While economic uncertainty could keep marketers guessing as to the quantity and average order value consumers will purchase during Prime Day, David Hutchinson, vice president of marketplaces at NP Digital, details several strategies that marketers can just about bet on. 

Inside Performance:  What kind of advice would you initially give Amazon sellers prior to Amazon Prime Day?

David Hutchinson:

1. Amazon created a holiday out of thin air, so don’t spin your wheels on other commerce efforts. The focus of shoppers is on Amazon. There might be a halo lift in sales, but it is usually minimal. While Walmart might be creating an event and Best Buy might do the same, its not a public holiday and those retailers that have marketed themselves might win some sales, but most consumers will be messaged through their Amazon app that Prime Day has begun. That’s where they will start, too.
2. Plan to have a Prime Day deal and coupon or other discount planned, so sales will most likely not be increasing incrementally.
3. Advertising costs increase in the lead-up to the event, and especially during the event.
4. Prime users typically have a higher household income and tend to weather ecommerce storms a bit better.

IP:  What’s new this year? 

Hutchinson:

1. For ads, there is now an hourly view on Sponsored advertising, which will allow for a much clearer understanding of how the days are performing. In the past, you set the daily advertising budgets and when they ran out you got to see if to re-invest. Now you can track by the hour and make decisions based on that.
2. Video assets are far more easy to create, so brand storytelling should be there as well as your offers. SS video creator tools are available now.
3. Amazon has the functionality to increase bids on ‘special days,’ allowing different types of advertisers to increase bids and visibility.
4. Amazon Marketing Cloud allows brands to see full attribution of display and its effects, allowing for a more robust upper-funnel play.

IP:  What are the underused tactics for Prime Day?

Hutchinson:

1. Amazon posts are like free Instagram-style placements that work really well in the mobile environment. Use them and schedule them to go live prior to Prime Day.
2. Establish your presence before your offer goes live. You can have the best deal launching on Prime Day, but if your advertisements are not approved by Amazon in time, you can miss out on some great shopping.
3. Driving ads from other areas like Meta and TikTok to Amazon allows messaging that would not be approved by Amazon, but gets the consumer into aisles and viewing your product. Amazon attribution will allow you to track sales off the back of that.

IP:  What do you see from brands?

Hutchinson:

1. Take time to do far more preparation this year. Increase budgets while people start to window shop, and look around on Amazon to determine what they will purchase. Overall, budgets are not just set to increase for Prime Day, but prior and after. 
2. Understand how to monitor campaigns hourly to see the deals and the purchases that shoppers make.
3. Understand that sales will mainly happen on products where a genuine deal occurs.
4. Have a better understanding of all the media formats and the role they can play will help.

David Hutchinson, VP of marketplaces at NP Digital, details strategies and certainties seen repeatedly that marketers can just about bet on.