How to Create a Strong Amazon Marketing Strategy

There’s no shortage of competition on Amazon. Today, there are 1.9 million active sellers on the marketplace, and every year, more than a million new sellers join the mix. 

A great product alone won’t suffice. To stand out, you need a strong strategy for promoting your products and getting them in front of customers. Without one, you risk going virtually unnoticed on Amazon.

Below is a handy guide to help you out. From organic strategies to paid ones, learn the different types of marketing strategies you can deploy as an Amazon seller to get your products front and center. 

Organic Marketing Strategies for Amazon Sellers 

Amazon SEO 

SEO is always working in the background and is less of a tactic, and more of a step to include in your normal listing process. There are dozens of different factors that impact the rankability of your product listing. These include:

• The right product category
• Advanced product attributes 
• Strong, enticing copy 
• Fast shipping
• Competitive pricing 
• Sale history and velocity 
• And more
  
  

Given that Amazon is in the business of selling, its algorithm favors products that will yield the most sales. So, as you’re optimizing your listings for Amazon SEO, you’ll need to look beyond the keywords and the mere copy on your page. Check that your advertising and marketing strategies, as well as your business operations, play nicely with each other and are positioned to create a listing quality flywheel. 

Social Media 

Social media continues to be one of the most powerful ways to reach customers on a daily basis. The best social posts feel far less intrusive than a traditional sales email. However, you’ll want to diversify your posts and aim towards building a well-rounded social presence for your brand.

Cultivate a brand identity by posting information about your team’s values, showcasing your employees or customers, announcing company milestones and engaging buyers through special giveaways (as examples). When you post about a product, include a direct link to your Amazon product page so that buyers can quickly learn more. 

Take care not to send low-quality traffic to your listing. This could wind up hurting your visibility on Amazon; if Amazon sees a high number of visitors but low conversions, it may suppress your listing in search results. You’ll therefore need to have a keen understanding of your target audience on social media, then tailor your strategy specifically for them. 

Note: not too long ago, many sellers were using Super URLs in their social promotions to simulate a buyer’s search and manipulate Amazon’s algorithm. Do not fall into this trap. Amazon can easily discover if you’re trying to manipulate its search engine and will likely penalize you severely—if not revoke your seller privileges entirely—upon discovery. 

Email Marketing

While Amazon offers the buyer-seller messaging service and forbids you from collecting an Amazon buyer’s email for your own email list, you can (and should) still build your own list outside of Amazon. 

For instance, if you run an Instagram handle, invite people to join your newsletter to be the first to hear about new products or special deals. Or, host events and social contests to collect contact information.

Using email, you can foster more genuine, one-to-one relationships with your buyers. You could further send out interest-based shopping guides, “best of’ roundups or other personalized recommendations that promote your Amazon products. As a secondary benefit, emails help to keep your brand top of mind—encouraging buyers to remember your brand name, and not just the fact that your products are sold on Amazon. 

“Request a Review” Button

Amazon’s Request a Review button is a kosher way to earn more product reviews, which, in turn, can increase rankings and conversions. It is also Amazon’s response to review manipulation—instead of going off Amazon to fish for reviews, the marketplace offers an easy, free way for sellers to follow up with buyers. 

You can find this button inside Seller Central on the top-right corner of a buyer’s order detail page. When you click the button, Amazon will send an email to your shopper asking them to leave a review or seller feedback. These emails can only be sent five to 30 days after an order is delivered.

The button can be managed manually or automatically through third-party apps that click the button for you. Keep in mind that you can still ask for reviews via the buyer-seller messaging service and other forums. However, you cannot request a positive review nor incentivize buyers to respond a certain way. 

Amazon Live 

Amazon Live is a QVC-like streaming channel that has gained more and more attention in recent months. Familiar names like Miranda Kerr, Rosamund Pike and Kyle Richards have each gone “live” on Amazon to promote their favorite purchase from the site.

If you’re a registered brand owner on Amazon, then you, too, can use Amazon Live to showcase your products. Simply download the Amazon Live Creator app and follow these essential steps for getting your Amazon livestream set up. 

All live streams can be found on the Amazon Live landing page and are accompanied by a product carousel that makes it easy for viewers to buy what they see.

Amazon Live is a dynamic platform for showing off your products, plus humanizing brand. Buyers additionally have the option to “follow” your profile, so that they can get notified whenever you go live on Amazon.  

Paid Marketing Strategies for Amazon Sellers 

Amazon PPC (aka, Sponsored Posts)

Nearly every customer touchpoint on Amazon has a place for ads. 

“‘Sponsored products related to this item,’ ‘Four stars and above’ and ‘Brands related to this category on Amazon’ advertising sections have all but replaced organic ‘Customers who bought this item also bought’ and ‘Customers who viewed this item also viewed’ suggestions." - MarketplacePulse

To remain competitive—especially in popular categories—it’s nearly a prerequisite to advertise at least a portion of your catalog. When doing so, keep in mind that the best strategies tend to involve a combination of automatic and manual campaigns. 

Watch Also: Amazon Advertising in Today's World [Video]

Ensure that your campaigns are strategically organized and avoid keyword cannibalization from having multiple ads pointing to the same product. If you’re new to ads, start with an automatic campaign, which offers the greatest reach. Then, when you find a product and ad messaging that resonates, convert it to a manual campaign for greater control over targeting and bidding.

It’s always wise to bring in a professional if you’re not sure or don’t have time to manage your own ad campaigns. Some notable services include Teikametrics, AMZ Advisers and Tinuiti. 

Third-Party Advertising 

Outside of Amazon, there are a number of other ad platforms at your disposal: Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok, just to name a few.

Identify which platforms your customers spend the most time on and experiment with ads on one or two channels at a time. Retargeting ads—ads that re-engage people who visited certain pages on your site or are part of a given contact list—tend to be very affordable options. Consider testing retargeting ads in conjunction with ads aimed at new audiences to convert more sales on your listing.

Affiliate Marketing 

Amazon’s Affiliate program is a win-win-win for merchants, influencers and Amazon alike. You and Amazon benefit from greater traffic to your listings. Meanwhile, Amazon Associates earn a percentage-based commission on each sale that they influence.

While you don’t necessarily have to do anything to participate (your items are automatically available for sharing by an Amazon associate), it benefits you to proactively reach out to bloggers, influencers and site owners who can help to promote your brand.

Provide instructions for new partners to become an Amazon Associate. Then, equip them with your ASIN number, product details and/or content that Associates can freely use when marketing your products. Associates can create affiliate links from their Amazon Associates accounts and promote as many products as they’d like. 

Amazon Vine Program 

This invitation-only program incentivizes the most trusted reviewers on Amazon to leave honest reviews on new or emerging products. It’s a great way to build up your review moat, given that you have a high-quality product to offer. 

Note that just because you enroll in Amazon Vine doesn’t mean you’ll receive a positive review on your product. Amazon Vine simply provides a gateway for collecting more reviews, regardless of their content.

To enroll your product, you’ll have to pay $200 for each parent ASIN. You must additionally cover the cost of providing your products free-of-charge to Vine Voices. Only FBA products with fewer than 30 reviews can be enrolled in this program. View a full list of eligibility criteria and seller FAQs regarding Amazon Vine. 

Amazon Deals, Coupons and Discounts 

Amazon buyers love a good deal. Perhaps one of the quickest ways to grab attention is by offering an attractive discount that makes your buyers feel that they’re getting the best bang for their buck. 

When you set up a deal, coupon or discount in Seller Central, your listing will sport a colorful, eye-catching badge. Go to Seller Central > Advertising > Deals and create a new promotion schedule.

If you use coupons, Amazon will charge a commission whenever someone clips a coupon, so keep this in mind when you’re evaluating your costs.

Take Charge of Your Success on Amazon

There are various directions you can go with your marketing. The route you take will largely depend on where your customers spend their time, how they shop and the competitiveness of your category. Take matters into your own hands and start laying the groundwork of your strategy today.