With holiday ad costs set to jump 30 to 50 percent, brands look to influencer seeding instead

The holiday stretch is the most competitive of the year for Amazon sellers: pay-per-click costs balloon 30 to 50 percent, rankings freeze on page two regardless of spend, and reviews arrive too slowly to lift conversion.

Protein cookie brand Lenny & Larry's faced exactly that wall, with Amazon growth stalled at roughly 1,000 units a month despite a loyal following.

Instead of pouring more into ads, the brand turned to influencer product seeding, activating 1,560 influencers over a 12-month campaign. Each participant was required to buy the product on Amazon, creating a verified purchase, try it and share an honest reaction on social media, and produce organic user-generated content the brand could then reuse across its own marketing.

The approach works because verified purchases and authentic posts send Amazon ranking and trust signals that advertising alone cannot buy. Heading into the fourth quarter, that translates into higher rank before Black Friday and Cyber Monday, stronger conversion against ad-only competitors thanks to genuine reviews and content, and a controlled total advertising cost of sale that supports durable growth without bleeding profit into the ad auctions.

Similar holiday results have been reported across consumer brands and Amazon-native sellers, making seeding an increasingly common hedge against the fourth-quarter ad auction.