Choose your language

Choose your language

The website has been translated to English with the help of Humans and AI

Dismiss

Profit or Growth? Crafting a Winning Prime Day Strategy

Profit or Growth? Crafting a Winning Prime Day Strategy

Commerce Commerce, Retail media, Seasonal marketing, eCommerce Platforms 4 min read
Profile picture for user Wyatt Burley

Written by
Wyatt Burley
Senior Advertising Manager

blog-cover-light-bulb-prime-day-prep

At Media.Monks, we see Prime Day as a substantial opportunity for brands to boost sales and enhance visibility on Amazon. However, to make the most of this event, I recommend that brands decide whether to focus on profitability or growth, as these goals require different strategies and approaches. From strategic spending and category analysis to leveraging lead-in and lead-out strategies, our experts have come together to help you develop a plan that maximizes your success. For additional preparation tips and insights, don’t forget to check out our Prime Day guide and checklist.

Here’s how to tailor your Prime Day strategy to meet your objectives.

If your Prime Day goal is profitability, the key is to be strategic with your spending and focus on products with healthy margins. Here are some steps to consider:

  • Allocate your budget to a few key ASINs to minimize wasted spend and maximize ad efficiency. This focused approach helps you manage your resources effectively.
  • Use historical data and competitive analysis to understand the market landscape. Look at what your competitors are doing. How much are they spending? Are they running limited-time Lightning Deals or Prime-exclusive discounts? This information helps you decide where to allocate your budget effectively without overspending on inflated CPCs, which can rise by 30-40% during Prime Day.
  • Understand that consumer buying behavior has shifted to shoppers spending less on ecommerce. This makes it even more important to be even more strategic. If you can't compete with the big spenders, lowering your bids and maintaining efficiency might be smarter rather than chasing inflated cost-per-clicks.

If your Prime Day goal is growth, you might need to be more aggressive with your advertising and promotions. Here's how to approach it:

  • Increase your ad spend and run more extensive deals to capture a larger market share. To ensure your efforts are effective, you need a thorough understanding of your competitors’ actions and current consumer trends.
  • Understand that consumers want deals with big red badges, not regular-priced items. Think like a shopper: If your item is priced the same as it was yesterday, they'll likely wait or go elsewhere.
  • Use all available data to make informed decisions. Failing to do so will make your efforts more expensive and less effective. In some cases, if you can't afford to run deals or compete with high ad spending, saving your budget for after Prime Day when competition normalizes might be wiser.

Learn the importance of lead-in and lead-out strategies for Prime Day.

Whether your goal is profitability or growth, a comprehensive lead-in and lead-out strategy is what will drive and maximize your Prime Day success. The lead-in phase is about building awareness and interest and familiarizing Amazon shoppers with your brand, while the lead-out phase is about capturing residual demand and maintaining momentum to drive additional sales even after Prime Day ends. Here’s how to build awareness before the event and maintain momentum afterward. 

Lead-In Strategy: Starting Strong. The lead-in phase is about building awareness and familiarizing shoppers with your brand. This is not the time to focus on high ROAS; instead, run video placements, streaming TV ads, and Sponsored Brand Ads to move consumers down the funnel. 

Budget Pacing: Timing Your Treasure. When preparing for Prime Day, aligning on which products to push is important. These discussions should start early, ideally in February or March, to determine which products will be promoted and how the budget will be allocated. Planning your budget structure—whether to pull spending from August into July or otherwise—is key. Strategically plan your budget down to the day, considering how much to spend in the weeks leading up to Prime Day. This early alignment ensures that you are well-prepared and not scrambling at the last minute. During Prime Day, shift to lower-funnel tactics to capture demand, using Sponsored Product Ads and Sponsored Display retargeting to drive high returns.

Lead-Out Strategy: Finishing with Flair. Don’t let your efforts end when Prime Day ends. Many shoppers continue to shop in the days following the event. Extend your deals slightly and continue advertising to capture these late buyers. This approach can help you maintain momentum and capture additional sales. Focus on bottom-funnel ads like Sponsored Product Ads and Sponsored Display Retargeting to capture residual demand. This can help you ride the wave off of your competitors coming out of Prime Day.

Monk Thoughts If launching your biggest deal, build awareness with streaming TV and Prime Video ads. If budget is tight, focus on gaining relevance through proven strategies like launching a Sponsored Brand video a month before.
wyatt-burley-headshot

Pave the way to Prime Day success.

Identifying your goals for Prime Day will set you on the path to incremental success on Amazon. By focusing on strategic spending, analyzing historical data, and understanding consumer behavior, you can develop a tailored approach that aligns with your specific objectives. Whether your aim is profitability or growth, early alignment on product promotion, a well-planned advertising strategy, and a comprehensive lead-in and lead-out approach are key to success. Additionally, creativity in ad placements and leveraging advanced targeting options like Sponsored Display Retargeting can further enhance your campaign's effectiveness.

By starting preparations early and thinking strategically, you can maximize your returns on Prime Day.

Looking to make the most out of Prime Day? 

Media.Monks specializes in crafting tailored strategies that help brands achieve their goals, whether profitability or growth. Let us guide you through the process with expert insights and proven techniques. Reach out to us here. 

Maximize Prime Day success by choosing the right strategy: profitability or growth. Tailor your approach for Amazon’s biggest event. Profit or Growth? Crafting a Winning Prime Day Strategy Maximize Prime Day success by choosing the right strategy: profitability or growth. Tailor your approach for Amazon’s biggest event. amazon prime prime day amazon seller central vendor central online shopping ecommerce eCommerce Platforms Commerce Seasonal marketing Retail media

This Black Friday, Influencers Are in Demand

This Black Friday, Influencers Are in Demand

Affiliate & Influencer Advertising Affiliate & Influencer Advertising, Influencer Marketing, Seasonal marketing, Social 3 min read
Profile picture for user Fernanda Silva

Written by
Fernanda Silva
Associate Director, Social Media

Collage of influencer filming in a selfie setup

Black Friday is a massive seasonal event known as the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season, with campaigns designed to offer significant discounts to attract as many customers as possible. And it’s only getting bigger: in 2022, Black Friday was the biggest day for in-store shopping within the United States with over 72.9 million consumers reached, gaining a 15% year-over-year increase.

Black Friday discounts are so irresistible to brands and consumers alike that the shopping holiday’s influence has extended beyond a one-day event into concepts such as Cyber Monday, Small Business Saturday and beyond. In fact, online offers that are promoted days after Black Friday, during Cyber Week, represent 16.7% of the entire season’s revenue, with $35.3 billion in sales in the U.S. The undeniable economic impact of influencers on Black Friday (and Cyber Week) transcends doubt and highlights their indispensable role in shaping the retail landscape.

But there are other ways Black Friday has evolved in recent years: the rise of influencer partnerships across seasonal campaigns, helping brands better connect with audiences and stand out amidst competition. As brands plan their communication and sales strategies for this year’s Black Friday and beyond, it’s not too late to tap into the help of digital creators and their communities—here’s how and why you should add them to your marketing wish list.

Creators’ influence continues to grow.

Today, it isn’t unusual to see an influencer representing a brand by either acting as its spokesperson or simply creating stories about a product. Influencer marketing strategies have become increasingly essential and indisputable for the marketing ambitions of large, medium and small brands.

Marketing professionals understand that to reach new audiences and build loyalty, producing content about the features of a product or service alone is no longer sufficient to retain or win new customers. Instead, partnering with influencers bridges the gap between the brand and the audience by delivering social media engagement, loyalty and connection. By developing a close and authentic relationship with their community, influencers can provide honest recommendations and reviews of products and services. Such relations become imperative for Black Friday campaigns, where the focus is on finding the best deals among inbox and in-feed clutter.

Indeed, Black Friday makes the competition for attention fiercer as brands compete for reaching budget-strapped customers. “Black Friday and the holidays are undoubtedly one of the busiest times of year for both influencers and influencer agencies alike, with brands committing high percentages of their yearly budgets to drive consumers to shop their sales,” says Celine Sidani, Account Supervisor, Influencer Marketing. “With participating brands and holiday budgets growing higher and higher each year, it is more important than ever for brands to devise influencer strategies and creative narratives that will stand out in an oversaturated market and truly drive audiences to purchase.”

Influencers boost sales and relevance in the following ways:

  • Increased visibility of promotions: The influencer’s community is a lever for the brand to genuinely connect with new audiences.
  • Product recommendations and reviews: Reviews and unboxings are content categories highly sought after by consumers hoping to gain honest product recommendations. 37% of consumers trust social media influencers over brands, validating the persuasive power of digital creators.
  • Development of personalized campaigns: With a diverse range of influencers excelling in various categories such as sports, beauty, entertainment, etc., brands can partner with them to create social media campaigns that target specific audiences.
  • Humanization of the brand: Creating an authentic narrative allows consumers to better understand the benefits of the product or service and promotes a genuine connection with the brand’s community.

Get started planning an influencer campaign this holiday season.

Planning campaigns in advance helps marketing professionals avoid unnecessary or unforeseen costs, and working with influencers is no different. The first step is to analyze which influencers will be a part of the campaign depending on your defined goals and the measurement of influencer reach, social media engagement, traffic or conversions.

After this initial stage of goal and objective setting, begin selecting your creators of choice. It’s essential to check their history to ensure they have not been involved in controversies. Most importantly, the influencer should resonate with the brand’s audience to ensure a consistent tone of communication.

Once the influencers are selected, begin briefing and scripting the creative in partnership with them. A co-created effort with content creators brings more authenticity to the final product and makes it more organic to the relevant social platforms.

Put influencer Black Friday campaigns on your holiday wish list.

Brands recognize that using influencers in their marketing strategies amplifies results. As influencers become brands in their own right, they’ll only become even more formidable partners for brands who want to bridge the gap with end consumers. So, if you're a brand looking to make a big impact this Black Friday—or beyond—consider the power of influencers to help kick off the holiday shopping season on good footing. By collaborating with the right influencers, you can create a buzz, drive traffic to your store or website and ultimately achieve your sales goals.

Brands rely on Black Friday to kick off the holiday shopping season on the right foot—and influencer marketing is playing an increasingly pivotal role. influencer marketing holiday campaigns Influencers Social Influencer Marketing Affiliate & Influencer Advertising Seasonal marketing

Prime Day 2023 Not Only Brought Stunning Results, but Broke Sales Records

Prime Day 2023 Not Only Brought Stunning Results, but Broke Sales Records

Commerce Commerce, Seasonal marketing, eCommerce Platforms 4 min read
Profile picture for user Lauren Stair

Written by
Lauren Stair
Lead Generation Marketing Manager

People holding boxes for prime day

As the digital marketplace continues to evolve, Amazon’s annual Prime Day event has become a pivotal moment for sellers worldwide. This year, the event was marked by a significant shift in consumer behavior, with small and medium-sized businesses taking center stage. If you’re curious to learn about the ins and outs of this record-breaking event, keep reading—our commerce team will take you on a tour behind the scenes.

A big win for small and medium-sized businesses.

This year’s Prime Day marked a significant milestone for small and medium-sized businesses, as they emerged as the new power players in the sales landscape. This shift was not a mere coincidence, but actually the result of Amazon’s strategic decision to amplify these businesses by showcasing more deals of their products than ever before.

Today’s consumers, especially younger shoppers, are not just buying products—they’re buying into the values that these products represent. They increasingly focus on aligning their personal values with their purchasing habits and show a preference for brands that reflect their own beliefs and principles. This trend is particularly evident in the growing support for small and medium-sized businesses, as they tend to have more compelling stories and unique products and provide a personal touch that resonates with consumers. These brands often represent entrepreneurship, innovation and local community support, and these values are strongly appreciated by today’s conscious consumers.

As for results, the first day of Prime Day 2023 shattered last year's record, and thus became the single largest sales day on the platform. According to Amazon, Prime members worldwide purchased more than 375 million items, saving over $2.5 billion through deals across the platform. This surge in sales showcases the growing popularity and anticipation of Prime Day among Amazon’s customer base. Furthermore, Numerator revealed that out of more than one million households, approximately 52% had strategically delayed their purchases until Prime Day to take advantage of the sales, which goes to show that many consumers not only engage with, but even plan around the event.

According to Amazon, the top-selling categories were Home, Fashion and Beauty, while Numerator reported that the most popular items included Temptations Cat Treats, Amazon Fire TV Stick, Liquid I.V. Packets, Echo Dot 5, and Blink Outdoor Camera. These items reflect a diverse range of consumer interests and needs, from pet care to home entertainment and health.

Adobe Analytics states that online spending in the United States climbed 6.1% to $12.7 billion, demonstrating the significant economic impact of Prime Day. However, these impressive results fell short of Adobe’s forecast, as they predicted a 9.5% year-over-year (YoY) growth in total online sales in the US. This discrepancy suggests that while Prime Day continues to be a major sales event, there may actually be room for further optimization and growth. 

Helping brands put strategic power behind their Prime Day sales. 

This year’s remarkable results underscore the importance of understanding consumer behavior and strategic planning—rather than a mere reflection of broader market trends, these outcomes are, in fact, the product of innovative strategies and meticulous execution behind the scenes for Amazon sellers.

In the dynamic landscape of Prime Day 2023, our team of commerce experts strategically guided our clients through the complexities of the event. Harnessing Amazon’s innovative features and aligning them with holistic strategies, we were able to tap into the pulse of consumer behavior and drive unprecedented growth for the brands we partner with. Beyond capitalizing on the event, we set out to understand and leverage the unique opportunities that Prime Day presents.

 

Monk Thoughts Our approach to the big event was underpinned by a strong promotions, coupons and deals strategy.
Lauren Stair

We utilized a lead-out strategy in conjunction with Amazon’s newly introduced Invite-Only “waitlist” feature for Prime Day Deals across many clients. This direct targeting strategy allowed Prime members to identify exclusive deals and request an invite on the products they were interested in prior to the event, essentially prompting them to make purchases ahead of time—a strategy that was designed to not only build momentum and anticipation, but encourage early engagement and sales. Let’s take a look at different categories to see how effective this approach has proven to be. 

  • Mattress/Bedding category: One client outsold their forecast by six times through the first day of Prime Day, catapulting their sales rank from #56 to #1 within just a day and a half. This remarkable performance earned them several “Amazon’s Choice” badges, and they are now recognized as “Overall Pick.” 

     
  • Lifestyle Apparel category: For another client, Prime Day 2023 marked their first participation in the event. They successfully sold through their forecast on the 25 featured products, which had a ripple effect, boosting their entire brand visibility and sales even after Prime Day ended.

     
  • Beauty category: One client in this category saw a significant +203% YoY increase in sales and a +109% YoY increase in ROAS. This success was driven by a multi-pronged strategy that included creating campaigns that were coupled with promotions and sponsored ads in the lead-up to the event, optimizing bids and launching Amazon posts during Prime Day, and running remarketing ads afterwards.

     
  • Supplements category: A client in the supplements category witnessed a 50% YoY increase in topline sales numbers and a staggering 396% increase in Brand Store traffic on the first day of Prime Day. Their strong performance within their category was largely due to our strategic use of coupons across ‘Tier 1’ Amazon Standard Identification Numbers (ASINs), which significantly improved clickthrough rates and conversion rates on ads. This strategy not only boosted their sales during the event, but also added 64 new Subscribe and Save customers, setting the stage for continued success after Prime Day.

Drawing from our foundational principles, which have consistently driven success, our team adopted a holistic approach to Prime Day 2023. We tailored our promotional, content, operational and data strategies to each and every brand’s unique needs, ensuring a personalized and effective approach to the event. This blend of strategies allowed us to navigate the complexities of Prime Day while maximizing opportunities for our clients.

Packing up our learnings and taking them to the next big shopping event. 

Prime Day 2023 can be considered a landmark ecommerce event, as it has demonstrated the power of strategic planning, innovative features, and gaining a deep understanding of consumer behavior. The success stories of our clients underscore the potential of Prime Day as a platform for growth and visibility. As we look ahead, these insights will guide our strategies and help us continually adapt to and innovate in the ever-evolving digital marketplace. Whether you’re a small business owner or a global brand, the lessons from Prime Day offer valuable support in navigating the world of ecommerce and maximizing the opportunities that such tentpole events present.

For Amazon Prime Day 2023, we helped brands across the board build a solid ecommerce strategy and deliver record-breaking results. amazon advertising Holiday campaigns ecommerce strategy eCommerce Platforms Commerce Seasonal marketing

Tips to Get Primed for Prime Day 2023

Tips to Get Primed for Prime Day 2023

Commerce Commerce, Media, Seasonal marketing 3 min read
Profile picture for user Xuanmai Vo

Written by
Xuanmai Vo
Content Marketing Manager

A person on their laptop ordering something holding a credit card

It’s prime time for Amazon sellers to begin planning for Amazon Prime Day 2023. Are you ready? With discounted prices, exclusive deals and the convenience that customers expect from Amazon, Prime Day is a key driver of sales on the platform, with the potential to continue paying dividends beyond the dates of the event via incremental sales. This year, the shopping event is likely to take on greater significance for inflation-weary consumers and brands. But don't take deal-conscious consumers for granted; to gain from the shopping holiday, sellers will need to be prepared.

Originally launched in July 2015 to celebrate Prime members on Amazon’s 20th birthday, Prime Day has historically influenced sellers’ success in launching new products, refreshing inventory, and capturing increased traffic to boost sales. As brands aim to maximize sales and reach budget-conscious consumers on the world’s most competitive marketplace, now is the time to prepare your Prime Day 2023 strategy and build toward rocketship growth on the Amazon platform.

What makes Prime Day 2023 unique from previous years?

Prime Day offers numerous opportunities for brands each year, from reviving sales or moving inventory. These advantages are especially salient in a dreary economic outlook. In fact, data from Prime Day 2022 proved that frugal consumers will spend if the price is right. Despite a historically high inflation rate, shoppers brought in an estimated $11.9 billion in sales and saved over $1.7 billion on more than 300 million items last year.

What makes Prime Day even more important this year is that Amazon sellers can use the event to build sales momentum in the weeks that follow by taking advantage of Prime Day’s halo effect. When optimized product listings drive more sales during the event, Amazon’s algorithm will support that growth with an organic lift in product rankings.

Monk Thoughts The customer in 2023 is going to be penny-wise and will most probably know ‘what they want to buy.
Pushan Banerjee headshot

Banerjee offers a series of strategies to deliver on those needs. “To create that want, we recommend you use unboxing videos, sleek product videos and interactive premium A+ coupled with a brand store that can differentiate you in the customer’s mind.” Basically, offering a good product and customer experience during Prime Day will continue to drive traffic and incremental sales. But optimization is key to reaping these rewards, because other top-performing sellers can achieve these gains, too.

Begin preparations for Prime Day now.

Prime Day is more than just the advertised sales event. There is a considerable halo trailing the event, especially for brands who strategized on price and had loaded discounts and deals at the ready for the post-Prime Day period. In short: Prime Day is an opportunity to supercharge long-term sales and growth on Amazon marketplace

Again, preparation is key. To help sellers get ready for Prime Day in advance, we’ve put together a guide to Prime Day detailing how sellers can maximize their earnings through tactics that set brands up for success on Amazon. Want a preview? Check out eight steps to Prime Day success below:

  1. Analyze past events’ performance and trends to determine driving forces for engagement and conversion rates.
  2. Identify seasonal trends and what shoppers are interested in at that particular point in time. Note: Offer different product types to provide shoppers with a broader selection and them away from your competitors.
  3. Provide a discount on your related products to incentivize shoppers to purchase your products over your competitors.
  4. Launch targeted ad campaigns to stand out from the competitors. Note: Specific Prime Day campaigns should be launched a month prior to Prime Day.
  5. Dial in on the top-performing products and increase the daily ad budget to avoid running out of funds first thing in the morning when active hours could be later in the morning.
  6. Optimize ad campaigns by running A/B Test Experiments to identify the best performing version of the product listing.
  7. Track campaign performance frequently and strategize for future events. Be sure to note inventory levels to avoid running out of stock or have dropship transmitted as a backup.
  8. Extend your efforts two weeks after Prime Day to maintain the relevancy, momentum, and growth built leading up to the event. Note: traffic will still be higher than average as shoppers continue searching for trickling discounts.

There’s even more to uncover in the full guide, where you’ll learn how to determine if Prime Day is suitable for your brand, the best advertising practices, and the right strategy for a successful shopping sales event. 

Don’t wait to get your Prime Day preparations in order—grab your copy now.

As brands aim to maximize sales and reach budget-conscious consumers on Amazon, now is the time to prepare your Prime Day 2023 strategy. amazon amazon advertising amazon content optimization Media Commerce Seasonal marketing

Your Guide to the Mindset Shifts Driving the 2023 Festive Season in APAC

Your Guide to the Mindset Shifts Driving the 2023 Festive Season in APAC

Brand Brand, Commerce, Culture, Seasonal marketing 3 min read
Profile picture for user mediamonks

Written by
Monks

A colorful collage of people checking their cellphones and shopping

Beyond Lunar New Year: the mindset shifts that will drive APAC’s diverse festive calendar in 2023

As the Asia Pacific region moves beyond its first big 2023 celebration and the world settles into the Year of the Rabbit, brands are gearing up for a calendar full of festivities across the region. But are you well versed in the latest changes in consumer behavior and how they are shifting the way people shop, connect and engage with brands?

From expecting a higher degree of honesty and authenticity to how more people are choosing to live alone, this report covers the main mindset shifts we’ve observed in APAC and offers practical advice for brands looking to build or maintain their cultural relevance. With insights from our regional team of experts, you’ll learn how to embrace these changes and celebrate with customers in ways that are actually meaningful to them. 

Access your copy by filling out the form below.

Guide to APAC Festive Season report cover

You’re one download away from…

  • Understanding the latest changes in consumer behavior and how to leverage them to connect with people.
  • Learning what consumers in APAC expect from brands today.
  • Gaining a new perspective on the diversity of celebrations across the region and how to tackle them.

This experience is best viewed on Desktop.

Download Now

One of the most important lessons for any brand looking to engage with consumers in the APAC market is that the region is not a monolith. It’s a collection of cultures, histories, languages and, most importantly, moments of celebration. Lunar New Year, which is one of the biggest celebrations in the calendar, has just passed—but the opportunity for marketers to truly understand what consumers want from them during these festivities is still there.

The APAC calendar is incredibly rich and diverse in regard to festive moments. There may be a few specific dates that take the vast majority of our focus. Still, with brands having to build more and more local relevance, there’s value in considering a wider pool of these crucial moments to connect with customers. 

In Singapore, you may start with Lunar New Year, which is followed by Easter, Ramadan, Vesak Day, Diwali and even National Day, to name a few. In Thailand, the first thought might be Songkran, but what about Māgha Pūjā and Loy Krathong? Over in India, brands often congregate around a wide selection of days, including Holi, Diwali, Gandhi Jayanti, Independence Day or Republic Day, cementing a new normal for hyper-local strategies. 

As you try to win the hearts of consumers in APAC around these dates, it’s important to understand how each market connects with brands and what they expect from them today. For example, we’ve found that many consumers are moving from wanting instant gratification to taking their time and pausing for consideration. We’ve also surfaced a mindset shift in people using digital media for honesty and transparency, rather than validating through positivity. 

To understand more about these mindset shifts, we’ve created a report with practical advice for marketers that will help them navigate both the diversity of APAC’s festive calendar and the common mindset shifts that are uniting a need for a new approach.

Discover how brands are preparing for the festive season in APAC, and how they’re staying culturally relevant by understanding changing consumer behavior. holiday marketing strategies cultural relevance consumer insights consumer research apac Brand Commerce Seasonal marketing Culture

5 Amazon Seller Tips for the Holidays

5 Amazon Seller Tips for the Holidays

Media Media, Media Strategy & Planning, New paths to growth, Seasonal marketing 6 min read
Profile picture for user Performance.Monks

Written by
Performance.Monks

Amazon boxes on a black table

The holidays are fast approaching, with deals already spiking as Amazon kicked off the season with the Prime Early Access Sale. Many experts anticipate that Q4 2022 will be the most lucrative yet, and it’s just getting started.

That said, economic uncertainty has prompted shoppers to search for the best deals and product value ahead of Black Friday, making the preparation window for sellers much shorter than in previous years. What’s more, Salesforce anticipates that 51% of consumers will purchase fewer holiday gifts this time around.

To help you reach consumers when they are ready to buy and make the most of this season, we built a list of tips that will get every aspect of your ecommerce business up to speed. With excess inventory, inflationary pressures and other unprecedented events, it’s vital to give your Amazon seller strategy the final tweaks it needs to positively impact your sales in Q4. Here’s what you need to know.

Consider these key seller dates.

According to Amazon, these are some of the main dates and events to prepare for. Be sure to mark your calendar so that you don’t miss any opportunities.

  • August 3rd - Holiday promotion submissions open in Vendor Central and Seller Central.
  • September 17th - Deadline to submit 7-day deals, Best Deals, and Lightning Deals.
  • October 21st to November 17th - Inbound shipping cutoff for vendors: Deal inventory must be in transit.
  • October 24th to November 17th - FBA inventory cut-off date for sellers: Shipments should arrive well before the key shopping dates for the holiday season. Inventory should arrive at fulfillment centers by this date.
A roadmap showing tips to the best advertising on amazon for the holidays

Set relevant goals.

Once you’ve marked the critical Amazon holiday deadlines on your calendar, start preparing the required elements and thinking about budget allocation across this prolonged season. Amazon advertising and promotion budgets should be specifically planned around these peak dates. 

As you start campaign planning, it’s important to set realistic expectations and key performance indicators that you can regularly keep track of on your data dashboard. If you’re uncertain what those should be, consider building out KPIs for each one of the steps outlined here, and keep in mind that your numbers may differ from other seasons. Audiences are often subject to change during the holidays, which is why our experts recommend determining your audience pre-holiday season to better plan your campaigns and initiatives.

A good step is to leverage past sales data (including Prime Day) to inform your strategy and goal-setting for this year. This will also help when it comes to inventory planning.



Become retail ready.

As we always say, advertising drives the most highly-qualified traffic, and retail readiness drives conversion. But what does it mean to be retail-ready? 

1. Inventory management

First, ensure you have an inventory plan in place. The sooner you can determine which products you plan on selling and guarantee you're not facing any inventory issues such as spoilage, deadstock, or low or high inventory levels, the sooner you can plan your other business elements. A fundamental part of managing inventory is reviewing your past sales to forecast this year's. Analyze your products' historical data, their performance during Prime Day, and which of your items (and your competitors’) could skyrocket during the holidays.

The next step is to ship your inventory to Amazon fulfillment centers before November 2 for Black Friday and December 1 for Christmas. With shipping and inventory in place, you can move on to advertising strategies, promotions, product detail pages and catalogs according to the products you have in stock.

2. Optimized content on Amazon

Product detail pages are vital for driving conversions and building trust with your customers, so spend time optimizing your pages' critical elements, then split-testing your work. We recommend starting with your product detail pages and A+ content. Ideally, this should begin as early as possible as A+ content takes the longest to build out. We encourage sellers to start preparing their creative in September.

If you’re not sure whether you need to update your A+ content, ask yourself: are we using comparison charts? Are we using all five modules? What about Brand Story? If the answer is no, it’s probably a good time to take another look at your content. What’s more, you can take the opportunity to refresh your current images and add holiday themes and festive overlays. Your images should sell the product on their own. Once creative is produced, add it to the platform to ensure Amazon approves it in advance.

Brand Stores should also be tailored for the holiday season. One strategy for your Brand Store is to create "store versions," where you can duplicate a page in your store, update the images, videos, or layout and schedule that version to run during a predesignated period. Store versions are helpful for quick updates that you wouldn't want to carry over into the new year or past a specific peak season. Another strategy is adding a Holiday Favorites page and running Sponsored Brand Ads. These should be done at least a month in advance. 

Our tip for optimizing copy is to review your top ASINs ahead of time to determine the top sellers and ensure they have robust titles, bullets, and descriptions. Be careful when adding keywords like "gift" or "present" in your listings during the holiday season, as it goes against Amazon policies. Instead, be strategic in how you are updating your listing copy and backend terms, determine what highly qualified keywords competitors are using and aim to be informative to your target customer.

3. Keyword Research

The months leading into Q4 and the holiday season are great times to conduct keyword research, update your current list and search for holiday-centric keywords to evaluate every opportunity.

Develop a competitive promotional strategy.

We can’t depend on consumers searching across e-retails, we need to stand out among the competition with an attractive promotional strategy. Some of the Amazon promotions that can come in handy during this long holiday season are:

1. Amazon Coupons (run time of up to 90 days)

Flexible and low-cost, these are great for driving velocity and increasing sales.

2. Best Deal/7-Day Deals (run time of up to two weeks for Vendors and one week for Sellers)

These are brand awareness tools that are better suited for well-established brands on the platform. The discount minimums are high, and merchandising fees are required.

3. Lightning Deals (run time of up to 12 hours)

Similar to above, these are high-cost brand awareness tools. They also have rigid approval policies and, even if approved, they are not guaranteed to run. Longer run times allow for more traffic to be driven to detail pages.

4. Promo Codes (run time of up to 120 days)

Great for brands with a strong social media presence or marketing campaigns. These can attract customers to buy on the channel and capture new purchases. Promo codes are the best option for specific targeting and having more control over the audience you reach.

It’s important to keep in mind that deals have a submission deadline. This year, it fell on September 17th for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Also, review run times to better plan out your season’s promotional strategy.

Consider these Amazon Advertising best practices.

Once you have everything in place to be retail-ready, Amazon Advertising is necessary to unlock growth over the holiday season. It will not only help with competitive visibility; it can also improve organic rank and drive incremental sales when done correctly.

Considering the budgets you have determined in your goal-setting phase, you should start building your advertising campaigns based on your objectives. If you are a new seller with a new product, we recommend you begin your advertising efforts as soon as possible. Three months is the minimum to gather data and gain relevance within the algorithm. 

For sellers with existing products, give yourself at least a month in advance to begin new campaigns or refresh your current ones. Your products have triggered the flywheel or rank organically, so they will have an easier time staying relevant during the holiday season. Build awareness in advance through high-volume seasonal search terms—leading up to higher-converting campaigns to retarget and capture those early visitors when they are ready to buy.

Last but not least, examine your data and metrics regularly to ensure your holiday advertising strategy is as optimized as possible throughout the season. 

Recap the peak season.

The work you or your agency have to do on Amazon doesn’t end after the holidays. It’s fundamental to look back at your wins and losses over the last couple of months to guide your 2023 planning and continue to drive visibility on the platform.

Some ways to recap the season include:

  • Reviewing analytics to measure your successes (or failures) and your competitors’.
  • Paying attention to customer feedback through reviews, cancellations and returns.
  • Applying learnings to your New Year planning.
  • Refreshing your keyword lists, ads and content to remove seasonal copies and imagery.

All in all, it’s never too late to set your business up for success. While the task may seem daunting, spending your time and effort on a brief list of products that move the needle is what will pay off. Follow these steps, make relevant optimizations and results will follow.

Learn more information about our Amazon Services.

To help you reach consumers when they are ready to buy and make the most of this season, we built a list of tips that will get your ecommerce business up to speed. ecommerce amazon holiday marketing holiday campaigns amazon advertising ecommerce strategy Media Media Strategy & Planning Seasonal marketing New paths to growth

Your Guide to a Better 2023 Chinese New Year Brief

Your Guide to a Better 2023 Chinese New Year Brief

Brand Brand, Culture, End-to-End Agency Partner, Impactful Brand Activations, Seasonal marketing, Social Campaigns 1 min read
Profile picture for user mediamonks

Written by
Monks

Shanghai.Monks logo

Chinese New Year is the great marketing equalizer, revealing which brands truly understand their audiences versus those who simply see the world through their own myopic view. Consider the overabundance of product shots that dominate feeds and attention, versus realistic, people-focused moments that stir emotions. While the festival isn't upon us just yet, now is the time to plan—and it all starts with the brief from brands themselves.

Shanghai.Monks have developed an easy-to-use guide to identify key insights that can serve as a bedrock for more thoughtful, intentional CNY briefs. Inside, you’ll find the most salient consumer mindset shifts that will shape CNY sentiments in 2023.

In this guide you will learn:

  • How to create an inspiring Chinese New Year brief
  • How to translate holiday traditions into new contexts
  • Why leading with empathy is key
Monk Thoughts To help your Chinese New Year campaigns rise above the noise, our report spotlights 3 major mindset shifts shaping the ways audiences will perceive CNY content.
Nina Kong headshot
While Chinese New Year isn't upon us just yet, now is the time to plan—and it all starts with the brief from brands themselves. brand strategy creative brief project brief consumer insights consumer data Brand End-to-End Agency Partner Social Campaigns Impactful Brand Activations Seasonal marketing Culture

Choose your language

Choose your language

The website has been translated to English with the help of Humans and AI

Dismiss