Darren D’Altorio, Leo Gonzalez, Amy Pho, Skyler McGill, Kim Quinn, Ryan Smith, and Serena Peterson contributed to this post.
Believe it or not, Cyber Week 2024 is right around the corner. You’ve probably been prepping your sales strategy all year–but how do you know if your plan will really be effective?
Testing new tactics in the lead-up to Cyber Week is a great way to gauge what’s working and what’s not. Depending on your brand’s strategy, there are lots of things you can try adding to your marketing right now, from sponsored ads on Amazon to offer-based messaging tests tailored to your unique customers’ interests and expectations for the holiday shopping period.
Our experts are breaking down some key tactics across channels to have in your arsenal ahead of Black Friday, so you’re ready to maximize your results when the big shopping days arrive.
Retail
There were a lot of exciting announcements from Amazon’s unBoxed 2024, but one of the biggest takeaways is that this is a great opportunity to test audience bid boosting.
You can now connect your Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) data to Sponsored Ads campaigns and increase bids based on customized AMC audiences. This is big news since historically, AMC audiences have been reserved for Amazon DSP, while Sponsored ad targeting limited your ability to alter bids based on data around who is shopping.
Source: SwipeInsight
To get the most out of this functionality for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, create audience lists that fit your goals. For example, if you want to reach new customers, you could build an audience around users who’ve never been exposed to your brand–or if you’re leaning into retention, you could make one for brand-loyal shoppers. Use the latest Sponsored Ad update to adjust your bids accordingly.
Programmatic
To succeed with programmatic advertising through the holidays, it’s key to stay proactive with your testing strategies by experimenting with different creative elements, utilizing CTV, or leveraging retail media audiences.
One good area to test is investing in premium placements such as Amazon IMDb takeovers or Kargo DPA Social Ads transposed to the premium open web which can drive significant reach and engagement during Cyber Week,
Source: Amazon
Before you start, make sure you understand and clearly define what you want to get from different tests–otherwise, you risk losing sight of why you were running them in the first place.
Paid Search
For clients that frequently change or have a high volume of promotions/sales to support during Q4, marketers have a big opportunity to optimize their strategy with ad customizers. Ad Customizers ensure that Search Ads (RSAs) headlines/descriptions specify the sale without revising your current RSA ad. For example, if a brand is running a high frequency/volume of sales, ad customizers can update to show four or more sales within a day/week.
Source: Analyzify
This will help increase efficiency, optimize quality assurance, and free up more time for your team to focus on strategy and performance optimizations throughout the holiday season.
SEO
In today’s digital world, a subpar online experience just won’t cut it. Customers expect a seamless shopping experience regardless of what device they’re using–if your website is slow or difficult to navigate, you risk losing them before they reach checkout.
As more and more customers shop on their phones–61% of American adults said mobile shopping was key for convenience, according to eMarketer–the mobile experience is particularly crucial.
Ensure your website is optimized for fast page load speeds, smooth interactions, and a visually stable design. A fast, user-friendly mobile experience drives engagement, increases conversions, and strengthens visibility in search.
There are lots of ways to do that. If your mobile experience has room for improvement, it’s worth testing some measures for website functionality before this BFCM, including:
- Largest Contentful Paint (LCP): Get that hero image or key product shot in front of users fast. A slow LCP can be the difference between a sale and a bounce.
- First Input Delay (FID): Every millisecond counts. Make sure your site responds instantly to every tap and swipe, so users can add to cart, browse deals, and checkout without frustration.
- Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS): Don’t let your design compete for user attention. Eliminate unexpected layout shifts that disrupt the shopping experience and flow.
After the holiday season, it’s crucial to analyze your site’s performance by reviewing key metrics–like revenue and search rankings– year over year. This will help refine your mobile strategy so you can get even better results for next year’s holiday peak.
Paid social
You probably don’t want to jump into any major testing this month on social media; it’s a critical time for driving performance. Nobody wants to risk their November numbers with any far-out or experimental tactics that haven’t been proven yet.
That doesn’t mean you can’t improve your social strategy as BFCM draws closer. There are some great paid social tests you can do in real time without upsetting the apple cart. One of the best tactics to try this holiday season is Meta’s new reminder ads option, which can notify buyers about upcoming sales.
Source: MediaPost
You can leverage these ad units to build anticipation ahead of a major sale, product release, or event. They drive urgency and send users a reminder on the day of that major sale/product/event so they don’t miss a thing.
With the convergence of our media landscape and consumer behavior and platform offerings evolving faster every day, advertisers should always be testing if they want to keep up. Whether it’s leaning into new creatives, formats, or platforms, iterating on baseline investment is critical going into key sales periods like Cyber Week.
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