Branded Keyword
A branded keyword is any keyword that contains your brand name (e.g. "amalyze ppc tool", "amalyze pricing"). Branded keywords carry the highest CVR and lowest ACOS in the account; bidding on your own brand is defensive, not optional.
A branded keyword is any Amazon PPC keyword that contains your own brand name — either alone (amalyze) or combined with a product descriptor (amalyze keyword tool, amalyze reviews, amalyze pricing). Branded keywords are the highest-CVR, lowest-ACOS cluster in almost every Amazon account, and bidding on them is defensive, not aspirational.
Why bid on your own brand?
The frequent push-back from sellers new to PPC: "the shopper already knows my brand — why pay for that click?"
Three reasons the answer is always "bid on it anyway":
- Competitor conquest. If you don't bid on your brand name, a competitor will. The top SERP slot for your brand name will go to a Sponsored Product from a rival's brand — and a meaningful share of shoppers will click and buy from that competitor. The cost of a branded click is typically one-tenth the lost-margin cost of a defection.
- Cheap clicks compound. Branded keyword CPCs are typically 30–60% below generic keyword CPCs because relevance is high and competitor bids on your brand are usually low. Branded clicks are the cheapest acquisition channel in the account.
- Sponsored Brands real estate. Branded keywords let you run Sponsored Brands banners on your own brand name — directing shoppers to your brand store instead of a single PDP.
Branded ACOS targets
Branded keywords carry a structurally different Target ACOS than the rest of the account:
| Cluster | Typical CVR | Target ACOS |
|---|---|---|
| Branded exact | 15–30% | 8–15% |
| Generic exact | 5–12% | 18–28% |
| Competitor exact | 2–6% | 30–50% |
Setting a single Target ACOS across all three buckets either over-restricts branded (leaving free defensive clicks on the table) or under-restricts competitor (bleeding margin on conquest).
Campaign structure
Branded keywords must live in their own campaigns, never mixed with generic or competitor keywords. Three reasons:
- Reporting clarity. Mixed campaigns produce a blended ACOS that hides everything.
- Bidding strategy. Branded defence justifies Dynamic Bids — Up and Down; cold prospecting does not.
- Budget priority. Branded campaigns should almost never cap out (clicks are too cheap to ration); other campaigns may have hard caps.
Canonical names: SP - {Brand} - {SKU} - Branded - Exact, SB - {Brand} - {SKU} - Branded.
What counts as "branded"?
The obvious case is your trademarked brand name. Less obvious but equally important:
- Brand + SKU codes.
amalyze pro,amalyze starter. - Brand + use case.
amalyze for vendors,amalyze for agencies. - Brand misspellings.
amalyz,amaylze,analyze ppc. These belong in branded exact at low bids; shoppers typing misspellings still want to find you. - Branded long-tail.
amalyze vs helium 10,amalyze reviews 2026. Often surprisingly high-volume; capture them.
Incrementality caveat
Branded keywords have the lowest incrementality of any cluster in the account — many of the attributed conversions would happen anyway because the shopper actively typed your brand. The defence rationale still holds (lost defections are worse than over-attributed wins), but when allocating growth budget, branded should be sized for protection, not for scaling.
A useful rule: branded spend should not grow faster than total brand search volume. If branded spend is up 40% and brand search volume is up 10%, you're over-bidding for incremental nothing.
Common mistakes
- Not bidding on own brand. Competitor wins the top slot; shoppers defect.
- Bidding too aggressively on own brand. Over-spending where incrementality is low. Cap branded spend as a % of category spend.
- Mixing branded with generic keywords. Reporting becomes useless.
- Forgetting branded long-tails. "Brand + review" / "brand + alternative" / "brand vs competitor" are high-intent acquisition queries usually left uncovered.