Check out this example of other advertisers telling their brand story with Sponsored Brands video.

1. Stay true to your message

Content has the most impact on customers when it has a clear selling point as its main message. When you start, ask yourself the following questions:

Stay true to your message
  1. Why is this product important for customers?
  2. How does this product add value to customers?
  3. What are the product’s or my brand’s unique differentiators?
  4. How do my brand values speak to my customers’ needs?

2. Define your goal and your audience

Keep your Sponsored Brands video focused on the most crucial information around the product and away from any distractions. Before you create your Sponsored Brands video, define what you want it to accomplish.

Define your goal and your audience
  1. If your campaign objective is brand awareness, we recommend focusing on building an emotional connection between customers and the product.
  2. If your campaign objective is consideration or purchase, we recommend focusing on the key differentiators of the product and why customers should buy it.
  3. Take the time to know your audience and tailor your message accordingly. Research and understand your customers’ interests and preferences to offer features best for them. Make sure your content is educational, demonstrative, and product focused. Consider the importance of brand storytelling to address your customers in the best way.

3. Tell a story

Share a story in your Sponsored Brands video to inform and help customers in their decision-making process. Choose a storytelling approach based on your campaign goal.

Tell a story
  1. Education: Help customers learn about your product by focusing on its unique selling position, not on the nitty-gritty product features (e.g., "10.5 WXh-200 camera battery with optimized v10 core").
  2. Customer impact/benefit: Explain to customers what the product benefits are and why it will positively affect their lives.
  3. Brand differentiation: Show customers why your brand and product are unique.
  4. Inspire: Connect with customers by creating an inspirational or aspirational video. Videos that connect or resonate emotionally with customers help brands and products stand out.
  5. Beauty shots: Grab customer attention by showcasing captivating images or videos of your product.

4. Create 15- to 30-second videos

Create 15- to 30-second videos

The optimum length for a video to make a lasting impression is between 15 and 30 seconds. In this time, you should aim to keep customer attention through telling your product story.

  • Show the product in the first 2 seconds of the video. This is your chance to make the best first impression possible to customers.
  • Include the product function in the first 5 seconds of the video.
  • Keep in mind mobile view. Make sure the product is not too small throughout the video.

5. Include a logo and a call to action

Include a logo and a call to action

Have your logo appear at the beginning or at the end of your Sponsored Brands video to help remind customers who you are. Once the video ends, it will automatically loop. Consider adding an end card to allow for some breathing room, or get creative and make your loop seamless.

A simple CTA (call to action) in your Sponsored Brands video helps improve your ad’s performance by suggesting customers to take the next action. CTAs should be short, clear, and precise, like "Learn more," "See more," or "See details."

quoteUpCompared to static text and images, videos appeal more to consumers, and are also an important channel for displaying your brand image. Excellent videos can help you stand out.quoteDown
— Mr. Chen, Director of Overseas Advertising

6. Use closed captions

Many customers look for products on their mobile devices and watch ads without sound. Sponsored Brands video ads autoplay and launch on mute, with customer-initiated-on-click audio. Therefore we recommend videos that can easily be understood and are still engaging without sound. If you are conveying any information via voiceover or from an on-screen actor, consider adding captions to ensure customers don't miss any important details.

  1. To ensure text can be easily read on smaller screen devices, we recommend using Helvetica or a similar sans-serif font at a minimum size of 75 pt or 80 px. We also recommend displaying the text in white on top of a black bounding box set to 80% opacity.
  2. When it comes to on-screen text, less is more. If you use it, a large text size (at least 30 pt or 35 px) is key for customers to easily read on mobile devices.
Text is easy to read

Text is easy to read

Text is NOT easy to read

Text is NOT easy to read

Text is easy to understand

Text is easy to understand

Text is NOT easy to understand

Text is NOT easy to understand

7. Make sure the video is locale specific

Videos without audio tracks are acceptable. However, keep in mind:

Make sure the video is locale specific
  • It must be clear to customers that the video has no audio (for example, the ad has a disclaimer that reads “no audio” or there are no characters that appear to be speaking).
  • Customers must be able to understand the video without audio.

Videos must be in the primary language of the locale in which the ads are displayed. Subtitles (or text transcripts/translations) in the local language are required if audio is in a different language. Important text within the video, such as product information and instructions, must be in the local language.

8. Find suiting music/audio

When selecting music for your Sponsored Brands video, pick something that matches the tone of the ad and is a high-quality audio file. Low-quality audio (distorted, fuzzy, scratchy, etc.) will make your ad seem less professional and won't be as appealing to customers. Additionally, stay away from songs or sound effects that are loud and abrasive.

Find suiting music/audio

9. Consider mobile customers

Many customers are looking for products on their mobile devices. Keep this in mind when creating your Sponsored Brands video, especially when it comes to:

Consider mobile customers
  • The size of your product, logo, or text on screen.
  • The amount of information you include on screen.
  • The use of closed captions.

10. Set the right frame

For a better customer experience, stay away from using videos that are letterboxed or pillarboxed. Do not include black bars on any side of the video content. See below:

Letterboxing

Letterboxing

Pillboxing

Pillarboxing

For a better user experience, make sure that text (including closed captions) does not interfere with the dark red portions of the safe area template.

Safe area template

Want to learn more about how to build brand creatives to engage Amazon customers? Take a look at our advertising guide.

Videos must comply with our policies, including Prohibited Content and Claims.