Amazon Advertising: Black Friday Special
Black Friday: Amazon Ads Interview
We interviewed our Amazon specialist, Michael Godsiff, to discuss how Amazon Ads can make a great addition to your digital marketing strategy.
If you’re a small business owner preparing for Black Friday, watch this video for useful tips and advice.
Alternatively, you can read the transcript from the interview, below…
Want to drive sales? Just add people.
As a small business owner, why should I consider Amazon Ads?
“Amazon is the biggest marketplace in the world.
To grow your business, you should really be looking to sell across multiple channels, not just your own website, or social media, but Amazon should be in there as well.
Whether you’re currently advertising through Google, Facebook, etc. it’s important to consider external marketplaces like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, etc. this can be a great way to grow your business online.”
Would you say Amazon Ads are more important than Google Ads?
“I couldn’t say it’s more important, quite often, you’re going to make more money from your website, however, you could achieve those additional sales to really help grow your business with an extra channel like Amazon.”
So, Amazon should really be there to supplement the rest of your marketing strategy?
“Of course, but it could go vice versa, you might have some product success stories on Amazon already that you can use to elevate your Google Ads. So there are both sides of the coin to it.”
How should I be using Amazon Ads to help me on Black Friday?
“Well, Black Friday is the biggest promotional event of the year, for any marketing platform.
With Amazon, it does start early, from the 8th of November, and running all the way up until Christmas. So you’ve got a lot of time to really elevate not only sales but the awareness of your brand in your industry.”
How soon should I start advertising on Amazon?
“You should definitely be thinking about this early. We’ve had conversations with clients about Black Friday as early as May.
We want to be getting into the mindset of ‘get ready’, it’s a big time of year, it’s very important – so we want to be focussed and know exactly what we’re doing.
So, if you are thinking of certain promotions that you want to run over that period, we want to know as soon as possible to help in the preparations.”
Am I too late if I don’t start early?
“Not at all. We can always make up time.
The main purpose of getting ready early is so you can build that awareness through brand awareness campaigns, in the run-up to Black Friday – using tools like Sponsored Brand or Sponsored Display in the Amazon platform.
However, we are still in October, there’s still time to grow this using these tools.”
What is brand awareness?
“We want to be raising the profile of your brand and exploring additional audiences to where you might currently be looking.
You might be very focused on driving ad spend on bottom of the funnel sales, but you might want to start looking more at the top of the funnel; exploring the wider market, seeking those new customers that you can acquire.
If we can build that foundation early, then it’s more likely to be successful on Black Friday. Feed the top of the funnel, so you get more out of the bottom.”
What special offers should I use?
“You’ve got a variety of special offers that you can use on Amazon, including Lightning Deals, 7-Day Deals, Coupons & Vouchers, etc.
Your discounts don’t have to be as crazy as 50%, we see promotions as low as 15% that perform well.
If you’re in the prime position and reaching the correct customers that really want to purchase at the time, you’re still going to see success with lower discounts.”
What do the top-performing businesses have in common?
“The most common thing would be allocating their best products to use in promotions.
It’s really important to be focused on those products that you know already have some existing success, that you want to elevate even further.
This can be done through tools like Sponsored Product campaigns and tailoring these to grow sales even further over this period.
With regards to budget, the most successful businesses have additional budget being added on for Black Friday.
Your top-selling products can be used to lead your sales, but this can also have a positive impact on cross-selling and up-selling your other products.”
What about remarketing?
“You have to capitalise on that increased footfall on Amazon during that period.
Year on year, from 2019 to 2020, there was a 22% increase in traffic on Amazon – that’s a lot of consumers moving onto Amazon in one weekend.
So, try to attract new customers that you can then bring back afterwards through remarketing methods.
The lifetime value is just as important (if not more) than the short term gain.
What is your no.1 top tip for business owners on Black Friday?
“Use ‘piggyback campaigns’- piggyback onto your competitors.
You’re not going to be the only one running a promotion, so make sure you capitalise on theirs.
The way you can do this on Amazon is through Product Targeting. If you’re using Sponsored Products, Product Targeting can help drive additional sales and steal customers away from your competition.
Remember, customers are there ready to buy, if your competitor is showing a product with 15% off, and you’re showing the same/similar product for 20% off, they’re quite often going to choose you.”
