If you want to make the most out of running your business on Amazon, you’re going to have to focus on marketing.
There are lots of things you need to do to make your Amazon business a success, but marketing is right up near the top of the list.
Investing in marketing can give you an edge over your competitors, help you to get more visibility for your listings, and increase sales and profits dramatically.
So, what should you do to make sure you’re marketing effectively?
In this guide to marketing on Amazon, we’ll cover everything you need to know so you can implement winning strategies and take your Amazon business to the next level.
TL;DR
- Marketing is essential for all Amazon sellers and has numerous benefits.
- There are several marketing strategies you can focus on, from improving your Amazon SEO to investing in Amazon advertising.
- While marketing can drive more targeted traffic, you should also ensure you have a strong repricing strategy to improve conversions.
Why Invest in Amazon Marketing?
The simple answer as to why you should invest in Amazon marketing is because it can generate more traffic and sales.
More sales means more profits, more growth for your business, and more success on Amazon.
Boost the Visibility of Your Products
Perhaps the biggest reason is to increase the visibility of your listings. Don’t assume that just because you’re on Amazon, which attracts millions of customers, they will all come across your listing.
Many of them won’t.
There’s a lot of competition on Amazon, and you need to fight to make your listing stand out. You need to do what you can to ensure all those customers who are looking for the product you sell will find it on Amazon.
If you don’t do this, you’ll be missing out on sales.
If you can get more visibility for your listings, you can take full advantage of the targeted traffic on Amazon.
Build Trust
Marketing is also about building trust. If your listings show up in the first results when someone searches on Amazon, they’re going to trust you more.
Just like people trust results in Google near the top, shoppers will trust your listing more when it’s in the first few results on Amazon.
If you build relationships with your customers and get more positive feedback, you’re going to increase trust even more. This not only leads to more sales, but it can also lead to more recurring sales where customers return to buy from you again.
Marketing is essential, but the type of marketing activities you do, and how much you invest in them, will depend on your budget, your goals, your product, and more.
With that in mind, here are some of the most important marketing strategies to focus on when you sell products on Amazon.
1. Amazon SEO
The primary focus for many sellers when it comes to marketing will be their Amazon SEO efforts.
Just like SEO in the search engines, the goal of this type of marketing is to get your product listing to appear high up in the search results when a shopper searches for your product on Amazon.
The A10 algorithm takes many factors into consideration, and you should make sure you follow all the best practices to get more eyes on your listings.
Carry Out Keyword Research
It all starts with keyword research.
When people visit Amazon, they go to the search box and type in a few words to describe what they’re looking for. Amazon uses this search query to decide which product listings to show them.
You want your listing to be right up there at the top. You need to use the most effective keywords to do this, and that means researching them.
Start by brainstorming. What would you search for to find your product? Write down any ideas you have.
Then visit the other competing listings and pick out the keywords they’re already using in their titles and product descriptions.
But this will only get you so far. If you want to maximize your keyword research, you’ll need to use a dedicated tool.
There are many of these available, and they all work in more or less the same way. They can help you to find hundreds of potential keywords to use, saving you a lot of time in your keyword research.
Once you have a list of keywords, it’s time to use them in your listing.
Optimize Your Listing
You need to use the keywords in your product listing, but you only need to use each keyword once. Repeating keywords will not do you any favors, so don’t be tempted to keyword stuff.
However, where you use the keywords matters.
Use the most important keywords in the product title and key product features (bullet points). The rest, you can use in your product listing and the search terms.
Use them where they make sense, but make sure the information is accurate and clear. Use persuasive copy while also weaving in the keywords, and consider using A+ Content, previously known as Enhanced Brand Content.
Product listing optimization goes beyond keywords. You should also make sure you include several professional images that will help to inform and persuade shoppers.
Show the dimensions of the product in the images. Ensure they’re large enough so people can zoom in and see a close-up (it must be 1,600 pixels on the longer side).
Use at least one lifestyle image showing someone using your product. This can be more persuasive for shoppers by helping them picture how their lives will be when they purchase your product.
Related: How To Structure Your Amazon Image Gallery For Maximum Conversion
A/B Test Your Listing
While you may think you’ve done a great job of optimizing your listing, you never really know until you test it. This is where A/B testing comes into play.
Don’t worry, it’s not complicated. In fact, Amazon provides a tool to make it even easier for you.
You can then test two versions of your listing by changing one feature of each, like the title or the main image.
Run both versions at the same time and find out which is more effective and generates the most sales. You can then change your main listing to reflect this, then test something else.
This is an ongoing process, and it can really help you to boost your sales.
2. Amazon Advertising
Another big opportunity for Amazon sellers is to use advertising campaigns. By using the Amazon advertising platform, you can take advantage of ads even if you’re a new seller with a small budget.
While you ultimately want your products to appear high up in the search results organically. That’s not always going to happen, especially when you launch a new product and you haven’t built a strong presence on Amazon.
Fortunately, you can invest in Amazon advertising to ensure your products get more visibility, direct more targeted traffic to your listings, and make more sales.
Let’s take a closer look at the types of advertising available to you.
Sponsored Products
Sponsored Products ads are where most sellers start on Amazon. In fact, this may be the only type of ad format you end up using.
It’s simple to get started, and they’re affordable and highly effective.
These are PPC ads, so you pay when someone clicks on your ad and visits your listing, much like Google Ads.
With these ads, you choose a product you want to promote, then you choose from Automatic or Manual targeting.
If you’re just getting started, Automatic targeting can be a good choice. With this option, Amazon chooses the keywords to target. You can set it up in minutes and start running a campaign in no time at all.
Your ads will then start to show up in the search results when shoppers search for certain keywords.
Once you have been running an Automatic targeting campaign for a few weeks, you’ll have a better idea of which keywords work best. Then you can run a Manual targeting campaign.
Here, you carry out the keyword research yourself and set up your campaign based on the keywords you want to target. You can set custom bids for them and the type of match, including broad match and exact match, and start running the ads.
You can even target products. With product targeting, you can target the listings of your competitors.
Your ads will appear with a “Sponsored” tag, but they blend in with the other listings so they will still attract clicks.
They’re a simple and effective way to get more visibility for your product listings and start to generate more sales. You may stop using them when you’re getting lots of sales, or you may continue to run them.
You do not need to be brand-registered, but you need a professional Amazon seller account. You can also start with a low budget of just $10 a day or even less.
Sponsored Brands
Sponsored Brands ads are also PPC ads. These used to be called headline search ads, and they show up in the shopping results and on product pages.
These are targeted at shoppers who are just starting their search, and they feature a headline, selection of products, and logo rather than target one specific product.
You can use these ads to direct shoppers to different products or to your Amazon Store where you can show a wide range of products you offer.
In your Amazon Store, there are no ads from other competitors, and they’re all focused on your brand and products. This makes these ads a good option for building brand awareness.
Be aware that you must be in the Brand Registry program to use these ads.
Sponsored Display
Sponsored Display ads, which used to be called product display ads, are also PPC ads, but they do not use keywords or competitor products to target them. Instead, they’re based on the interests and behaviors of the shoppers.
When shoppers have shown an interest in a particular category related to your product, you can set these ads to show up.
You can also use them to re-engage with shoppers who have already viewed your product but have not made a purchase.
They appear on Amazon as well as third-party sites, making them a great way to target shoppers elsewhere online. You must also be enrolled in the Amazon Brand Registry to run these.
Start Advertising on Amazon
There are other advertising options on Amazon, including video ads, but they’re more suitable for sellers with larger budgets. These three give you a great starting point, and you may want to stick with Sponsored Products.
Play around with ad campaigns, set a small budget, and see what you can achieve. You may find they’re a fantastic way to increase sales and grow your Amazon business.
Related: The Complete Guide to Advertising on Amazon in 2024
3. Boost Positive Reviews
We’ve already mentioned reviews and how important they are, but building more positive reviews is an Amazon marketing strategy in its own right.
Reviews give new shoppers more trust in you, your brand, and your product. They’re a powerful form of social proof.
Getting more reviews also helps you to improve your SEO rankings and boost your chances of winning the Buy Box.
Having more reviews, especially positive reviews, is something every seller should strive to achieve.
One of the most important ways to do this is to simply provide an excellent service. Answer queries quickly, make sure you’re selling a high-quality product, ensure good packaging and fast shipping to keep customers happy, and respond to negative reviews and try to rectify the situation.
These are all things you should be focusing on doing in the long term.
But it can be difficult to get those first few reviews in. Even when you’re getting reviews regularly, you can take action to generate more.
There are a few things you can do to generate more reviews.
Join the Vine Program
This is a great option for new products or where you have a product that’s moving slowly. Amazon’s Vine program allows you to register a product if you have less than 30 reviews.
Members, called Vine Voices, can then request your product. You then send it to them free of charge, and in return, they’re expected to provide you with a review.
These reviews are often detailed and they’re always honest. Vine Voices are chosen for their detailed reviews, so you can expect the same.
This doesn’t mean they will always be positive, so make sure you provide a great service to improve the chances of getting a positive review. Once you have 30 reviews, you can no longer use it.
The reviews can be a great way to get the ball rolling. Just be aware that there’s a $200 cost for every parent ASIN you submit, and you have to pay the associated shipping costs. But it can definitely be worth it.
Automate Review Requests
Another good habit to get into is to request reviews from customers.
Many people will not leave reviews unless you send them a reminder. Amazon provides a feature that makes this easy in your Seller Central account.
But it’s a manual process. You have to go into your account and send a reminder for each customer. This can quickly end up taking a lot of time.
So use review software instead. Several third-party review tools are available, and you can use these to send multiple review requests at the same time, saving you a lot of time and effort.
They also have features like notifications when you receive a negative review, so you can react quickly and try to resolve the situation.
4. Use Promotions
Finally, make sure you look into the option to run deals and promotions.
Everyone loves a bargain, and if you can tempt more people to buy your products on Amazon by cutting the price, this can be a great way to market your products.
When you launch a new product, this can be an excellent way to make it stand out, getting more attention than your competitors and leading to more sales.
Obviously, you’ll need to be careful about the discount you provide and how long you run the promotion for. Make sure you run your futures and avoid giving too much away, because you don’t want to end up out of pocket.
But definitely consider the option of running a promotion from time to time to generate buzz, build your brand, and make more sales.
Marketing Off Amazon
So far, we’ve covered the main techniques for marketing on Amazon. But don’t forget about your off-site marketing activities.
These may play a smaller role in your overall marketing strategy, but they can be highly effective in generating more sales and growing your brand.
Email Marketing
There’s a good chance you’re already selling your products via your own eCommerce store as well as on Amazon.
Even if you don’t sell your products directly and use Amazon for all your sales, having your own website can be a great way to grow your brand.
If so, this presents you with some more marketing options, like email marketing.
The general idea with email marketing is that you collect email addresses from visitors to your website. You could do this by offering a special promotion on their first purchase or providing them with a free download.
Once you have got their email address, you can start sending out email marketing campaigns to your list. You could do this once a week, once a month, or whenever you want.
Use this to promote your new products and upcoming products, launch special promotions specifically for people on your list, and more.
You can use emails to generate buzz, stay top of mind, and make sure your customers don’t forget about you.
Social Media Marketing
It’s a great idea to have a strong presence on social media when you run an Amazon business.
Begin your social media marketing by creating a page on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and any other social networks, then start posting about your products.
Talk about your newest products, your best sellers, share your best product reviews, launch promotions and competitions, and generate buzz.
You could build your email list from your social activity or send people straight to your Amazon listings.
You could also get active in groups that are related to your niche. Promote your products in them where you’re allowed to and generate more traffic to your Amazon listings.
YouTube
YouTube is another great way to generate buzz and build your following away from Amazon. It’s a huge search engine in its own right, and you can be sure many of your competitors will not be using videos.
Create videos about specific products, new products, and upcoming launches, and create valuable videos on topics related to your products. If you sell pet products, for example, you can provide useful tips and guides for pet owners.
Send people back to your Amazon listings from your videos, provide them with special promotions, and build your brand this way.
Don’t Forget to Compete on Price
One thing we haven’t mentioned yet but still needs to be made clear when talking about marketing—and that’s repricing.
When you’re spending time, energy, and money on marketing to direct more people to your product listings, you need to ensure you’re doing everything you can to generate conversions.
There’s no point in spending money to generate more visitors to your listings if they don’t convert.
As well as generating trust by optimizing your listings and getting more positive reviews, make sure you’re competing on price.
Whether you’re selling your own branded product or you’re competing with dozens of other sellers, make sure you have a good repricing strategy in place.
That means using software like Repricer and setting up rules so you’re constantly competing on price.
With this, you can make sure you’re offering a competitive price, win the Buy Box more frequently, make more sales while you hold the Buy Box, and more.
Don’t put all that effort into marketing and then fail to optimize for conversions. Develop a strong repricing strategy and maximize sales and profits.
Conclusion
Amazon marketing is a big topic, but we’ve covered the essentials here.
If you focus on even two or three of the above areas, like Amazon SEO and advertising, you’ll be doing a great deal to generate more visibility for your listings and more sales.
Marketing involves investment in time and money, but it often pays for itself. Don’t assume that you’ll be able to make a successful business just by providing a great service. This is important, but so is marketing.
So, explore the marketing techniques outlined in this guide, optimize your listing, invest in automatic repricing software, create a strategy for boosting your reviews, and maximize your sales and profits on Amazon.
