A popular saying exists among today’s entrepreneurs: Most people give up just when they are about to achieve success. Plenty of Amazon sellers have achieved a monthly six-figure revenue by adding new products, using Amazon’s marketing services, and optimizing their customer experience process; however, some sellers have walked away from the platform because of unexpected setbacks or difficulties, or general distrust, prompting them to discount its value as a feasible business model.
The Amazon Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) business model is littered with noise, gurus, and promises of wealth, but it also provides solid techniques, models, and strategies that are often concealed behind pay walls and locked content.
Following are 5 tips that will significantly help company owners grow and scale their Amazon business in a more creative and fruitful way.
Optimizing keywords for density, indexing, and determined limits
Copywriting is often overlooked as a key component of effective Amazon marketing. Using SEO to optimize the platform is a powerful tool that can help boost product indexing. By weaving traditional sales copywriting with technical keyword usage, the right balance can be created to demonstrate the benefits of each product while improving overall ranking and indexing.
Tools such as Helium 10 and Merchant Words can help sellers find the right keywords, locating those that are relatable to the specific products, those that contain the most relevant product attributes, and those that have niche search volume. Another overlooked factor is Amazon’s character limit, which stops indexing keywords once they have exceeded the set limit. That’s why it’s important to make sure that all keywords, whether in the title, bullet points or backend, are within the Amazon limit.
Optimizing images for mobile users
Amazon’s mobile shopping app, which is just as intuitive as its desktop website, is converting more and more shoppers, allowing sellers to better connect with their customer base. Sellers who optimize their listings with a mobile-first approach can appeal to both customers that enjoy reading every single detail about the product and those “visual” customers who prefer to have their information and benefits delivered to them in an infographic format. Instead of using multiple photo angles of a product that don’t contain specific features or benefits, it’s best to re-design images to appear as advertisements and infographics that can be easily read and accessed on a mobile phone’s real estate.
Speed up the trademark application process
Amazon is rewarding their most serious FBA sellers by allowing those businesses with trademarks to unlock numerous added capabilities. With an active trademark and membership in their Brand Registry platform, sellers can enable enhanced brand content to create an even more compelling Amazon listing such as the opportunity to open a storefront with the business’ own landing page, or other types of advertising strategies such as headline search ads with a slew of options that are added on a daily basis.
Although the trademark process in the United States can be tedious and take up to 2 years to obtain, Amazon does accept international trademarks that can be fulfilled in as little as 3 months. To expedite the trademark process, sellers can either consider filing for a trademark in Europe—in a country such as Germany, for instance—establish their brand in another country, and/or simply unlock new marketing opportunities that are available on the Amazon platform.
Using Amazon’s promotions, launch services and giveaways
Businesses that have a new product to sell, but don’t have product reviews or social media engagement, need to consider promoting their item rather than offer massive discounts. In today’s competitive market, effective product promotion will help sellers stand out from the crowd. Instead of dropping a price to its rock-bottom level, it’s best for companies to do the opposite: Raise the price of the product and then add a special price promotion. This will create an incentive for customers, who will view the product as a brand-new item with special promotion rather than an existing product that is being discounted for lack of sales. Sellers who combine this strategy with Amazon’s Early Reviewer, Vine Voice and Central Coupon programs will maximize every opportunity as their disposal, helping to further boost and promote their products.
Getting Cash Back for PPC campaigns
Every little strategy and tip can add up in the long run. Sellers that use a business credit card with cash back option to pay for Amazon advertising can consequently earn the extra capital to help grow their venture. Taking advantage of these types of rewards can really make a difference because they offer benefits that result from everyday business dealings. Cash back rewards can even be obtained using Amazon PPC, which is an essential component to achieving success on the platform—for new and established businesses alike. Several business cards exist to help companies get a simple cash back on their advertising spending, but the following 3 will help provide a great baseline:
- Alliant Cash Back Card
- a. 3% cash back for the first year, 2.5% afterwards
- b. Link
- Chase Business Ink
- 80k Bonus Points + 3x points on advertising spend up to 150k
- Link
- Chase Reserve
- 50k Bonus
- 50% bonus when redeeming
The above tactics and strategies can help sellers create a product that they themselves would want to purchase. The ultimate goal is to craft a business image that is based on the customer’s perspective. There is no lack of available strategies—the list is seemingly endless—but in the end, if business owners can keep an open mind and use a combination of solutions, as well as follow tips and advice from experienced sellers, they can skip the learning selling curve and give their venture a valuable jumpstart. Bottom line: Amazon isn’t showing any signs of slowing down, so failure to jump on the bandwagon now would result in some unfavorable consequences. Businesses that choose to take action today will most certainly reap the benefits!
