Prime Day, Black Friday, and other tentpole events aren’t won on the day. They’re won in the weeks before, when you get your account ready for a demand spike. Scramble on the morning of and you’ll either run out of budget or overpay for traffic you didn’t prepare for. Here’s the practical checklist we run before every big event.
Three phases: before, during, after
Peak events have a shape. Shoppers research in the lead-up, buy hard during the window, and there’s a lull right after. Your PPC plan should match all three.
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The checklist
Before (2–4 weeks out):
- Warm up your keywords. Ramp spend on target terms early so you have rank and history before the crowd arrives.
- Check inventory. Never pour ad spend into a product that might stock out mid-event.
- Tidy your listings and Store. Traffic spikes expose weak images, thin copy, and missing reviews.
- Set budget rules now. Schedule higher budgets for the event window so ads don’t switch off at noon.
During:
- Watch budgets intra-day. This is exactly where hourly data (Amazon Marketing Stream) earns its keep.
- Defend your branded search hard. Competitors get aggressive during events — don’t let them sit above your own name.
- Raise bids on proven winners, not on everything.
After:
- Retarget the surge. Shoppers who viewed but didn’t buy are warm — bring them back with Sponsored Display.
- Pull budgets back down so the post-event lull doesn’t quietly waste spend.
- Review what worked and fold it into the next event.
Preparation beats reaction. The brands that treat the weeks before an event as the real work are the ones that win the day.
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