Bernard May is the CEO of National Positions, a 5-time Inc. 500 company, award-winning marketing agency and Google Premier Partner.
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In case you haven’t been able to check out the numbers lately, e-commerce is kind of a big deal right now. Clocking an impressive double-digit growth in 2021 alone, e-commerce purchasing is changing shopping habits and converting into record sales numbers.
And we can’t talk about e-commerce (and all of its opportunities) without looking over our shoulder and addressing the Amazon-sized giant in the room. Some businesses sneer at the disruptive force with disdain, while others consider the opportunities that may exist within Amazon’s digital walls. Either way, one thing is indisputable—with Amazon accounting for over 40% of e-commerce purchases in the U.S., it cannot be ignored.
Amazon (from a marketing standpoint) provides an interesting range of possibilities and profit potential. With this in mind, I want to share with you three key areas that you should consider if you are thinking about making your Amazon marketing a priority in 2022. These are what I recommend that my agency’s clients think about as well.
SEO Powers Visibility On Amazon
To sell on Amazon, you first need to be found on Amazon. And while that Amazon app in our pockets will let us search with images and barcodes, the vast majority of us looking for that next purchase are going to search with good old-fashioned words and phrases.
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This is where solid, tried-and-true SEO knowledge you’ve probably used along your digital marketing journey is going to come in very handy. It’s still SEO, but with an Amazon twist. Here are some of the most important considerations for capturing more Amazon search traffic:
• Product titles: Amazon gives you up to 200 product title characters so you can stand out from the competition. Really focus on those long-tail descriptive, contextual keywords and phrases that customers use when searching for your product (i.e., color, brand name, product type, model numbers, sizing, etc.).
• Product highlights: Highlights are the handy bullet points you can use in your listing to show off your differentiators (i.e., quality, use cases, materials used, etc.). A camera, for example, might have highlights like “Perfect for night shooting and low light environments,” and “Compatible with any Sony lens kit.”
• Product descriptions: When it comes to describing all the glorious benefits of your product, Amazon gives you 2,000 characters to get the job done. Be sure to apply all of your most valuable keywords and phrases to this section in a “chunky and scannable” format.
Paid Ads Are (Almost) Nonnegotiable
When you have sellers with thousands of product ratings and reviews on Amazon already, a purely organic approach (even if done perfectly) is likely not going to make the impact you’re looking for. But paid media placement on Amazon might be enough to get the ball rolling and push your product into the spotlight.
• Sponsored product ads: As the name implies, Amazon’s sponsored product ads are designed to drive attention to your specific product. The functionality is similar to traditional Google ads in that they function on a pay-per-click basis.
• Sponsored brand ads: Looking to take up more ad real estate not just for your product but also for your brand? Well, here you go. These ads will populate above not only the organic listings but also paid product listings with much more prominent placement.
• Sponsored display ads: As a marketer, I am always looking for ways to leverage a remarketing strategy, and display ads provide this ability. Remarketing is not the only thing you can do with display ads, but if you are striving for more middle- or bottom-of-funnel action, consider adding display ads to your toolkit.
And this is just scratching the surface. There are also audio ads, video ads, live shopping, etc. The point is, as a new seller on Amazon, sometimes your customers need some help finding what you have to offer—and paid ads might just help bridge the gap.
Reviews And Ratings Rule Search Traffic
The better your reviews and ratings, the better your placement in Amazon (organic) search will be. Why is this the case? Because Amazon wants to move products quickly, and the algorithm knows that the better a product is rated and reviewed, the more likely it is to sell. Needless to say, a solid strategy for garnering positive ratings and reviews is a must.
This being said, here are a few things to keep in mind:
• Quality over quantity: It is better to have fewer great ratings and reviews than a boatload of bad ones. So focus on building this status over time. Make sure you have automated follow-ups for your customers to remind them to leave you a star rating after delivery.
• Age matters: Based on our experience, Amazon wants to see a particular frequency to show that you are gaining star ratings and reviews over time. In other words, consistent and timely garnering of reviews is more valuable than the 50 reviews a product received three years ago (and that was it).
• Ratings are not reviews: It is easy to get ratings and reviews conflated, but they are not the same thing. Ratings are those handy one to five stars that your customers can give with a single click. Reviews take more effort as customers actually need to log in and write. You want to have a good mix of both.
It’s A Jungle In There
Amazon marketing is a whole world in and of itself, and this world is continuing to expand with live broadcasts, video content, A-plus pages and so much more. But as with all marketing strategies, you need to take things one step at a time and build upon your successes. Amazon will no doubt continue adding to its promotional capabilities as time goes on. So don’t worry about doing everything at once; just focus on getting started.
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Author: Bernard May, Forbes Councils Member
