Prime Day FOMO? Why Skipping the Hype Might Boost Your Bottom Line.
Every year, Amazon Prime Day draws in millions of shoppers hunting for the best deals on everything from electronics to home goods. For many brands, it’s a golden opportunity to boost sales. But what if you’re not offering any major discounts? Should you still participate – and more importantly, should you still increase your Amazon ad spend?
The short answer: not necessarily. While Prime Day can generate a traffic surge, it can also become an expensive pitfall for advertisers who aren’t careful.
The Pre-Prime Day Push – and the Problem With It
Leading up to Prime Day, Amazon floods Seller Central and advertiser inboxes with recommendations. A common theme in their advice? Increase your bids (Upwards of 20 – 30%) on top-performing keywords. The rationale is simple: with more traffic expected, upping your bids will help you stay competitive and capitalize on the surge.
But here’s the problem – Amazon is telling everyone the same thing.
When every advertiser hikes their bids, the entire ad auction becomes more competitive and less efficient. This drives up cost-per-click (CPC) across the board. Unless you’re offering a compelling deal that grabs attention and converts, you might end up paying significantly more without seeing a meaningful lift in sales.
Higher CPCs, But Not Always Higher Sales
It’s easy to get caught up in the hype, but more traffic doesn’t guarantee more conversions – especially if your product is full price. During Prime Day, shoppers are conditioned to look for the best deal that is usually listed with a big red “Prime Day Deal” call-out. If you’re not offering one, your ads may get ignored, even as you spend more to get in front of people.
The result? Higher ad spend, lower return on ad spend (ROAS), and a frustrating hit to efficiency. Or in Amazon advertising terms – a higher total advertising cost of sale (TACoS).
Why Sitting Out (or Scaling Back) Might Be Smarter
If you’re not running a deal that stands out in a sea of discounts, it may actually be smarter to pull back your ad spend during Prime Day.
Here’s why:
- Cost inflation: Even your evergreen keywords will likely see CPC increases.
- Lower conversion intent: Shoppers may be browsing only for “Prime Day Deal” products, as it is a limited-time offer.
- Misaligned expectations: You could be wasting budget on an audience that isn’t interested in full-price listings.
Instead of competing in an overheated ad auction, you might benefit more from preserving budget and monitoring performance daily. That way, you can reallocate spend once costs normalize and your ROAS improves.
Better Alternatives for Non-Deal Sellers
If you want to stay active during Prime Day without overspending, consider these alternatives:
- Focus on retargeting instead of prospecting. Re-engage past visitors who might still be interested.
- Run branded or defensive campaigns to protect your own listings from competitors.
- Shift focus to lower-cost, high-margin products that don’t rely on deep discounts.
In short, be nimble. Prime Day isn’t an all-or-nothing event – it’s just another data point to build a smarter strategy around.
Ask Yourself These Questions Before You Spend
Before committing to an aggressive Prime Day strategy, take a moment to reflect:
- Am I running a compelling promotion or discount?
- Are my top keywords already expensive?
- Do I have the margins to absorb higher CPCs with lower ROAS or higher TACoS?
- Can I realistically stand out during a deal-heavy shopping window?
If the answer to most of these is no, that’s a good sign to take a more conservative approach.
Final Thoughts
Amazon Prime Day can be powerful – but it’s not for everyone. If you’re not running deals, blindly following Amazon’s bidding recommendations (which they push extremely hard) may hurt more than help. Instead, monitor closely, test cautiously, and prioritize profitability over participation.
Success on Amazon isn’t about joining every sales event – it’s about knowing which ones actually align with your strategy.
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