Six Ways To Grow Your Amazon Business In 2020

By the year 2022, Amazon is expected to earn more than $350 billion in global revenue. And savvy brands and retailers are reaping the benefits of this tremendous growth. However, it’s becoming more complex to manage and take advantage of its capabilities. To help brands do this, I’m sharing six ways to grow your Amazon business in 2020. Keep these recommendations in mind when your brand refreshes its strategy.

1. Embrace Trial And Error

One of the most important things we’ve learned over the years is the importance of trial and error on Amazon. Since the marketplace is always changing, we’ve learned the lesson that what once didn’t work is worth trying again.

Trial and error are important for both new and routine campaigns. And, in 2020, brands should commit to pushing the envelope. In today’s e-commerce landscape, brands must take their strategies to the next level. To do so, in our experience, persistence and innovation are key.

For example, you could test different techniques in Amazon’s back end or on the product detail pages. Through this, you can consistently find new ways to improve the shopper experience and add efficiency to your processes.

Our technical analysts have also unveiled opportunities for clients by testing new bundles and pack sizes. This requires time, research and skill to approach in a way that works for your unique business. Yet, when bundles and pack sizes are popular, it can create impressive momentum for a brand’s catalog.

2. Diversify Your Advertising Mix 

I’ve shared the importance of using both programmatic and search advertising before. To reiterate, we have seen the best results when implementing both options. Using Amazon DSP (programmatic) capitalizes on the shopper’s intent captured through Amazon Advertising (search) campaigns. In 2020, we expect more clients and brands to adapt to this practice. We also expect brands and retailers to introduce new tactics such as over-the-top (OTT) advertising and Sponsored Brand video ads.

The results driven by these campaigns are important, but the insights associated with reporting are invaluable. Diversifying your brand’s advertising mix will increase awareness, discoverability and sales. But it will also expand your brand’s knowledge of consumer behavior and allow you to refine your approach if needed.

3. Cater To Mobile Shoppers

Each year, mobile is becoming more important to those of us in e-commerce. Optimizing on Amazon is possible, but it requires specific knowledge of best practices. This can apply to a product’s detail page, A+content, Store, advertising campaigns, and more. Prioritizing this will protect the customer’s experience and benefit other aspects of your brand’s Amazon presence.

For example, the Buy Box is more prominent on mobile devices and brands need to optimize accordingly. Doing so will improve the chances of making a sale. After all, 79% of shoppers make online purchases using a mobile device. We recommend regularly monitoring Buy Box ownership across your catalog and taking your product detail pages up a notch. Remember to include high-quality design and images and keep copy short and easy to read.

4. Practice Data-Backed Decision-Making

As I touched on above, the insights and data available through Amazon are extremely useful if you know how to use it to your advantage. In particular, advertising data is developing and continues to get better. Brands should build the knowledge to leverage attribution, new-to-brand, seller performance and more to regularly refine its strategy.

There’s nothing wrong with trying new things, but using historical data to make strategic decisions almost always pays off. If you don’t reach the goal you were intending to hit, you can still learn something valuable in the process.

5. Harness The Power Of Social Media 

Brands can drive traffic to their listings in more ways than advertising solely on the channel. There is a number of social media platforms to leverage and link to product detail pages or Storefronts. I recommend linking through advertisements, social posts or a mix of the two options.

Including social media in your brand’s Amazon strategy expands the reach of your products. It also is an opportunity to gain visibility for your brand without having to compete with listings in Amazon’s search results.

6. Focus On Earning More Customer Reviews

We’ve discussed the importance of customer reviews and user-generated content many times. This year, and well into the future, reviews will heavily influence whether shoppers purchase a product.

In fact, 91% of shoppers are more likely to make a purchase after reading positive online reviews. As it applies to Amazon, reviews are an essential tool to encourage customers to make a purchase if they’re undecided.

There are different steps brands can take to increase the likelihood of receiving positive reviews. But above all, we stress the importance of providing a great customer experience. Many negative reviews on Amazon include feedback associated with being misled or having unmet expectations. Fully optimizing your brand’s listing will allow shoppers to fully understand what your product is and what they can expect. As a result, the chances of receiving good feedback will be greater.

Brands that sell on Amazon will always have something new to try or learn different ways to grow their performance on the channel. These are just a handful of examples to get you started.