Guide
How to get started with Sponsored Display video ads
Sponsored Display video ads are designed to help showcase your products to potential and existing customers browsing the Amazon store, as well as on Amazon's owned and operated sites like Twitch and IMDb, or third-party destinations. Sponsored Display helps you drive performance across the entire purchase journey—from awareness to purchase, or reaching those who have previously purchased from you.
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Sponsored Display can help you engage the right audiences in the right context across their shopping journeys.
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What are Sponsored Display video ads, and how can they benefit your business?
Sponsored Display video ads help you reach and nurture new or existing customers across the purchase journey with engaging videos. Your video may appear on Amazon shopping search results, product detail pages in the Amazon store, or on Amazon-owned websites, like Twitch and IMDb, or a variety of third-party websites and apps.
Example of a Sponsored Display video ad placement.
Businesses of all sizes can explore Sponsored Display video ads for these potential benefits:
Compelling storytelling.
Use video content to create product tutorials, unboxings, testimonials, before-and-after demonstrations, and more.
Expanded ad placements.
Engage customers as they shop, browse, and/or game across a wide array of channels, like product detail pages, Amazon-owned and -operated sites, like Twitch and IMDb, and third-party destinations.
More options for targeting.
Reach shoppers with Amazon's shopping and streaming signals, which reflect consumer behaviors and interests that are most relevant to your offers.
91% of consumers say they want to see more online videos from brands.1
89% say watching a video has convinced them to buy a product or service.2
Customers are 95% more likely to remember a brand message conveyed from video, compared to written content.3
Where can your video ad appear?
Your video ad can appear anywhere Amazon customers spend their time, including:
- Amazon.com home page and product detail pages
- Amazon Publisher Services websites and apps (publishers offering premium content at scale)*
- Amazon-owned and operated websites, like Twitch and IMDb
- Other third-party websites and apps
*Amazon Publisher Services partners with publishers that offer premium content at scale, providing access to over 60% of Comscore's top 250 web domains.
Shoppers who click on your video ad can be directed back to your Brand Store, or go directly to a product detail page in the Amazon store, where they can learn more and get one step closer to purchasing.
What are your targeting options?
Sponsored Display offers a variety of targeting controls that helps your ad reach the right audience. Combined with automated bid optimizations, these features enable you to get your ad in front of shoppers at every stage of their journey. Direct your ads at shoppers who have browsed similar products as yours, or select from a variety of audiences including those who have recently viewed or purchased your products or those similar to yours. For example, an advertiser selling sports apparel for women might target searches for similar brands or products, or related search terms like, "women workout sets."
Advertisers can also access a large catalog of Amazon audience segments that are easy to use, and ready to go. Amazon audiences include:
- In-market: Audiences who have been shopping recently, for products in a given category.
- Lifestyle: Audiences based on aggregated shopping and viewing signals, that map to lifestyle segments, such as "foodies," or "sports enthusiasts."
- Interests: Audiences based on what they frequently browse and buy (e.g., "interested in interior design").
- Life events: Audiences with related life moments, such as "traveling soon" for shoppers going on vacation.
Additionally, you may custom-build audiences by combining select criteria that work best for your goals. Custom-built audiences also enable you to remarket to the same shoppers, reengaging those who have viewed but not purchased your product. We recommend using both custom-built and Amazon audiences to optimize the performance of your campaigns.
How will you be charged?
Depending on your preferred bidding strategy, your video ads use either a cost-per-click (CPC) or cost per thousand viewable impressions (vCPM) model. CPC refers to the cost of each click your ad receives. vCPM is the cost per 1,000 ad impressions, referring to the number of times the ad is viewed, whether consumers click on it or not. There is no minimum spend requirement, so you can start and test campaigns with any budget, starting as low as $10.
How can you measure the success of your video ad?
After you launch your video ad, you'll want to understand how many shoppers viewed your ad and how they engaged with it. In addition to CPC and vCPM, other ad performance metrics include the following:
- Video first quartile: The number of impressions where customers viewed the first 25% of your video.
- Video midpoint: The number of impressions where customers viewed 50% of your video.
- Video third quartile: The number of impressions where customers viewed 75% of your video.
- Video complete: The number of impressions where customers viewed 100% of your video.
- Viewable impressions: The number of impressions that met the Media Rating Council viewability standard, which is 50% viewable with two-second playback completed.
- Unmutes: The number of impressions where customers unmuted your video.
View metrics are available in the advertising console, report center, or through the Amazon Ads API.
How do you launch a campaign?
Create your Sponsored Display video ad in minutes.
1. After logging into your account, click "Create Campaign," choose "Sponsored Display," and give your campaign a name.
2. You may pause or change your campaign or budget at any time.
3. No video? No problem. Build a templated video in under 10 minutes with our self-service video builder, or get help from trusted service providers.
How should you optimize your campaign?
Try these easy tips to help make the most of your Sponsored Display video campaign:
Use a creative approach that complements your objective.
Is your goal to grow brand awareness, or are you focused on product consideration and conversion? The first step is to clarify your objective, and decide how your video creative approach can support it. Prioritize your audience's needs and what messages would be most helpful to them.
Help consumers see themselves using your product.
Try building an emotional connection using video that tells a story about your product or brand, and how it benefits customers. For example, you can demonstrate your product in action, or focus on key features that set it apart to help shoppers imagine how the product will fit into their lives.
Include a headline and logo.
Headlines and logos are optional in campaign setup, but we highly recommend them. They help reinforce who you are in the minds of consumers, and can help boost recall after consumers view your ad.
Use captions to reach shoppers without sound.
Many customers watch ads and search for products on mobile screens, without sound. Sponsored Display video ads autoplay on mute, giving viewers the option to unmute with a click. We recommend adding captions to ensure viewers don't miss any important details.
Be mindful of moderation errors.
All videos must go through Amazon Ads moderation. It's important to comply with our guidelines, so your ads are accepted the first time around. Common rejection reasons include:
- Blurry, unrecognizable visuals, or low-image resolution (below 72 dpi)
- Black or blank frames at the start or end of videos
- Illegible text (the text must be big enough for the average customer to read)
- An abrupt, edited ending at the maximum video duration
- Jumpy, jarring, overly fast-paced cuts and edits
- Distracting or shrill sounds
- Sudden changes in volume
- Unsubstantiated claims
- Titles with grammatical errors
| Video and audio specifications | |
| Video dimensions | 1920 x 1080 px or higher |
| Aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Minimum duration | 6s |
| Minimum duration | 45s |
| Maximum file size | 500MB |
| Minimum video bitrate | 1mbps |
| Video frame rate (fps) | 23.976 (recommended), 24, 25, or 29.97 |
| Minimum audio bitrate | 92kbps |
| Audio sample rate | 44.1kHz or 48kHz |
| Supported formats | Video: H.264, MPEG-2, or MPEG-4 Audio: PCM or AAC |
| Audio channel | Stereo or mono |
How could you use Sponsored Display video with other Amazon Ads?
Sponsored Display video can also complement Sponsored Brands video, maximizing your reach with added targeting options, plus the option to direct shoppers to your Brand Store. In doing so, you can reach and nudge shoppers at various stages of the buying journey. Imagine, for example, that a shopper sees your Sponsored Brands video ad showcasing a jacket. They're intrigued, but not ready to buy. Later, while browsing on another website, they see a Sponsored Display video reminding them of your jacket. That extra nudge might tip them over the edge and lead to a purchase. While Sponsored Brands video piques shoppers' interest, Sponsored Display video can drive consideration and sway buying decisions. A few considerations on the strengths of each format, and how they complement one another:
| Sponsored Brands video | Sponsored Display video |
| Reach shoppers actively searching for relevant products or browsing related categories in the Amazon store. | Reach audiences across their entire shopping and entertainment journey, both on and off Amazon through third-party sites. |
| Create a captivating introduction to your brand and product. | Reach and retarget customers to move them from awareness to consideration to purchase. |
| Ideal for brand awareness and driving traffic to your product pages or Brand Stores. | Ideal for reengaging past customers and expanding brand reach. |
If you're looking to grow your sales on Amazon, Sponsored Display video ads can help boost your brand or product's visibility, helping you earn the attention of more shoppers—even when they aren't actively browsing the Amazon store.
Ready to start?
If you’re new to Amazon Ads, register here. Under ‘Sponsored ads,’ select ‘United States’ as the country. If you’re already registered, sign in to the ad console to get started.
Already a registered advertiser? Sign in.
1-2Wyzowl, The State of Video Marketing, US, 2023.
3Enterprise Apps Today, Video Marketing Statistics, 2023.