Branded vs Non-Branded Keywords on Amazon: Why You Must Separate Them

Branded keywords contain your brand or product line name; non-branded keywords describe the product without naming any brand. Branded searches usually have lower CPCs and much higher conversion rates because the shopper already wants you, so they produce a low ACoS. Non-branded searches cost more and convert less but bring in new customers. Run them in separate campaigns with separate targets so a strong brand ACoS doesn't hide weak generic performance.

This split matters more than most structural decisions in Amazon PPC. It changes how you read your account, how you set targets, and how you budget.

Three kinds of keywords

Competitor terms deserve their own campaign as well. See how to target competitor ASINs and keywords.

Why mixing them distorts your numbers

Imagine one campaign with both branded and generic keywords. It reports a 22% ACoS against a 30% target. Looks great. But split the numbers and the picture changes.

Worked example

The generic keywords are running at 40% ACoS, well over a 30% target. The branded keywords are covering for them. If you only looked at the combined number, you'd think everything was fine and might even raise bids across the board, making the generic overspend worse.

There's a second problem. Many of those branded sales might have happened anyway through organic results. The 10% ACoS looks efficient, but some of that spend is buying sales you already had. That doesn't mean you shouldn't bid on your brand (more on that below), but it does mean branded ACoS overstates what ads are adding.

How to separate branded and non-branded traffic

1. Create a dedicated brand campaign, for example 'SP | Brand | Exact'. Add your brand name and brand-plus-product terms as exact and phrase keywords.
2. Add your brand name as a negative phrase in every non-branded campaign, including auto, broad, phrase, and category targeting campaigns. This pushes all branded searches into the brand campaign.
3. Include common misspellings of your brand name in both the brand campaign and the negative lists.
4. Do the same for competitor brands: a dedicated campaign plus negatives in generic campaigns.
5. Use consistent naming so you can filter reports by 'Brand', 'Generic', and 'Competitor'. See Amazon campaign naming conventions.

Setting targets for each segment

• Branded: set a low target ACoS, often well below your generic target. These clicks are cheap and the goal is defense, not growth. Keep bids high enough to hold top-of-search on your own brand searches, but not much higher.
• Non-branded: set your target from margin and goals. During a launch or growth push, you might accept close to break-even. Once established, aim below break-even for profit. Work out break-even with the break-even ACoS calculator.
• Competitor: set a separate target, usually a little looser than generic if you value new-customer reach, with a firm ceiling.

Should you bid on your own brand at all?

Usually yes, for three reasons. First, competitors can target your brand searches, and if you don't show up, they take the top ad slot. Second, branded ads let you control which of your products the shopper sees first. Third, branded clicks are typically cheap. The question is how much to spend. If your brand search results show no competitor ads and you rank first organically, you might keep brand bids low. If competitors are bidding on your name, defend more actively. The full playbook is in how to defend your brand on Amazon Ads.

Bidding branded keywords: how high is high enough?

The goal on brand terms is simple: appear at the top of your own brand searches without overpaying. Start with a modest bid and check where your ad shows. If a competitor's ad sits above yours on your brand name, raise your bid in steps of about 10% to 15% until you hold the top slot, and consider a top-of-search placement adjustment on the brand campaign. Because your listing is highly relevant to your own brand searches, you can often win the top slot at a lower CPC than a competitor would pay.

Don't push brand bids far past what's needed to win. Every extra cent on branded clicks is money that isn't funding non-branded growth. Revisit brand bids monthly, and trim them if no competitors are showing up on your brand terms.

What about product line and model names?

If your product line names or model numbers are distinctive, treat them as branded keywords too. 'Northpeak Ridge 40' is as branded as 'Northpeak'. If a product line name is a generic word ('Explorer', 'Classic'), only treat the full phrase with your brand as branded, since the word alone will match many unrelated searches.

Reporting: the metrics that matter for each

If branded spend is a large share of your total ad spend, your account may be relying on existing demand instead of growing. The Brand Analytics Search Query Performance dashboard helps here too, because it shows your share of searches for both brand and generic queries. See the Search Query Performance report.

How this connects to TACoS

Total advertising cost of sale (ad spend divided by total sales) helps you see whether ads are growing the business. Non-branded ads that win new customers tend to lift organic sales over time, which lowers TACoS. Branded ads mostly protect sales you'd already get. If you raise non-branded spend and TACoS stays flat or falls while total sales grow, the extra generic spend is working. Read more about what TACoS is.

Keeping these segments separate across many campaigns is easier with consistent structure. AdSpark's keyword isolation helps route search terms to the right campaigns, and its bid optimizer can work toward a different target ACoS for each campaign.

FAQ