Originally published on January 23, 2018, updated July 13, 2020
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Amazon does not offer an “if you build it, they will come” platform. You have to drive that initial traffic.
Amazon’s search engine is primarily based on sales and conversion rate. Don’t expect to be ranking well for your primary keywords without any sales history.
So how can you drive that initial traffic? There are several options to do this using Amazon tools, off-Amazon marketing and third-party services.
Amazon pay per click (PPC) advertising has become the foundation of any Amazon marketing strategy. Currently sellers have access to two platforms, Sponsored Products and Headline Search. If you are a vendor, you will have access these as well as Product Display ads through the Amazon Marketing Services (AMS) platform.
A quick search on Amazon shows why these ads are so powerful. For some searches they are the only listings visible above the fold. In the screenshot below, you can see that the headline search ad creates a banner ad across the top of search results and the next two placements are sponsored product ads. Scrolling past these I finally get to the organic search results.
So, if you want to maximize visibility for your private label products in Amazon search, invest in Amazon PPC advertising. Once advertising is running, you can then use the search term reports to find out exactly what search terms are working well for your product. You can then use those search terms to further optimize your product page and fine tune your targeting.
With Amazon PPC ads becoming more and more competitive, using that tactic alone may not get you the results you need. If that is the case for your product, it’s time to invest in some off-Amazon marketing.
There are so many options to drive traffic to the Amazon marketplace. Some will be better suited to your product and brand than others. With any of these options, you need to keep in mind that the goal is not just to send waves of traffic over to your listings, but to send high converting traffic or customers ready to buy. To do that you need to give potential customers a good reason to buy, usually through promotions. Here are a few ways to do that.
This is a popular option, with many third-party services available that have created marketplaces where customers can pick up coupons and discounts from Amazon sellers. Merchants create coupon codes for their products at a deep discount and then use one of these third-party sites to drive high-converting traffic to Amazon.
When using this method, remember that a one day giveaway will likely not get you the results you want. Amazon watches sales over time to determine your search placement, so your giveaway should extend over a week or more, driving that converting traffic to your page over a period of time. You’ll need to do your research to determine how many units you need to move daily over that time period to be able to compete with products already on the first page of search.
User-generated video marketing is becoming a powerful way to drive sales. In fact, a whole industry around influencer marketing has popped up. Amazon has even gotten on board, creating tools for influencers to create a page on Amazon showcasing the products they endorse.
Find an influencer who fits your product type and has sizable audience on their YouTube channel, Facebook group, Pinterest board, etc. Don't be surprised if the influencer asks for a fee plus the cost of shipping them a free product to shoot the video with. Give them a coupon code or custom URL from Amazon with a nice discount to post with the video review, and you’ll get high-converting traffic coming to your product pages.
Many sellers look to social media groups and advertising to bring in initial sales. Just be sure to keep your advertising tightly targeted so that you are not spending money advertising to customers who are not interested in your type of product. Be sure to include a percent-off coupon and consider driving that ad traffic to an intermediate landing page where you educate them on your product, and perhaps grab an email address in exchange for the coupon code. Using a landing page like this will help keep the window shoppers off your Amazon page (which drives down conversion rates) and will allow you to start building email lists for future marketing efforts.
With these tactics, especially any PPC or social media advertising, I do recommend hiring professionals to help you if you are not already knowledgeable on how to use these platforms. Poorly constructed campaigns will end up spending a lot of money with little results. Look for someone who has plenty of experience under their belt and is an expert in that specific type of advertising. For example, I would not have your Facebook ad agency managing your Sponsored Product ads or vice versa. The two platforms are totally different, and expertise in one area does not translate to the other.
The saying “you have to spend money to make money” is especially true with Amazon product launches. Customers simply will not find your listing unless you invest in some solid marketing strategies to build brand awareness and drive sales. Don’t overlook this important step and be sure to build some marketing dollars into your budget when planning new product launches.
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