Prime Day is upon us - one of the year’s biggest shopping events will be here in just a few weeks, and many brands have spent months planning and preparing. From planning deals to ensuring PDPs are retail-ready to testing and launching search campaigns, the strategy and work behind Prime Day is all-encompassing. With all the hours dedicated to planning, brands might hope that on the day of they can sit back, relax and watch their sales. But even the most prepared brand is likely to still run into issues during the 48-hour shopping timeframe, and even in the days leading up to it.
Putting out fires on Prime Day requires organization, quick action and decision-making, and a close, critical eye. At Code3, our Amazon Strategists celebrate the exciting day with a Prime Day War Room, where they can collaborate, support one another on issues, and deliver quick results to clients. While you can’t join us, we’re sharing some of our insights on the common Prime Day issues we have seen in the past, with some tips on how to quickly pivot strategy to remain successful.
Search and DSP Campaigns
With Search and DSP, brands should be in contact with their Account Executives the day of and in the days in advance to ensure communication is open. Ideally, on Prime Day, all of your search and DSP campaigns have been launched and tested in advance so campaign issues themselves are at a minimum. Keeping a close eye on the predetermined budget is vital, but it’s also important to be nimble. Check on spend throughout the day, and if campaigns are overspending, quickly decide if you should scale back or determine if you can afford additional budget.
On the flip side, Code3 Strategists have seen instances where campaigns are not spending. In that case, immediately check ad eligibility. If the campaign is flagged as ineligible but it’s on a Prime Day deal, reach out to your Account Executive. They are able to work with the Vendor Manager for whitelisting. Other approaches to take:
- Check creative to ensure it’s not disapproved
- Check negative keywords to ensure you’re not negating the terms you’re targeting, which could prevent your ad from serving
Finally, if none of those tactics are the issue, check your bid and budget levels and increase aggressively to get the ads to serve.
Deal Issues
In some instances, Amazon can make changes to deals, and brands may not be notified. For example, Amazon can change the time promotions are running or the amount that has been approved, but you may not be aware. In this case, it’s a good idea to keep organized on when deals should go live so that you’re aware. Additionally, it’s critical to constantly review the back end and the PDP to make sure deals are in fact live when they should be.
In the case of deal issues, it’s also important to align on advertising strategy so that campaigns are not running when the deal is not yet live. Code3 Amazon Strategists keep in constant contact with our Search Strategist to ensure there is no advertising gap and their promotion strategy is accurate, and brands should do the same.
Amazon Inventory Issues
Keeping a close eye on inventory is important if your brand expects deals to sell through. If that occurs earlier than anticipated, you may be running media campaigns for ASINs no longer in stock. Be aware of inventory levels and keep communication flowing with your advertising team so ads can be scaled back in case of sell-through. On the flip side, if a deal is not selling as quickly as anticipated, advertising budgets can be adjusted to push additional traffic to the ASIN.
Though products running deals will be front of mind, inventory on non-deal products is just as important- particularly with Sponsored Brand campaigns. If multiple variations of the Sponsored Brand ad have been created highlighting different products, tracking inventory can ensure that three products are in the ad at all times. Having those ad variations ready to go in advance can make the adjustment quick and easy in the case of an out-of-stock ASIN.
Retail Readiness
Ahead of Prime Day, you should be ensuring all your priority ASINs are in a good spot with retail readiness: they have updated content that is keyword-focused for discoverability, as well as updated imagery, videos, and A+ pages. On the back end, all product attributes are properly filled out, and any ASINs that are within categories with high restrictions are either claim-free or compliance backed up with any necessary claims. This can help prevent ASIN suppression, which can happen at any time. However, it’s particularly worrisome if suppression happens around Prime Day, as the reinstatement process can be lengthy.
The Buy Box is key to success on Prime Day: it’s imperative to be winning it throughout the event. If your brand is not winning the Buy Box, planned coupons will not run, and other issues may arise. Keep a close eye on the Buy Box throughout Prime Day - if you’re not winning it and are in Seller Central, consider lowering your price.
Additionally, variated products can help create a better shopping experience, but they can tend to break at times. Ahead of Prime Day, it’s a good idea to have variation templates for all catalog variations prepared and organized for easy access. On Prime Day, watch variations on priority products to ensure they are still intact. If they have broken, submit a ticket to Amazon support immediately, and/or contact support via phone to try to get the issue resolved immediately. Having the templates handy will be helpful in case you need to work with support to recreate them.
It goes without saying that Prime Day can be critical to a brand’s yearly success. Being prepared in advance, while also being aware of what is happening the day of, can help ensure it’s a successful 48 hours. If you could use a strategic partner to ensure success on Prime Day and beyond,
contact us today.
In the meantime, check out our other Prime Day blogs and guides:
Prime Day Dates are Here: Unique Ways to Build your Brand
Prime Day Planning: Don’t Ignore Other Marketplaces
How to Prep Amazon Product Pages for Prime Day
Important Prime Day Dates are Here: Tips for Early Planning
20+ Prime Day FAQs for Brands, Sellers, and Advertisers in 2022
The Complete 2022 Prime Day Checklist for Brands and Advertisers
