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Shopping for supplies before the start of the school year is a fond memory for some people. Others cringe at retailers and department stores that deck the halls with signage and messaging shortly after school lets out for the summer. But, this shopping trip is unavoidable, and it's a peak time period that has become important to brands in many categories. Brands agile to trends in consumer behavior sell on Amazon and optimize for this time of year. Parents and students flock to online marketplaces like Amazon for better prices, variety, and convenient shipping options. Continue reading for the ultimate back-to-school guide for selling on Amazon.

Update Your Creative Assets and Listings to Reflect Seasonal Messaging 

Putting in the effort to tailor your creative assets and listings to reflect the season makes a difference. But, it can be an undertaking and time commitment. Before diving in and making adjustments, focus on what your team has time to accomplish and what will make the most impact.

To start, consider redesigning imagery within your Amazon store to include visuals for back to school. This will help to reinforce a shopper’s need for your product during this season. If your brand doesn’t have a store set up on Amazon, find out why it's important and be inspired by these 10 examples. 

Beyond your Amazon store, consider giving your product listings an updated content boost. Revisit product titles, bullet points, and descriptions for back to school or any other important season. This is your chance to evaluate which seasonal keywords make sense to include in your product's copy. For example, copy could say, “Makes a great lunchbox for back to school” or “a great Christmas gift idea”. It's important to note, this is where the extra time commitment comes in for brands with a larger catalog. If your team doesn’t have time to tackle your entire catalog before back to school, select a few ASINs to test.

Offer Back to School Promotions 

One way to make the most out of back to school is to develop a strong promotions and deals strategy. Promotions can help your brand increase sales velocity and discoverability throughout your catalog, potentially well beyond the back-to-school season.

Promoting products leading up to the back-to-school season and in the weeks following is a solid strategy to drive traffic to your listings. 

Promotion types include Lightning Deals, Best Deals, and coupons and discounts. Deals of the Day usually perform best for one-day promotions. Decide which items to promote and evaluate the lowest price your brand can offer for each. These promotions display on Amazon’s Today’s Deals page when they meet all of Amazon’s specifications. 

Advertise to Increase Discoverability 

Advertising for a high-traffic season like back to school is an important investment to help your brand and products stand out against the competition during a critical timeframe. The team at Marketplace Strategy recommends increasing ad spend by at least30% during your brand’s peak time period. 

Sponsored Product Ads is a great option to make your products appear on the first page of search results. When setting up these ads, bid for keywords specific to your product and season. 

Maintain Sales Velocity Through Advertising  

It’s not uncommon for a brand’s sales to fall significantly following a peak time period like back to school. It’s important to continue advertising to maintain sales velocity and product performance through organic search. For example, it’s important to continue advertising to capitalize on any sales velocity established during back to school. Similarly, you can capitalize on increased traffic by running demand-side platform (DSP) remarketing.

Make the most out of this peak season with this back-to-school guide for selling on Amazon. Your brand has the opportunity to drive significant traffic and conversions. Could your brand use support and direction from a strategic partner? Schedule a free consultation. We’re here to help and available to answer any questions.