I’ve run several Best Deals (BD) on some of my older ASINs the past couple weeks, and something super weird is going on:
My ad conversion straight-up drops during the BD, even though I didn’t touch a thing — same campaigns, same CPCs, no changes at all. Then as soon as the BD ends, conversion goes right back to normal.
Lightning Deals (LD), on the other hand, almost always give me a clear conversion lift. I get BD is longer and less intense, but this is low-key infuriating.
Quick background:
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These are established, older products with consistent sales.
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BD discount: 20% off.
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No new campaigns, no bid adjustments — just let my existing ads run as usual.
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During BD, ad spend roughly doubled (expected), but orders and conversion were worse than non-deal days.
The bigger issue:
As soon as the deal ends, everything reverts right back to pre-deal levels — sales, conversion, organic rank. It’s like the deal never even happened.
I’ve tried matching the BD discount with a coupon or Prime Exclusive Discount afterward, but it barely moves the needle.
My questions:
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Why does BD kill my ad conversion while LD actually helps it? Is BD just inherently weaker, or am I missing something?
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How do you actually use deals (BD or LD) to boost and hold organic rank after the deal ends?
Any insight from folks who’ve fought this same battle would be huge. Thanks.
Answers (6)
You’re almost certainly picking up way more irrelevant clicks. Negate hard during the deal.
Also check placements: if your ads are shifting to product pages more, lower that placement multiplier. Stay focused on top and rest of search.
A deal alone won’t stick if your organic conversion isn’t strong already. Fix your listing first: better images, video, reviews, price positioning.
You can ease the drop with a small coupon for a few days after, but don’t expect miracles. In a super competitive niche, sometimes that’s just how it goes.
LD is short, time-limited, people buy on the spot. BD runs for days — people browse, compare, wait.
Plus since BD is longer, way more competitors overlap their deals. Customers flip between 10 discounted listings instead of buying yours.
LD has less overlap, so you grab more impulse buys.
My take: during BD, Amazon floods you with traffic, but a lot of it is low-intent window shoppers just checking prices. I’ve had days with 10k+ sessions during BD and conversion under 1%.
To fix this, shovel budget to your best keywords and top-of-search placements. Dial back broad and auto campaigns during the deal.
Years ago, only strong, high-volume ASINs got BD invites. Now everyone can run them, even through third-party services (against TOS, but still happens). When every other seller is running a BD in your category, the whole benefit gets watered down.
In my niche, BD sales are only up 20–50% now, not 2–3x like before. LD is shorter, feels more urgent, so it still performs way better.