Prime Day 2024: Agencies and adtechs share marketing insights
The global online retail bonanza known as the Amazon Prime Day 2024 falls Tuesday and Wednesday (8 – 9 October), as well-prepared shoppers start their search for early deals and bargains.
For brands it will deliver a vital insight into next month’s now traditional melee of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so what should they be doing to maximise their marketing strategies ahead the the retail event?
Our leading agencies and adtechs offer their top tips, views and insights on ‘Fall Prime Day’…
Suz Chaplin, CEO and Founder, esbconnect
“There was a bit of a backlash after the last Prime Day, with many deals appearing false, in that lower prices were seen outside of Prime Day.
“So if you’re going to get involved, be sure to offer authentic deals, but also, offer the same discounts on your website as to Amazon, allowing you to leverage the hype around Prime Day, but also, maximise margins.
“In terms of promotion, use the next week to push the message out to your email base, and if you have SMS opt-in, use this as an on-the-day tactic to remind people to purchase.
“We saw an increase in creator/influencer content built for the last Prime Day – leverage this again with higher commission for creators who create and push your content on Prime Day. And think about where else you can use this content e.g. can you leverage it within your owned channels like email?
“Finally, we just had a pay day, and there are two more until Christmas. People will be planning their larger purchases for Christmas now, so think about the products you choose to discount, using Prime Day for high value items and Black Friday/Cyber Monday for more site-wide discounts.”
Nick Morgan, Founder and CEO, Vudoo
“Once again we’ve seen TikTok flex its muscles in influencer-driven sales with its week-long ‘For You Days’ event, taking place ahead of Amazon’s Prime Day.
“Similar to its ‘Deals For You Days’ event the week before the Prime Day in July this year, the timing is significant – it’s a challenge to Amazon.
“It also demonstrates that there is an appetite among consumers for events that blend entertainment with directly shoppable experiences, further highlighting the evolution of social commerce as a distinct branch of ecommerce.”
“Amazon has been at the forefront of the transition of the open web to an environment that is shoppable anywhere and everywhere.
“Its Amazon Anywhere platform gives brands the potential to showcase their products in virtual worlds and games, opening up a world of new possibilities.
“The future of ecommerce lies outside of traditional storefronts in off-platform environments, with brands now able to connect with their target customers within the content they love.”
Dominic Satur, Founder and Principal Consultant, Alligator
“As I gaze at the ads on my Fire TV homescreen, Prime Day takes on a new significance this year.
“No retailer in history has had a permanent, fully addressable, 50-inch high definition screen in the living rooms of millions of its customers, with access to their entire shopping history and purchase intent.
“I wonder how Amazon will capitalise on this inventory on October 8th and what it might tell us about what the future holds for the world’s first closed loop TV, advertising, and retail mega-platform?”
Natalia Sketchley, SEO & Content Account Director, IMA
“Amazon Prime Days are great for brands whether they’re featured or not. It kicks off the holiday shopping season, especially for those early bird shoppers (with deals better than Black Friday and Cyber Monday).
“And there’s also the halo effect for all brands both off and on Amazon. It puts consumers in a shopping mindset, where they’ll look to compare and contrast deals; feel like they’re ahead of the game; and want to treat themselves to a little something, too.
“It’s unique from Black Friday or Cyber Monday which have gone a bit stale in recent years.
“But it’s helped reinvigorate the retail space.
“So for those teams that only have Black Friday in their minds as the kickstart of the season, we’d recommend adjusting your strategies to earlier in the year. Make sure your product listings are optimised.
“Consider promotions away from Amazon to still compete, but indirectly. Take advantage of that conversion mindset and adjust targets for the whole quarter and not just focus on that last Friday in November onwards. I mean the supermarkets don’t – they start Christmas on 1 September.”
Jason Warner, Director, UK & EMEA, SBS
“Prime Day is one of the first of the large consumer shopping events in the lead-up to the holiday period, and while it may not be the biggest, it’s still vitally important to marketers.
“It acts as a litmus test for consumer trends and buying intent, and marketers must be ready to adjust their holiday period strategy in response to the outcomes and insights of this event.
“This agility, combined with effective tools that can glean actionable insights from Prime Day data, will help marketers to get consumers to the bottom of the funnel throughout the Golden Quarter and drive ROI for brands.”
Hannah Snoeck, General Manager Client Services, Gekko
“For brands planning on engaging in Prime Day deals, effective use of data is critical.
“The best way to get ahead is to plan ahead: using digital shelf analysis helps brands to understand what is and is not working before Prime Day so that they can make effective adjustments on RRP and product placement that increase competitiveness.
“Having a full view of a product’s retail landscape and that of its competition provides brands with the information they need to negotiate with retailers for better pricing and placement before Prime Day.
“While the goal is to avoid a last minute scramble, real-time tracking of prices and share of shelf against competitors can still be valuable for understanding the market and learning from it: it’s never too early to prepare for 2025.”
Savina Parvanova, Global Marketing Director, Limelight
“I think attention has been the standard for a while, and even though the technology for attention measurement out there is still not perfect I’m sure it will continue improving, especially with the advances in AI we’ve seen in the last couple of years.
“But this will become one of the standard metrics that runs in the back and is in every report available, as we see is already happening.
“So now that the industry knows how to get the attention of the audience, they will focus on what to do with that attention, namely, the emotional resonance of an ad on individuals, something AI cannot really understand.
“How do you actually get someone to relate to your product and eventually buy it? Marketers always say “content is king” but I think in the next few years, marketing messaging will become more important than ever.”
Keith Arrowsmith, Global Product Marketing Director, Onetag
“A great new programmatic advertising option for Amazon Prime Day, and indeed Black Friday, are deal IDs that combine the best shopper, lifestyle and tech interest sites with semantic data.
“Adding semantic data enables brands to extend the reach of campaigns to include page level-related content, wherever this appears across the premium open web.”
Graham Tricker, VP Sales UK, LiveRamp
“Following the success of this year’s July Prime Day, which in the UK saw the highest levels of spend in the event’s history, the potential for similar returns this month is great.
“Brands should therefore prioritise the optimisation of their digital media, to reach the right customers at the right time with the messages that resonate with them.
“The answer lies in brands utilising the available customer data around the event, to gain a comprehensive understanding of their target audiences and the advertising experiences they respond to.
“This includes touchpoints within Amazon’s environments, but also outside of its walls, such as various cloud services, data clean rooms and third-party clean rooms.
“Making sense of these datasets for actionable insights requires data collaboration. This means leveraging advanced technologies that can in a privacy-centric way connect the full variety of channels and data environments.
“The result will be that brands will enjoy more sophisticated, cross-channel measurement capabilities, campaign incrementality as well as journey-based affinities, enabling long-term and effective outreach to high-value audiences this Prime Day and beyond.”
Claude Spasevski, SVP Data and Retail Media, Equativ
“As Amazon’s e-commerce crown slips, it will be interesting to watch where the revenue flows this year and how much ground rivals gain.
“Once holding an impressive 80% share of the retail media market, the company is now seeing decelerating growth and intensifying challenges as competition becomes increasingly dense.
“Retail Media Network players such as Walmart, Target, Criteo and The Trade Desk are giving more varied media offerings, especially to non-endemic advertisers, as well as taking a greater cut of consumer spend and advertising budgets.
“Amazon’s reliance on mainstream endemic brands with big-budget sponsorships is challenged. With rivals like TikTok and Temu rising, consumers now demand personalised, immersive, and data-driven shopping experiences.”
“It’s clear retail media is no longer just for retailers; it’s a battlefield for multiple kinds of businesses looking to capture consumer attention by activating precise data and insights — and where those with the best offer win.”
Also published in: Mediashotz
