Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Liz Pekarek from ecomdash.com
Amazon is perhaps the online seller’s most profitable marketplace, ranking high on the list of the world’s most visited websites, and drawing in countless buyers daily. In fact, it’s an ecommerce seller’s paradise if you can stand up against the competition. To encourage buyers to choose your store over a competitor’s, you need to get creative with your business strategies, both in and out of the marketplace. Here are five ways to compete on Amazon and win better sales:
1. Master Social Media Marketing
To bring traffic and sales to your Amazon store, get active on social media and share great content. John Lawson, Chief Consultant of ColderICE Media and former Amazon top seller, suggests spending 4-5 hours a week working on targeted campaigns to find an audience of buyers.
He claims that ‘pull marketing’ – not ‘push marketing’ – can help you achieve it. The aim is to create and share content that will pull followers in, and encourage them to eventually follow through with a purchase, rather than “push” products at the audience.
For example, if you sell bridal accessories, push marketing would be posting things like “My products are must-haves.” By contrast, pull marketing would be sharing a blog post entitled “The Hottest Trends for Fall Weddings” on your social channels. It’s far less promotional but more attractive to the bride-to-be, aka the target market.
2. Strategize Sponsored Products
Selling Sponsored Products is one of the best ways for Amazon sellers to drive incremental sessions to a product details page, increasing profitability. This tool displays product ads below the search results and in the right-hand column of the SERP (Search Engine Results Page), as well as in an ad placement on detail pages, possibly even on mobile devices.
Amazon Sponsored Products can get your products listed under the first SERP page for your chosen search terms in exchange for a fee that applies to every click on your ad. To capitalize on Amazon Sponsored Products, bid on the most relevant keywords. This is a good way to move inventory with low visibility, clearance or seasonal items, making room for new products.
3. Optimize Listings
The better your listings, the more views and conversions, and consequently the more sales you’ll have. But you need to be sure you’re targeting the right shoppers. One way to optimize your listings for maximum conversions is to put together a really strong title by following these rules:
- Capitalize the first letter of each word, not the entire word.
- All numbers should be numerals.
- Spell out measurement units (i.e. Pounds, Inches, Yards).
- Avoid ampersands and all other special characters, unless they are part of a brand name.
- If the size is not relevant, don’t list it in the title.
- Optimal titles have less than 80 characters.
- If the item doesn’t come in multiple colors, the color should be noted in the title.
- Commas should separate data elements.
- DO NOT include price, quantity, seller information, promotional messages like ‘sale’, suggestive comments like ‘best seller’.
Still not sure about your listing title? Here’s a good rule of thumb for optimized product titles: Brand + Style + Product Type + Material + Keyword + Branded Color + Color.
4. Eliminate Stock-Outs
To be eligible for the Buy Box (or win good sales at all), you need to make sure the core of your business is secure. Costly errors like stock-outs and overselling will damage your business to the core.
If you sell out of an item before you cancel the listing, this will negatively impact your ODR (order defect rate), which can lead to suspension from the Amazon marketplace. If you’re lucky enough to avoid suspension, the customer that bought a sold-out item will more than likely leave negative feedback.
The poorer your feedback score, the harder it will be to win the Buy Box. Avoid stock-outs by either checking your sales channels constantly to address incoming sales, or using inventory and order management software.
5. Improve Feedback
Since your seller feedback plays a role in Buy Box eligibility and better sales overall, improving your rating should be a priority. Negative feedback is usually a caused by shipping issues, such as late dispatch or products damaged in transit.
Take care of the leading causes by getting on top of your shipping management and making sure your packaging is reinforced with mailing tape, bubble wrap and sturdy packing materials. When you feel confident in your shipping process, start asking for buyer feedback.
You still need to abide by Amazon’s policies regarding contacting buyers, meaning you cannot ask for positive feedback in exchange for something (thereby incentivizing the buyer). But you may send one follow-up email requesting feedback after fulfilling an order.
Thank buyers for their purchase, kindly request feedback, and ask them to contact you if there is an issue, so they don’t end up filing an A-to-Z claim in order to reach you. Alternatively, you can include a note with your packing slips. If you have a manageable order volume, handwriting this note on your packing slips will up the ante and add a personal touch rarely seen on Amazon.
Mastering all five tenets of running a successful Amazon business gears you up for competing against others and winning more sales. The better your feedback rating, ODR, and listings, the better your shot at qualifying for the Buy Box. Implement these strategies today, and start reaping the benefits tomorrow.