Julia Gall
Product Marketing Manager
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Launch a New Product on Amazon During the Holidays
December 21, 2022
The holidays can be a great opportunity to launch a new product on Amazon. This guide breaks down how to have a successful launch on Amazon.
Are you interested in taking advantage of the holiday season to launch new products on Amazon?
This 2022 holiday season will look a little different from previous years, but it doesn’t mean that there aren't a lot of opportunities for Amazon Sellers to launch new products. Our webinar speakers predicted that there will be a longer shopping window this holiday season, and an estimated 60-70% of holiday shopping will be online rather than brick and mortar. Mcommerce (shoppers using their mobile devices to shop) will continue to be huge as well.
If you're interested in learning more, check out this webinar recap where our experts discuss this topic at length.
What Kinds of Products Should You Launch on Amazon During the Holidays?
The short answer - it depends. When launching a product during the holidays, consider something with high demand but low competition, take into account seasonality, entry barriers, how inventory management will look like for your product, as well as return rates.
Ideally, you will identify a viral product with high demand and low competition. If there is a lot of competition for the type of product you want to sell, you need to find a way to differentiate your product.
Consider the seasonality of your product. When considering which products you want to launch during the holidays, definitely consider the seasonality of your product. An obvious example is that winter coats will be popular during the winter season, but swimsuits less so. However, take into account geographic location when also considering the seasonality of your product.
You will also want to consider any entry barriers to your product. If there are numerous regulations/restrictions (example: products related to alcohol, CBD) you need to take that into account. However, products that have low entry barriers (ex: clothing) can also mean competition.
You’ll also want to plan for inventory management of your product. If there are numerous variations of your product and you are still a beginner, that may pose a challenge for you.
Finally, when looking at what kind of product you should launch during the holidays, take a look at the likelihood that your product will be returned. In the case of selling clothing, for example, this is extremely important and you will likely experience high return rates. Customers may also want to purchase numerous sizes, try on, and then return the sizes they do not need.
Your Advertising Strategy for Your Product Launch on Amazon
Gone are the days when you could just set up your product on Amazon and expect the sales to magically flood in. When your product has no history and no reviews, you have to think strategically about your advertising strategy to drive traffic to your listings as well as build awareness around your new products.
Why Advertise Your Product Launch on Amazon?
Amazon is increasing the number of ads available to Amazon Sellers, so the opportunity is growing every year. At Mayan we see that on average, 52.22% of all sales come from advertising on Amazon. Our Senior Account Manager Andrew notes that this is a huge difference compared to years ago, where he previously observed that only 10-20% of all sales came from advertising on Amazon.
It is important that you understand your advertisement placements and optimize them. For example, 40% of all first clicks go to the first 4 top of search products, so you want to be aware of this as well.
How to Advertise Your Product Launch on Amazon
When it comes to your advertising strategy for launching a new product, you can expect it to be a little different compared to a product that has been on Amazon a while. During the webinar, Andrew goes over some of these key points:
- Keyword targeting: using exact, phrase, and broad keywords
- Product targeting: have your ads show up on a product detail page or show up on competitors’ pages. Expand your reach on Amazon at an affordable price. CPC for product targeting is low (40 cents) versus an average CPC of 80 cents across the board.
- Have an off-Amazon marketing strategy: Andrew describes his own advertising strategy, off-Amazon as well, where Amazon loves when you drive traffic off-of-Amazon traffic to Amazon. (You can even get referral bonuses if you set up your attribution correctly!) Google PPC, Youtube, and Instagram influencers are a great choice, and now TikTok is popular as well.
What You Should Expect for Your Advertising Budget and Your Returns
You should not expect more than 1 or 2 ROAS in your first month of your advertising efforts. Advertising your product when you first launch is an investment, and you are setting yourself up for long-term growth. When you first launch a product, 80-90% of your conversions are going to come from your advertising efforts, and that’s going to decrease over time as you get more reviews.
The “Honeymoon” Period of Launching New Products on Amazon
Amazon wants to give new products a chance. When you launch new products, this is an opportunity to rank really well for keywords. Andrew describes the key mistakes that sellers make in not taking advantage of this “honeymoon” period.
Product Photography Tips for Your Amazon Listing
Simply put - people will not want to buy a product when they cannot see what it looks like. Product photography can be really stressful when you’ve never done a photoshoot before and don't have professional equipment on you. Also, how do you make that image/appearance (an important element of your brand) look consistent across your channels? On top of that, how do you achieve those things when you have a limited budget?
Tips to Create Great Holiday Content and Photography for Your Ecommerce Brand
- Design your website to reflect the seasons and create special offerings for a limited time
- Ideally, start posting holiday content 4 to 6 weeks before the date itself
- Start your holiday campaigns well before the holidays to encompass Black Friday and Cyber Monday
- Remember that holidays can be year-round! Develop a seasonal content calendar from “lesser known” fun holidays (national pet day) to the big ones
- Consider adding a video or a gif (movement) to further engage your audience
Optimizing your Amazon Listing with the Right Title and Keywords
When it comes to crafting your Amazon listing, you want to find that sweet spot between optimizing your listing but also making it very customer-focused.
When putting together your listing title, take a step back and try to put yourself in the shoes of somebody who has never seen your product before and has no idea what it does. What are those keywords that somebody is using when searching on Amazon? Think about how you can integrate those into the pieces of your listing.
Important questions to consider when creating your keywords:
- What is your product?
- What does it do?
- Why would someone want it?
- What shape is your product?
- Can it be used for anything else?
- How long does it take to see results?
When it comes to a product that is difficult to differentiate from others, you can rely on the power of branding, which Emma also goes further into.
Using Holiday Gift Guides to Build Awareness of Your New Amazon Products
According to Kris from Seller Rocket, last year, about 60% of consumers relied on editorial recommendations when looking into product categories they are unfamiliar with. Consumers appreciate these third party recommendations, such as “Best gifts for the last minute holiday shopper”. Around 200 editors have been invited by Amazon to participate in the editorial program. In the webinar, Kris dives in on how you can get your products highlighted in these guides.
How Mayan Can Help With Your Amazon Ad Campaigns
Ad management can feel consuming for sellers, but this type of work is what we do best. In fact, Mayan is the only Amazon PPC optimization platform working today, built by MIT Data Scientists with Customer Success Managers proven by PPC experts in the business. And this year, Mayan officially joined Amazon Ads Partner Network.
We use this unique combination of technology and expertise to power business-changing growth as well as unanticipated revenue for our customers. Our Amazon data and analytics experts at Mayan have all of the advertising optimizing tools and more to help you develop a winning ad strategy for your business.
