If you want to be successful selling on Amazon, you must embrace the right marketing and sales tactics. And this means improving your listing and ad strategies.
4 Amazon Hacks for Success
If you’re selling physical products, Amazon is the place to be. But to cut through the competition and reach the right consumers with the right offer, you must be strategic in your approach and execution. Here are a few Amazon “hacks” you can use to achieve superior results:
1. Strategically Optimize Product Titles
The product title is one of the most important elements of any Amazon listing. The right title will not only help you rank well in terms of Amazon SEO, but it also leads to increased click-through rates (which leads to more sales and better rankings).
You want your title to be as descriptive as possible. Amazon encourages sellers to use as many of the following as possible: brand, description, material/key ingredient, color, size, product line, and quantity. (The most important words should go at the beginning of the title so as not to be truncated on mobile devices.)
While it’s important to include as many keywords as possible, don’t overstuff your title just for the sake of filling space. All titles should be kept to 200 characters or less.
2. Enhance Your Descriptions
Once you get someone to click on your listing, you need to focus on actionable steps that get them to click the “add to cart” button and follow through with a purchase. The description portion of your listing is one of the key spaces where this happens. Here are a few tips for writing descriptions:
- Each bullet point on your description should be benefits-focused, rather than feature-focused. You can mention features, but they should always be tied to benefits the customer will experience.
- Use long-tail keywords, rather than basic keywords. (“longest lasting flashlight batteries” rather than “flashlight batteries)
- Create a sense of urgency by mentioning that there are limited quantities or that products are selling fast.
- Add a call-to-action at the end (like “order now”) to move people to buy the product.
Honestly, the best thing you can do is study what top listings in your space are doing. There’s a reason they’re ranked at the top of the Amazon search results. Look for similarities between these listings and try to implement some of the same principles into your own descriptions.
3. Choose the Appropriate Ad Types
When it comes to advertising with Amazon AMS, you must understand what you’re doing before launching a campaign. Otherwise, you could end up spending a lot of money without getting any results.
Entire guides and books have been written on Amazon advertising best practices, so we’ll just keep it simple. The first step to successful advertising is to choose the appropriate ad type. Here’s a very simple breakdown:
- Sponsored products. Your products appear on page one of Amazon search results for specific keyword terms. It’s a quick way to reserve a top spot in the rankings.
- Sponsored brands. Display an ad for your brand in the search results, which directs people to your store page.
- Display ads. Appear in the sidebar or at the top of the page. Can also appear to users across the internet – not just on Amazon.
- Video ads. Appear at the top or middle of Amazon pages and can take users to a specific product page, Amazon store, or even a website outside of Amazon.
- Custom ads. Allow you to create custom ads with products, static images, and video (or any combination).
With so many different types of Amazon ads in the ecosystem, you’ll have to do your research and choose strategically. Hopefully this basic primer points you in a clear direction.
4. Price With a Purpose
One of the biggest problems physical products brands have on Amazon is trying to become the low price leader. They assume that if they can offer a decent product at a cheaper price than the competition, people will choose them. But this isn’t always true. In fact, many customers are willing to pay a premium if they feel like your product is higher in quality, has more features, or offers better customer service.
The moral of the story: Price with a purpose and don’t be afraid to come in at a premium price point.
Elevate Your Amazon Game
If winning with Amazon were easy, everyone would have seven- and eight-figure online businesses. But, alas, it requires a lot of work and effort. As you attempt to win big with Amazon, make sure you’re paying attention to the details, optimizing, and iterating.
Whether it’s product titles and descriptions, ad types, or pricing, there’s always an opportunity for improvement. And you never know which small change will make a significant difference!
