Amazon Brand Lift Studies-Measure and Optimize Your Ad Performance

Most Amazon advertisers obsess over ACOS, CTR, and conversion rates while completely ignoring a metric that could transform their advertising strategy: brand lift. 

These traditional metrics tell you what happened, but they don’t tell you why it happened or how your advertising is building long-term brand equity.

Amazon Brand Lift studies, previously limited to awareness goals and enterprise accounts, have undergone significant changes in 2024. 

The platform now offers expanded measurement capabilities that help advertisers understand the true impact of their campaigns on brand perception, purchase intent, and customer behavior beyond immediate conversions.

At Sequence Commerce, an experienced Amazon PPC management agency, we’ve run hundreds of Brand Lift studies for clients ranging from emerging brands to Fortune 500 companies. 

The insights gained have repeatedly challenged assumptions and redirected millions in advertising spend toward strategies that actually move the needle on brand metrics.

This comprehensive guide reveals exactly how to leverage Amazon Brand Lift studies to measure campaign effectiveness, optimize creative strategies, and build lasting brand value on the platform.

What Are Brand Lift Studies?

Amazon Brand Lift studies are measurement tools that help Amazon advertisers understand how their campaigns influence customer perceptions and behaviors beyond direct conversions. Unlike traditional performance metrics that focus on immediate actions, Brand Lift studies measure:

• Brand Awareness: How many customers remember seeing your ads
• Brand Consideration: Intent to purchase your products
• Brand Favorability: Positive perception changes
• Purchase Intent: Likelihood of future purchases
• Ad Recall: Message retention and creative effectiveness

The December 2024 Updates

In December 2024, Amazon rolled out a major update to its Brand Lift measurement system, designed to give advertisers deeper, more actionable insights into how their campaigns influence customer behavior.

Previously, Brand Lift studies primarily focused on awareness metrics, relying on limited survey-based insights. With this update, Amazon has expanded the framework to measure not just awareness, but also consideration and conversion, providing a more complete view of the customer journey.

Key Changes Include:

• Broader Measurement Scope: Studies now go beyond awareness to include consideration and conversion impact.
• Survey Methodology Update: Campaigns run before December 2024 that only tracked awareness are now evaluated using survey-based methods.
• New Eligibility Criteria: Different study types now have specific requirements for participation and data thresholds.
• Enhanced Reporting Tools: Improved dashboards allow deeper performance analysis and clearer visualization of brand impact.
  
• Seamless Integration: Brand Lift is now directly integrated with Amazon DSP and Sponsored Brands, enabling unified campaign insights across platforms.

Why Amazon Brand Lift Matters

Traditional Amazon advertising metrics tell you what customers did—they clicked, they purchased, they scrolled past. Brand Lift studies tell you what customers think and feel, which ultimately determines what they’ll do in the future—a core advantage of artificial intelligence in shopping optimization, where perception data informs smarter campaign decisions.

This shift from behavioral tracking to attitudinal measurement unlocks strategic advantages that pure performance data cannot provide. While ACOS and conversion rates measure immediate outcomes, Brand Lift reveals the psychological shifts that drive long-term customer value and competitive positioning.

Amazon Brand Lift leverages the Amazon Shopper Panel, a voluntary research community where customers answer periodic survey questions about shopping experiences and brand perceptions. 

The privacy framework protects both panelists and advertisers through opt-in participation, anonymized reporting, and aggregated data that complies with data protection regulations while maintaining research validity.

Key Advantages Over Traditional Brand Research

• Rapid deployment without recruiting participants or coordinating survey logistics
• Faster results delivered within 10-15 business days versus months for conventional research
• Built-in control groups that eliminate selection bias common in brand surveys
• Real customer panel representing actual Amazon shoppers already in your target market
• Privacy-first approach with fully anonymized and aggregated reporting

Core Benefits

Brand Lift studies segment results across multiple dimensions, revealing which audiences respond most strongly to your advertising. You might discover that campaigns drive strong awareness among younger audiences but fail to shift consideration among core demographics, or that mobile ad exposure generates higher favorability than desktop placements.

Segmentation Capabilities:

• Demographics: Age brackets (18-24, 25-34, 35-44, 45-54, 55+), household income ($50K, $50-75K, $75-100K, $100K+), gender
• Device Types: Mobile, tablet, and desktop exposure effects
• Ad Formats: Video, display, and audio impact comparison
• Exposure Frequency: Optimal impression counts before diminishing returns

Benefit Area	Traditional Research	Amazon Brand Lift
Setup Time	4-8 weeks	15-30 minutes
Results Delivery	2-3 months	10-15 business days
In-Flight Optimization	Not possible	Real-time adjustments
Technical Expertise Required	High (research professionals)	None (templated setup)
API Integration	Limited or none	Full API access
Cost	$25K-$100K+	Free tool (media spend only)

Amazon’s integrated platform compresses traditional research timelines dramatically, enabling in-flight optimization rather than post-campaign retrospectives. Studies launch through a streamlined 15-30 minute setup process, with surveys beginning immediately as campaigns generate impressions. 

Initial results appear within 7-10 days for high-traffic campaigns, allowing you to refresh messaging mid-campaign or shift budget toward high-performing audience segments while campaigns are still active.

Which Amazon Ads Can Be Measured?

Amazon Brand Lift supports all campaigns run through Amazon DSP and sponsored ad formats, with the exception of Sponsored Products campaigns. This allows you to measure the majority of your advertising efforts on Amazon.

How to Launch a Brand Lift Study

1. For Sponsored Ads Advertisers

Advertisers in the US can visit the Amazon Support Center to learn how to initiate a Brand Lift study.

2. For Amazon DSP Advertisers

Advertisers across the US, CA, DE, ES, FR, MX, JP, and UK can find step-by-step guidance in the Support Center to start measuring their campaigns.

Setting Up Your First Brand Lift Study

Setting up your first Brand Lift Study on Amazon is a crucial step toward understanding how your advertising shapes customer perception, not just driving sales, but building true brand equity, a process that can be streamlined with Amazon account management services.

A Brand Lift Study helps you measure whether your ads are improving awareness, consideration, or purchase intent among Amazon shoppers. It compares two audiences, one that has seen your ads and one that hasn’t, and uses Amazon’s trusted first-party data to measure the difference in brand perception between them.

Instead of focusing solely on metrics like impressions, clicks, or return on ad spend (ROAS), Brand Lift Studies reveal the why behind performance, showing whether your campaigns are making a lasting impression on customers. This makes it an invaluable tool for evaluating the effectiveness of Sponsored Brands, Display, Streaming TV, or DSP campaigns.

The process is straightforward and can be completed in just a few steps. Once set up, the study runs automatically in the background while your campaigns continue to perform. Follow the steps below to configure and launch your first Brand Lift Study with confidence.

Step 1: Access Brand Lift Studies

To understand how your marketing efforts are impacting customer perception, start by accessing Brand Lift Studies. These studies provide insights into brand awareness, recall, and purchase intent. By analyzing this data, you can make informed decisions to optimize campaigns and drive better results.

1. Log in to your Amazon Ads Console.
   Begin by accessing your Amazon Ads account, where you manage campaigns and reporting.
   
2. Navigate to the Measurement & Reporting section.
   From the main dashboard, click on “Measurement & Reporting” in the left-hand menu. This section contains advanced reporting tools, including Brand Lift, Amazon Marketing Cloud, and Attribution dashboards.
   
3. Select “Brand Lift.”
   Once inside, locate and select “Brand Lift” to access the setup page.
   
4. Click “Create Study.”
   This initiates the setup process, allowing you to define the study parameters, select campaigns, and configure your objectives.

Step 2: Configure Study Settings

Once you’ve started a new study, it’s time to configure the essential details that define your Brand Lift analysis. This ensures the results are aligned with your campaign goals and category benchmarks.

1. Study Name Configuration

Use a clear and consistent naming convention to keep your studies organized and easily identifiable. A good name helps you track results over time, especially if you plan multiple studies per year.

Include the following details in your study name:

• Campaign type (e.g., SB for Sponsored Brands, SD for Sponsored Display)
• Date range or quarter (e.g., Q1_2025)
• Primary goal (e.g., Awareness, Consideration, Conversion)
• Target audience

Example:

SB_Q1_2025_Awareness_NewCustomers

2. Benchmark Category Selection

Choose the most specific product category that matches your advertised products. This determines which industry benchmarks Amazon uses to compare your results. 

For example, a skincare brand should select “Beauty → Skincare → Moisturizers” rather than the broader “Health & Personal Care” category.

Accurate category selection ensures your lift results are meaningful and comparable to true industry peers.

3. Goal Setting

Define the primary objective of your study. Each goal focuses on a different part of the customer journey:

• Awareness: Measures whether more people recognize your brand after seeing your ads.
  Best for: Brand-building and new product introductions.
  
• Consideration: Evaluates whether your campaigns influence shoppers to think about purchasing your products.
  Best for: Driving mid-funnel engagement.
  
• Conversion (Purchase Intent): Assesses whether exposure increases the likelihood of buying.
  Best for: Performance-driven and retargeting campaigns.

Step 3: Campaign Selection

Selecting the right campaigns ensures that your Brand Lift Study measures the correct audience exposure and delivers statistically significant results.

Eligibility Requirements

To qualify for a Brand Lift Study, campaigns must meet specific thresholds:

• Minimum budget: $10,000 total for basic studies (higher for multi-market or advanced setups).
  
• Minimum duration: Campaign must run for at least 14 days to ensure consistent audience exposure.
  
• Reach threshold: Campaigns must generate sufficient impressions to achieve statistical significance in survey results.
  
• Active status: Only currently running or recently launched campaigns can be included.

If your campaigns don’t meet these requirements, Amazon may recommend adjustments or alternative measurement solutions like Amazon Marketing Cloud or Post-Exposure Reports.

Supported Campaign Types

Brand Lift Studies currently support the following ad formats:

• Sponsored Brands (all formats) – Headline search, video, and Store spotlight campaigns.
  
• Sponsored Display (audience-based) – Campaigns targeting lifestyle, in-market, or remarketing audiences.
  
• Streaming TV Ads – Ads appearing on Prime Video, Fire TV, and other streaming partners.
  
• Audio Ads – Ads delivered through Amazon Music and Alexa-enabled devices.
  
• Amazon DSP Campaigns – Programmatic campaigns running across Amazon and third-party inventory.

Step 4: Preview and Launch

Before finalizing, review all study configurations carefully to ensure your setup aligns with your Amazon campaign strategy.

The preview screen provides a summary of key details:

• Estimated completion time: Shows how long the study will take based on campaign size and traffic volume.
  
• Required sample size: Displays the number of respondents needed for valid statistical results.
  
• Expected confidence intervals: Indicates the precision level of your lift measurement.
  
• Benchmark comparisons: Summarizes how your selected category benchmarks will be applied in reporting.
  

If everything looks correct, click “Launch Study.” The Brand Lift process will begin automatically, running surveys in the background while your campaigns continue.

You’ll receive progress updates and final results once enough data is collected. Typically, studies run for 2–4 weeks, depending on traffic and sample size.

Advanced Study Configuration Strategies

Advanced Brand Lift studies go beyond measuring single campaigns. They combine multiple campaigns, audience segments, and creative variations to reveal how different advertising tactics work together to strengthen overall brand impact.

Key Strategies

• Multi-Campaign Studies – Measure multiple campaigns together to understand how they collectively influence brand outcomes.
  
• Full-Funnel Measurement – Evaluate how campaigns at each stage of the customer journey (awareness, consideration, conversion) contribute to total brand lift.
  
• Creative Testing – Compare different creative elements (messages, visuals, CTAs) to identify which drives the strongest brand impact.
  
• Audience Segmentation – Analyze brand lift across audience types to uncover which segments respond best to your campaigns.

Full-Funnel Measurement Example

Funnel Stage	Campaign Type	Objective	Measurement Focus
Top Funnel	Streaming TV	Awareness	Broad reach and emotional engagement
Mid Funnel	Sponsored Display	Consideration	Audience targeting and message recall
Bottom Funnel	Sponsored Brands	Conversion	High-intent traffic and purchase lift

This framework helps measure cumulative brand impact, identify funnel gaps, and optimize budget allocation across stages.

Creative & Audience Insights

Creative testing uses controlled comparisons to find the best-performing messages and visuals.

• Test message variations (e.g., quality vs. price).
  
• Test visual styles (e.g., lifestyle vs. product imagery).
  
• Test CTAs (e.g., “Shop Now” vs. “Learn More”).

Audience segmentation then applies these insights to specific groups like new-to-brand, repeat purchasers, category shoppers, competitor customers, and Prime members, allowing personalized optimization.

Advanced Brand Lift configurations turn measurement into strategy. By combining full-funnel insights, creative testing, and audience segmentation, advertisers can uncover what truly drives brand growth and continuously refine campaigns for maximum impact.

Interpreting Brand Lift Results

Brand Lift studies help you measure how your advertising impacts key brand metrics, such as awareness, consideration, and purchase intent. 

By comparing the behavior of users who were exposed to your ads versus those who weren’t (control group), you can quantify the effectiveness of your campaigns. 

The goal is to determine whether your ads are making a real, measurable impact on your audience and how strong that impact is.

Metric / Concept	Explanation	Key Notes / Benchmarks
Lift Percentage	Measures the increase in a brand metric (e.g., awareness, favorability) among exposed users compared to the control group.	– Good: 5–10% lift- Excellent: 10–20% lift- Outstanding: 20%+ lift
Statistical Significance	Determines whether the observed lift is likely real and not due to random chance.	Must achieve a 95% confidence level to be actionable
Control Group	Users who did not see your ads, used as a baseline for comparison.	Critical for isolating the true impact of your advertising
Exposed Group	Users who saw your ads, used to measure campaign impact.	Comparing this group to the control group calculates the lift
Primary Metrics Dashboard	Central reporting view to track overall campaign performance.	Includes overall lift percentage, confidence intervals, benchmark comparisons, and trend analysis
Secondary Metrics	Additional insights to understand deeper performance dynamics.	Includes frequency impact, creative performance, audience segment breakdowns, and time-based performance

Strategic Applications of Brand Lift Data

Brand Lift data measures how your advertising impacts customer perception, awareness, and purchase intent. By analyzing this data, you can make smarter decisions across creative, budget, and competitive strategies. 

It allows marketers to identify which messages resonate, optimize spend for maximum impact, and benchmark performance against competitors. Leveraging Brand Lift insights ensures campaigns not only reach audiences but also meaningfully influence behavior.

1. Creative Optimization

Framework	Description	Steps
Message Testing	Evaluate which ad messaging drives the highest brand impact	1. Run baseline study with current creative2. Launch Challenger Creative with new messaging3. Compare lift metrics between versions4. Scale the winning approach
Visual Style Impact	Test how different visual approaches affect brand perception	– Lifestyle vs. product-focused imagery- Static images vs. video- Professional vs. User-Generated Content (UGC) style

2. Budget Allocation Optimization

Channel Mix Optimization: Use Brand Lift data to determine optimal budget distribution:

Brand Lift Efficiency = Lift % / Media Spend

ROI = (Lift % × Customer Lifetime Value) / Campaign Cost

Example Calculation:

• Streaming TV: 15% lift at $50K = 0.3% per $1K
• Sponsored Brands: 8% lift at $20K = 0.4% per $1K
• Optimal reallocation: Shift budget to Sponsored Brands

3. Competitive Intelligence

Metric	Description	Recommended Action
Benchmark Analysis	Compare your Brand Lift metrics to category benchmarks	– Above benchmark: Continue current strategy- Below benchmark: Investigate competitive campaigns- At benchmark: Test innovative approaches

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Running marketing studies or campaigns can be tricky. Even small missteps in planning, execution, or analysis can lead to misleading results, wasted budgets, and lost opportunities. 

Below are the five most common mistakes, explained in detail with practical solutions to ensure your campaigns deliver reliable insights and measurable results.

Mistake 1: Insufficient Sample Size

• Problem: Many marketers underestimate the budget required for meaningful results. Running studies with too small a sample size makes it statistically impossible to identify whether observed differences are real or just random fluctuations. This leads to false conclusions, wasted money, and decisions based on unreliable data.
  
• Why it happens: New marketers often want quick answers or operate under tight budgets, cutting corners on sample size.
  
• Solution:
  
  • Budget minimum: Allocate at least $10,000, though $25,000+ is ideal for high-confidence results.
    
  • Tip: Larger budgets allow campaigns to reach enough impressions, clicks, or conversions to detect significant differences. Without it, even a “successful” ad may not be statistically validated.

Mistake 2: Short Study Duration

• Problem: Ending a study too quickly can produce misleading results because trends haven’t stabilized. For example, initial spikes in performance may be temporary or influenced by short-term factors, giving a false sense of success or failure.
  
• Why it happens: Pressure to get quick answers, fear of overspending, or impatient stakeholders often lead to premature conclusions.
  
• Solution:
  
  • Run campaigns for at least 14 days, ideally 28 days, to ensure results reflect consistent performance.
    
  • Tip: Longer durations capture variations in daily behavior, weekend vs. weekday patterns, and small fluctuations that average out over time.

Mistake 3: Ignoring Seasonality

• Problem: Running campaigns during abnormal periods, like holidays, major sales events, or unusual demand spikes, can skew results. You may think a campaign is performing well, but the results are influenced by temporary external factors.
  
• Why it happens: Marketers often focus on convenience or try to piggyback on high-traffic periods without adjusting their analysis.
  
• Solution:
  
  • Avoid unusual periods unless you are specifically testing seasonal strategies.
    
  • Tip: Compare your data against historical trends or control periods to separate normal performance from seasonal anomalies.

Mistake 4: Single Metric Focus

• Problem: Optimizing solely for one metric, such as awareness or click-through rate, can overlook the bigger picture. For example, an ad generating high impressions may not convert into sales, leaving the budget wasted without real ROI.
  
• Why it happens: Simpler metrics are easier to track, and teams may prioritize vanity metrics that look good on reports.
  
• Solution:
  
  • Use multi-goal studies that track awareness, engagement, and conversions.
    
  • Tip: Combine metrics like CTR, CPC, sales lift, and ROAS to measure the full impact of a campaign. This ensures marketing decisions are based on actionable insights, not just surface-level data.

Mistake 5: Not Acting on Results

• Problem: Gathering data without implementing changes is one of the most costly mistakes. Insights are useless if campaigns aren’t adjusted based on findings, leading to repeated failures or stagnation.
  
• Why it happens: Teams may lack a clear follow-up plan, or data may be collected for reporting rather than action.
  
• Solution:
  
  • Create action plans before study completion so insights translate into improvements.
    
  • Tip: Assign responsibilities, set deadlines, and define measurable actions. For example, if a particular ad copy underperforms, plan exactly how to optimize it, whether by adjusting messaging, targeting, or bid strategy.

Advanced Strategies for Different Business Types

Not all businesses benefit from the same advertising approach. Your Amazon SEM and DSP strategies should be tailored based on your brand’s stage, market presence, and product seasonality. 

Below is a breakdown of advanced strategies designed to maximize impact for different types of businesses:

For New Brands – Building Awareness and Momentum

New brands need to establish recognition and credibility before sales can accelerate. Whether you’re organising an Amazon product launch independently or working with specialists, the focus should be on understanding baseline brand awareness, creating pre-launch interest, and optimizing campaigns using early performance data.

Key actions include:

• Conduct pre-launch studies to gauge potential audience awareness.
• Measure baseline brand recognition to understand the starting point.
• Track awareness and engagement lift during the launch campaign.
• Optimize campaigns in real time based on early indicators of interest and engagement.

Key Metrics: Unaided brand awareness, category consideration, and purchase intent among non-customers.

For Established Brands – Protecting and Expanding Market Share

Brands with existing market presence must defend their position while exploring growth opportunities. This involves monitoring competitive activity, measuring loyalty, and carefully testing new product launches. Strategies include:

• Monitor competitive intrusion to protect market share.
• Measure customer loyalty metrics and brand preference.
• Track consideration among competitor customers for defensive targeting.
• For new product launches, test awareness and messaging, evaluate cannibalization risk, and optimize cross-selling opportunities.

For Seasonal Businesses – Maximizing Peak Period Performance

Brands that rely on seasonal sales need to make the most of short windows while maintaining year-round relevance. Strategies focus on pre-season planning, in-season optimization, and post-season retention:

• Conduct pre-season awareness studies to prime your audience.
• Measure consumer consideration and engagement during peak season.
• Track post-season brand retention to ensure repeat purchases.
• Plan year-round brand building to stay relevant outside peak periods.

Integration with Broader Marketing Strategy

Cross-Channel Measurement

Unified Measurement Framework:

• Align Amazon Brand Lift with Google Brand Lift
• Compare Meta brand polling results
• Create a holistic brand health dashboard

Attribution Modeling Enhancement

Multi-Touch Brand Attribution: Combine Brand Lift data with:

• Amazon Attribution for path analysis
• Sales lift studies for revenue impact
• Customer surveys for qualitative insights

Visit our blog to know more about Amazon Attribution Modelling

Creative Development Process

Data-Driven Creative Briefs: Use Brand Lift insights to inform:

• Message hierarchy
• Visual style guidelines
• Tone and voice decisions
• Call-to-action optimization

Future-Proofing Your Brand Lift Strategy

In today’s rapidly evolving market, a strong brand lift strategy is no longer optional—it’s essential for long-term growth. 

Future-proofing your approach ensures your brand stays relevant, resonates with your audience, and adapts to shifting consumer behaviors. 

By focusing on sustainable, data-driven tactics, you can maximize impact and maintain a competitive edge.

Emerging Capabilities: Coming in 2025:

• AI-powered study recommendations
• Predictive lift modeling
• Real-time optimization signals
• Cross-marketplace studies

Building Internal Capabilities: Team Training Requirements:

• Data interpretation skills
• Statistical significance understanding
• Action planning frameworks
• Cross-functional collaboration

Documentation Best Practices:

• Study result archives
• Learning documentation
• Playbook development
• Benchmark tracking

Maximizing ROI from Brand Lift Studies

Brand Lift Studies provide invaluable insights into how your marketing campaigns impact brand awareness, perception, and purchase intent. 

By analyzing these insights, you can make data-driven decisions that directly improve your ROI. Maximizing the value of these studies ensures every marketing dollar works harder for your brand.

Category	Details
Investment Required	Study cost: $0 (free tool)Media spend: $10K–$100KAnalysis time: 10–20 hoursImplementation: 20–40 hours
Expected Returns	15–30% improvement in campaign efficiency20–40% better creative performance10–25% increase in brand metricsLong-term brand equity building
Success Metrics Framework	Immediate Indicators: Lift % vs. benchmark, Statistical significance, Cost per lift pointLong-term Measurements: Brand search volume increases, Organic sales growth, Customer lifetime value improvement, Market share gains

This structured analysis highlights the clear balance between investment and expected returns. Immediate metrics help you track short-term campaign efficiency. 

Long-term measurements ensure sustainable brand growth and value. Overall, this framework guides strategic decision-making while maximizing ROI.

Conclusion

Brand Lift studies are changing the game on Amazon. Instead of just chasing immediate sales, they show how your ads shape customer perceptions and behavior, insights that create lasting competitive advantage. 

The brands winning in 2025 won’t be the biggest spenders, but the smartest ones who understand their true impact. Start small: run a single study on your top campaign, use the insights to tweak creative and targeting, then scale what works. 

Within months, you’ll have actionable intelligence that transforms both short-term sales and long-term brand value. The tools are free; the insights are priceless.

Frequently Asked Questions on Amazon Brand Lifting Studies