The shopping spree on Amazon continues! After successful Prime Day, Black Friday & Cyber Monday are just around the corner with their lightning deals and enormous discounts for shoppers. Therefore, if you are selling on Amazon, use PPC to get ahead of your competitors and convert shoppers into loyal customers. 

Why are Black Friday & Cyber Monday important? 

Black Friday takes place on last Friday in November, a day after Thanksgiving. This day is a unique opportunity for most people since they can shop for an array of products with huge discounts. The best way to profit is to increase your budgets, highlight your best products, and set the prices so the potential customers have FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) on that kind of cost-effective deal. We must mention the Cyber Monday, which comes right after Black Friday and also offers people a chance to buy more of the discounted items. These events are a great opportunity to grab the attention of new customers and sell as much as possible, so have your inventory covered.

How can Amazon PPC help you?

If you have experience with Amazon PPC, then you know that sometimes it can be a rocky road. For those who didn’t advertise yet, it may seem like PPC is a promised land and that you just need to invest a lot of money and get huge ad revenue. But in fact, advertising is a game of analysis and prediction, and the ones that test their campaigns, try different approaches and analyze their past metrics are the real masterminds of PPC. 

Best PPC tips to follow during Black Friday & Cyber Monday

Fourth-quarter in 2020 is your best shot to bring more attention to your brand and earn money. You should reinvest one part of that money in advertising so you can be sure that your brand is prospering gradually. Here are some tips to start from: 

1. Never go out of stock 

Yes, you’ve heard this a lot, especially during this pandemic, but it is crucial for three reasons.First is that you shouldn’t let down customers that want exactly your product instead of competitor’s. The second one refers to Amazon’s low tolerance for out of stock products. For example, if you run Sponsored Brands campaigns and go out of stock, your ads will be paused and shoppers won’t be aware of the great deal you are offering.  The third one is about lightning deals that can bring you a lot of revenue. These deals have the best ad placement on Amazon and last about 4 hours. When choosing whose lightning deal will be in the spotlight, Amazon monitors the price of the product, and the quantity. That’s why you should take this seriously and never go out of stock! 

2. Monitor your Spend

Before the shopping rush starts you should think about what are the actual figures of Spend, you have to reach to make enough money, not run out of stock, and cover the broadest portfolio of products. Yes, it may sound tough to predict, but go into your Prime Day metrics and do your calculation according to them. It won't be the same, but that kind of analysis will give you a more realistic picture of what to expect.  Don’t forget that it is important to keep campaigns active! Besides Inventory, pay close attention to the Spend metric in the Business Report. Be flexible if you see that the number of ordered units is growing hour by hour and invest more budget because it will pay off. 

3. Invest in Display Ads

From our point of view, during Prime Day, Display Ads brought the most value for money. They didn’t bring as many Sales as Sponsored Product Ads, but they have shown a great potential to convert customers with higher purchase intent. With these ads, you have broad targeting options to reach an audience that has shown a genuine interest in products from your niche. So, pick your best ASIN and use flexible bidding options to connect potential customers with your product. Don’t forget that your ad needs to have an adequate custom image and headline that is attention grabbing and communicates the real benefits of using your product.  

4. Don’t put the focus on least sold products 

You must have some products which are not selling so well. Don’t make the mistake and sell them at any cost. Instead, redirect your budget and efforts to your best-selling products, which have shown a great potential to put your brand in the spotlight. This way, your sales will only go up and the customers will get some of the best products from your portfolio at a reasonable price. Look at this as an investment for the future, since those shoppers will probably come back to your product pages and order another product from you if they are satisfied with the previous one. 

5. Use the power of Video Ads 

Uh, good old video ads! Well, they are not that old on Amazon, but their power is undeniable for sure! Some researches show that 64% of customers on Amazon are more likely to buy if they see a product video first. That’s why you should think about investing in video production in the long run. These ads are muted by default, so be sure to have a transcription that will highlight the benefits of your product. Also, Video Ads have a higher conversion rate and they are under-used in the Amazon sellers community so be the one that is thinking ahead and gain the ad revenue and brand trust by using them.

To conclude 

This year has been a game-changer for everyone. For sellers, because they went through inventory issues and their sales dropped at first, and for buyers since they changed their online shopping habits due to a lockdown.  Anyhow, the planet didn’t stop spinning. In fact, after a few months, sellers have seen their chance to fight even harder for new customers as they kept coming to Amazon. 

Black Friday & Cyber Monday are one of those days when potential customers visit Amazon’s website a lot because of enormous discounts.  You should use that and invest all of your resources to get their attention while they are surfing this e-commerce platform. To be prepared for the traffic and orders coming your way, be sure to always have enough inventory, track your Spend, use ad types and placements with the most potential for showing off your products and put your best ASIN’s in the spotlight! Good luck and let the games begin!  

If you need help to handle your Amazon account, book a completely free audit and we will do an in-depth analysis of your PPC efforts. 

About the author 

Emilija Kovačević is a Content Writer and Social Media Manager at Sellers Alley. She has been involved with Amazon PPC for a year now. Before, she was working on content and social media strategies for different clients in the FMCG industry.