How to sell on Amazon: 7 product listing promotion strategies

Selling through Amazon is profitable, but only if you understand the rules of the game. Today we talk about how to promote listings on the platform and attract more buyers.

Content:

• 3 main rules for those who decide to sell on Amazon.
• Four reasons to sell on Amazon.
• 7 ways to promote your products on Amazon.
• Analyze competitors. Method №1.
• Get pricing right. Method №2.
• Listing Optimization. Method №3.
• Encourage customers to write reviews. Method №4.
• Launch a product ad. Method №5.
• Take advantage of promotions. Method №6.
• Manage your external traffic. Method №7.

1. Help the buyer find your products on Amazon

Search promotion

1. To make a purchase, the Customer must first find your products. Keyword input is the primary method customers use to search for products on Amazon.
2. Your goal is to optimize your listing to increase product visibility and increase sales. Most products can support keyword descriptions up to 250 characters long. Think about the terms your customers use.
3. Here are some suggestions for optimizing your search terms. And we are always ready to offer professional services to promote the Brand or product.

Paid promotion

Sponsored Products is a great way to drive more traffic to your products on Amazon.

You choose which products you want to advertise, assign keywords to these products, as well as CPC. When an Amazon buyer searches for one of the keywords, your ad can appear in several places on the page, including the first page of search results. When buyers click on your ad, they go to your product and you just have to convince the customer to make a purchase.

2. Help determine the buyer

Inspirational Product Images

Effective product images stimulate the customer’s imagination and inspire them to buy your product.

The better your photos, the better your product demonstrates, the more photos themselves – the greater the chance that the buyer will purchase your product!

Amazon prime

The latest Amazon Prime Day allowed sellers to clean their shelves at an incredible speed. But taking part in Prime Day is not available to everyone. The first condition is the sale of goods through the Amazon fulfillment service (FBA), then your offers become more visible and more competitive. Amazon Prime is free shipping (for related products), as well as many other benefits that help grow sales and make the store more competitive.

To prepare high-quality photos of your products, we recommend ordering a professional and author’s photo shoot.

Hold Promotions

Customers love stocks because they provide an opportunity to save money. This position on the product page plays the role of an incentive for the customer to make a purchase decision sooner rather than delaying a specific product or seller for later.

In the seller’s office, the function of creating various promotional offers, such as discounts, free delivery, as well as free products and external incentives such as loyalty points, is available.

3. Offer convenient delivery

Not the last factor influencing the decision-making by the buyer is the terms of delivery of the store. The FBA has raised the bar for fast delivery service to the highest bar. In order not to lose potential customers, make sure that your delivery channels satisfy buyers and are not inferior to competitors. Therefore, take care of fast and timely delivery.

Watch the video Todd Bowman, sr. Director, Amazon & eReteil

Here’s a key list of product categories on Amazon

Product categories open to all sellers:

1. Accessories for Amazon devices.
2. Amazon Kindle.
3. Children’s products.
4. Cosmetic products.
5. Books.
6. Photo and video equipment.
7. Cell phones.
8. Clothing and accessories.
9. Electronics.
10. Handicrafts.
11. Health and personal hygiene.
12. Products for home and garden.
13. Musical instruments.
14. Office supplies.
15. Products for outdoor recreation.
16. Software and computer games.
17. Sporting goods.
18. Tools for repair.
19. Toys and games.
20. Video games and game consoles.

Let `s start? Here are four reasons to sell on Amazon

1. Buyers often start their search with Amazon

Recently, BloomReach conducted a study that showed that buyers begin to search for products on Amazon almost 2 times more often than on Google. Therefore, regardless of whether your product is on the platform or not, customers will look for it there. And if they do not find an offer from you, they are very likely to find from your competitors. 90% of buyers will no longer care that your site is in the top of Google’s search results. They simply will not look for him there.

Just imagine: 9 out of 10 consumers check the availability of the desired item on Amazon, even if they have already found it on the website of another seller. Amazon’s success is driving other sales channels. Why? Because we all pull out phones before buying to read reviews about the company.

Amazon works best for the company in this regard.

2. Amazon is an excellent secondary sales channel

The generally accepted point is that you should diversify your sales channels and reduce dependence on Amazon, which generates all of your income.

However, the discussion of cannibalizing Amazon traffic to your own site is futile. If everything is done correctly, the platform will be a great addition to your online store.

3. Amazon boosts brand awareness

Amazon helps create a funnel of potential customers who will ultimately buy on your own site. Many successful brands have done so. They launched the main offers on the platform, and left accessories and components in their online store. They completed three tasks: they increased brand awareness, attracted customers through an account on the trading floor, and stimulated transitions to their website.

An example of successful interaction with the platform is Casper Metters. He has many positive reviews on Amazon. They work to increase customer confidence in Casper and help potential customers find its products. But on Casper’s website there are 9 times more positive reviews than on the platform. This illustrates that two sales channels – through a third-party site and own website – not only can coexist, but also increase the company’s profit.

4. Amazon is an open marketplace

If you yourself do not create an ad for your product, another seller will do it for you.

Do you want to entrust the unknown content, pricing and customer management of your brand to an unknown seller? Most likely, the answer is “No”, and for good reason. Negativity can affect your store or adversely affect the attitude of consumers to the brand.

7 ways to promote your products on Amazon

We found out why you need to sell on Amazon. When you start doing this, you will need information on how to advertise products. The same principle works here as with any other sales channel – the more you invest in it, the greater the effect you get. Just sitting and waiting is not enough. Therefore, we’ll look at seven ways to promote your Professional Sellers account and increase sales on Amazon:

1. Analysis of competitors.

2. Obtaining the right to pricing.

3. Optimization of product listing.

4. Attracting feedback.

5. Start advertising products.

6. Taking advantage of promotions.

7. Attracting external traffic.

1. Analyze competitors

The first step in promoting Amazon listing is to understand what you are facing. In most cases, you can get all the information about what your customers want only by analyzing the pages of competitors. In addition, regular monitoring of other people’s products has a positive effect on your own advertising capabilities and production practices.

What do we have to do:

• Read reviews, questions and answers on competitors’ pages. Buyers very clearly understand what they want, and their feedback will help you improve your product or contribute to the emergence of cool ideas. Customers say the packaging is too bright? Pack your pastel goods. Customers don’t like the price? Think about how you can offer them better conditions than competitors. What other products do customers mention in the reviews?
• Stay tuned. Record how often competitors update content, images, or make other changes. Do they use seasonal photographs (ride bicycles in summer, cut pumpkins in autumn)? Are their information on the benefits and uses of the product clearer than yours? How often do they change prices and how does this affect their ranking?
• Assess which sellers you can collaborate with. This is suitable for complementary products (such as memory cards and cameras). The point is that you need to find opportunities for mutual advancement. To do this, look at the reviews of your customers. Among them may be those who talk about products that prompted them to purchase your product. Use such reviews for your own purposes. Think about whether it makes sense to target keywords from the categories of these products.
• Act fast. If you see that a competitor does not have any product in stock, work with it. This is the right time to lower the price and / or increase the amount of advertising. If you see that reviews of competitors’ products are growing faster than yours, try to find out the reason. Look for innovative ideas and implement them before your competitors do.

2. Get eligible for pricing

It’s difficult to set the price correctly. Add to this the sophistication of Amazon and the open market, in which there are already many sellers besides you, and the issue of price will become even more difficult. However, if you remember a few tips, avoid more complex problems.

Be aware of a trade agreement with Amazon about a parity price. This means that your price cannot be lower on any other online sales channel in accordance with the “general pricing rule.” Be sure not to break this rule. Otherwise, your account will be blocked.

Since Amazon is a market, you are free to compete here. Several bid review tools are available, and Amazon recently released another, Price Automation at Seller Central, to help automate price decisions.

For example, you can set the rule to “beat Amazon’s lowest price at $ 0.10.” Constantly winning a Buy Box or receiving timely alerts that someone else has won it is important to grow your business on Amazon. Please note that for vendors (suppliers), a different process applies.

Promotions are a great way to increase product visibility and increase the number of reviews. Discounts, best deals, coupons, buy one product, get another product, etc. – these are all great opportunities to offer and set aside a temporary discount on your product.

The peculiarity of the Amazon site is that several sellers can offer the same product. Sellers compete for the Buy Box, Amazon’s top SERP for this product. Only Professional Sellers who can provide customers with the best user experience are there. You can win a position on the offer “New” for new products and “Used” for used.

It is impossible to calculate the formula for one hundred percent getting there. According to Amazon, the winner of the Buy Box is selected from a pool of suitable sellers, based, inter alia, on the price and availability of goods. This means that you need to have a stock of goods in stock and a competitive price.

Ideally, you should offer the lowest price. Amazon focuses on the total amount for the client, which includes the delivery of goods. So see how competitive you are with other sellers.

At the same time, products with an average price tag sometimes get into the Buy Box. The price below can be found in the block with other offers. Given the platform’s focus on customers, it can be assumed that getting into the Buy Box is affected not only by the price tag and quantity of goods in stock, but also by positive customer reviews.

3. Listing Optimization

People who buy in online stores, especially on Amazon, decide whether they want to stay on this page or immediately return to the search results within a few seconds. This is the first obstacle you will encounter when promoting your product. How do you overcome it? Start with the simplest.

Headers matter

Your headline clearly describes to customers what kind of product it is and how compatible it is with their needs? Does it have a brand name? Does it clarify the use cases of the product and its main advantages? And most importantly, how long will it take for people to understand everything that you tried to convey through the headline? If it takes more than three seconds, you have already lost.

Markers – your elevator pitch

That is, a presentation in the elevator – in a short time you need to have time to transfer information, based on which the user will decide on the purchase from you.

Make sure that you have raised all the questions that the user would like to receive answers to before he crawls the page or starts flipping through additional sections. Mention key facts: warranty, customer service for troubleshooting. Avoid bullets that are longer than two lines.

Images are modus operandi

The main photo of the page should clearly show what the product is. Even before scaling/moving to the panorama, the user must understand what they are offered. Additional photographs should reveal the additional sides of the product. But the user can understand everything without them. He starts flipping through these images only if he is already interested. By the way, it’s worth having an image from the “back of the box” where the ingredients are indicated, instructions are given or there is other important information.

Useful description for any product

Remember that clients scan text. Therefore, a paragraph of 10 lines will not work. Write the most important thing. The text should be about your brand. No templates that can be substituted for any brand or product. Repeat the key characteristics of the product, confirming that you need to buy it right now.

Here are a few elements to consider when working with description pages:

Do not overdo it with keywords. Approach their choice from the point of view of the client: be sure to give information on why your product is worth the purchase. Amazon said the platform’s mission is “to be Earth’s most customer-oriented company …” So when choosing key phrases, think about the benefits for customers. Do not try to beat your competitors by choosing the most keywords.

Check regularly the pages with questions and reviews about your product. Many customers do not read what sellers write. But the reviews are studied in detail. Check the reviews regularly and answer them if necessary.

WSA Group Expert Opinion

The popularity of Amazon is tied to the attitude of the platform towards customers. In order to receive positive feedback, reserve a Buy Box and sell with profit, adapt all the promotion steps to customers. This is especially true for texts.

How to describe a product to be bought:

1. Start by listing the benefits your customer will receive by purchasing your product. These should not be ephemeral words like “the printer will print your photos as quickly as possible”, but the facts “the Spider printer will print 80 photos in 5 minutes.”
2. Tell the client about the difference between your offer and competitors. Describe why he should choose you. If possible, provide figures. The differences must be real. If you write that you can deliver the goods twice as fast as competitors, but at the same time use the standard delivery method, you will not be able to increase the number of positive reviews.
3. Give a guarantee on your services. Users should have no doubt that you are a reliable seller. Describe what is included in the warranty. The more honest you are, the higher the trust of users.

4. Encourage customers to write reviews

Feedback is important. We all focus on the comments left on the product pages upon purchase.

Amazon has recently changed its recall policy. Short summary: the platform has banned reviews of discount products for Professional Sellers. Previously, many brands offered customers discounts or free items in exchange for reviews. A study of 7 million reviews showed that there was a strong correlation between positive reviews and stimulating stocks.

But recent changes have equalized the odds. What can you do to get feedback? Use email.

Sellers can send customers emails related to a specific order. But they cannot:

• Send emails with marketing or promotional messages.
• Insert links to other sites in the text of the letter.
• Request or otherwise motivate to write positive reviews.But you can send several emails: in order to confirm that you received the order, and in order to control the dispatch of the order. In the latter, you can ask to leave feedback after receiving the parcel.

We recommend sending no more than two emails. First at the time of order confirmation. The second is a few weeks after the product is received. Make sure that your letters do not seem too spammy or aggressive. Give customers the opportunity to share the negative directly with you, before writing an angry comment on the site.
Services such as Feedback Five or Feedback Genius can automate this process.

5. Run a product ad

Amazon has an advertising platform. It allows you to sell your product to platform customers.

Amazon ads are built on the PPC (Pay Per Click) model, which allows you to promote your products in search results. You can place ads in different places on the desktop – above, next to or below the search results, as well as on pages with product descriptions.

On mobile devices, ad spaces are located below search results and on product pages.

Three easy steps to quickly launch ads:

1. Start with auto targeting. This allows Amazon to use its powerful search algorithms to offer you comprehensive listings of potential keywords. To do this, you need to select the default bid for all keys. The main goal is to get data on how various keywords work.
2. When you have data for several weeks (the more the better), analyze the results of automatic targeting. This way you can determine which keywords worked best for you. Then you can only work with them, setting up ads manually. Thanks to manual control, you can adjust bids by keyword.
3. Continue to work manually with different keywords and bids. Data is your best friend, but if you feel that you need to use additional keywords that haven’t yielded good results, check out the different bids. Different bids can give different placements and different results, so test until you find one that works well for you.

6. Take advantage of promotions

Stocks, including Lightning Deals (product of the day), are a great way to sell products at high speed. You can get additional feedback and create relevance so that other customers can find you.

Sellers have the opportunity to include their products in the Early Review Program. The bottom line is: Amazon randomly selects the customers who leave reviews and gives them a small reward (for example, an Amazon gift card for 1-3 US dollars) to thank them for providing an objective opinion. Danger to seller: There is no guarantee that reviews will be positive. But this is still a great opportunity for those who have just started using the platform or are advertising a new product.

7. Manage external traffic

Many brands forget about this part or reserve all external channels for their own online store. Yes, traffic from blogs, Facebook ads, Google AdWords, influencer sites, etc. works great for your site. But all these channels will be useful for listing on Amazon.

You need a strategy – think carefully about which channels you can direct to Amazon. For example, bloggers, vloggers and other influential people often prefer to direct traffic to Amazon, because this way they can collect affiliate commissions for purchases of customers who switched to the platform using the user link left on their website.

For reference

Amazon is an American company, the largest in the world in e-commerce and public cloud computing platforms for revenue and market capitalization. Headquarters – in Seattle. Annually open an office in the largest and most promising regions of our planet. The audience is growing rapidly. This indicates the great prospects of this platform for sellers.