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Amazon’s Prime Day events have quickly made themselves a staple of retail performance marketing calendars. These Prime Days now typically take place in spring, summer, and fall, with the big summer event (the original Prime Day) lasting up to five days. The spring and fall events, known as the Big Deal Days, last from two to four days.
These Amazon shopping events bring in millions of shoppers, both those looking for specific deals and others browsing for potential gifts or necessities at lower prices. SMBs can take advantage of Prime Days to capture new audiences, convert customers, and add to the bottom line during times that might otherwise be quiet.
Prime Day shoppers looked for deals in the summer of 2026 in a range of categories, with apparel and shoes, household essentials, and health and wellness the top sellers. Just under half of shoppers bought something they had been waiting to buy until it went on sale. SMB marketers don’t always have massive resources, so it’s important to be smart about the placements you choose, use automation wherever possible, and craft relevant, targeted messaging.
Bear in mind, too, that while Amazon is the destination, the journey begins much earlier. To really stand out, look beyond Amazon’s search bar and engage shoppers on the open web with platforms like Realize, which allow you to reach millions of active readers on premium publisher sites. This way, you’re capturing their attention while they’re still in a research and consideration mindset, well before they begin their Amazon search.
Here’s how to prepare to make the most out of Prime Days for your business.
Pre-Prime Day Preparation
These Prime Day events are fast-paced and competitive, taking place only on one website, in just a few days, and with highly intent-driven shoppers. The funnel is often a lot shorter on Prime Day, with research and buying activities happening in the same session. It’s worth preparing well in advance for Prime Day events, since almost half of consumers wait until Prime Day to buy big-ticket items like electronics and home goods — it’s a captive audience, but for a very short period of time. Get your details in order in advance so you can focus on real-time tweaks during the event.
Here’s what to consider:
1. Choose the Right Campaign Types
With multiple options and a huge potential audience, consider carefully which campaigns you’ll build and run for Prime Day. Make sure to diversify the channel mix for Prime Day campaigns: Place the right ads on the right channel based on what you know about your audience and prospects, and what your Prime Day goals are. You can create separate campaigns for each targeting type for more data-driven decisions at scale during the event.
Optimize your product detail pages, too, and align them with your advertising around deals or coupons, especially any type of Prime-exclusive or Prime Day discounts. Product detail pages should have clear, concise messaging, bullet points on product benefits, and high-quality imagery and descriptions. Finally, make sure your creative for Prime Day follows Amazon’s guidelines for special events.
2. Set Budgets Wisely
For an event like Prime Day, you’ll have to be able to dynamically shift budget to top-performing creative to make the most of your time and budget. Whether it’s a two-day or five-day Prime Day event, it’s still a condensed period of time. Amazon lets you create schedule-based rules, so that your budget goes toward peak shopping hours (and ideally, leads to higher conversion rates). Also, make sure you have enough inventory, that your content is ready, and you’re advertising the right products.
3. Start A/B Testing Early
Amazon recommends starting automatic targeting at least five weeks ahead of Prime Day to identify any new shopping patterns or keywords that you can use. So, start with what you already know about the campaigns, content, and offers that work for your audience. A/B testing ahead of the event lets you start gathering data and understanding audience intent before you go live. Test your creative and be sure to retarget users, as well as calling out the discount, limited-edition, or other special Prime Day information.
4. Consider Audience Targeting Carefully
The big goal of Prime Day advertising is making sure your offerings stand out to buyers in the vast number of shopping opportunities. Remember:
- Focus on high-intent shopping segments, which might include deal seekers and category-specific enthusiasts.
- Use predictive analytics tools and historical sales data to focus on users who are likely to convert based on past purchases.
- Don’t exhaust channels where competition and prices are high, such as search, social, and Amazon itself — look for ways to prioritize visibility where competition is lower, such as on the open web.
Regarding that last point: To make open-web targeting a much smoother experience, try leveraging Realize, which enables you to easily launch native ad campaigns targeting high-intent audience segments across trusted news and lifestyle sites, driving highly qualified traffic directly to your Amazon Storefront or product detail pages.
5. Bid Better
SMB marketers have to optimize bidding carefully during Prime Day events. This can be challenging with so much competition, as you also need to have the most visibility possible. Try optimizing bids toward peak hours, then lowering them during slower parts of the day. Keep in mind the various time zones of shoppers as well, depending on what you know about your audiences. You can try Amazon’s schedule-based bidding rules and audience bid boosting features, or use your performance marketing platform.
During Prime Day
6. Do Real-Time Analysis and Adjustments
Gather as much real-time data as you can with your marketing platform during Prime Days, and make changes as needed. Monitor campaign performance, inventory levels, and competitor activity, such as price changes. Use those insights to adjust targeting, bids, and budgets to drive the most conversions and sales possible. You might increase promotion of a product selling better than you expected, for example, or add cart recovery strategies if lots of shoppers are abandoning their carts.
Ideal metrics to monitor during Prime Day events include:
- Inventory levels.
- Conversion rates.
- Average order value.
- Web traffic and clickthroughs.
- Sales volume.
- Revenue.
- Marketing campaign performance.
- Customer service inquiries.
Be aware that during the peak hours of Prime Day, ad costs can skyrocket, so anything you can do to mitigate these costs is advisable. Realize, for example, offers SmartBid technology, so your bids are automatically optimized in real-time based on the likelihood of conversion. This helps to ensure that your budget is dynamically directed toward the most valuable open-web placements when shopper intent is at its absolute highest.
Post-Prime Day Analysis
The data from Prime Day, captured and analyzed well, can inform your performance marketing strategies going forward. After Prime Day events are over, see what went well and where to improve for next time.
7. Pull Specific Data and Reports
Be sure to put together a comprehensive report once Prime Day is over. Keep track of these metrics, along with any others that are relevant for your industry:
- Overall sales performance compared to Prime Day goals.
- Product-level performance analysis.
- Profitability analysis, including margins on discounted items.
- Customer segment performance.
- Marketing campaign effectiveness.
- Inventory management efficiency.
Then, use this data to inform the next Prime Day or other upcoming event. You might, e.g., update customer segments based on Prime Day behavior, consider tech updates if there were roadblocks, or refine forecasting models for inventory.
8. Gauge Customer Sentiment
Looking at the sales data and the number of first-time buyers can give you a baseline for Prime Day success. Ideally you will also have captured some useful first-party data on customers and gathered insights into popular products. Depending on your industry, you might consider engaging further with customers in these ways:
- Analysis of customer service interactions.
- Targeted emails, such as for product reviews or post-purchase surveys.
- Follow-up social media posts.
- Product reviews and ratings on Google or Yelp.
- Focus groups or interviews if appropriate.
Remember, too, that Prime Day shouldn’t be a one-time transaction. You can use Realize’s retargeting tools to re-engage audiences who showed interest in your products during the sale. By serving them tailored, educational content or post-holiday offers on the open web, you can turn seasonal bargain hunters into loyal, year-round customers.
Key Takeaways
Amazon’s Prime Day events have become a standard part of retail and performance marketing calendars, offering an opportunity for SMBs to reach prospects and add to their bottom line several times a year. Use strategic audience targeting, well-timed budgeting and bidding, and make real-time adjustments based on performance throughout these events.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How can I make my deals stand out?
Standing out as an SMB on Amazon Prime Day takes some strategizing. Make your deals stand out as an SMB marketer by incorporating all the first-party data knowledge you can. The insights gleaned from first-party data can enable effective ad placement, so you reach the right audience through the right ad formats.
Am I thinking full funnel, or should I be focused on my performance metrics?
The traditional idea of full-funnel marketing still plays a role in buying journeys, but users are increasingly taking nonlinear routes to get to the conversion or purchase stage. The journey may look like a funnel, but it also may be a web of varying interactions across channels. On Amazon Prime Day events, you may be working all stages of the funnel, from awareness to purchase. The time frame is so condensed that performance marketing metrics are a better option to get results. Performance data should inform creative, targeting, and media spend decisions before and during the event.
Performance advertising on the open web is uniquely suited for this. With Realize, native ads look like editorial recommendations, allowing you to educate consumers about your product’s value proposition while driving them to buy with clear CTA buttons.
Is my inventory ready for Prime Days?
A data-informed inventory strategy is the best way to be ready for Prime Day events. There’s always a bit of uncertainty — will there be too little inventory for a popular product, or too much for another product that underperforms? If you’ve used your historical data and customer knowledge, along with Amazon’s inventory management tools, you’re as ready as you can be. Monitor inventory levels closely during the Prime Day event to make adjustments as needed to avoid customer dissatisfaction with out-of-stock issues.
