppers already exposed to your TOF or BOF ads.

• In multiple accounts, more than 50% of branded searches actually start with a non-brand search first.

• You can validate this yourself if you have access to the two AMC reports mentioned above.

There is also another AMC report that shows the first and last search term a shopper used before purchasing.

• This report reveals what percentage of brand-attributed orders actually started with non-brand searches, and the number can be surprising.

A few more important realities about branded keywords.

• Branded keywords do not always have very strong conversion rates.

• Even customers searching for your brand can still be influenced by competitors.

• That is why it is critical to show your best-performing products with the highest ratings and reviews on branded keywords.

• It is equally important to run brand videos and strong banner ads on brand search to educate customers and build trust.

One final reminder.

• Not all Sponsored Brand videos or banners will look great on last-touch ROAS.

• Always review first-touch and even linear attribution, not just last-click metrics.

The biggest takeaway.

• We need to unlearn and stop making decisions based only on CR%, ROAS, and ACOS from last-touch attribution.

That is where the real shift in Amazon Ads strategy begins.