OMG Blog

Uncertainty for entrepreneurs creates opportunities.

Take the supply chain for instance. I knew these disruptions would spur creative entrepreneurs to take action. In just the past 30 days, I’ve been invited to invest in a new supply chain, a logistics SaaS, two United States based manufacturing opportunities, and a distribution play that will allow the fading drop shipping industry, for one, to regain its relevance. 

How can we thrive in periods of uncertainty? We combat it by having an opposite mindset. I fondly remember the Seinfeld season 5, episode 22, “The Opposite.” It’s a humorous example, and it’s worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. It’s an excellent example of how a shift in mindset can bring about positive change. 

I’m not recommending doing the opposite of what you think you should do every single time, but what I recommend is shifting your mindset from uncertainty to certainty.

What is certainty?

For clarity, it’s essential to define the type of certainty we’re considering. What I’m not advocating is a certainty mindset that excludes questioning, facts, and reasoning. Ellen Langer, a Yale professor dubbed the “mother of mindfulness,” states, “Certainty is a cruel mindset, and it hardens our minds against possibility.”

Certainty for our purposes is an emotion or a driver. I like how the Tony Robbins blog puts it, “Certainty is the emotion that allows us to accomplish what once seemed impossible. Our capacity to achieve, lead and serve is expanded by it, and it is a resource we can access in a moment. If you want to separate yourself from the bottom 80% of entrepreneurs and achievers, then begin by bringing ample amounts of certainty to your clients, team, and even your family.” Another way to explain it is, “Certainty doesn’t mean that you know what to do. Certainty means that you know you’re going to figure things out.” 

3 ways to bring more certainty to your endeavors and challenges.

1. Trust Your Gut Instincts

For me, uncertainty breeds that gut feeling. I’m a huge proponent of trusting your gut instincts. I can look back at multiple gut feelings that were acted upon and led to enormous breakthroughs. I can also look back at gut feelings that weren’t acted upon that left my companies playing catch up. Of course there have been those gut feelings that utterly failed when put into practice, but in my experience, they’re in the minority. 

2. Don’t Go It Alone

Ever heard that being an entrepreneur is lonely? I’ve definitely felt lonely as an entrepreneur. How about you? A Google search shows nearly nine million results for the keyword phrase “lonely entrepreneur.”

My eCommerce agency, OMG Commerce, now has 50 team members. Most are in our Springfield, Missouri office, and the rest of the team is spread from coast to coast. Every day I’m in the office, I can have multiple in-person conversations, yet loneliness is still a factor in my entrepreneurial journey. How can that be? 

One of the reasons might be that people don't understand what it is like to run a business. You might (like me) have a CEO or COO (in my case, both). Still, the pressures of the company and the sense of responsibility for your growing team can be substantial. Your team sacrifices much for your business. At the same time, they are marrying, having babies, and buying homes. It can wear on you as you navigate the inevitable ups and downs of client relationships, finances, and changes that are outside your control (iOS-14). Most people don't understand how an entrepreneur’s brain is wired. Those are the times when you’re not understood. How you think, how you feel, and the things you do puzzle those around you. The result can be a lonely place. 

Don’t go it alone. Communicate your challenges, fears, and uncertainties to trusted friends, fellow entrepreneurs, and advisors. Be highly cautious in how you share the above with your team. You might find it cathartic, but remember they’re not the entrepreneur and may not receive the information as you intended it. 

Don’t go it alone. Attend events, masterminds (even virtually) to regularly put yourself around fellow business owners. Your stories are not unique. If you’ve been in business for any amount of time, you’ve inevitably experienced similar if not the exact circumstances as others. When you put yourself physically in front of others who have shared your journey, suddenly loneliness evaporates, and you can gain that sense of certainty that boldly proclaims, “I GOT THIS!”

3. Read

This is a habit that I’m endeavoring to improve. Reading books on leadership, brand building, entrepreneurship, spirituality, and biographies of amazing people can spur your thinking, inspire your creativity, and equip you with the tools needed to navigate your latest (and next) set of challenges. 

I’m currently reading “Never Lose a Customer Again,” by Joey Coleman. On deck is “This Is Marketing,” by Seth Godin, and “Dare to Lead,” by Brené Brown. One habit that pairs well with reading is morning meditation, and it’s something I’ve recently hit the reset on. That practice evaporated on me during Covid and impacted my spirit and overall sense of well-being. 

You might find my process helpful. It’s simple — Rise, Eat, Pray, Read, Meditate, Pray. Power Through. Rise early enough not to feel hurried. Eat to get your body and mind moving. Pray a prayer of thanksgiving and gratitude for your blessings. Read to inspire and recharge. My reading during that time happens to be from the Bible. I read a short chapter, meditate on the meaning, and think about how it might apply to my life. Pray once more based on what you felt or experienced during your time of meditation. You’ll find you’ll “Power Through” your day with this practice. 

Let me know how you’re dealing with uncertainty or your practices to bring more certainty to your entrepreneurial journey. Be well. 

Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) Fulfillment

FBM is not as widely used on its own as FBA, but is a solid alternative that gives companies flexibility which have certain business needs. When merchants fulfill Amazon orders themselves, they are accountable for picking, packing, storing, shipping, providing tracking, and handling customer service and returns. If your business falls within the following criteria, FBM may be a good fit for you:

• If your products are oversized and will not be profitable using FBA fulfillment.
• If your distribution center is centrally located and can offer fast, 2-day (or faster) shipping. 
• If you prefer to handle your customer service and returns in house.
• If your products do not sell consistently or you aren’t certain how a product will perform.
• If you have the bandwidth and resources to store and pick & pack inventory.
• If you want to start selling immediately and would prefer not to wait to ship in FBA inventory.
• If you have a resource that can oversee all Amazon order fulfillment and tracking.

FBA & FBM Hybrid Fulfillment

The second most popular method is actually a hybrid of both fulfillment options offering companies the most flexibility. This is ideal for companies who have a mix of the above-mentioned specifications or find themselves falling within the following categories:

• If your product costs are similar regardless of whether you fulfill via FBA or FBM.
• If some of your products are proven best sellers on Amazon with steady sales while other products do smaller, less consistent volume.
• If you are encountering issues with FBA inventory limits and can’t keep items in stock.
• If products are running out of stock, FBM can be used as a backup offer to take over buybox whenever FBA runs out and ensure you never go out of stock.
• If you have inventory on hand and can handle fulfillment, but prefer to open up bandwidth by moving best sellers to FBA.

When determining your fulfillment strategy there is a lot to consider, but one of the key drivers that plays a role in all three of the primary methods is profitability. For a quick and easy assessment of your potential FBA fees, try using Amazon’s FBA Calculator to better gauge which group your products fall within.

What You'll Need

Before you get started, you’ll need a handful of info in order to successfully open your Professional Seller account. Make sure you have the following information handy and available.

• Tax ID
• State Tax ID
• A Copy of Your Driver’s License or Passport
• Legal Business Name
• Address 
• Contact Name
• Email Address
• Phone Number
• Credit Card
• Payment Info (Business Account Info & Routing Number)

It’s important to note that you use a business entity, credit card and tax IDs that have never been used to open an account. Though Amazon now permits more than one seller account for separate business entities, don’t create complications for yourself by trying to create an account with a business that has been used in the past.

Also, in terms of your credit card, consider using a payment method that has a strong rewards program as you will wrack up a lot of valuable points as your brand scales. 

Things to Consider

 In addition to the basic information you’ll need to get started, you’ll also need to have a gameplan for your basic Amazon operational procedures before you start selling. Here are the top things to ask and discuss before you get started.

Customer Service

• Do you have a dedicated person who can handle customer service inquiries?
• Are there any common concerns with your products that your customer service rep should be aware of?
• How will you handle dissatisfied customers? Will you offer a complimentary product or refund through the “Customer Reviews” tool?
• Will your CS rep be able to meet Amazon’s 24-hour response time expectation, including on weekends?

Category Restrictions

• Have you checked Amazon’s Restricted Categories to ensure that you will be able to list your product once you open your account?
• If your product does fall into one of these categories, are you prepared to apply to sell in the category and provide the necessary documentation?

Fulfillment

• Do you plan to use Fulfillment By Amazon, Fulfillment By Merchant, or Both?
• If FBA, do you have a point person who can oversee inventory and handle FBA replenishment?
• If FBM, have you negotiated best rates with your carrier and can you accomplish fast shipping (preferably 2 days or less) from your location?

Returns

• If you plan to use FBM, where do you intend to have customers return products?

Reviews

• Do you have a strategy in place for gathering initial reviews?
• How do you plan to address negative feedback?

How to Set Up Your Account

After you have had a chance to gather the necessary information and get some basic operational plans in place, you’ll need to get your account set up. To do this visit Amazon and click “Sign Up”.

Next, click “Create Your Amazon Account”.

Enter your Name, Email Address, Password, and click “Next”.

Enter the OTP sent to your email address and click “Create your Amazon account”.

Select your Business Location and Business Type. Enter your Business Name, check next to the confirmation, and click “Agree and continue”.

On the following page, enter your Business Registration Number, Business Address, Phone Number, and Primary Contact Person. After validating your Phone Number, click “Next”.

Enter all required information for beneficial owners of the store and click “Save”.

Next, you will need to enter your payment information. Click “I Understand” to proceed.

Enter your Financial Institution Name, Routing Number, Account number, and click “Verify Bank Account”.

Enter your Credit Card Number, Expiration Date, Cardholder’s Name, and click “Next”.

Enter the necessary Store information and click “Next”.

Complete the Identity Verification and click “Submit”.

You will then be prompted to set up a Video Verification Call and Address Verification to complete the process. After you have completed the verifications, you will be able to access your account.

Use Automated Bidding To Ease Management and Improve Results

Once your campaigns begin to receive conversions, approximately 20 conversions per 30 days per campaign, you will be ready to switch to an automated bid strategy. We suggest using target ROAS or maximize conversion value, as these bidding strategies aim to maximize your profitability with Google shopping ads. 

For Target ROAS, you simply tell Google Ads what your ROAS goal is, and Google Ads will try to achieve an average ROAS equal to your target across all campaigns using this strategy. Some conversions may return a higher ROAS and some may return a lower ROAS, but altogether Google Ads will try to keep your conversion value per cost equal to the target ROAS you set.

For Maximize Conversion Value, Google uses historical information about your campaign and evaluates the contextual signals present at auction-time. This bid strategy automatically finds an optimal CPC bid for your ad each time it's eligible to appear. Google will seek the conversions that are the most valuable for your campaign while spending your budget.

These automated bit strategies rely on Google’s algorithm and machine learning to increase visibility for the users that Google believes are more likely to convert, and to decrease visibility for those that Google believes are not likely to convert. Once you have sufficient conversion data, an automated bid strategy will not only see better performance than a manual bid strategy, but it will be significantly easier to manage.

Ensure Titles, Descriptions, and Product Type Are Optimized

Your product feed is what tells Google what types of searches that you want your shopping ads to appear for. If your product feed uses very broad and generic terms, then you are likely going to show up for very broad and generic terms. The more specific and relevant you can make your titles, descriptions, and product types - the more likely you will be to have immediate success with Google shopping ads. 

A well-optimized product feed will reduce the need for adding negative keywords, and will also improve click-through rates and conversion rates over time. 

When it comes to your product title, include the most important information first, such as the primary non-branded keyword that you want to show up for. You will also want to include supplemental information such as your brand name, the product qualifiers such as the size of the packaging quantity, the color, and anything else that would potentially be important to the user. Include the most important information at the front of the title and the least important information near the back. Here is an example of a well-optimized product title: “jalapeño bbq rub 1 pound bag, spicy blend of salt, pepper and jalapeño, [brand name] barbecue”. 

Kosmo’s Q has well-optimized titles, putting the non-branded term near the front.

Here is an example of a poorly optimized title: 1 pound bag [brand name] BBQ jalapeño rub”. While the second title could end up working, the first title will maximize your chances of success.

These Meat Church product titles could likely use optimization. 

When it comes to the description, add as much content that is relevant as your character space allows for. You have plenty of character space to work with here (5,000 characters), so try to pull as much relevant information from the website as possible. Lead with your most important information such as details about the product, the ingredients, and what makes it good, but also include information about your brand that makes you unique. If your products are homemade, made in America, made naturally, cruelty-free, gluten-free, etc. make sure that you are highlighting this information about yourself in your description. 

Lastly, when it comes to your product type, these are to be treated as if they were keywords for search ads. To use the jalapeño barbecue rub example, your product type for this product could be “BBQ rubs > spicy barbecue rubs >  jalapeño barbecue rubs > jalapeño seasoning > [brand name] barbecue seasoning”. These will help Google identify the types of searches that you want your shopping ads to appear for. We advise A/B. testing this over time, where you create additional product variations and adjust your product type to see the impact on your search terms.

While there are many more advanced tactics and strategies for optimizing your results with Google’s Standard Shopping campaigns, if you are able to: 1) add negative keywords to keep your search results relevant to your brand, 2) automate your bidding to take advantage of Google’s machine learning, and 3) make simple edits to your product feed to tell Google what you want your shopping ads to show up for; then you will be well on your way to seeing great results with Google Shopping.

Sponsored Brand Video Product Targeting Segment

Recently, Amazon released product targeting under the radar for Sponsored Brand Video ads. With CPC on the rise, we are super excited to see another segment available for video-based ads. Not only can you set up defensive ads on your own product display page to block out the competition, but you can also target top competitors in a space many sellers aren’t even aware of yet. We see a lot of opportunity to split test various creatives showcasing the benefits and unique selling points that make your product stand out among the competition.

Sponsored Display Top of Funnel Audience Segments

Sponsored Display has also implemented new Top of Funnel segments, similar to DSP, including targeting options like “In Market” and “Lifestyle”. These can be a great way to push ads higher in the funnel to fuel your retargeting efforts on products which may not be eligible for DSP.

Sponsored Display Bidding Strategies

Sponsored Display ads have been making great strides this year in terms of flexibility and functionality. Amazon recently implemented new bidding strategies which include the options to “Optimize for page visits” or “Optimize for Conversions” giving you more control over whether you want to push for awareness or a stronger return.

Customer Engagement Beta

For those of you who have capitalized on the free traffic Amazon Posts offers, in addition to those posts now showing in additional placements including your storefront, they also have a new major benefit. 

Sellers who have accumulated at least 500 brand followers from Amazon Posts can now access the Customer Engagement beta which allows sellers to email customers and highlight products. This can be a great additional strategy to implement and test during your next product launch. 

You can access this beta in Seller Central or Vendor Central under “Brands” - “Customer Engagement”. If you have the required number of followers but don’t have access, reach out to your Amazon rep to request access.

Budgets Beta

Amazon’s new “Budget” Beta in the advertising console lets you review your budgets against key performance indicators to provide more clarity as to which campaigns will benefit from higher budgets. It also provides some super helpful projections such as how much you are estimated to lose in sales, impressions and clicks by not lifting budget. Additionally, it provides further insight into how much of a budget increase is recommended.

Budget Rules

In addition to advanced budget reporting, the new “Budget Rules” beta within campaigns allows you to apply more advanced budget rules to your campaigns. While it doesn’t quite offer advanced dayparting options as some sellers may hope to see, it can be helpful for managing budgets on larger accounts during peak selling dates.

Creative Assets Beta

Another cool new feature Amazon has added to the advertising console is the “Creative Assets” tool. It enables sellers to upload creative assets including images and videos so that they can be easily stored, organized and filtered when creating new ad campaigns. Creatives stored here go through a moderation process and are reviewed so that they can be pre-approved and ready to go whenever you submit a new ad using that creative.

Targeting Beta

The new “Targeting” beta that is slowly being rolled out across accounts is an excellent way to deep dive into your targeting segments. The dashboard offers an easy to navigate, high-level overview of targeting performance and pinpoints underserved areas that may have potential to scale through increased bids.

Mobile Storefront Customization

With Amazon leading the industry with the most popular shopping app in mobile stores and consequently a massive amount of mobile sales, optimization of listings for mobile has always been highly important. That’s why we’re very excited to see that Amazon has now taken steps to enable sellers to optimize their Amazon storefront for mobile experiences.

Storefront Engagement

In addition to customization for mobile storefronts, Amazon has also introduced a helpful new “Engagement” dashboard on “Storefront Insights” to provide more detail as to how consumers interact with your Amazon storefront.

Brand Catalog Manager

Thanks to the Brand Catalog Manager introduced by Amazon early this year, brand owners don’t have to be as reliant on expensive 3p tools to monitor unauthorized sellers. It does a fair job of identifying areas of opportunity and assigning the potential value next to each missed opportunity.

Overall, in 2021, we’ve seen Amazon stepping up their game and elevating the platform on the seller side. With new betas and features rolling out every few weeks, now is the time to start exploring what these new tools have to offer. Start running small tests now to determine which of these new features will have the greatest impact for your brand and how to maximize your efforts this year!

Is there an alternative program in the works?

• Despite rumors that SFP was being replaced with a more stringent program, there has been no official confirmation that another program will take over.

What are some tips or recommendations as a workaround for not having the Prime badge?

• Treat your FBM listings just as you would FBA listings. Optimize your listing title, bullets, description, and backend keywords. Add enhanced A+ Content and link the product to your storefront. 
• Ensure reviews are in place and are being carefully monitored.
• Applying a full-funnel advertising strategy to healthy, optimized listings with fast shipping to drive awareness and sales can be very effective in scaling your FBM products.

What are some recommendations on inexpensive, fast 3P fulfillment centers or fulfillment options that are more cost effective than FBA? 

• Popular 3P Fulfillment services like Deliverr often cost just as much as FBA depending on the product and won’t work as an alternative to FBA. 
• Instead, they are optimal for multi-channel fulfillment and are ideal for companies that sell products that are suitable for FBA, but are available on a large number of channels.
• Instead, search for a more personalized fulfillment center that is designed for FBM profitability and is centrally located for fast shipping. 
• If you are fulfilling orders yourself, work with your courier to negotiate discounted freight rates on faster shipping methods and improve your FBM margins even further.

What are some additional things to look out for with the changes to SFP during 2021?

• Amazon adds a handling day and you can’t take that day off unless it is Prime with FBA or SFP, so be aware that this can be factored into estimated delivery dates.

What are some positive changes that have occurred with the adjustments to SFP? 

• After testing both with SFP and without in 2021, many sellers are finding that the Prime badge is not nearly as important as it used to be in order to excel on Amazon with FBM in terms of conversion rate and impact to volume.
• Since many sellers could not sustain SFP anymore starting this year after changes were made, consumers are beginning to adapt. 
• At this time, most shoppers now seem to be opting for fast shipping rather than a Prime badge, so what’s really important is offering fast shipping options and not having stock issues with delayed ship dates.

What are some top tips for winning Self-Fulfilled Shipping on Amazon in 2021? 

• If your cost to offer 2-day shipping cuts too far into your margin, add it to the list price.
• Sellers are finding that people rarely notice the additional cost as long as it is not itemized separately as “Shipping”.
• Consumers are programmed to look at the shipping date and not the price. 
• When adjusting your prices to accommodate fast shipping, your biggest concern should be that your offer is winning the buy box. 
• If you have your own brand registered private label and products with no 3p sellers, the heightened price will not cause any concern unless you are selling under the same UPC off Amazon at a lower price.
• When it comes to winning buy box, also ensure that you have enough product on hand to keep the product “in stock” and avoid drastic fluctuations in BSR from out of stock items.
  

With rumors circulating throughout 2021 regarding the future of Seller Fulfilled Prime, sellers have become increasingly concerned about the repercussions of losing the Amazon Prime badge. Despite the importance of the Prime badge being a constant for many years, since the changes and effects are widespread, SFP’s transformation seems to be working out for sellers. Fortunately, the marketplace and consumers appear to be quickly adjusting and adopting new shopping behaviors. Favoring fast shipping over a Prime badge is quickly becoming the new norm.

TIP 2 : Get clear visibility into consumer behavior by triangulating your conversion data

‍At this time, the biggest concern at the front of my mind is conversion tracking in the midst of online privacy changes. iOS 14 and other privacy initiatives are making conversion tracking increasingly difficult. This makes it really hard to see what campaigns are working and what campaigns aren’t so you can make proper adjustments.  I think it’s becoming imperative to consider third-party attribution tools that rely on first-party data.  I typically recommend the use of in-platform data (what you see in Google Ads or Facebook ads manager), plus Google Analytics, and a third-party provider.  Some of our current client favorites are North Beam, Wicked Reports, and Hyros.  While each of these tools have their pros and cons (no tool is perfect), I definitely think you should consider a tool like this if you aren’t already using one.  

TIP 3 : Build Your Lists

‍Leading up to the holiday season is the best time to build your lists. What lists am I referring to?  

Remarketing lists. You want robust and up-to-date remarketing lists that you can target with your Google, YouTube, and Facebook ads.  We usually split our lists up into 30-day, 60-day and 90-day segments.  You might consider shorter duration segments like 1-day, 7-day, and 14-day segments depending on how much traffic you get. What specific remarketing lists do we recommend?  

• All site visitors  
• All purchasers 
• Abandoned cart
• All product page viewers

Email lists. Having a properly segmented email list that you can send offers too is an absolute must during the holidays.  What lists do we recommend?

• All subscribers, non-buyers
• All buyers, segmented by product category
• All repeat buyers (VIPs)

SMS list. Want to really step up your SMS game?  Listen to this podcast I recorded with Arri Bagah of Conversmart on 4 Keys to Effective Text Marketing.  

The good news is that you can continue to drive sales while you build your lists. Remarketing campaigns are usually cheaper and more efficient than prospecting campaigns and the cost to deliver emails and SMS messages is super affordable. For our clients, remarketing customer acquisition costs are often half to one-third the cost of cold traffic customer acquisition costs. If you build your audiences now, you’ll have the opportunity to shift more of your budget to your remarketing lists when top of funnel awareness campaigns become too expensive. 

TIP 4 : Provide The Right Offer At The Right Time

Holiday shoppers are looking for the right product at the right deal. They don’t want to make a poor gift buying decision and they don’t want to over pay. Here are some things to consider as you plan out your holiday offers. 

• People expect deals, offers, and “on-point” messaging. Shoppers expect something special during the holidays. Keeping your message or your offers exactly the same as the rest of the year will likely result in subpar conversion rates.  
• Craft deals that will motivate customers while protecting your brand. Going too deep on price cuts can result in a quick sales bonanza, but could damage your brand and train shoppers not to pay full retail price later. We have several clients who rarely offer discounts. In those cases a simple 10% discount on certain products can feel like a big deal and will still protect your brand value. Bundling products can also be an easy way to discount without making it seem like you’re slashing prices out of desperation. Plus, bundles can make gift buying easier. Bundles can often make for better gifts than a single product. 
• Deals are important, but so is convenience. What about helping people achieve their ultimate goal - getting the right gift at the right time with little hassle? How about highlighting fast shipping or at least guaranteed shipping dates? Sometimes convenience outweighs saving a buck for certain shoppers if they’re convinced that your products are the perfect gift. 
• ‍Deals that don’t involve discounting your core product. What about free bonus gifts or mystery gifts? Our friends at Groove Life now offer a deeply discounted “mystery gift” ring as an upsell when you’re ordering your ring. This is a brilliant strategy any time, but especially during the holidays. A mystery ring could be a perfect stocking stuffer or gift for that hard-to-buy-for special someone. And they are using mystery rings likely to get rid of unsold inventory.

TIP 5 : Fill In The Holes

Your Search and Shopping Approach - We audit hundreds of Google Ads accounts each year in addition to the accounts we manage on an ongoing basis. It’s very common for us to audit accounts that are doing fine on the surface, but are missing serious opportunities for growth. It’s not uncommon to see search and shopping campaigns delivering a 250-300% ROAS or higher creating the illusion that everything is great.  Once we dive deeper, we often find several features, settings, targeting options, or bid strategies missing that could improve either volume, return on ad spend, or both. Here are a few things you should consider now to make the most of your search and shopping efforts.

• Surfaces across Google. Google shopping has long been a favorite for online retailers and an area where OMG Commerce shines. For a detailed look at how to get the most from Google Shopping ads, check out the guide I wrote for Shopify earlier this year.  Surfaces across Google allow your Google Shopping ads to appear on YouTube, in Gmail and other places. You’ve maybe experienced this yourself when you search for something on Google, then later see Google Shopping ads on YouTube for similar products. These ads can be effective anytime, but especially during the holidays.

• Leverage Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs). Dynamic Search Ads allow you to harness Google’s machine learning to run search ads for all of your product catalog without requiring a super detailed build out of keywords and ad groups. This can be a pretty easy step to really increasing your search ad volume. 

• Highlight promotional pricing. If you are running discounts for the holidays, you can take advantage of promotional pricing both in Search and Shopping ads. For Search ads, you need to run promotion extensions that allow for your sales details to show under your existing Search ads. For Shopping, you can use the “sales price” field. This will allow Google to highlight that your price has dropped and your item is on sale. This is a powerful visualization that increases clicks on your listings and helps increase sales.

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• RSAs and Extensions. Responsive search ads allow you to combine your marketing and copywriting strengths with Google’s machine learning to improve your ad performance. ‍
• Adapt your bid strategy for holiday shopping. Get ready to bid more aggressively. As competition heats up, bid levels required to reach customers also go up. One simple way to get your bids ready is to use a bid automation strategy like target return on ad spend (target ROAS). As conversion rates increase during holiday shopping, using a bid strategy like target ROAS will allow Google to bid more aggressively and still reach your ROAS goals.

TIP 6 : Harness a Ubiquitous Remarketing Approach

One way we see some eCommerce companies come up short during the holidays is when they depend on a weak or underdeveloped remarketing campaign structure. Most eCommerce brands we meet are engaged in remarketing, but very few are maximizing their remarketing approach.  So where should you be running remarketing campaigns? 

• Discovery. Discovery ads show up as a Display ad on YouTube, Gmail, and in the Google Discover feed (on your mobile Google app). These ads really command attention and show up in placements where your competitors probably aren’t advertising. We often see Discovery ads perform 30-50% better than standard display ads. 

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• YouTube. YouTube ads have the unique ability to stop shoppers in their tracks and drive them to start shopping your site whether they are brand new to your site or have been there a few times.  No remarketing campaign structure is complete without at least some YouTube remarketing.  
• Google Display Network (GDN). GDN is what most people think of when they think of remarketing on Google. We recommend dynamic remarketing where Google uses your product feed to build custom ads tailored to your shoppers. With dynamic remarketing, shoppers see ads featuring the actual products they viewed while on your website. We also recommend responsive ads where you give Google a few headlines, descriptions, and images and they will mix and match to create a great ad. Responsive ads are preferred to static ads and allow for more placement opportunities and more visibility. 

• Remarketing Lists for Search Ads (RLSAs). It’s very common for shoppers to see a YouTube or Facebook ad, visit your site, not purchase, and then forget your name. Enter RLSAs. This allows you to target search ads or shopping ads to remarketing lists. If a previous site visitor is back on Google searching for products like yours, you definitely want your ad to show for them. RLSAs help you do that. 

TIP 7 : Leverage YouTube

Leverage the latest and greatest from YouTube for growth - We have a lot of merchants who come to us because they’ve had success on Facebook and they want to diversify into YouTube traffic. We’re a top spender on YouTube ads for agencies our size, so our reputation precedes us a bit. We’ve found that if a company can successfully run top of funnel awareness campaigns on Facebook, then YouTube will most likely be a good fit too.  BUT - the platform is quite different. The structure and length of video ads that work on YouTube are quite different from video ads that thrive on Facebook. It often takes a few weeks to a few months to dial in your YouTube performance. It’s much easier to find the right combinations of winning audiences, videos, and landing pages BEFORE holiday shopping reaches its peak. To get the full scoop on how to scale with YouTube, I highly recommend our recent free webinar, The Winning Formula for Scale, that features experts from OMG Commerce, Google, and beyond. For now, here are a few tips:

• Run Video Action Campaigns (VACs). In addition to pre-roll or instream placements, VACs include autoplay ad placements in the YouTube mobile app. We’ve found that VACs often drive more impressions and more views while also driving lower cost CPAs. 

• Utilize YouTube ads with Merchant Center extensions.  This is Google’s new version of TrueView for Shopping.  But it’s better. This extension allows you to highlight top products via Google Shopping ads that appear next to your YouTube video. This is YouTube ads + Google Shopping ads. It’s a pretty great combo. We’ve seen YouTube ads with Merchant Center extensions perform very well for consideration and remarketing campaigns and sometimes for top of funnel awareness campaigns. 
• Leverage viewed video audiences. We discussed remarketing audiences a few times above.  There’s another audience that’s similar and also very powerful - viewed video audiences.  These audiences are made up of people who’ve viewed one of your videos to the billable point in the video.  Which means they’ve watched at least 30 seconds of your video, or they’ve watched the entire video if it’s less than 30 seconds.  We like to run YouTube campaigns showing additional video ads to people who’ve viewed a video, but haven’t converted.  We also layer in viewed video audiences to our search and shopping campaigns.  It’s very common for someone to watch a view, not take action immediately, but then search for your product on Google at a later time.  Often, they can’t exactly remember your brand so they make more of a category based search.  
• Lean into intent-based audiences.  One of the great differentiators between YouTube and other online platforms is the ability to understand user intent. You can run ads on YouTube targeted users based on what they’ve recently searched for on Google. You can also target someone based on what they are searching for and watching on YouTube at the moment. Reaching the right shopper at the right time is easy on YouTube. 

So how is your holiday strategy looking now? Need more help getting ready? Request a strategy session from the team at OMG. While we’ve been unusually busy this year, we still want to make time to talk to great eCommerce brands. Also, you can check out a few of our guides and resources to help you get ready to dominate this holiday season.

Get An Edge

Lightning Deals & Coupons - Submit your Cyber 5 deals and coupons early when the “Cyber Week'' time frame becomes available in the “Deal” and “Prime Exclusive Discounts'' dashboard. Monitor both on-Amazon and off-Amazon pricing 30 days leading up to Cyber 5 to avoid last minute deal cancelations and coupon suppressions.

Event-Specific Sponsored Brand Ads - Leverage time sensitive copy for Cyber 5, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holidays. Target seasonal keywords relevant to each event or holiday on products that normally see a natural lift from gift buyers. Seasonal Sponsored Brand ads are also the perfect place to test holiday themed imagery in the “Custom Image” beta.

Storefront Update - If your product makes the perfect gift by nature, consider adding holiday-themed lifestyle imagery to put browsers in the buying and gift-giving mindset. For any ASINs that have scheduled deals, consider adding them to a temporary deal page on your storefront.

A+ Content & Product Page Refresh - A+ Content and your image gallery are also an excellent place to insert seasonal and holiday-themed lifestyle imagery. If on-page competitors are saturating your page, consider inserting a “Product Comparison” chart to the bottom of your A+ Content to feature some of your other products, take up more real estate and push other competitors down the page.

Amazon Posts - Schedule posts leading up to corresponding deals for increased traffic. Holiday-themed posts are a great way to get buyers into the holiday spirit and will now reflect on your storefront navigation bar.

Lower Funnel Sponsored Display Targeting - For any products that are not eligible for DSP, solidify your remarketing strategy by setting up view-based remarketing ads for customers who have viewed both your products and those who have viewed similar products.

Full Funnel Advertising

The Lead-Up -

• For heightened Brand Awareness leading up to Cyber 5, consider testing additional top of funnel DSP targeting segments such as Competitor Targeting, Similar Product Targeting, and In-Market Targeting. 
• We recommend implementing top of funnel DSP as early as September or October with a minimal budget to allow plenty of time to collect data and ramp up during Cyber Week and peak Q4.
• Repurpose any new or holiday themed video content you’ve created to test and leverage OTT ads higher in the funnel.
• Submit any focused Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Cyber Week campaigns in advance to allow plenty of time to get them approved and ensure that they run during Cyber 5. 
• Any campaigns with holiday or deal-specific messaging have to be scheduled to end within 24 hours of the event in order to get approved.
• Increase bids 2-4x higher than current bids on proven keywords with a strong return and multiple sales for top products prior to BFCM weekend. 
• Any bid increases should be in place by Thanksgiving Day, however, rolling them out slowly in the weeks leading up to Cyber 5 will help you gain traction and capitalize on traffic increases.
• In terms of budget, expect a percentage increase similar to Prime Day, BUT be mindful of the fact that BFCM and Cyber Week is a longer event and sales volume and traffic will continue to see momentum 3 weeks post Cyber Monday. 
• If you have a hard limit for advertising budgets, ensure a global cap is in place on your account prior to BFCM and Cyber Week.

The Main Event -

• Monitor your Sponsored Ads multiple times a day throughout Cyber 5 to avoid budgets maxing out. If budgets run out and your campaign is meeting your ROAS goals, continue to add budget.
• For any priority search phrases for ranking or sales velocity purposes, check rankings in an incognito window every few hours to ensure you are still winning the top of search position.
• If you lose Top of Search on any of your “must win” phrases during Cyber 5, consider increasing bids or increasing the TOS placement amplifier in relevant campaigns.
• Pay special attention to any campaigns intended to support Lightning Deals and Coupons on your top products.

Post Cyber 5 -

• Traffic on Amazon typically is 141% higher on average after Cyber Monday compared to the 14 days prior, according to Amazon. 
• For that reason, we recommend slowly decreasing bids only on terms that have declined in performance rather than reverting back to your former bids all at once. This will allow you to continue riding the wave of increased traffic with high buying intent.
• DSP should be in play throughout Q4, but make it a core part of your strategy post Cyber 5 to maximize on the increased traffic.
• If you’ve invested in Cyber 5 deals and built a Deals tab on your Amazon storefront, consider placing a DSP order (campaign) to retarget customers who have shown interest in your deal but didn’t purchase redirecting them back to your Deals page.
• Consider scaling your DSP budgets for Retargeting campaigns not only during Cyber Week but also for the 3 weeks after. Given that some of this traffic will have already converted, exclusions should be set for past purchasers.
• Split test holiday-themed custom DSP creatives for products that naturally make great gifts by nature.

What’s NEW

SBV Product Targeting Campaigns - Maximize your Sponsored Brand efforts by implementing the new product targeting segment into your Sponsored Brand Video strategy.

Customer Engagement Beta - If you already have a substantial number of brand followers on Amazon, ask your Amazon rep for access to the new “Customer Engagement” beta now to give you access to test email campaigns during Cyber 5.

Top of Funnel Sponsored Display Targeting - Consider testing new “In Market” and “Lifestyle” audiences on Sponsored Display ads for your top products. Though these are higher in the funnel, testing at low bids while there is heightened buying intent is worth consideration.

Congruent

The first question someone asks when they land on a page is “am I in the right place?” The last thing you want to create is a disconnect between your YouTube ad and the landing page you send someone to. This may sound so simple that you want to overlook it. Don’t. Having a congruent color scheme, clear logo placement and using the same language on the landing page that you used in the video is super important. 

Take this YouTube ad and landing page combo we run for BOOM! By Cindy Joseph. The ad promises the viewer 5 Makeup Tips for older women. The headline on the landing page is “5 Makeup Tips for Older Women” plus some of the stars of our YT ads are visible in the header image on the lander.

As one of the largest spenders on YouTube ads, Grammarly aslo does this well. See how the look and feel of their ads clearly lines up with the Grammarly landing page. 

Clear value proposition

What makes your product stand out? Why is it different or better than your competitors? What’s the one thing you want me to know above all else about your product? Whatever that is, lead with it. Your headline needs to clearly and succinctly communicate your value proposition. All of the examples I reference here do a fantastic job of this.

Compelling

The role of the headline on your landing page is to entice the visitor to stay on the page and look further. Your headline should promise a strong enough benefit to cause a shopper to stop and give your product some strong consideration.

Other than the headline, the most important part of your landing page is product photography and videos. We strongly suggest images that show the product from all angles and mimic an in-store shopping experience as much as possible. 

Next, you need strong bullet points and copy. The job of your bullet points and sales copy is to answer questions, create desire, and overcome objections. 

In some cases you’ll need graphics and diagrams. 

This page for Alana Mitchell’s Micro Dissolvable Roller does a great job of demonstrating the product through video, and highlighting key features and benefits through bullet points, graphics and pictures. 

Convincing

Even if your headline is strong, your bullet points are compelling and your product images are nearly perfect - shoppers still might still remain on the fence. Why? Proof. Shoppers need some level of proof that what you’re saying is true. Something could be compelling, but not convincing. If your claims and promises sound appealing, but not believable shoppers will still abandon the page. 

What kind of proof are we looking for here? 

• Product reviews
• Demonstrations
• Before and After photos
• Media endorsements

I love this page from FIXD app. The headline is strong, “Meet the Car Repair Sensor That’s Saving People $1,000s.” Not only is that clear and compelling, but they back it up with some strong social proof. The 10,000 5-Star reviews and “Over 2 Million Sold” is pretty convincing proof that this product is legit. 

Confidence

Are you giving people confidence that they are making the right purchase decision? Also, are you giving shoppers the assurance that, if your product isn’t a good fit, you’ll return it, replace it or refund it with no hassle? 

Here are two great landing page examples that really give confidence. The first is Madison Reed. Madison Reed offers at home hair coloring kits. Getting hair color right is no small feat. It’s something most people take very seriously. Most ladies get their hair colored in a salon by a professional, so attempting to buy hair color at home can feel risky and intimidating. Enter the color quiz. This quick online quiz takes you through a process that leads to your ideal color– just like a professional hair colorist would do in a salon.

Or, take Room Dividers Now. I love the way their landing page shows clearly how their dividers work, how to install them and how to measure your space to choose the perfect divider. Just a few minutes on their page and you feel armed and equipped to make a great purchase.

So what about your landing pages? How are they executing on these 5 core elements? Just small improvements can lead to conversion rate increases that can totally impact your ad performance. 

Want to learn more about great landing pages for eCommerce? Watch the replay of our recent virtual event - YouTube Ads for eCommerce: the Winning Formula for Scale. Kurt Elster, host of the Unofficial Shopify Podcast gives a great talk on effective landing pages. 

Tuesday, July 13

 Includes three sessions from three presenters. Two of the three recommended from our Top Ten Prosper Show Sessions come from Chris McCabe & Leah McHugh from eCommerceChris  and Janelle Page, EVP of Marketing & eCommerce Strategy for the Nutraceutical Corporation.

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8:30 AM to 11:15 AM — When Black Hats Attack: Defending Your Amazon Business
Chris McCabe, a former Amazon insider and owner of ecommerceChris and Leah McHugh join up for this competitor sabotage workshop! I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with Chris at length when we’ve referred him clients in these unfortunate situations and he and his team know their stuff! This is a workshop session. 

We've seen great Amazon accounts really take a beating due to competitor sabotage. Learn tactics that less-sophisticated sellers use to attack each other, and cover how third-party services are used to launch attacks on a competing seller's behalf. Identify potential attacks as they happen, and react quickly to limit the damage. Learn which teams at Amazon reliably investigate and research anti-competitive behavior by black-hat sellers and services and how to communicate with them. Plus, learn how best to correct listing changes to fix fake contributions, reverse hijacking, and more.

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3:30 PM to 6:15 PM — Use Videos to Increase Your Amazon Sales

Janelle Page, VP of Marketing & Online Marketplaces for the Neutraceutical Corporation, hosts this afternoon workshop.  You’ll learn to increase your sales, build your brand, and engage your followers. Learn how to create compelling, high-converting videos for your product detail pages. In addition to learning the "Video Success Formula," discover video strategies to increase traffic and drive sales on both Amazon and your eCommerce site.

Wednesday, July 14  

Kicks off day two with a whopping 11 sessions to choose from (not including Welcome Session & Opening Keynote). We've analyzed all 11 sessions and recommend these four "must-see" sessions. Take additional time outside of these sessions to check out the exhibit hall or attend another session. These four sessions are delivered by a panel of 15 Amazon Sellers, Jason Kowalski, CEO of ProductWind, Rick Cesari, CMO of Direct Branding and James Kelley of Jagerita Holdings, Jason Boyce of Avenue7Media and Bernie Thompson of Efficient Era.  

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10:00 AM to 10:30 AM — Seller Hacks

Where else can you hear from 15 successful Amazon sellers LIVE on stage? Prosper of course!  In this “back by popular demand” session, you’ll learn what “hacks” your peers have figured out to build better businesses on Amazon.

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11:00 AM to 11:45 AM — How to Drive Actual ROI with Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing today is like Sponsored Ads in 2015 according to the presenter of this session, Jason Kowalski, CEO of ProductWind. Learn about this new marketing channel before it becomes mainstream.  Are you tired of hearing about Influencer Media Value (IMV) and Cost Per Engagement (CPE)? Done wrong, social media marketing can create a lot of work and be a total bust. Done right, influencers can drive meaningful traffic to your products and drive higher return than PPC. In this session, an ex-Amazon expert in influencer marketing will teach you the ins and outs of this marketing channel. 

You’ll learn how to:

• Determine which social media platform(s) to use and to what degree

• Learn to set up and manage your own influencer campaigns  

• Know the effect of influencer campaigns on SEO and ad campaigns 

• Measure ROI from an influencer campaign and learn how to think about claim codes

• Align influencer marketing with your broader marketing approach

1:15 PM to 2:00 PM — Building Brand Loyalty on Amazon Using Video

Join Rick Cesari and learn how to solve your biggest challenges through easy, proven video-based strategies. These challenges include improving conversions and sales, time spent on your listings, rankings and reviews, consumer trust, brand likability, purchase intent, content generation, product research, awareness, loyalty and funding. 

Your feet might be a bit sore—and who knows what you've done that hopefully will stay in Vegas—but you've made it to the final day! By now your brain could be overloaded, but with 16 sessions to choose from, you're in for a lot more. We've carefully selected the four sessions to round out our Top Ten Prosper Show Sessions to put the cherry on top of what surely will be an amazing event.

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3:45 PM to 4:45 PM — Panel: Trends and Seller Predictions for 2022

Panels are among the best sessions at Prosper.  Take advantage of the cumulative knowledge from James Kelley (former Amazon Insider), Bernie Thompson founder of Efficient Era and Jason Boyce, founder and CEO of Avenue7Media, LLC in what is sure to be an outstanding session. They’ll share interesting new trends, their hopes for Amazon change as well as bold predictions for 2022.  Will Amazon launch a Shopify competitor and, if so, would they sign up?  Will One Vendor become a thing or will Amazon continue to bifurcate Vendors and Sellers?  What change should sellers expect if the trustbusters come knocking and what might that mean for sellers?  Plus a number of predictions that you should start planning for now before they become a reality.

Thursday, July 15

The presenters who made our “Don’t Miss” list for the final day include Jeffrey Brelowski a Patent/IP/Litigation Attorney with ATLawip LLC, Chris McCabe from eCommerceChris, Carina McLead of Ecommerce Nurse Ltd, and Jerry Kavesh from 3P Marketplace Solutions

10:00 AM to 10:45 AM — Walk Deftly and Carry a Big Stick: Essential Measures to Pre-Empt and Stop Bad Actors

You’ll never know when you’ll need a great Amazon lawyer.  It’s best to be prepared as Intellectual Property (IP) infringements are usually a matter of when not if. Even if you’ve done everything you need to do to protect your company from bad actors, the ugly business of losing revenue or getting shut down still looms. This  session will cover essential defense, including a good offence. Learn your options and how to determine which one is right for you and where to turn in the event that your IP is breached. 

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You’ll Learn: 

• How to match your level of escalation to the degree of infringement to avoid overshooting or undershooting your objective

• The different Amazon programs to adjudicate patent, trademark, and copyright disputes

• How lost profits and reasonable royalty rates are estimated and recovered 

•The types of IP and which ones are commonly infringed

12:15 PM to 1:00PM  —  Seller Case Study and Expert Insights- Should You Grow Your Business in the U.S. or Expand Globally?

In your final day at Prosper, broaden your horizons and investigate expanding your sales in the U.S. or should you go global? Jerry Kavesh will share the lessons learned from his brand’s expansion to Europe, the United Kingdom and his success in Australia. Carina Mcleod will address the myriad of issues and implications she has encountered when her company expands internationally (compliance, supply/demand, shipping/inventory, etc).

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You’ll Learn: 

-The inefficiencies (costs and logistics)of global expansion by exploring a case study

-How to avoid pitfalls with examples of legal, tax, safety, and other compliance issues 

-About the impact of Brexit on Sellers

-How to compare and contrast support Amazon provides vs. what support that say they will provide

-How to assess the opportunity of selling in Canada and Mexico, including the Remote Fulfillment by Amazon program

1:30 PM to 2:15 PM — Get It Right the First Time: Communications With Amazon Internal Teams That Win Appeals

Chris McCabe gets my vote for another “Top Ten” session. Our agency has seen our share of Amazon Sellers who have been frustrated (to say the least) with the Amazon appeals process.  Going with your gut can not only be 100% ineffective—it can actually make things worse. This session will identify the internal team and manager that you need to contact and approaches that work to push the issue to resolution and reinstatement. Participants will learn what to do and where to turn when Amazon goes quiet. 

You’ll Learn

•How to identify essential internal and external teams and team managers that can be helpful 

•How to devise a strategy to determine why your appeal is stuck or denied

•How to write a proper escalation letter to get a proper response

2:45 p.m. — Lost in Translation? Tips for Keywords and Listing Optimization That will Translate Into Sales

Jana Krekic, founder of YLT Translations delivers an intriguing session on international commerce. Chances are that your international sales are lagging because you’re not speaking their language. Neither Amazon nor other machine translators (even if human edited) are keen on ensuring that your keywords are optimized for Amazon’s algorithm. Similarly, interpreters will not ensure that your listings are localized to compel or even relate to your customer. Companies that are (considering) selling don’t want to miss this boat to expand and grow your business overseas. 

You’ll Learn: 

•How to research your customer base to determine how to localize your listings and identify critical keywords

•How to find hacks for creating and improving international listings 

•How to compare and contrast well-made international listings 

•Some examples of results you could get from doing it right.

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So that's it! Your Top Ten Prosper Show 2021 “Don't Miss” Sessions! If you liked this article, be sure to stop by and say hello at our OMG Commerce booth #3001.

What You Should Expect

Ad Revenue

In 2020, OMG clients saw an average 114% increase in daily ad revenue during Prime Day vs. the week prior, rivaling that of Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales increases. We recommend reviewing what previous years’ Prime Days have been like before deciding on a set strategy.

Overall Revenue

Overall daily revenue increased for OMG clients by an average 106% during Prime Day vs. the week prior.

Ad Spend

Average daily ad spend increased by 70% during Prime Day vs. the week prior for OMG clients. 

Total Advertising Cost of Sale

Average daily Total Advertising Cost of Sales decreased by 17% during Prime Day vs. the week prior for OMG clients.

Key Dates to Remember

Source: Prime Day Timeline

March 29

Prime Exclusive Discount sourcing begins on this day and ends 2 weeks prior to the event. Please note: Prime Exclusive Discounts are only available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, India, the United Arab Emirates, and Japan.

April 16

Deadline to submit Lightning Deals in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

April 23

Deadline to submit Lightning Deals in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Japan, and Australia.

May 20-June 13

The inbound shipping cutoff for vendors: Deal inventory must be in transit.

• May 20: the United States and Canada
• May 30: India
• June 1: Australia and Mexico
• June 6: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• June 13: Japan

May 28

Deadline to submit coupons in the United States, Canada, Mexico, France,

Italy, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United Arab Emirates,

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and Australia.

May 30-June 13

FBA inventory cut-off date for sellers: Make sure your clients’ shipments arrive at Amazon well in advance of key shopping dates. Inventory should arrive at our fulfillment centers by this date to ensure your advertisers’ products are available for customers during Prime Day.

• May 30: India
• May 31: United States and Canada
• June 1: Australia and Mexico
• June 6: United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, The Netherlands, and Turkey
• June 7: United Arab Emirates and Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• June 13: Japan

Planning Your Attack

Winning Prime Day is all about planning your promotional strategy with the potential need to pivot in mind. Plan what you can in order to meet key deadlines while having alternative options in place both in the event that your product sells out or your Prime Week deal is canceled.  

Prime Exclusive Discounts

• Prime Exclusive Discounts are one of our favorite types of promotions to run during Prime Day to increase conversion rate.
• They do require  a few things: slightly advanced planning, a minimum of a 20% off discount, FBA inventory, and a minimum of a 3.5-star rating. But the payoff is definitely there.
• This promo type offers a certain level of urgency and exclusivity by displaying a bright  “Prime Day Deals” badge during its flight and only applies to Prime customers (which the majority of consumers are).
• Generally, a submission cutoff will appear closer to Prime Day but is currently listed as “2 weeks out from the event” which is confirmed for some time this summer.
  

Prime Week Lightning Deals

• Lightning Deals are also an excellent option for increased sales during Prime Week but present slightly more red tape than other promo options.
• Some of the challenges to consider with Prime Week Lightning Deals include the following:

• Steeper deal costs ($500/deal)
• Uncertainty of potentially poor-performing deal dates/times
• No guarantee of sales increase
• Frequently thin margins with proposed deal prices
• Less flexibility with off-Amazon pricing for 30 days leading up to Prime Day
• Potential deal cancellation
• Potential overlap with coupons and other promo types if not properly monitored

• That being said, our preference is to selectively use Lightning Deals to elevate our best-performing products, introduce new customers to products that are often repurchased or reduce price and liquidate closeout inventory.
• Some of the benefits of running a Lightning Deal on Prime Day include short-term improved sales rank, increased sales volume, defense against competitors running deals, and setting products up for success during Q4.
• Momentum from Lightning Deals can often be sustained by adding coupons on the page after the deal has concluded and ad campaigns can be coordinated to push Lightning Deals to the top of the Deal page during the designated time frame.

Prime Week Coupons

• The 5% off requirement for standard coupons are ideal for products that do not have the margin to support the 20% off discount required for Prime Exclusive Discounts. 
• This is a good alternative option for those that are either using Vendor Central or Merchant Fulfillment in Seller Central as their fulfillment method since FBA inventory is not required.
• While this coupon type does not display an urgent “Prime Day Deals” badge, it will display the standard “Save” badge which is still appealing to customers who are coming to Amazon looking for deals on Prime Day.
• Having any coupon (even a small amount off) will still show on the page and on advertising (including DSP).
• Despite having a submission deadline of May 28th, in past years, coupons have still been submitted successfully up to and throughout Prime Week while Prime Exclusive Coupons have not.
• This offers a bit more flexibility in terms of setting up coupons leading up to and after a Lightning Deal is scheduled with an unknown time frame.
• These coupon types can also often be used as a fallback in the event of a deal cancellation.
• Running coupons for 2 weeks after Prime Day allows DSP retargeting to perform at a higher level as the coupon badge will show on Amazon Dynamic display ads.

Storefront Deals Page

• Adding a “Deals” page to the navigation bar of your Amazon storefront offers the ideal landing page for Amazon customers seeking a discount on Prime Day.
• It also creates a central hub to direct ad traffic for any test campaigns surrounding “discount”, “inexpensive” and “clearance” related search queries.
• Ad copy can also be adjusted with your Sponsored Brand ads that direct to this page mentioning your “Sale” or “Deal” (provided you schedule your ad to expire when the promotion is over).
• This can also be used as a landing page test for DSP retargeting campaigns for customers who viewed but did not purchase.
• The best part is that building out a “Deal” page is very straightforward and doesn’t require a great deal of time.
• Select the “Featured Deals” module in Amazon’s storefront builder and populate with any ASINs you are considering running a promo on. This module is dynamic and will automatically update when any promos become active.
• We recommend submitting any storefront changes at least 7 days prior to Prime Day (if possible) to allow time to course-correct should you encounter any issues with approvals.

Listing Optimizations

• If you are considering testing various titles, images, or A+ content for improved conversion rate, test these items prior to Prime Week. The last thing you want to be dealing with is indexing or ranking issues during peak traffic.
• Consider using “Manage Experiments” for any eligible listings to split test various copy and creative options well in advance. Opt for the best-performing assets prior to Prime Week.
• If you are not currently using video assets on-page, now is the perfect time to add them to your gallery.
• Any video assets you create for listing optimizations can be repurposed for Sponsored Brand Video Ads.

Amazon Posts

• Step up your Amazon Posts game during Prime Week and repurpose any social media content.
• Once you have a confirmed deal date and time, schedule posts for any products with Lightning Deals during their designated deal dates and times for increased visibility and traffic.

Amazon Live

• Leveraging Amazon Live is an excellent way to tap into the increased Amazon traffic during Prime Week by driving additional views to detail pages from your Livestream.
• If you have brand access, you will have the opportunity to showcase your promotional offerings.
• This program is ideal for brands who already have someone on board that is familiar with OBS and live streaming.
  

Budgets

• Thinking about a budget may not invoke as much excitement as some of the other pieces we’ve touched on, but don’t let that fool you. Making a  well thought out budget plan is the anchor for a successful Prime Day Attack.
• Make sure to plan out budgets early so that you can prep campaigns leading up to Prime Day. This includes the lead up to Prime Day, Prime Day itself, and 2 weeks post Prime Day.
• Part of this prep will be understanding what products have deals/promotions/coupons running and at what times. You want to align your budget plan and timeline with your overall Prime Day Strategy.
• Budgets can be based on a set number, ACoS, Tacos, etc. This is unique to each advertiser’s goals and should be one of the first things finalized so that you can plan out your plan of attack accordingly.

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DSP: Your Secret Weapon

Utilizing DSP for Prime Day is your secret weapon to Prime Day DOMINATION! Ensuring you have a full-funnel strategy prepped will have you ready to rock. Below you’ll find strategies & suggestions to help propel your Prime Day sales.

Capitalize On Prime Day Increased Traffic

• Develop your DSP strategy for Prime Day and beyond. Consider scaling budget not only during Prime Day(s) but also for the two weeks after Prime Day for Retargeting. 
• The increased traffic during Prime Day will significantly increase the audience side for retargeting. Yes, some of this traffic will definitely have converted already and that is why you should put in place exclusions for past purchasers.
• We normally suggest adding a coupon for products you are pushing on DSP for two weeks after Prime Day as an added incentive for your retargeting audience to come back and make the purchase.
  

Lightning or Prime Day Exclusive Deals

• DSP Dynamic Ecommerce Ads will pull in lightning deal and coupon details that will show on the display ad. This is a great way to increase awareness for any promotions you are running.
• You will want to map out what strategies you plan to run as well as corresponding budgets.
• We recommend setting up a separate Prime Day order (campaign) for this so that you can control timing to correspond with promotion and to better visualize performance results.
  

Strategy for increasing brand awareness & traffic to your detail pages:

• DSP is a great way to boost awareness for your products and brand and grow your retargeting audience leading up to Prime Day. 
• A few ways you can boost awareness and traffic are Competitor Targeting, Similar Product Targeting, and In-Market targeting. 
• With so many targeting options available via DSP for funnel building strategies, we recommend you consult with a DSP provider to see what would be the best strategy for you.  
  

Utilize Storefront To Push Deals And Coupons

• If you decide to create a Deals tab on your Storefront, it may make sense to create a DSP order (campaign) that targets people who have viewed any of your deals (but have not purchased) and send them back to your Deals tab. 
• This works well if the products you are running deals for do not meet the 5,000 minimum unique visitors threshold for retargeting.   

      *This strategy does require custom static creative

Our OMG Commerce team is fully focused on Prime Day planning for our clients and we encourage you to do the same. For more Prime Day strategy goodness, check out the latest podcast from Ecommerce Evolution and partner with us to elevate your Amazon business!

Are my videos engaging?

Before you have any hope to sell someone your products, you have to first make them want to stop what they’re doing and watch your ad. The types of ads we run for our clients are YouTube TrueView ads. TrueView ads are the skippable pre-roll ads that force users to watch the first 5 seconds before the magical “skip ad” button appears. Those first 5 seconds are a real moment of truth. Can you properly hook and engage the right audience? If you can’t, the rest doesn’t really matter.

Looking for some powerful ways to engage your audience? Check out our Top YouTube Ad Examples and Templates Guide (It’s free).  

What KPIs show me if my video is engaging or not?

The KPI that best measures engagement is view rate. View rate is the percentage of users that are served an ad impression who actually watch your video. If your ad is longer than :30 then a user has to watch at least :30 before it’s considered a view. If your video is under :30, then a user has to watch all of the video before it’s considered a view. 

View rate is NOT a stand alone metric, nor is it your most important metric, but it is something to pay attention to. If your view rates dip much below 20%, you can safely say you have some work to do. You either need to do a better job with the opening of your video, OR you might just be showing your ads to the wrong audience. 

Why is 20% important? If your view rate dips below 20%, you’ll likely start paying higher CPVs or cost per view than you want to pay. When your cost per view goes up, the rest of your metrics usually follow suit resulting in increased CPCs (costs per click) and increased CPAs (cost per acquisition).  Campaigns that hit a CPA target begin with at least acceptable view rates.

Are my videos compelling?

A compelling video makes people what? Want to buy, right? Well, yes, ultimately that’s true. But initially a good video should compel shoppers to click. Compelling videos cause viewers to take action. If your video strikes the proper chord, then viewers will click through to your site to learn more and get the full scoop on your products. The KPI to show if your video is making viewers want to click is click-through rate or CTR. 

How is CTR calculated?

CTR shows us what percentage of users who see your ad, click your ad. So this is an impression-based metric, rather than a view-based metric. So if 1,000 people see your ad (whether they skip it or not) and 10 click on your ad, then your CTR is 1%. 

So what’s a good CTR or Click-Through rate for YouTube ads aimed at cold traffic? 

We recently pulled data from our top spending YouTube advertisers. We found that click through rates were almost always higher than .5% and occasionally over 1% for an average of just under .7%.

Does my landing page “seal the deal?”

Remember the old Alec Baldwin line “coffee is for closers” from the movie Glengarry Glen Ross? Alec’s character also confirmed the ABC’s of selling - Always Be Closing. Well, a good landing page would make Baldwin’s character proud…earning unlimited amounts of coffee. When you’re running YouTube ads with a target CPA goal in mind, then a high-converting landing page is a must. 

How is Conversion rate calculated? 

There are a few ways to calculate conversion rate. If you look inside Google Analytics or other on-page analytics tools, conversion rate is usually calculated by looking at what percentage of total session (or visits) ended in a purchase or conversion. When you see conversion rate inside a YouTube ad campaign, it’s showing you what percentage of impressions end in a conversion. 

What’s a good Conv. Rate?

A good conversion rate for an eCommerce page when looking at Google Analytics is often 1–3%. For a YouTube ad campaign, a good conversion rate is usually over .12%. When looking at our top spending YouTube advertisers we saw an average conversion rate of .16%.  

If your view rate is solid and your CTR is strong, but your conversion rate is weak, then you likely have a few things to experiment with including:

• Audience targeting. Maybe you're targeting shoppers who want your products, but are unable to buy them. 
• Landing page. Maybe the landing page doesn’t do enough to fully convince someone that your product will really meet their needs or solve their problems. Or maybe you don’t fully justify the price. Or maybe the landing page doesn’t fully confirm the promises made in the video. 
• Offers. Maybe you need a more compelling offer to get someone to take action now instead of waiting. 
• Cart optimization. Maybe the checkout process is slow or confusing. A smooth, mobile-optimized checkout experience is a must for keeping your conversion rates high enough. 

Are my campaigns optimized for scale?

In order to truly scale with YouTube, you need to find audiences and campaigns that are hitting your CPA targets. This does take some time and experimentation. Finding winning campaigns on YouTube is more analogous to baseball than other sports. A great batting average in baseball is 300 or 30%. For YouTube you may find that your win percentage is similar. If you test 10 campaigns, maybe only 3–5 of them really work well at scale. The rest don’t work at all or only work at small spend levels. 

Hitting your CPA goal takes time

It’s very rare to turn on a campaign in YouTube ads and immediately start hitting your CPA targets. You can pretty well count on the fact that for the first few weeks, and even the first few months, of advertising on YouTube results will be spotty. This happens because Google’s smart bid algorithm needs time to learn who is likely to buy your products and who isn’t. Also, you’ll need time to adjust bids and optimize on your end. 

Are campaigns running out of budget?

One of the best signs of potential scale is having a campaign that is limited by budget, but is hitting or approaching your CPA targets. This indicates that you have more you could be spending. Google will identify this for you by showing that a campaign is limited by budget. Google will then give you recommendations for what you should increase your budget to. Here’s a screenshot from a campaign that is doing quite well for a client and currently spending $300 per day. Google is recommending a bump to $900 per day. 

What’s the total impact am I seeing?

Most advertisers look at conversions in their YouTube ad campaigns and look no further. However, this doesn’t tell the full story. Since YouTube is reaching shoppers early in the buying journey, it’s very likely for a shopper to see an ad, engage with that ad, even click on that ad….but not buy right away. For some of our bigger advertisers, it often takes 7–28 days after a shopper views an ad before they actually purchase.  It’s also very typical for someone to click on a YouTube ad and not buy, but then a week or two later search on Google for the product and then purchase after clicking on a search or shopping ad. In addition to watching conversions directly in your YouTube campaigns, you should also consider the following: 

• Growth in lower funnel campaigns - A few weeks after you start running YouTube ads, you should see an uptick in volume in your branded search campaign and even your Google Shopping campaigns. We often see a 25% + increase in volume in branded search campaigns after the first 4–6 weeks of running new YouTube ad campaigns. 
• Growth in Google trends - One interesting free tool to use to measure the lift created from YouTube ads is to watch Google trends data for your brand. So visit trends.google.com and type in your brand name and Google will show you how search volume for your brand has increased recently.  This will give you an idea of the impact YouTube ads is having on the number of people searching for you. Here’s a screenshot of the growth we saw for a pretty large advertiser recently. The advertiser was already spending 6 figures per month on Facebook when we started, so the lift we see here in branded search volume can mostly be attributed to YouTube ads. 

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• Growth from other channels - We have one client who reports to us that for every 2 sales they make on their website from YouTube ads, they are also making a sale on Amazon. YouTube will certainly cause customers to buy from your site, but if you also sell on Amazon, you should watch how baseline sales increase after YouTube ads gain some momentum. 
  

Are you interested in learning more about YouTube? Check out this case study I just completed for Ezra Firestone and Boom by Cindy Joseph. You can also learn more about the new YouTube Kickstart Blueprint I created in partnership with Ezra.