As brand marketers, understanding the dynamics of Prime Day and developing effective strategies is crucial to seizing the opportunities presented during Prime Day.
This year, Amazon has confirmed a date for Prime Day 2023, starting at 3 a.m. EDT from July 11-12 and spanning multiple countries across the globe.
EMarketer’s latest Insider Intelligence report reveals that Prime Day 2023 not only represents a huge surge of activity for brands to capitalize on, but also as a key test of consumer confidence for the rest of 2023, particularly as economic uncertainties and high prices have put shoppers in deal-seeking mode. Brands and retailers hoping to capitalize on the spike in demand need to execute the right strategies to outperform the competition.
Before Prime Day, it’s crucial to have team-wide alignment on the attainable goals you are targeting.
You might aim to increase sales, clear out old inventory, or promote new products during the event. Goals should be specific, measurable, and realistic, such as achieving a specific percentage increase in sales compared to the previous Prime Day, increasing the average order value, gaining a certain number of new customers, or selling a targeted number of items from a specific product line.
Once you’ve set your goals, take the necessary steps to achieve them.
This may involve optimizing your listings, creating enticing promotions, adjusting your pricing strategies, and strengthening your advertising efforts.
We’ve already shared a Six-Step Playbook for Success and our Prime Day Prep Guide, but now we will detail how to execute strategies specific to your inventory management, content optimizations, and advertising campaigns to drive even greater results in mid-July.
Best Strategies for Prime Day 2023 Success
Prime Day 2023 Inventory Management
Effective inventory management is crucial for a successful Amazon Prime Day. Agencies and brands should plan inventory shipments ahead of time to ensure products reach Amazon fulfillment centers before Prime Day commences. It’s also a perfect time to clear out excess inventory by offering Lightning Deals or pricing products at break-even levels to attract customers.
When planning Lightning Deals, it’s important to avoid sudden price drops that could lead to rejection of deals. Instead, coordinate price drops strategically to maximize the benefits of this promotional opportunity. It’s equally important to monitor inventory levels and pricing across the marketplace, respond effectively to supply chain issues and price fluctuations, and have contingency plans for unexpected situations.
Agencies and brands should also focus on promoting high-inventory items and avoid running promotions on low-inventory items during Prime Day week. Once you sell out, products can lose their rank quickly and may take weeks to regain their organic ranking. Running Sponsored Ads and Demand Side Platform (DSP) ads can help drive traffic to high-inventory Product Detail Pages (PDPs) and boost sales.
Post-Prime Day, it’s crucial to review inventory levels, make necessary adjustments based on sell-through rates, and leverage technology platforms like Pacvue to analyze data from Prime Day. This can help brands optimize future strategies and make data-driven decisions.
For more detailed strategies and tips on preparing for Prime Day 2023, consider exploring Pacvue’s guide on “How to Prepare for Amazon Prime Day 2023,” which provides a strategic roadmap of goals, metrics, timelines, and 14 commerce rules to help solve common Prime Day issues.
Prime Day 2023 Content Tips
In the competitive landscape of Prime Day 2023, optimizing content and enhancing brand visibility is no longer a luxury—it’s a necessity. For brands and agencies, compelling and well-optimized content can significantly influence customer decisions, making it an indispensable element of your Prime Day strategy.
Prime Day Keyword Research:
Conduct thorough keyword research to optimize your product listings. Utilize tools like Pacvue’s Enhanced Keyword Research Tool, integrated with Helium 10’s data insights, to identify relevant and popular search terms.
Include these high-volume keywords strategically in your product title, bullet points, and descriptions.
Maintain a balance between keyword targeting and creating visually appealing and informative content. Pacvue users can conduct research by searching for a keyword, ASIN, or existing Ad Group, and filter the results by impressions and word count.
Prime Day Images:
Use multiple images judiciously to avoid redundancy. Highlight product features and combine images with text to provide comprehensive details. Always use high-definition images that meet Amazon Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) guidelines for dimension and pixel quality. Amazon’s Enhanced Brand Content (EBC) guidelines for images include:
- All images must be at least 72 DPI in quality and under 2 MB in size.
- The smallest image size accepted is 150 x 300 px.
- The maximum image file size is 3 MB.
- The maximum size for a header image is 970 x 600 pixels.
- The maximum size for five images is 300 x 300 pixels each.
- You can only create one EBC Page at a time.
- You’re limited to 20 pending EBC submissions.
- No HTML allowed.
- You should not mention any personal contact information.
- You should not refer to yourself as an authorized seller.
- You should not include any trademarked content in the text copy.
- Only small trademarks and copyright symbols are allowed if they are already part of the logo or product packaging.
Amazon Product Comparison Charts:
If you offer multiple versions of the same product, utilize a comparison chart. This helps buyers easily understand the differences and choose the right product.
Prime Day Design + Content Choices:
Choose the appropriate module type to highlight product features. Create an attractive design by combining different modules to effectively showcase your product.
Ensure grammatical correctness and conciseness in your content. Provide rich information rather than relying solely on text. Make your content mobile and desktop friendly. Avoid using registered trademarks, copyrights, symbols, warranty or guarantee claims, exaggerated statements, watermarks, URLs, or contact information.
Preempt Prime Day Rejection Reasons:
Understand common reasons for EBC rejection, such as non-compliance with Amazon’s A9 algorithm, non-factual claims, keyword misuse, and issues with your Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN).
Create Effective EBC:
Make your content easy to read, engaging, and distinctive. Use visuals effectively, tell your brand’s story, and leverage competitor insights to improve your brand image. Monitor your conversion rate to evaluate content performance. Incorporate alt-text for images to aid visually impaired users and enhance search engine optimization.
Besides attracting attention and building brand awareness, EBC contributes to increased sales and reduced bounce rates. Accurate product descriptions can minimize negative reviews and returns. Utilize Amazon’s mini-store feature to organize all your brand’s products, leading to better conversion rates. EBC also provides tools for mobile optimization, enabling effective communication with your customers.
Remember that adhering to these policies and guidelines, despite potential time investment, can ultimately improve search result rankings, increase sales, and reduce returns.
Prime Day 2023 Advertising Strategies
Prime Day offers a lucrative avenue for brands to use tailored advertising methods to boost sales and derive valuable insights. Designing advertising campaigns to suit individual brands and product categories helps maximize returns. Here are some strategic insights for Prime Day 2023 advertising, including defensive methods, upsell techniques, and acquisition initiatives.
Defensive Methods: High-performing brands on Amazon should strive to maintain impression share and secure the buy box during Prime Day. Resources should be strategically allocated to sustain visibility.
Upsell Techniques: Consider product bundling or buy one, get one (BOGO) deals to entice customers to buy more, increasing average order value. Manage costs and break-even pricing to ensure profits.
Acquisition Initiatives: For competitively priced individual items, coupling a small coupon with vigorous ad bidding can attract more customers, taking advantage of the surge in Prime Day traffic.
On Prime Day, harmonize Sponsored Products and Display Ads as one cohesive strategy. Adjust bids based on competition, set a budget factoring in increased traffic, and track outcomes. Use eye-catching Display Ads and relevant keywords for Sponsored Products.
Success hinges on a comprehensive strategy.
Use Pacvue to Automate Prime Day Advertising
Luckily, Pacvue offers a Commerce Acceleration Platform that makes it easier for brands to drive success during peak shopping periods such as Prime Day, with key features like:
- Algorithmic bidding: Rules-based automations aimed at desired KPIs based on incoming data and demand fluctuations during Prime Day.
- Dayparting: Customized based on historical product performance strategies based on historical performance on different channels.
- Smart Pausing: Efficiently manage your inventory and ads during Prime Day, with feature controls to pause ads for products with low inventory, out of stock, or those that have lost the buy box, thus ensuring optimal ad spend and preventing unnecessary customer disappointment.
Leveraging the power of Pacvue significantly enhances efficiency and campaign performance, especially during tentpole events like Prime Day. Here’s our detailed guide on exactly how Pacvue powers Prime Day success.
