The organic-lift halo (the incrementality data)
"Is this incremental?" is the number-one question brands ask about DSP. Here is the cleanest before/after we have measured.
- Organic order share rose from 13.5% pre-DSP to 27.9% post-DSP for a fitness publishing brand. Source: reMKTR managed DSP account, measured pre/post window, 2026.
- Four weeks after all DSP spend stopped, that organic order share was still trending upward. Source: same account, post-spend observation window, 2026. Momentum outlived the media.
- Over the same period, the brand's PPC TACOS compressed from 48% to 37% — and held. Source: same account, 2026. Top-of-funnel video warmed the audience; the audience converted more efficiently on every channel.
- A supplements brand running DSP at $20–30K/month held roughly 9x ROAS — and when spend paused, revenue visibly dropped. Source: reMKTR managed DSP account, 2026. The pause test is the incrementality test.
New-to-brand statistics by ad type
- Our DSP prospecting audiences run approximately 44% new-to-brand (verified across 15 brands, Jul-Aug 2026). Source: reMKTR DSP campaign data, portfolio-wide observation, 2026. This is a first-party observed figure, not a synthesis.
For context, here is the benchmark range by ad type, synthesized from Amazon case studies and published tool-vendor benchmarks (Perpetua, Pacvue, Flywheel):
| Ad type | Typical new-to-brand share |
|---|---|
| Sponsored Products | 10–20% |
| Sponsored Brands headline — branded terms | 5–15% |
| Sponsored Brands headline — non-brand terms | 20–30% |
| Sponsored Brands video | 40–60% |
| Amazon DSP — retargeting | 10–20% |
| Amazon DSP — prospecting | 50–70% (our observed figure: ≈66%) |
Source: benchmark synthesis from Amazon case studies and published Perpetua/Pacvue/Flywheel data; reMKTR first-party observation for DSP prospecting.
ROAS trajectories and guardrails
- A pet-treats brand went from ROAS 10 in month one to ROAS 17.68 by month four, selling 12,000+ units through DSP. Source: reMKTR managed DSP account, 2026.
- A mushroom supplement brand hit 4x ROAS within three weeks on just $6K of spend — while Prime week pushed CPCs up across the entire platform. Source: reMKTR managed DSP account, 2026. DSP builds momentum: pausing early forfeits the audience learning the spend just bought.
- A mineral sunscreen brand sustained 4x ROAS at $700–800/day on DSP, versus 3.2x on its sponsored ads. Source: reMKTR managed DSP account, 2026.
- Linkout campaigns — DSP ads driving off-Amazon destinations — average roughly 22x ROAS in our accounts, the most underpriced segment we run. Source: reMKTR DSP campaign data, 2026. Few advertisers bid on this inventory.
- Streaming TV "retouching" tactics (display + online video layered inside STV orders) have produced ROAS of 10.85 — exceptional for a streaming TV order. Source: reMKTR managed DSP account, 2026.
- Our working ROAS guardrails: ≈2.0 for top-of-funnel prospecting, 4–5 for retargeting, and ≈1.0 for streaming TV — judged with video-completion rate and branded-search lift. Source: reMKTR DSP operating doctrine, 2026. Attribution undercounts STV: shoppable features only fire for logged-in Prime members.
DSP CPC statistics
- Our DSP online-video and display CPCs run $0.21–$0.44. Source: reMKTR DSP campaign data, 2026.
- Category-average sponsored-ads CPCs in the same niches run $5.00–$6.60 — a 10–25x cost gap per click. Source: reMKTR campaign data, 2026. Full cost data on our Amazon CPC Benchmarks page.
- Sponsored-ads CPCs rose +116% portfolio-wide during Prime week, while DSP audience buying held its pricing far better. Source: reMKTR portfolio, Prime week 2026.
The minimum-spend reality
- A managed DSP program realistically needs $10,000–$15,000/month in media spend. Source: reMKTR client guidance, 2026. Below that, audiences can't exit the learning phase and results aren't readable — the same budget works harder in sponsored ads or social.
- DSP takes roughly three weeks to build audience momentum before efficiency compounds. Source: reMKTR DSP campaign observations, 2026.
- Amazon DSP now reaches streaming inventory including Prime Video and Netflix's ad-supported tier (available through DSP since Q4 2025). Source: Amazon DSP inventory documentation, 2025–2026.
- AMC audience creation — the measurement layer behind serious DSP programs — is now open to all advertisers, with lookback windows extended to 25 months. Source: Amazon Marketing Cloud product announcements, 2026. See our AMC Cloud offering.
Verified portfolio data — 15 brands, 30 days
Pulled directly from the Amazon DSP API on 19 August 2026, covering 47 active campaign orders across 15 reMKTR-managed brands, 16 July – 15 August 2026. This is the whole book for that window, not a selected sample.
- $504,051 media spend produced $3,041,723 in attributed sales — a blended 6.03x ROAS. Source: Amazon DSP API, 47 orders / 15 brands, 16 Jul–15 Aug 2026
- 150.1 million impressions and 373,998 clicks produced 81,280 attributed purchases. Source: same dataset
- 24% of all attributed purchases were new-to-brand across the full portfolio. Source: same dataset
The part nobody segments: CPC and new-to-brand vary enormously by line-item type
“Amazon DSP CPC” is close to a meaningless number on its own. Here is the same 30-day dataset split by line-item type:
| Line-item type | CPC | ROAS | New-to-brand | Share of spend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OLV / streaming video | $0.41 | 5.05x | 11% | 16% |
| Warm prospecting (display) | $1.83 | 5.17x | 44% | 34% |
| Remarketing (display) | $2.62 | 6.86x | 1% | 7% |
| Retargeting (display) | $3.22 | 8.64x | 36% | 26% |
| Prime Video / streaming TV | $4.17 | 0.95x | 57% | 7% |
| Blended | $1.35 | 6.03x | 24% | 100% |
Read the last two rows together, because that is the whole argument for streaming. Prime Video / streaming TV returned the worst ROAS in the portfolio (0.95x — roughly break-even on attributed sales) and the best new-to-brand rate by a wide margin (57%, against a 24% portfolio average). Streaming does not buy you efficient last-click sales. It buys you customers you did not have. Judge it on new-to-brand and on what happens to your organic order share afterward, never on its own ROAS line.
Retargeting is the mirror image: the highest ROAS in the book (8.64x) and the highest CPC ($3.22), because you are paying a premium to reach people who already showed intent. It is efficient and it is finite — retargeting cannot grow a brand on its own.
Honest caveats: attributed sales use Amazon’s 14-day attribution window and will not match a brand’s own last-click reporting. One 30-day window across 15 brands is a real sample but a single snapshot; category, creative, and budget level all move these numbers materially. We publish the blended figure alongside the segments precisely because the blended figure alone is misleading.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum spend for Amazon DSP?
In practice, a managed DSP program needs $10,000–$15,000 per month of media spend to build audiences, exit the learning phase, and produce readable results. Below that level, the same budget usually works harder in sponsored ads or other channels — and we tell brands exactly that.
What ROAS should I expect from Amazon DSP?
It depends on the objective. Sensible guardrails from our managed campaigns: roughly 2.0 ROAS for top-of-funnel prospecting, 4–5 for retargeting, and around 1.0 for streaming TV judged alongside video-completion rate and branded-search lift. Retargeting-led programs can run much higher — one pet-treats brand went from ROAS 10 in month one to 17.68 by month four.
What percentage of Amazon DSP sales are new-to-brand?
Across our managed campaigns, DSP prospecting audiences run approximately 44% new-to-brand (verified across 15 brands, Jul-Aug 2026). Benchmark syntheses put DSP prospecting at 50–70% new-to-brand, versus 10–20% for DSP retargeting and 10–20% for Sponsored Products.
Does Amazon DSP lift organic sales?
In our clearest measured case, organic order share rose from 13.5% before DSP to 27.9% after — and was still climbing four weeks after all DSP spend stopped, while PPC TACOS compressed from 48% to 37%. Top-of-funnel video warmed the audience, and that audience converted more efficiently on every channel.
DSP, run as a performance channel
reMKTR manages Amazon DSP with no retainers and no creative fees — commission scales down as spend scales up, and spend is throttled to your ROAS goals. Explore our DSP services or talk to the team.
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