There are over 2 billion digital buyers in the world. As you can imagine, their go-to marketplace is Amazon, as it has over 200 million unique visitors a month.
Most business owners understand the power of Amazon, but they don’t know how to reach their sales goals. Advertising campaigns are an obvious way to do this, but with CPC’s rapidly increasing in 2020, what else can be done that won’t break the bank?
Here are 6 free ways to increase your sales on Amazon and help you reach more potential customers.
1. Search engine optimization
SEO on Amazon** is a little different than on other platforms like Google. If you opt to not optimize your detail pages during peak holidays or seasonality shifts, you will decrease the likelihood of potential customers finding you when they type common phrases in. This means fewer clicks for you, and more for your competitors.
There are a lot of great ways to find keywords. You can review your competitors listings and see what key phrases they have throughout their detail pages. You can spend some time learning about Amazon’s ranking factors and see what keywords can help increase your rank in the category.
You’ll need to choose the right keywords, create relevant product titles, write persuasive product descriptions and bullet points, and utilize backend search terms on your product page.
If you have a vendor account, you can also go to the “Brand Analytics” tab under reports to find the most common searches on Amazon in the past 24 hours. This is great data that can help you see the shifts in searching behaviours and help you stay ahead of the curve.
2. A+ Content (formerly known as enhanced brand content)
A+ Content is designed to help sellers increase the conversion rate on the page. That’s because it allows you to overcome objections, showcase your unique value proposition, and delve deep into the features and benefits of your products. It’s also excellent for your ranking since Amazon considers the quality of your content as part of its algorithm.
It enables a brand owner to describe their brand/products offering in a compelling and unique way. You can provide descriptions, high-quality videos, custom copy, and even charts. If you’re a brand registered seller, you can use A+ Content to stand out from your competitors.
3. Review optimization
Eighty-four percent of people trust online reviews as much as a recommendation from a friend. Reviews also factor heavily into Amazon’s ranking algorithm.
These reviews are a powerful tool in your marketing toolbox. Encourage customers to leave reviews, especially with descriptions of usage, product pictures, or videos as these help build trust. Always respond politely to negative feedback to ensure you look engaged with current customers.
Be sure to collect reviews across different platforms to drive sales and increase your rankings.
4. A/B testing
“Amazon Experiments” is a new way of testing your detail pages to ensure that you are putting forth the best detail page experience. The best form of testing is when you have 2 A+ Content tests start and end at the same time, and you have a clear way of measuring success. We recommend detail page views, conversion rate, reach, and sales.
How does it work? Great question. There are 3 easy steps:
- Choose an ASIN that already receives high traffic and is eligible for experiments.
- Submit your second content variation you would like to test in the A+ Content Manager.
- Once both are approved, create the experiment!
5. Videos
In your 7-8 image stacks, did you know that you can place a video there? And did you know that the majority of users review these videos before even reading the bullet points?
59% of executives say they would rather watch a video than read bullet points. Videos are very powerful to potential consumers.
You can utilize video to help tell your brand story and the benefits of the product. These videos can also be used further down the detail page as well as in advertising video campaigns (this placement costs money).
6. In-depth analysis
As the saying goes, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Every change and update you make should be tracked so you can see what’s working . . . and what isn’t.
Purchasing trends are continually evolving, and your ability to access actionable insights can make or break your brand’s success on Amazon. Unfortunately, metrics from Amazon may not tell the whole picture, which is why it’s important to get your hands on the most relevant statistics.
Some of the ways we recommend doing this is through business reports inside of your Vendor or Seller Central account. It can show you patterns in purchasing behaviours that can help you make your next move.
There are also other tools off-platform that can be helpful, like Helium 10 or Viral launch. These tools can help you see category performance and rank changes.
You’ll also need to analyze your competitors. Look at their reviews, Prime eligibility, pricing, sales numbers, and the quality of their listing. You can compete in all of these areas, and basic competitor research will help you see opportunities for improvement.
Is your brand doing these six things well? We can run a custom Marketplace Performance Score for you to find out how well you’re doing and how you match up to competition. Reach out here to learn more about MPS and get a custom analysis for your brand.
