No, there wasn’t a typo in that title. Amazon has once again announced that they’ll be extending their Black Friday promotions over a 9 day period and Cyber Monday over a 3 day period.
That’s great news for customers. But for sellers? Not necessarily so much.
In 2023, Black Friday shoppers spent a record $9.8 Billion in the US. The only figure more impressive? The $12.4 Billion spent during Cyber Monday.
Unfortunately, many Amazon sellers are much like their consumer counterparts. They sometimes wait until the last minute to optimize their storefronts and their promotions. The good news is that there’s still enough time for you to get both aligned and boost your sales on Amazon.
Amazon and the Black Friday Conundrum
Sales during Amazon Prime Day has historically dwarfed both Black Friday and Cyber Monday. That’s largely because an estimated 75 percent of US consumers are also Prime subscribers—who are notorious for waiting specifically for the 48 hour event to conduct the majority of their holiday shopping.
That leaves 25 percent of non-subscribers who have no option but to wait for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday double whammy.
Amazon knows this. They are, after all, “Earth’s most customer-centric company.” But for sellers, this presents a very real problem. Accurate forecasting. Historical demand. Competition. Inventory management. And that doesn’t even begin to address the elephant in the room: additional increases in FBA fees.
Amazon first announced their extended Black Friday deals several years ago, with last year occurring for 11 days between Friday, November 17th (a week early!) up to Cyber Monday itself. And if you’re still reeling from both July and October’s two fist knockout, keep in mind that Amazon never rests.
And neither should your sales.
Driving Your Sales During Black Friday and Cyber Monday
Plan now, not later
Preferably, you should have planned months ago. But that’s not always the most realistic option.
There’s an event fee of $50 which you can attach for a specific date during Black Friday or for the duration of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While we recommend choosing both, that can also lead to another dilemma for sellers: Inventory management. Particularly restocking.
Restocking during the holidays has always been a chore for many FBA sellers. But it’s a necessary one. Reviewing your Inventory Performance Index well in advance can help you identify any aged, excess, stranded and available inventory.
You can access your FBA Inbound Performance Report from Seller Central by selecting Fulfillment from the drop down menu of your Reports tab. Under the Inventory header on your left, click the Inbound Performance link. From there you can select either an exact date of event dates within a 90 day period (the latter is preferable for forecasting both top and low performing products.)
Pro tip: Bundling inventory during the holidays is an ideal way of helping to speed up slow moving products.
Make certain your products are eligible for Prime Exclusive Discounts
We’ll say it again. 75 percent of US consumers are Prime subscribers. And that number’s not likely to drop any time soon.
Amazon places priority on optimizing Prime eligible products during Black Friday because… well, they’re Amazon. And that priority includes sellers meeting very particular criteria:
Items cannot be restricted, or in violation of Amazon’s terms of service
Product listings must maintain a rating of at least 3 stars
The product must be eligible for Prime shipping in all regions of the US
Prime Exclusive Discount prices must be at least 5% lower than the reference price
The promotional price must be at least 10% off the non-member, non-promotional price
The discount must be lower than any price the ASIN has been sold at during the last 30 days
Refresh your keyword and PPC strategies
The biggest misconception new sellers have towards keyword optimization as well as PPC strategies is that it’s a case of “set it and forget it.”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Both PPC and keyword relevancies change constantly as consumer trends tend to shift dramatically every few months. And this is nowhere more true than during the holiday season.
There’s a dilemma, however. Many keyword pools during the holidays also include searches for the “best” product—a subjective claim that Amazon doesn’t just frown upon. They’ll actively suppress any listing utilizing that claim.
Updating your titles a month in advance using only just the most relevant and top performing keywords (including a mix of long tail and short tail keywords) will help you understand both the performance of those keywords but also how they reflect customer needs.
But what about PPC?
Here’s the bad news. Costs are up in general. But during the holidays? They can be exorbitant. And there’s just no way around it. You’re going to have to bid competitively. And you have to know who you’re competing against.
Factors such as average bidding, consistency in outbidding, seasonality, established presence and successful campaigns will play an enormous role in the success of your campaign. A proactive competitive analysis is fundamental to understanding the ultimate profitability of your PPC strategy.Just make certain that your holiday PPC strategy aligns with your bottom line—your RoAS.
Plan your social media campaign wisely
Social media is probably one of the most convenient ways to drive off-Amazon traffic to your listings. It’s free. It builds followers. It’s simple. And it’s the dominant form of communication in 2024.
So why do many brands fail so miserably in utilizing it as Black Friday marketing?
For one, they use fairly generic hashtags that fail to be relevant to both their brand and their product. #BlackFridaySpecial tells a customer nothing about your specific brand or product. Only that you're one of a good 10,000 other small brands who are offering similar time sensitive promotions.
Be unique. You may not reach as many customers. But you can drive more sales if you’re utilizing promotions.
But you may not be. You may simply be relying on your social media to draw attention to Amazon’s Black Friday discounts.
That’s not going to entice more traffic. But a limited time promo code for followers to enter will. And the strength of FOMO as well as the urgency of holiday shopping can (and frequently will) create a much more enticing atmosphere than bombarding their feeds with endless pretty pictures and cute hashtags.
Above all, engage with your followers during the holidays. Review their comments—including the negative ones. Doing so can help you understand your customers needs as well as help you improve both your product and your marketing.
Amazon Brand Analytics: your secret weapon
Right now, there may be thousands of other brands on Amazon in your particular category who are just as uncertain as you are about the success of their Black Friday campaigns.
But they’re armed with insight. And it’s not because they’re wizards.
It’s because they’re utilizing a free tool called Amazon Brand Analytics.
Brand Analytics is a tool which can help you make sense of the data by providing direct insight into your historical performance on Amazon as well as your competitors. It contains multiple analytics dashboards, including:
Customer Loyalty
Demographics
Market Analysis
Repeat Purchase Behavior
Search Catalog Performance
Top Search Terms
And more. And it can help understand your sales data during previous Black Fridays so you can leverage your marketing plans around real, concrete historical insight. Accessing it is simple:
Log in to Seller Central
Click Reports
Select Brand Analytics from the dropdown menu
Click Get Started
From there, you can choose to explore what data you need to help make the most out of your Black Friday campaigns.
It’s Black Friday. It’s Not the Apocalypse
Not by a long shot. It may ultimately drive long term customers. But at the end of the day, it’s a time where customers are looking for the best bargains.
But it can be a lot of hard work. And you may not have the time, experience or energy to optimize your Black Friday campaigns successfully. That’s part of growing your business, too. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of your product line.
That’s because your marketing plan is driven by the strength of your product, not the strength of your marketing. Your marketing only relies on three factors: your target audience, your timing and your optimization.
The strength of your product line, however? That should be timeless.
Color More Lines can help you manage your business to grow your business faster on Amazon during Black Friday and beyond. To find out more, visit Color More Lines
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