You're paying a toll on customers who already knew your name.
By Elizabeth Greene · September 5, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
You're paying a toll on customers who already knew your name.
I can't tell you how many times I've gotten into an account where ACoS looks great, ROAS looks great, and revenue is completely flat.
The first thing we do is follow the money.
And almost every time, the majority of spend is sitting on branded keywords and branded ASINs. $40,000 a month going to shoppers who were already searching for you.
The campaigns are often labeled "non-branded."
You open them up and it's branded ASIN targeting and branded keywords, defense spend disguised as growth.
I've seen it so many times it's just a riot. Like it's just a mess.
So you look at the dashboard and think things are working. Low ACoS. Strong ROAS.
But revenue hasn't moved in six months.
We had an account spending $40,000 on branded.
We restructured, got branded down to under $14,000, redirected the rest into actual non-branded ranking campaigns.
Stopped spinning wheels on shoppers who already knew and liked the product.
Total ACoS still under 12%, and they grew 30% year-on-year for three straight months.
If your account is "efficient" and flat, look at how much of that spend is branded.