3 Easy Strategies to Drive Amazon Sales During the Holidays

Both sellers on Amazon and shoppers can sometimes be alike in one peculiar way. When it comes to preparing for the holidays, many find out that the last minute occurred months earlier than they expected.

If you’re in the former category, you’re probably aware that the holiday season can be just as naughty as it can be nice. 

Yes, you can count on seeing some uptick on sales. You can also count on the inevitable increase in holiday peak fulfillment fees in FBA. Yes, that sales increase can lead to long term customer loyalty.  But it can also mean a return rate as high as 21%—a nasty little pill that sellers have no other choice than to swallow.

Hopefully, you’re shrewd enough to have taken advantage of preparing your Amazon storefront months before the holiday season. But in case you haven’t, here are some last minute tips that can help you make the most out of your holiday sales.

Reimagine Your Amazon Keyword Strategy

That goes for your keyword pool, as well. There’s a long-standing rule in marketing called the Pareto, or, 80/20 rule which indicates that 80% of your outcome will come from 20% of your causes. And that’s just as applicable to keywords. 

Which should narrow down your Amazon PPC bidding strategy, right?

Unless you waited until the last minute, that is. 

As customer traffic increases during the holidays, so will the cost of PPC bids—a factor that’s far from friendly for your Q4 budget. But you can still optimize your keyword strategy on Amazon in three easy steps:

• Analyze the most search term reports to identify only the most high-performing and relevant keywords 

• Test variations, including long-tail and negative keywords, to improve targeting

• Refine your keyword pool regularly by monitoring performance metrics 

Revise Your A+ Content

A+ content on Amazon doesn’t just showcase your product. And it doesn’t just tell your story. It tells a general story—a story as nuanced, sentimental or nostalgic as you want it to be. And it’s one of the best ways to stand out from your competitors by exercising your creativity. 

Sometimes that can be as simple as replacing your main image with one more in touch with the holidays. Other times, you may want to create seasonal video content. No matter what you do, ask yourself three questions.

Have you taken the time to analyze your competitors’ A+ content? Are your images up to date, well focused and perhaps even a little festive? Is your copywriting clear, concise, informative and easy to understand? 

Revising A+ content doesn’t have to be arduous. But it does take time to develop a winning strategy, particularly during the holidays. There’s always a chance that what worked for you last year will work again. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement.

The key elements of successful A+ content are flexibility and creativity. The holidays are about having fun, not necessarily about maximizing sales (although that should never be ignored! Be original. Be daring. Be adaptive. But above all, don’t stress yourself too much. 

You always have next season to think of. 

Be Social

Want to know why your social media feed is suddenly inundated with more advertisements than normal during the holidays? 

It’s one of the most inexpensive, highly populated and effective ways of driving traffic to your website or store. 

But just how effective is it?

• According to data from the Pew Research Center, 84% of users have indicated social media plays a significant role in their online purchases

• A 2023 study conducted by Google and Ipsos revealed that 65% of holiday shoppers use social media platforms, with 59% turning to top online marketplaces

• 45 percent of Pinterest users plan for the holidays at least 60 days prior, compared to 21 percent of the general population

We’re not suggesting you rely on social media as your sole digital marketing platform during the holidays. But it’s becoming more and more of a necessity as it’s becoming the dominant exchange of information in 2024 and beyond.

The key to social media is engagement. That doesn’t mean just garnering more likes, but literally engaging with your audience. Paid ads can and do help—sometimes by as much as 61%. But if you’re coming across as distant and unapproachable, don’t be surprised if your customers answer in kind.

(And yes: that includes running exclusive promotions on Amazon, as well.)

Give Yourself a Breather

Yes, Q4 can be as stressful for sellers as it can be for shoppers. And yes, the holidays can make or break your sales.

But it’s not the sole focal point of your business.

Your business is to provide your customers with a solution for their needs. While the holidays give you the best opportunity to showcase that solution, there’s 364 odd days left in the calendar year you should be thinking about, as well.

That doesn’t mean sleeping through the holidays. That means improving your product. That means consistently innovating and constantly striving to give your customers a better product. Because no one likes sleeping in during the holidays.

And no one likes a seller that sleeps on their product line, either.

Make the most out of your sales on Amazon 365 days out of the year. Find out more at Color More Lines