What is the Key to Success for Brands Jumping into 2023 Hot Sale?

Every year, May offers a unique opportunity for brands to effectively reach their target audiences over nine days filled with deals and discounts. The magic words? Hot Sale. Year after year, this event, organized by the Mexican Association of Online Sales (AMVO), gains in strength, with great involvement from advertisers: 8 out of 10 companies reported they would participate again in 2023.

There are plenty of reasons for this. According to a study carried out by AMVO, last year’s Hot Sale doubled the total sales recorded in the same period in 2019, before the pandemic. At the same time, 54% of consumers reported it was the first time they had bought products and participated in the event. In total, 14.6 million orders were placed, with an average price of MX$1,629 (US$90) per purchase. To put things into perspective, in 2022, over 63 million people in Mexico purchased at least one product or service online.

The upward trend seen during the 2022 Hot Sale is accompanied by a general increase in ad spending. According to the Media Ad Spend & Marketing Strategy report, published by IAB Mexico, ad spending in 2022 exceeded annual budgets, especially during the second half of the year, which recorded a 60% increase. And that’s not all: 2Q23 is expected to see a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2022.

Ad spending is also increasingly geared toward digital media and digital versions of traditional media, greatly enabled by connected TV platforms. As stated in a joint study carried out by Comscore and IAB, connected TV platforms already have 150 million viewers in Latin America — and they continue to gain ground by the minute.

The Key to Always Being Top of Mind

The numbers don’t lie: during the Hot Sale, sales increase and the number of new consumers grows as purchase orders continue to rack up. The reason behind this is clear: 9 out of 10 consumers claim to know what the Hot Sale is, and 8 out of 10 consider it to be a well-known brand. On average, Mexican internet users can spontaneously recall up to four brands when they think of this event.

All of which raises the question: Why are Hot Sale and brands taking part in it so top of mind for consumers? What’s the secret recipe? It is actually very simple: The main stage to build brand awareness is digital advertising — websites, social media, and even on-demand content platforms, such as connected TV, offer multiple opportunities for advertisers.

Digital Ads and More

As mentioned above, last year saw an increase in digital advertising, the main driver of brand awareness for Hot Sale and the brands taking part in it. However, there was another major trend seen during last year’s edition that directly impacted brand success: the momentum gained by smart advertising campaigns.

As documented in AMVO’s report, advertising campaigns for the 2022 Hot Sale were smarter and more sophisticated than ever before. This means that advertisers leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) technology to more speedily and effectively identify consumers willing to make a purchase. The result was a much more targeted, segmented, and ultimately effective campaign.

Using AI-enabled solutions also resulted in a higher-quality cost per click (CPC) in terms of audiences, web traffic, and conversion rates. This means that, with the same amount of ad spend, advertisers managed a more effective CPC in order to meet, and even exceed, campaign goals. For instance, during last year’s edition of Hot Sale, CPC decreased by 43.8% compared to the previous year.

At Groovinads, we work with an integrated platform that leverages two synergic technologies: demand-side platform (DSP) and dynamic creative optimization (DCO) technologies. As consumers navigate multiple channels at the same time and look for increasingly customized purchase experiences, these technologies can potentially segment audiences based on a brand’s offer and create thousands of dynamic display or video ads with deals and discounts. Moreover, these ads can be highly personalized based on each target segment’s likes and preferences.

In summary, Hot Sale poses a great opportunity for advertisers. Everything seems to suggest that there is no better choice than to leverage its potential. As usual, it is not a matter of if but how. In a scenario where thousands of brands are competing for consumers’ attention, programmatic advertising and technology are the keys to optimizing ad spend to ensure brands can remain relevant to their target audiences. This is the path chosen by leading players, such as El Palacio de Hierro, Walmart, and Liverpool — just a few of our clients. This is the path that has taken them to becoming some of the best-recalled brands whenever consumers think of Hot Sale.