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Organic Marketing 101 for Amazon Sellers
Introduction
With 2.5 billion visits each month on Amazon.com, there is no limit to the opportunities for profitability on this platform when you are an eCommerce Seller in 2023. This is especially true if you have a solid, in-demand product that is well-branded, well-designed, and well-regarded.
From our experience, products with SEO-optimized titles, bullets, A+ Content, and a history of positive reviews are almost always the products that gain the most momentum, mostly because of the Amazon algorithm taking note too.
That positive forward movement can become a tidal wave of success with a solid marketing strategy in place behind the scenes. Eeking out your market share through SEO keywords and paid advertising alone is risky.
Read on while we explore some more “organic” tactics and ideas that take place off of Amazon — to increase your likelihood of profitability and long term viability in the Amazon marketplace.
Branding Done Right
Before launching your product on Amazon, start with the basics: branding. Your brand personality, once defined, will be amplified through the naming of your product, the labeling, the packaging, and the website you create to share its existence. The brand voice extends outward through your social media channels, your customer service, and any organic placements in the media.
APPEAL IS EVERYTHING
When it comes to any Consumer Packaged Good (CPG), appeal can close a sale faster than any clever copy. Colors and fonts can influence a shopper’s impression of a product more than anything. No matter how hard you advertise, the discerning shopper will look at your product and quickly decide if it belongs in their lives.
Mrs. Meyers’ dish soaps appealed to consumers because they stood out as unusual and unique, and more natural looking than the traditional blue soap. They were packaged simply with a range of attractive label colors. There is no getting around the fact that good design often makes people feel better about the products they buy because they reflect how they feel, or aspire to feel, about themselves.
NAMING
Mad Hippie is a great example of a memorable “outside the box” brand name meeting up with an exceptional label and outer packaging design that is instantly appealing to its core target audience. The unusual yet descriptive name appeals to young women who fit the archetype of the Bohemian Wanderers of Planet Earth who wish to join the company’s mission to make the world a better place.
PRODUCT DESIGN & PACKAGING
Over Sky Organics, Mad Hippie will most likely convince more shoppers to buy because of the design. The colors, fonts, and brand personality are all clear and appeal directly to the target audience’s deepest desires to acquire unique and beautiful things that make them feel beautiful too.
WEBSITE
A very small percentage of shoppers start their research on brand-owned websites relative to the searches on Amazon. However, it is important to have a professional website to present as your calling card for those consumers interested in diving deeper into your brand story.
If your website looks outdated, clunky, unprofessional, and is not SEO-optimized, it will only hurt your prospects for success. If your site is not optimized for mobile phones, Google will stop indexing it, so you will automatically lose potential customers.
We do not recommend forgoing building a beautiful and compelling website, as it is yet another valuable tool in attracting the attention of the Google search engine and therefore potential customers.
The Mad Hippie website offers a great example of how to reinforce the brand design and share the philosophy of making the world a more beautiful place through its products.
The site has an unmistakably clean and pretty look with whimsical handwritten fonts that follow the product design scheme — every word and design element communicates what this company stands for at every level.
The Mad Hippie website is fun, easy to navigate, and informative. It reinforces the brand’s desire to have not only an impact on the customer’s beauty routine but on the planet.
Not every website can reach as far as Mad Hippie with how they reinforce their brand with the designs, fonts, and brand promises. However, any brand website, even if it is only one page, should have a unique and memorable look, tell the brand story as authentically as possible, and be easy to navigate.
Shopify, Wix, and Squarespace are just a few of the eCommerce website companies that have become affordable options for designing professional websites that are easy to market and populate with SEO apps that help attract traffic.
If you need assistance getting your website up and running optimally, you can hire affordable experts by the hour or project from a site like Fiverr or Upwork.
Build a Healthy Email List
When creating your company eCommerce Seller website, we recommend building a newsletter signup form that is visible and easily accessed. A pop-up after a few seconds on your homepage can offer something in exchange for an email address. For most brands, this means a discount on a first purchase.
To drive traffic back to your Amazon product, you can generate a discount code in Seller Central to share with customers after they have signed up.
KEEP THE EMAIL DESIGN CONSISTENT WITH YOUR BRAND
The design of your marketing emails should match the design of your website; this cannot be emphasized enough. Every email from your company is another opportunity to reinforce the brand.
Most eCommerce platforms have plentiful in-app or third-party options for newsletter templates that you can design and keep ready for all your emails.
Amazon now also offers a free in-app email service that will go to anyone who chooses to follow your brand within Amazon.
Not all apps have the same capabilities, so do your research and carefully read the reviews from other eCommerce Sellers. Investing in one that does it all, such as automated welcome emails and pop-ups, can make a big difference to your bottom line.
SHARE RELATABLE STORIES THAT NURTURE INTEREST
Don’t know what to write in your marketing emails? Start by sharing your brand story and why you started the company. Were you having a problem with finding a skincare product that treated eczema, so you discovered your own? Share all the reasons why you think your products will make a difference in the lives of your customers, and, if possible, share testimonials from your customers that prove your point.
SEND WEEKLY PROMOTIONAL EMAILS
Once you have a sizable email marketing list (even if it’s only 50 people) you can send short but well-designed weekly promotional emails to highlight products in your Amazon store. If you are running a flash sale on Amazon, do not miss the opportunity to let your most loyal followers know. They will be the first to seize the opportunity to buy and the first to tell their friends either by email, word of mouth, or through social media.
Maintain an Organic Social Media Presence
While navigating social media algorithms has become more challenging than ever in the age of reels and stories, don’t overlook an organic social media platform. It can help you attract more shoppers to your Amazon store.
While CPG companies and brands often tend to follow what someone else is doing to make sure they are not stepping too far outside the box, the best personal advice, “just be you,” applies. The more authentic your content and aligned with your company’s brand values, the more followers you will gain and potential loyal customers.
POST UNIQUE CONTENT IN MOTION
Videos have displaced static posts on social media platforms. Even Pinterest is starting to encourage more video posts. Static images, no matter how descriptive or aesthetically pleasing, have fallen behind moving images in the algorithms’ prioritizing.
Short videos can be intimidating if you are not in the habit of making them. Keep in mind, to be influential, the videos do not have to be made by a costly professional.
The most popular videos on social media are made simply with a mobile phone and often with an affordable app that automatically adds captions. In-app features on TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook are also useful and getting more advanced every day.
If your brand has room for humor, never fear going there, as making people laugh is one of the fastest ways to build genuine rapport.
Remember Dollar Shave Club? They were a small brand that came out of nowhere a decade ago and became a billion-dollar company by creating clever and funny videos that inspired belly laughs, active sharing, and loyal buying among the target audience.
MATCH THE TONE OF YOUR BRAND
If the overall tone of your social media does not match all the work you put into branding (product labeling, packaging, and your website), then reassess your strategy. Consumers are savvy and will often notice that something is off, and their trust will be diminished.
The voice you use in the copywriting of your posts should match the voice you developed for your website.
Tips & Tricks
1
When building your social media pages, when applicable, your banner images should match those of your website.
2
Use the Linktree app on Instagram to direct people to your website, your Amazon store, any notable press stories, and any popular blogs that relate to your brand.
3
Streamline your Facebook and Instagram posting efforts within Meta Business Suite. You can launch your organic posts, reels, or stories simultaneously to both platforms while tailoring your posts slightly for the respective audiences. You can also take advantage of scheduling tools that were once only available in third-party apps.
4
Take the time to build a coherent and visually appealing Pinterest page for your brand that links products from your Amazon store. Use relevant hashtags to make sure you are getting hits from the right audience.
RESPOND TO COMMENTS, NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE
In today’s social media climate, you will inevitably receive a variety of comments. While in a perfect world, they would all be positive, some unhappy people will come after you, no matter what. The right to free speech does not apply to a private company such as Facebook, so you can take immediate and appropriate actions to minimize the negativity in your social media feed.
- If someone posts a comment that is truly racist, offensive, upsetting, or promotes violence, never hesitate to delete, block, and report it.
- If someone posts something that spreads misinformation, engage by countering politely with accurate information. For example, many consumers believe that all palm oil is dangerous; write an understanding but friendly comment that explains how sustainably sourced and beneficial palm fruit exists and does not harm the rainforests.
- Respond to positive comments too. If someone has taken the time out of their busy day to write something nice about your product or brand, thank them and show your appreciation. This gives the impression that you genuinely care about your customers and helps build a loyal following.
- If you cannot answer someone’s question online, ask them to follow up with a DM or offer your customer service email address.
The Influence of Influencers
Since 84% of shoppers start their online research outside of a brand website, the awareness stage of your sales funnel before purchasing on Amazon may need to include many influential tactics, such as:
- Posting SEO-optimized blogs on your website: Research SEO keywords that are most searched on Google and write a short blog about your product that includes them.
- Messaging small to medium up-and-coming influencers and asking for a review in exchange for an online review: If the influencers are receptive (and most influencers love free stuff), you can mail samples of your products. Be prepared for an honest review!
- Create your own YouTube channel: If you are selling a kitchen gadget or new food item, get creative and create a dedicated video channel with recipes and cooking instructions with links to your Amazon store in the description. Make sure to use SEO-optimized titles so that the algorithm discovers your videos.
TURN CUSTOMERS INTO INFLUENCERS
While Amazon has always made engaging directly with customers challenging, there are ways:
- Answer consumer questions on the product page thoughtfully and in a friendly, understanding manner.
- Communicate within the Amazon ecosystem using the new newsletter feature that reaches active followers.
- Respond promptly to customer messages in Seller Central. If something has gone wrong with an order, make amends promptly such as by apologizing for the inconvenience and offering a replacement. This also helps avoid the irreversible damage of negative reviews.
Amazon provides an excellent article, Everything you need to know about customer engagement to explore this topic further.
A happy customer is the most valuable organic marketing tool. According to this Help Scout article “The lifetime value of someone emotionally engaged with your brand is more than twice that of a highly satisfied customer.”
Customers are human with feelings and give their loyalty to fellow humans who are warm, friendly, and helpful. In every aspect of your company — from your brand voice to your social media posts and listening and email marketing — strive to be honest and heartfelt. Your customers will not only be satisfied with the products you make but believe in you too.
HAPPY CUSTOMERS SHARE ASSETS
A customer who believes in your company wholeheartedly is more likely to seek you out and send you a private message on Facebook or Instagram or through your website with a note of appreciation, a photo, or a video of them enjoying the product.
POSITIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES IMPROVE YOUR ROI
According to Ryan Stuart, founder of Kapiche, Customer Experience ROI: How to Convince Leadership It’s Worth It, businesses that prioritize customer experience grow faster than those who do not. Revenue climbs by 1.7 times, customer lifetime value by 2.3X on average, and customer retention by as much as 66%
Conclusion
When setting out to build a successful business on Amazon, it is easy to overlook the traditional sales funnel that begins with brand awareness and ends with a purchase.
When you have a well-conceived brand, a beautifully packaged product, a matching website, and coordinated social media pages with engaging content and active listening, everything you do on Amazon will become that much easier — and more profitable.
Learn more at witzgroup.com.
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Organic Marketing 101 for Amazon Sellers
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