Cyber week 2023 is just around the corner, and while you likely have your strategy in place, don’t forget to take into account these last-minute tips and tricks. Leveraging the trends from Cyber 5, 2022 is a great place to start. In 2022, advertisers spent slightly less on Black Friday, with more budget being spent throughout the Cyber 5 weekend. CPCs also decreased significantly year-over-year for both Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands ads in the lead-in to Black Friday and throughout the Cyber 5 weekend, but those CPCs have been trending back up over the past year.
What to do now
To fully capitalize on Cyber 5, brands and agencies need a strategic roadmap to succeed. Breaking down your efforts across key stages, before, during, and after Cyber 5 will help you drive better results year-over-year.
Check Retail Readiness
The retail readiness of your advertised ASINs is foundational to success year-round but is even more critical during Q4. To maximize sales from the increased Q4 traffic, advertisers want to make sure their product detail pages (PDPs) are built to convert. Insert your advertised ASINs into Pacvue’s Brand Audit tool and identify what areas of your ASINs PDP page need to be improved in preparation for Q4. This audit can be run portfolio-wide against a target Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) or Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS).
Expand on ASIN Targeting Campaigns
During the lead-up to Cyber 5, there will be increased traffic to PDPs. Take advantage of increased traffic to PDP by targeting the detail pages of relevant ASINs, as well as your competitors. Monthly Units and Revenue can be a proxy metric for ASIN traffic. Use the units or revenue filters to show that they are likelier to have higher traffic volume.
Start Planning Your Daily Spend
Now is the time to ensure your daily spend is ready to go over the next couple of weeks. Start by analyzing historical metrics to identify the days with the most potential to capture sales. By ramping up your efforts early and gradually, you can drive more efficient CPCs, optimizing your advertising spend. Additionally, having a well-thought-out lead-out plan is essential for capturing late purchasers who might be seeking last-minute deals. Use Pacvue’s budget calendar and dayparting to plan budgets and bids with automation to improve efficiency, ensuring you’re positioned for success during the Black Friday Cyber Monday rush.
The Budget Calendar Template in the Budget Manager allows brands to allocate specific budget allocations to specific days. It may make sense to do an even budget distribution during “normal” months. However, during Q4, which contains important sales events like Cyber 5, brands may want to strategically allocate a custom budget to key periods. We recommend setting up a custom calendar template for Q4, which distributes more budget to Cyber 5 and less funding during the post-Christmas wind-down.
Use the Dayparting Scheduler
Schedule temporary bid increases during Cyber 5 and have Pacvue automatically revert bids to the original pre-Cyber Five bids.
Identify Keyword Seasonality Trends
Use the Category Intelligence tool or Holiday Keywords to identify search volume trends over the past year for a handful of your highest search volume terms. Use the ‘My Queries’ filter to see the keywords that you are currently bidding on. Then use search volume trends to help with Q4 bidding and budgeting strategies. Use last year’s search volume trends to identify peak weeks to increase bids and budget.
During Cyber 5
During Cyber 5, stay vigilant and adaptable. Track your inventory levels throughout the day, respond promptly to customer queries, and monitor your sales performance in real-time. If necessary, adjust prices dynamically. However, make sure you’re compliant with Amazon’s fair pricing policies.
Monitoring during Cyber 5
Monitoring all your bases is key to a successful Cyber 5. Once all your deals and promos are live, marketplace price tracking is essential to prevent revenue leakage. Whether you exceed your performance expectations or struggle to hit your targets, have a plan to alter your discounts and prevent a dip in sales.
One of the most vital tasks to maximize conversions is to monitor the Buy Box. Experienced sellers know the value of keeping an eye on unauthorized third-party sellers and any counterfeit products that may be stealing your consumer base.
Your brand’s consistency drives returning customers, so communicating strategy changes to your media team is an important step to keeping everyone on the same page with all discounts and deals.
After Cyber 5
Once the whirlwind of Cyber 5 is over, it’s time for introspection. Analyze your performance to understand what worked and what didn’t. Restock your inventory based on observed sales patterns and customer feedback and refine your future strategies. Focus on nurturing your relationship with your customers —thank them for their purchase, invite them to leave reviews, and handle any post-sale issues efficiently. Also, don’t overlook the financial aspects, including processing returns and reconciling any fees or charges by Amazon.
Ramp up retargeting campaigns
Sponsored Display and Amazon DSP ads are trial-and-error-based campaigns. Brands can leverage their retargeting campaigns to encourage potential customers to buy their brand even after the sale has ended. By retargeting the same pool of consumers and potential consumers, you encourage brand loyalty, improve the chance of gaining subscription purchases, and build recall value.
Post-Mortem Reporting
There are elevated levels of traffic for days after Cyber 5 that you can grab to drive more growth and push unsold stock. Post-mortem reporting is non-negotiable, and it includes 5 fundamental steps you can do to understand your business better and ensure continued profitability.
- Performance evaluation to pinpoint what worked and what did not
- Post-Cyber 5 promos to cross any milestones that you couldn’t while the sale was live
- Product supply management according to your inventory strategy for upcoming sales
- Remarketing to unsatisfied shoppers with surprise deals and limited-time offers
- Future planning to get a head start on 2024
This allows you to create a cheat sheet that’s unique to your business, helps you understand the effectiveness of your promos, and skyrockets reach, both organic and paid, in the long run. A combination of micro and macro changes will guide your brand for Cyber 5 2023.
