5 tips for marketing Amazon Prime Day deals

With Amazon Prime Day right around the corner, businesses (and shoppers) are busy prepping for the retail giant's crazy deals. Here's how brands can make the most of it.

Key Facts:

• 46% of Gen Zers and 55% of millennials plan to start holiday shopping in October or earlier, making Prime Big Deals Day crucial for early holiday sales.

• Prime Day marketing can increase sales by up to 300% when executed properly with the right strategies and preparation.

• Some retailers start stocking inventory for Prime Day as early as March, leveraging Amazon Fulfillment Centers and third-party logistics for peak demand.

• Most consumers operate in a "click-and-mortar" style in 2024, requiring brands to meet customers at each point along their nonlinear journey.

Amazon Prime Day (and its fall companion, Prime Big Deals Day) have become national holidays for consumers, retailers, and brands, and it runs right into the holiday shopping season.

EMARKETER reports 46% of Gen Zers and 55% of millennials planned to start making holiday purchases in October or earlier, which could reflect financial strain that is leading them to spread out buys and grab early discounts to avoid bigger bills later in the season.

But, while Prime Day is a great time for businesses to grab the spotlight and drive sales, there are some potential pitfalls to avoid. To ensure your business shines bright on Prime Day, here are four things your brand should look out for when planning your offers:

1. Have a backup plan

In an ideal world, everything will run smoothly on Prime Day. All of your promos, ads, codes, and tracking analytics will go off without a hitch.

But even Amazon's technology isn't impervious to glitches along the way. That's why it's crucial to have a backup plan in place and, if needed, quickly switch to it to prevent any losses. To get ahead of issues, have your team "walk the store" throughout Prime Day to spot any weak links.

For example, back in 2022, a Black Friday technical outage resulted in inaccurate sales and advertising spending data. This resulted in some businesses overspending in certain areas and underperforming in others. Consider creating bulk sheets, so your team can quickly adjust promotions and pricing if needed or have a separate budget set aside for unexpected needs.

2. Stock enough inventory

Nothing is more disappointing (or damaging to Prime Day sales) than seeing a desired product only to find out it's not in stock. Ensure your inventory and supply chain can keep up with the influx of orders with Prime Day. The earlier, the better, too.

If possible, start stocking up on inventory for Prime Day well in advance. Some retailers start increasing their stock for flagship items in March, leveraging Amazon Fulfillment Centers and other third-party logistics services. With the sheer number of shoppers expected on the day, you don't want to miss out on potential sales.

3. Timing promotions strategically

For any ad campaign, timing is everything.

And this is especially true for frantic shopping days like Prime Day. We've heard many stories about incredible deals and campaigns falling flat due to poor time schedule planning, wasting precious dollars.

To ensure your promotions and campaigns reach the right audience at the right time (without breaking the bank), carefully plan your campaigns with automated rules and ads targeting shoppers likely to be interested in your products.

4. Offer insanely good Amazon Prime Day deals

This one sounds obvious, but it's worth repeating: Prime Day deals should be amazing. Make sure your Prime Day offers are attractive enough to draw in those bargain-savvy shoppers who know how to get the most bang for their buck. No matter what you come up with, just make sure it's really worth it for customers -- otherwise, there's no point in even trying.

5. Audit your retail-search strategy

This is different from your standard Google search marketing strategy. Be sure to:

Prioritize home page placements 

The home page of a retailer’s site or app is a coveted placement for advertising because it’s the most visible with the widest reach, and it’s the most memorable thanks to the primacy effect. Here’s a good visualization of the purpose each page level of an e-commerce site serves: 

Segment your audience

If your feminine product ads are being served to biologically male customers, those wasted impressions are wasted ad dollars. Every product isn’t right for every consumer! To optimize your retail media budget, you’ll need to get precise with your targeting and segment your audiences. Fortunately, the first-party data provided by retail media networks solve this problem very well, if you’re putting in the right audience parameters. Check out this excellent list of audience segments put together by the IAB: 

Dominate your niche

Our own Senior Search Specialist, Michael Robbins, advises:

Take this example from our back-to-school marketing guide: Adding contextual keywords to your search mix can boost visibility and drive sales. For instance, a granola bar company could add long-tail keywords like “granola bars for school lunches”, or “healthy after-school snacks” to their current bidding strategy. 

Consider the whole customer journey

Despite the popularity of e-commerce and online shopping, most consumers in 2024 are operating in a “click-and-mortar” style: either buying online and picking up in store, buying online and returning in store, or discovering brands in-store and following on social media. To beat the competition, you’ll need to meet your target customer at each point along their nonlinear journey. 

Don't forget to influence them BEFORE they start shopping - using tactics like TV, video, audio and OOH to improve brand perception and credibility.

Amazon Prime Day Deals marketing can be a stressful time, but you have the potential to increase your sales by 300% -- that's worth the extra effort!

To learn more about how we made Premier Protein shakes a top-selling item on Prime Big Deals Day 3 years in a row, head over here.

This article originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For the most up-to-date news and tips to improve your media strategy, subscribe for free here.