If you’ve been following us here on the Day 2 podcast, I’m sure you’ve got a ton of value and useful insights on how to succeed on Amazon. This episode is about how to sell on Amazon the right way, thinking long-term with the right Amazon Sellers Playbook.
In the first 4 episodes, we’ve covered a lot of ground. We’ve talked about our Origin Story, Myths of Selling on Amazon, Biggest Amazon Seller Mistakes, and How Amazon Algorithm really works.
The Amazon marketplace offers an incredible opportunity for brands to reach a wider customer base to sell more. But to stand out, you have to beat the fierce competition.
Shannon and I disclose the 5 fundamentals you MUST get right to set your brand for long-term success.
Unfortunately, many sellers only do one or two of these things, but you have to do them all. They build off each other, and you have to do them correctly and repeatedly.
These basics help you launch, Listen, Learn, and Respond fast. This is the name of the Amazon game.
Product is King/Queen
This is our very first point in our playbook. Your success will significantly be determined by how good your product is. No matter how well you execute the other steps, if consumers don’t see how they benefit from your product, then it won’t work.
But don’t mistake a great product with a perfect product.
You don’t have to launch with a perfect product on Amazon. You have to put it out there first, then put your ear close to the ground and listen to what the customer tells you. Listen for their experiences with your product and iterate like crazy to meet their needs.
Brands that use this customer-driven innovation in their product development dominate their niches. A good example here is Apple.
How do you listen to your customers?
Product reviews, ratings, customer service interactions, and Q&As are all places where your customers are telling you what you need to do.
Lay the Foundation for your Listing
Now that we have a great product, we must lay the foundation for its success. In our Amazon Seller Playbook, we do it in two ways.
The first is laying the SEO foundation for your listing. This includes having a searchable image, having the right keywords, and having a good product title among other SEO basics
For the most part, the best sellers understand the SEO aspect of a product listing. What they don’t understand is the second part of laying the foundation.
For consumers to want to buy your product, they must clearly see how it improves their lives. If you can show them how they benefit from your product, you have yourself a paying customer.
How do you do this…
Having great copy and images of happy people interacting with your product tells a good story of the benefits. Product features help you tell this story better.
More importantly, remember that you are trying to sell the end result. You are trying to tap into your customer’s aspirations and make them believe your product gets them there.
For instance, if your product is a hairdryer, you are selling faster dry hair that gets you out of the door in 5 minutes. That’s the end result that the customer is looking for.
Drive Traffic to your Listing
With a great product and the proper foundation in place, it’s time to drive traffic to your listing. Last week, we talked about the A9 algorithm. This is where it comes in on our playbook.
“If you build it, they will not come. You have to drive traffic to your listing.” Jason Boyce.
Ideally, you want to outrank your competition for high-volume keywords. When the algorithm notices that people are seeing your product, clicking it, and buying it at a higher rate than competitors, it will place you higher on organic searches.
Once this happens, even your ads will perform better. You will get a higher placement at a lower cost due to a higher relevancy score.
Free Shipping is the name of the Game
Now that you’ve made the sale, you have to fulfill it. There are two options, either FBA (Fulfillment By Amazon) or FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant)
FBA is where you deliver the product to amazon’s warehouse, and they deliver it to the client. With FBM, Amazon provides you with the order information, and you ship it directly to the customer.
If you are doing FBM, you need to ensure that you deliver on time.
“The number one reason sellers get suspended is for late shipping.” Shannon Roddy
But fast, free shipping is really the name of the game.
Here’s a stat to back this up. 80% of Amazon Prime members filter by free two-day shipping. If you are not using FBA, they won’t even see your product. You cannot afford to miss out on Prime members because, on average, they spend 2-3 times more than non-Prime members.
Take care of your customers
More than ever before in history, consumers today have a lot of power. And this statement holds true more on Amazon.
Customers can wreck you and your whole brand at the press of a button. The power that consumers have with Amazon reviews is immense.
So what to do about it?
Listen to your customers, fix their problems, and take care of them. That is not too much to ask for people giving you their money.
A bad experience is an opportunity to create a customer for life. Studies show that fixing a customer’s problem comprehensively will likely win them over and make them your brand ambassador.
Don’t miss this opportunity. Bend over backward for your customers, and they will, in turn, take care of you.
Tune in to this episode as Shannon and I go over the Amazon Seller Playbook in great detail and give examples at each stage of what successful sellers are doing and how to execute these steps.
Tune in!
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