How to Hire an Amazon Brand Manager: 18 Questions to Ask First
A call script for vetting a brand manager, whether it is a person or an agency: what to ask, what a good answer sounds like, which answers end the call, and a scorecard to compare your shortlist.
Short answer
To hire an Amazon brand manager, get five things in writing before you sign: the named person and how many brands they carry, the monthly hours and what happens to unused ones, the fee and everything it excludes, account access through user permissions you control, and the KPIs they report, including total sales and TACoS. Then check a reference at your size and start with a short first term.
Write Down Five Facts Before You Talk to Anyone
An Amazon brand manager is the one person who owns the health and growth of your brand on Amazon week to week: listings, account health, advertising direction, inventory warnings, reviews, content refreshes and reporting. If you want the full definition first, read what an Amazon brand manager is. This page is the hiring script, and it works the same whether you are interviewing a freelancer, a full-time hire or an agency that assigns you a brand manager.
Many hiring calls turn into sales pitches because the buyer shows up without numbers. Put these five facts in a one-page brief so every candidate answers the same question:
Revenue and channels
Last 12 months of sales by channel (Amazon, Shopify, TikTok Shop) and the trend.
Catalog size
Parent ASINs, child variations, and the five products that drive most sales.
Ad spend and TACoS
Three months of ad spend and TACoS (total advertising cost of sales: ad spend divided by total sales, not only ad sales). ACoS, by contrast, is ad spend divided by ad revenue, per Amazon Ads.
Hours you spend now
How many hours a week you or your team spend in Seller Central, and on what. That is the work you are buying back.
The one outcome you would pay for
Pick one: stop stock-outs, fix suppressed listings, grow total sales at a stable TACoS, or launch a new product. A clear target can be judged; ten vague goals cannot.
Shortlist three candidates, not ten, and send each the same brief. If anyone needs to look inside your account before quoting, grant the narrowest access you can and remove it if you do not hire them.
18 Questions and What a Good Answer Sounds Like
Send the questions ahead and ask for written answers where you can. Note answers in the candidate's own words. Numbers, names and dates score well; "it depends" with no landing is weak.
1. Who exactly is my brand manager, and how many brands do they carry?
Good answer: A named person who will be on your calls and in your account, plus an honest caseload number. Weak answer: "A dedicated team" with no name, or a senior seller who hands you to someone you never met.
2. How many hours a month do I get, and how are they tracked?
Good answer: A monthly hour count and a time log or task list you can see. Weak answer: "As much as you need."
3. What is the fee, what model is it, and what is not included?
Good answer: A written number, a named model (hourly retainer, flat fee or percent of sales), and a list of exclusions such as ad spend, photo shoots or design. Weak answer: A fee you cannot calculate before the invoice arrives.
4. What happens to hours I do not use?
Good answer: A clear rule either way. Some plans let hours roll over; ours do not, and we say so up front. Weak answer: No answer, which leads to arguments in month three.
5. What access do you need, and who owns the accounts?
Good answer: You own Seller Central, Brand Registry and the ad account, and you add them as a user with set permissions you can remove any time. Amazon lets service providers be granted specific roles in Seller Central (Amazon developer docs), and the ad console has admin, editor and specialized access levels (Amazon Ads). Weak answer: "Just send us your login."
6. What will you do in the first 30 days?
Good answer: Account health review, suppressed and stranded listings, top-ASIN listing audit, ad account review, inventory check, and a written priority list by week four. Weak answer: "We will get to know your brand."
7. What goes in your monthly report?
Good answer: Total sales, ad spend, ACoS and TACoS, sessions and conversion rate on top ASINs, in-stock status, account health, review rating trend, and a log of what changed and why. Weak answer: Ad metrics only, or a dashboard with no notes.
8. When everything needs doing, how do you pick what comes first?
Good answer: Account health and stock first, then the listings that already get the most traffic, then growth projects. Weak answer: Starting with a catalog rewrite or a new logo.
9. What do you do yourself, and what do you hand off?
Good answer: A plain list of who writes copy, runs PPC, shoots photo and video, and designs A+ content, with prices for anything extra. Weak answer: "We do everything," with no creative prices.
10. How do you handle account health warnings and suppressed listings?
Good answer: At least a weekly check, a process to read the notice, fix the cause and document any appeal, and a same-day heads-up to you. Weak answer: "We open a case with Seller Support."
11. How do you warn me before I run out of stock?
Good answer: A weekly days-of-cover check on top ASINs with a reorder flag; you decide and pay for inventory. Weak answer: Inventory is "not our department."
12. How do you test listing changes?
Good answer: One change at a time, measured, often through Amazon's Manage Your Experiments tool, which requires Brand Registry and suggests 8 to 10 weeks for a test you time yourself (Amazon). Weak answer: Rewriting titles, images and price in the same week, so no one knows what worked.
13. How do you grow reviews?
Good answer: Amazon's own tools, such as Vine for eligible products with fewer than 30 reviews (Amazon Vine), a better product page, and reading negative reviews for fixes. Weak answer: Anything that pays for positive reviews. The FTC's 2024 rule bans paying for reviews that express a particular sentiment (FTC).
14. When would you tell me to spend less?
Good answer: Real examples: low stock, a listing that does not convert, ads with no margin left, a product to discontinue. Weak answer: They cannot name one.
15. Who makes final decisions, and what needs my approval?
Good answer: A written line: they act on routine fixes, and you approve price changes, budget changes, new products and anything that touches claims or packaging. Weak answer: "We just handle it."
16. What is the term, the notice period, and what happens when we part ways?
Good answer: Term and notice in writing, all files, reports and creative handed back, and their user access removed on the last day. Weak answer: A long first contract with an unclear exit.
17. Can I talk to a current client at my size?
Good answer: A name and phone number, or a public case study naming the brand. Weak answer: Only logos, or only clients ten times your size.
18. Do you cover Shopify and TikTok Shop, or only Amazon?
Good answer: A straight answer on which channels are inside the hours. Weak answer: Yes to every channel on the same hours, so each gets less.
Four Answers That End the Call
"Send us your password"
With your owner login you cannot see who did what or cut off one person without changing everything. Amazon built user permissions and service provider roles so you do not have to share it.
Guaranteed rankings, sales or a review count
No one controls Amazon search results or what shoppers write. A promised review count points to the methods the FTC's fake and paid review rule was written to stop.
They want to own your accounts or creative
The ad account, Brand Registry and the photos you paid for should be yours. If the account sits under their business, your history leaves with them.
No named person and no hours
If they cannot tell you who does the work and for how many hours, you cannot judge whether you are getting it.
Smaller warnings worth a follow-up question: a first contract longer than three months with no exit, a report with no TACoS or change log, no answer to question 14, a quote that leaves out creative costs, and pressure to sign the same day.
Score Each Candidate Out of 30
Score each line 0 for no answer or a red flag, 1 for vague or verbal, 2 for specific and in writing. The fee and unused-hours line is worth up to 4, because it decides every invoice you will pay. Any red flag is an automatic stop, whatever the total.
From First Call to a Signed Scope
Write the one-page brief
Revenue by channel, catalog size, ad spend and TACoS, hours you spend now, and the one outcome you would pay for.
Pick three candidates who publish prices or plans
A published price saves a call. Our Amazon brand management cost guide shows what in-house hires, freelancers and agencies charge, and our roundup of brand management agencies lists who publishes what.
Run all three calls in one week
Same 18 questions, while answers are fresh enough to compare. Ask the person who would manage your brand to join.
Score them the same day
Fill in the scorecard right after each call. Drop anyone with a red flag before you look at price.
Get a written proposal that matches the call
Fee, hours, named person, term, notice, exclusions and the 30-day plan. If it is vaguer than the call, ask why.
Start with a short first term or a pilot
One month on a small plan, or a defined project on one ASIN. Our guide to testing an agency on one ASIN walks through the setup.
Onboard with user permissions, not a shared login
Add them as a user with the roles they need, share your brief and past reports, and agree on the report date. Write down who has access to what so offboarding later takes minutes.
Set a 90-day check in writing
Agree before the first invoice on what success looks like at day 90: total sales, TACoS, in-stock rate, account health and the projects finished. A listing test alone can take 8 to 10 weeks, so judge the trend, not one week.
A Person, a Freelancer, or an Agency Brand Manager
The 18 questions work for all three; the answers you should expect differ. For salary context, PayScale puts the average US base salary for a brand manager at $88,911 in 2026, from 1,150 salary profiles last updated September 14, 2026 (PayScale). That covers brand managers in all channels and industries, not only Amazon, and is base pay before benefits and tools. Our in-house hire vs retained brand manager comparison runs the full math.
Still choosing between one accountable brand manager and a large full-service team? Read brand manager vs full-service Amazon agency first.
When You Should Not Hire a Brand Manager Yet
You need one fix, not ongoing management
One weak listing, one missing set of images or one messy ad account is a project. Fixed-price work fits better: our listing optimization is $495 per listing and our PPC audit and restructure is $995 one time. Start with the free Amazon listing audit to see what is actually broken.
You have not launched yet
Before the first sale there is little to manage week to week. A launch plan comes first; ours is the $995 Launch Roadmap or the $2,495 Full Launch Package.
You cannot fund inventory and ads
A brand manager cannot fix a cash gap. If you cannot keep top products in stock or pay for ads, a monthly fee makes it worse.
You have the hours and like the work
With a small catalog and a few hours a week, you can run the checks yourself. Our free Ecom Profit Box has 11 PDF playbooks. Hire when the work outgrows your time.
You need a deep specialist
If one area, such as high-spend advertising, is the whole problem, a specialist may beat a generalist. See our guide to hiring a PPC agency.
How Evolve helps. Our Amazon brand management plans give you one named brand manager on a set number of hours, paid upfront each month, month to month. Brand Support is 5 hours for $750 a month, Brand Manager is 10 hours for $1,250, Brand Manager Plus is 20 hours for $2,000, and Full Brand Management is 40 hours for $3,600. Hours do not roll over, work beyond a plan is $150 an hour, and ad spend and fixed-price production such as photos and video are billed separately. Every price is on our pricing page, and our retainer vs project pricing guide shows when a plan beats one-off projects.
Want to test us with these questions? Email Ian at [email protected], call or text 719-257-3557, or book a free 30-minute call. Ian has sold on Amazon since 2015 and founded Evolve in 2017. Bring your brief, and if a plan is not worth it for your numbers, we will say so.
Where These Facts Come From
PayScale: Brand Manager Salary in 2026
payscale.com · Open source →
Amazon Ads: Custom access controls for Amazon Advertising console
advertising.amazon.com · Open source →
Amazon Selling Partner API docs: Service provider registration and role approval process
developer-docs.amazon · Open source →
Amazon Ads: What is ACOS (advertising cost of sales)
advertising.amazon.com · Open source →
Sell on Amazon: Manage Your Experiments
sell.amazon.com · Open source →
Sell on Amazon: Amazon Vine
sell.amazon.com · Open source →
FTC: Final rule banning fake reviews and testimonials (Aug 14, 2024)
ftc.gov · Open source →
About the Author
Ian Smith
Founder, Evolve Media Agency
Ian has run Evolve Media Agency since 2017 and has sold on Amazon since 2015. He and Megan run brand management, launches, PPC and in-house photo and video for Amazon, Shopify and TikTok Shop brands, including supplement brands, from Colorado. Questions about this page go straight to him at [email protected].
Common Questions
What questions should I ask an Amazon brand manager before hiring?
What are red flags when hiring an Amazon brand manager?
Should I give an Amazon brand manager my Seller Central login?
Is it better to hire an in-house Amazon brand manager or an agency?
What should an Amazon brand manager report each month?
How long should I give a new Amazon brand manager?
When should I not hire an Amazon brand manager?
How does Evolve Media Agency answer these 18 questions?
Run the 18 Questions on Us First
Book a free 30-minute call with your revenue, catalog size and ad spend. We will answer every question in writing, and if you do not need a brand manager yet, we will tell you what to do instead.
Rather email? Write Ian at [email protected]. Call or text 719-257-3557. Watch our YouTube channel, grab the free Ecom Profit Box guides, or join the newsletter.
Want Ian to Look at Your Brand?
Tell us what you sell and where you are stuck. Ian replies within one business day, and you get an email right away with a link to book a free 30-minute call.
- Brand management, PPC, listings, launches and content
- Amazon, Shopify and TikTok Shop brands
- A real reply from Ian, not a sales bot
Rather talk now? Call or text 719-257-3557 or pick a time on Calendly.