Branding is often misunderstood. Some believe it's only for large companies with deep pockets. Others think it's too expensive, irrelevant for performance-driven campaigns, or only applicable to B2C businesses.
But believing these branding misconceptions can put your company's future growth at risk.
Here’s the reality: Branding is crucial for companies of all sizes, and it doesn't have to break the bank. It's also a powerful tool for performance campaigns and is equally as important for B2B brands as it is for B2C brands.
Brand building is an essential part of full-funnel marketing, driving growth with new and returning customers across their journeys. And because the customer journey is rarely linear, brand building is your secret tool for keeping your brand memorable at every twist and turn. The payoff? Your brand stays top of mind, whether it's a customer's first encounter or a repeat purchase.
Even when you're laser-focused on metrics and performance, it's crucial to pay attention to how new customers become aware of and remember your brand. Why? Because awareness is the foundation of trust and recall—key drivers in a crowded marketplace where customers encounter over 20 touchpoints on their path to purchase.
When it comes to considering a brand, the majority of consumers prioritize trust (88%) and convenience (84%), according to an Edelman report; meanwhile, purchase intent is most influenced by brand awareness and recall, at 88% above all other factors, per Nielsen’s 2023 Brand Lift report.
Making the right impression across touchpoints early and often sets the stage for long-term business growth. And this isn’t just theory: Amazon Ads’ performance insights—gathered across multiple channels like streaming video, audio, and display ads—show the real-world impact of brand exposure on awareness, recall, and conversion.
On the road ahead, three brand-building myths that may be holding you back will be debunked. With key milestones and checkpoints guiding the way, you'll uncover the truths of effective brand building and be equipped with actionable insights that can elevate your strategy and set you on the path to unparalleled success. Get ready to transform your approach and watch your brand thrive like never before.
Branding is often misunderstood. Some believe it's only for large companies with deep pockets. Others think it's too expensive, irrelevant for performance-driven campaigns, or only applicable to B2C businesses.
But believing these branding misconceptions can put your company's future growth at risk.
Here’s the reality: Branding is crucial for companies of all sizes, and it doesn't have to break the bank. It's also a powerful tool for performance campaigns and is equally as important for B2B brands as it is for B2C brands.
Brand building is an essential part of full-funnel marketing, driving growth with new and returning customers across their journeys. And because the customer journey is rarely linear, brand building is your secret tool for keeping your brand memorable at every twist and turn. The payoff? Your brand stays top of mind, whether it's a customer's first encounter or a repeat purchase.
Even when you're laser-focused on metrics and performance, it's crucial to pay attention to how new customers become aware of and remember your brand. Why? Because awareness is the foundation of trust and recall—key drivers in a crowded marketplace where customers encounter over 20 touchpoints on their path to purchase.
When it comes to considering a brand, the majority of consumers prioritize trust (88%) and convenience (84%), according to an Edelman report; meanwhile, purchase intent is most influenced by brand awareness and recall, at 88% above all other factors, per Nielsen’s 2023 Brand Lift report.
Making the right impression across touchpoints early and often sets the stage for long-term business growth. And this isn’t just theory: Amazon Ads’ performance insights—gathered across multiple channels like streaming video, audio, and display ads—show the real-world impact of brand exposure on awareness, recall, and conversion.
On the road ahead, three brand-building myths that may be holding you back will be debunked. With key milestones and checkpoints guiding the way, you'll uncover the truths of effective brand building and be equipped with actionable insights that can elevate your strategy and set you on the path to unparalleled success. Get ready to transform your approach and watch your brand thrive like never before.
Branding isn’t just about capturing attention at the top of the funnel—it’s about driving action all the way through, from awareness to consideration and, ultimately, to conversion.
A strong brand does more than just make a first impression; it builds familiarity and trust, which can make your audience more open and responsive every time they encounter your brand.
When your brand identity and presence are strong, consumers are more likely to engage with your messages at every stage of their journey. In fact, advertisers who launched a Sponsored Brands ad campaign with Amazon Ads saw branded searches grow by more than 59% over just four weeks, according to 2022 worldwide internal Amazon data. This means your branding isn’t just creating awareness—it’s paving the way for meaningful interactions that lead to real results.
Consistent exposure across channels does a world of good. As a brand, you can get deeper interactions and influence purchase intent, driving both consideration and conversion.
Here's the bottom line: Branding isn't just about attention; it's about building long-term relationships that help drive action and sales. For instance, 35% of surveyed shoppers discover new brands of all sizes on Amazon, and advertisers that used Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands saw a 16.7X increase in conversion rates compared to those that used only Sponsored Products per 2023 U.S. internal Amazon data. This shows the power of branding in turning first-time interactions into lasting customers.
Lean into branding as a core full-funnel strategy
Brand awareness isn't just about expanding your reach—it's the foundation for building meaningful connections that drive consideration, sales, and loyalty. Yes, investing in your upper funnel helps attract new customers and helps keep your brand top-of-mind across all interactions. But by applying brand building consistently across all channels and touchpoints, you create a unified customer journey built on trust. This is how simple interactions transform into deep engagements that foster lasting relationships.
Embrace all channels
Today’s consumers are constantly on the move, whether they’re shopping online, streaming their favorite music, catching up on the latest TV series, or engaging with top influencers on Twitch. To truly connect with them, your brand needs to be everywhere they are, and to do that, a multichannel approach is essential for capturing and holding their attention.
Lean into branding as a core full-funnel strategy
Brand awareness isn't just about expanding your reach—it's the foundation for building meaningful connections that drive consideration, sales, and loyalty. Yes, investing in your upper funnel helps attract new customers and helps keep your brand top-of-mind across all interactions. But by applying brand building consistently across all channels and touchpoints, you create a unified customer journey built on trust. This is how simple interactions transform into deep engagements that foster lasting relationships.
Embrace all channels
Today’s consumers are constantly on the move, whether they’re shopping online, streaming their favorite music, catching up on the latest TV series, or engaging with top influencers on Twitch. To truly connect with them, your brand needs to be everywhere they are, and to do that, a multichannel approach is essential for capturing and holding their attention.
Effective branding means crafting a compelling message that can inspire discovery and connect with new-to-brand audiences throughout their daily lives—not just when they’re ready to buy.
For instance, audiences that see ads on connected or streaming devices (like connected TV) are 3X more likely to respond compared to those who see them on social media, according to Kantar and Amazon Ads' 2022 Connected Consumers study.
Where your brand appears is as crucial as the creative itself; choosing relevant solutions enhances the visibility and relevance of your brand message. For example, ads on Amazon Music's ad-supported tier attract 2.6X more attention than the industry benchmark, according to the 2022 Attention Economy research by dentsu, Lumen, and Amazon Freevee.
Context is key. Audiences are more receptive to ads placed on services where they are already engaged, which increases attention and effectiveness. For instance, ads on Twitch command twice the attention compared to study benchmarks, according to the 2022 Attention Economy research. This shows how placing ads in a relevant context (or where customers are) can significantly boost engagement and recall.
Finally, strategic ad placement drives both brand recognition and conversion. When video, audio, and display ads are well placed, they enhance recall and brand favorability, often exceeding industry benchmarks. For example, ads on Amazon Prime Video capture 10% more attention than the average CTV benchmarks, according to the 2024 TVision Amazon Prime Video viewership analysis. This highlights the importance of aligning your message with the relevant media for better results.
Choose solutions that let you use signals wisely
Consumers read, shop, play games, watch video, browse the web, and listen to music throughout their day. Partnering with a service that gets your message to relevant customers at relevant times can create meaningful connections and a seamless customer journey. This approach deepens your understanding of the audience, fine-tunes your media planning, and gives customers the opportunity to discover your brand.
The media is the message
Choose channels that expand your reach and connect with unique customers. For example, nearly half (47%) of Prime Video viewers aren't on other streaming services, according to 2024 GWI data as cited in Amazon Ads’ report, and they spend an average of 11 hours a month watching, per 2023 U.S. Amazon internal data.
Choose solutions that let you use signals wisely
Consumers read, shop, play games, watch video, browse the web, and listen to music throughout their day. Partnering with a service that gets your message to relevant customers at relevant times can create meaningful connections and a seamless customer journey. This approach deepens your understanding of the audience, fine-tunes your media planning, and gives customers the opportunity to discover your brand.
The media is the message
Choose channels that expand your reach and connect with unique customers. For example, nearly half (47%) of Prime Video viewers aren't on other streaming services, according to 2024 GWI data as cited in Amazon Ads’ report, and they spend an average of 11 hours a month watching, per 2023 U.S. Amazon internal data.
For marketers, being able to measure the impact of their campaigns from branding to performance is critical and possible. Existing tools and insights from a robust service that supports all ad-supported media—from shopping and CTV to audio and games—allow marketers to link their ad spend directly to specific KPIs.
For example, Amazon Ads offers tools like Channel Planner and Cross Channel Planner to measure brand awareness, including metrics like ad recall and brand favorability. Additionally, Amazon Marketing Cloud can provide a way to measure the total impact of your brand campaign, giving you a comprehensive view of your efforts.
Moreover, there are plenty of other tools that can help you gauge the effectiveness of your spending. Pre- and post-exposure surveys, brand lift studies, and third-party measurement tools are just a few ways you can assess the value gained from your branding investments. These tools offer insights into how well your brand is resonating with your audience, allowing you to understand what’s working and where you might need to adjust your strategy.
All marketers are focused on metrics, and the good news is that you don't have to give them up when investing in brand building. Metrics such as ad recall, brand favorability, and purchase intent let you see exactly how well consumers remember your ad, how positively they view your brand, and how likely they are to make a purchase—all crucial insights for measuring the success of your branding efforts.
Measuring awareness isn’t just possible; it’s powerful. With relevant tools in hand, you can have clear insights into how well your brand-building efforts are working across different media formats. So, whether you're leveraging video, display, or audio, you'll know exactly how your brand resonates with audiences.
Don’t guess—measure
There are tools available that let you see exactly how your brand ad dollars improve your bottom line. For example, Amazon Brand Lift can measure the effect of ad campaigns on brand awareness and perception, while Amazon Shopper Panel surveys can gather insights from customers who have been exposed to ads and those who haven’t.
Track what truly matters
At the end of the day, it’s all about helping customers discover your products and nurturing their loyalty. Brand lift studies, third-party tools, and surveys let you monitor key metrics, such as brand recall, favorability, and purchase intent so that you can fine-tune your strategy and focus on what really counts: identifying and cultivating life-long relationships
Don’t guess—measure
There are tools available that let you see exactly how your brand ad dollars improve your bottom line. For example, Amazon Brand Lift can measure the effect of ad campaigns on brand awareness and perception, while Amazon Shopper Panel surveys can gather insights from customers who have been exposed to ads and those who haven’t.
Track what truly matters
At the end of the day, it’s all about helping customers discover your products and nurturing their loyalty. Brand lift studies, third-party tools, and surveys let you monitor key metrics, such as brand recall, favorability, and purchase intent so that you can fine-tune your strategy and focus on what really counts: identifying and cultivating life-long relationships
Amazon Ads offers full-funnel advertising solutions to help businesses of all sizes achieve their marketing goals at scale. Amazon Ads connects advertisers to highly relevant audiences through first-party insights; extensive reach across premium content like Prime Video, Twitch, and third-party publishers; the ability to connect and directly measure campaign tactics across awareness, consideration, and conversion; and generative AI to deliver appropriate creative at each step. Amazon Ads reaches a monthly ad-supported audience of 275 million+ customers across owned and operated properties in the U.S. For more information, please visit ads.amazon.com.
Illustrations by Cari Vander Yacht
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