How to Run an Amazon Sponsored TV Campaign
The setup takes ten minutes in the same console as your search ads. The parts that decide success — the ASIN, the audiences, and the budget — take a little more thought.
Create a Streaming TV campaign in the Ads Console, choose an in-stock hero ASIN and a 15- or 30-second video, pick three to five content-interest and in-market audiences with CPM bids, add your geo, and submit for a ~72-hour review. The real discipline is budgeting for enough frequency and judging results on lift, not day-one ROAS.
01Before you start
Sponsored TV rewards preparation. Four things should be in place before you build a campaign:
- Active Amazon Brand Registry
- An in-stock hero ASIN with proven conversion
- TV-ready video in 15- and 30-second cuts
- Budget to sustain frequency (not a $500 dabble)
- Search campaigns live to catch the lift
- A goal that isn’t last-click ROAS
02The setup, step by step
Inside the Ads Console the flow is short:
- Create campaign → choose Streaming TV (this is where Sponsored TV now lives).
- Name it, set start/end dates, and enter a daily budget.
- Build the ad group: choose your video creative and select an in-stock ASIN that matches it.
- Set targeting: add three to five audiences (content interests + in-market categories) and your location/geo.
- Set bids: assign a CPM bid to each audience segment.
- Submit for review — approval typically lands within 72 hours.
03Choosing your ASIN
Pick a single hero ASIN — your best-selling, best-reviewed, conversion-proven product — and make sure it’s comfortably in stock for the whole flight. Two reasons this matters: TV drives shoppers to search and view that product, so a weak converter wastes the traffic, and if the ASIN goes out of stock mid-campaign you’ve spent awareness budget sending people to a dead end. The ASIN should also genuinely match the video; a mismatch between what viewers see and what they land on kills the consideration you paid for.
04Choosing your audiences
Start with three to five segments and let data narrow them. The trap is over-targeting into people who’d have bought anyway, or spraying budget on segments too broad to mean anything. A simple guide:
| Use these | Avoid these |
|---|---|
| In-market categories (active intent) | Generic “Amazon shopper” audiences |
| Content interests (context) | Broad demographic-only targeting |
| ASIN remarketing with a lookback | Single-ASIN remarketing, no lookback |
| Geo / DMA for regional brands | Segments too narrow to gather volume |
05Budget & bids for frequency
This is where Sponsored TV campaigns quietly succeed or fail. TV works through repetition — a viewer needs to see your ad enough times for it to register. Spread too little budget across a huge audience and each person sees it once or twice a month, below the threshold where lift becomes measurable. Set CPM bids per segment, but size the overall daily budget so you achieve real frequency in your chosen audiences; operators commonly cite a practical floor around $8–12K/month, with cleaner reads higher. If your budget can’t sustain frequency on a broad audience, narrow the audience (or the geo) rather than starving the whole campaign.
06Creative for the big screen
Because the ad is full-screen and non-skippable, the whole message plays — which is an opportunity and a risk. Lead with the product and a clear hook in the first seconds, keep it to a tight 15 or 30 seconds, and design for clarity on a living-room screen. If you already have Sponsored Brands Video assets, they’re a sensible starting point; Amazon’s creative tools can also help produce compliant TV cuts. Full technical requirements are in streaming TV ad specs.
07Launch discipline
Once live, resist the urge to judge early or by the wrong number. The console’s last-touch ROAS will look weak because TV is upper-funnel — that’s expected, not failure. Give the campaign at least 21–30 days for a clean read, and watch the lift signals in order: brand-search lift appears first (around week 2), detail-page-view lift follows, and new-to-brand orders catch up by weeks 3–4. The full measurement approach is in Sponsored TV metrics.
08Pair it with your sponsored ads
Sponsored TV creates demand; your other campaigns capture it. When TV lifts branded search, you need Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands running on your brand terms to catch those newly-curious shoppers — otherwise a competitor catches them instead. And retargeting can re-engage the viewers who visited but didn’t buy. Run TV as the top of a funnel your search and display ads complete, not as an island. Next, we’ll get the creative specs exactly right.
- Set up in the Ads Console under Streaming TV: name, budget, ad group, ASIN, audiences, bids, submit (72h review).
- Use one in-stock, conversion-proven hero ASIN that matches your video.
- Start with 3–5 in-market and content-interest audiences; avoid generic or over-narrow segments.
- Budget for frequency — spreading too thin makes lift invisible.
- Give it 21–30 days, judge on lift not ROAS, and run search ads to catch the demand it creates.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set up a Sponsored TV campaign?
In the Amazon Ads Console, create a campaign and choose Streaming TV, add a name, dates, and daily budget, build an ad group with your video and an in-stock ASIN, select three to five audiences with CPM bids, add your geo, and submit for review — approval usually takes up to 72 hours.
How much budget do I need for Sponsored TV?
There’s no minimum, so you can test with a few hundred dollars, but meaningful brand lift requires enough frequency. Operators commonly cite a practical floor around $8–12K per month; below that, viewers see your ad too rarely for the impact to register or be measured.
What ASIN should I use for Sponsored TV?
A single hero ASIN — your best-selling, well-reviewed, conversion-proven product — that is comfortably in stock for the whole campaign and genuinely matches your video creative. Avoid promoting untested products or anything at risk of a stockout.
How long does Sponsored TV take to review?
Creative and campaign review typically completes within about 72 hours, provided your video meets Amazon’s streaming TV ad specifications. Ads that fail the specs are rejected and must be resubmitted, so build to spec first.
How many audiences should I target?
Start with three to five segments per ad group, mixing in-market categories and content interests, then narrow based on performance. You can add up to 20 segments, but too many fragments your budget and frequency, while too few can over-target the wrong viewers.
Or return to Module 6: Sponsored TV or the course hub.