Learn the Online Marketing Strategy of an Amazon

The online marketing strategy of Amazon  is one for the books. If you want to know how to start an Amazon business, learn from this online retail giant. However, back in its early days, many had thought that Amazon was just another dot-com fever dream. It started as a website that sold books, way back on July 5, 1994. Now, it is only a shadow of its former self and has evolved into a global e-commerce powerhouse. 

This article will discuss the online marketing strategies that Amazon implemented over the years, which helped them reach a revenue of $75.452 billion in the first quarter of 2020. As a seller, you may use one of the techniques build your own Amazon wholesale business.

Search Engine Optimization

Before Amazon became one of the largest e-commerce platforms worldwide, its 1999 version was a flop, which was called the "zShops" (pronounced as "zee shops").

z Shops' concept was a platform where sellers can set up their online shops, but it wasn't given a warm welcome. Luckily, Amazon pushed through and repurposed the idea to transform it into a bonafide marketplace. In the modified model, sellers can offer their products on Amazon, besides Amazon's products. Thus, the birth of Amazon's search engine algorithm, the A9.

Interestingly, if you visit the www.A9.com website, you will be redirected to the Amazon Marketplace. It goes to show that the marketplace is a search engine in itself. A9 is Amazon's subsidiary that designed the search engine.

As a seller, what can you do to take advantage of this online marketing strategy of Amazon? The "king of e-commerce" has already laid the foundation for you. All you have to do is optimize your listings so A9 can rank your wholesale products. 

Search Engine Marketing

Amazon saw an opportunity to launch its search engine marketing or paid search marketing program in its massive data bank. 

Amazone records and measures every search, every page view, every purchase, and every hit of the back button. They use a data-driven approach to understand a customer's shopping behavior and utilize it to spur the customer's checkout process. 

This led to the introduction of Amazon PPC (pay-per-click) ads, namely, sponsored products, sponsored brands, and display ads. Each ad represents the buyer's journey. For example,sponsored brands helps raise awareness among consumers who aren't familiar with the brand and its products yet.

How do you sell on Amazon using this strategy? Remember, it isn't the money you make from customer purchases that make you rich, what is more important is the data you've gathered through the years as an Amazon seller. Turn this data into gold by launching Amazon PPC ads through your selected products. These ads will lead you to the right target audience that will eventually lead to sales.

Social Media Marketing

Amazon isn't limiting its marketing efforts within its online marketplace. It also branched out to various social media platforms, as follows:

• Twitter - in Amazon's main Twitter account, the online shopping giant unleashes its funny bone to engage with its customers. They have also made different Twitter handles for customer support, to announce the latest news on Amazon, and to target geographical market segments. Lately, they have been using their main Twitter handle to introduce their employees and their contribution to the company.

• Facebook - is used for promotions and company updates in video format. It seems Amazon is riding the waves of video content to attract more customers and sellers.

• Instagram - is primarily for product promotion where they interview influencers, artists, and authors. Amazon uses the swipe up feature to drive viewers to Amazon and urge them to buy the featured product.

• Pinterest - is a platform where Amazon shows its prowess in creating thematic mood boards. These so-called "lifestyle buckets" are used to entice customers to buy  products on Amazon.

• Twitch - is an Amazon-owned live streaming platform. Itis another avenue to promote Prime community games. 

Follow Amazon's example by setting up social media accounts where you can advertise your Amazon wholesale business. It is an online marketing strategy for Amazon that takes advantage of off-site advertising to drive traffic and sales. For example, you can create an Instagram account dedicated to your products and add a link in the bio that will lead customers to your product listings on Amazon.

Email Marketing

Is email marketing dead? “Nope,” says Amazon . After the customer places an order, a series of emails will land in the customer's inbox containing several product recommendations from Amazon. That's how aggressive this online marketing strategy of Amazon is.

Email marketing campaigns include offering upselling, seasonal deals, best-selling products, complete product packages, and social proofs. 

Amazon has a library of automated email programs for every recommendation and new release. However, they know how to stop by suspending email campaigns with low subscriber rates.

Amazon will not always promote your products in their email campaigns. You can do your part by creating your website, gathering leads, and sending out relevant promotional emails personalized based on the customer's buyer journey.

Influencer Marketing

Believe it or not, Amazon has its segment for this. It is called the Amazon Influencer Program. Social media influencers can have their pages on Amazon with a vanity URL to showcase Amazon products that they want to promote.

It is another way to drive traffic to Amazon and increase sales. Besides the monetary benefits, enrolled influencers can also gain more followers, improving their influencer rating.

We're not sure if you're allowed to commission an influencer to promote your products through this program. However, it may be possible to do this outside Amazon and ask an influencer to advertise your products on their social media accounts.

Reputation Marketing

Amazon is ridiculously good at this type of online marketing that it even led them to create a social media platform. Where can you find it? It is nestled within the product listing pages, also known as the Customer Review section.

Moreover, did you know that Amazon was one of the first marketplaces to offer a review system in 1995? Critics argued that letting customers submit reviews of products is retail suicide. 

Amazon proved them wrong. The Customer Review feature became a platform on its own where buyers can interact with each other to help them with their buying decisions, thus, promoting a "word of mouth" system.

Of course, as a seller, you won't let customers rant about your products. Diplomatically defend yourself by offering suggestions on how you can help them. See to it that you regularly and promptly answer their questions and rants so your seller rating won’t be affected.

Key Takeaways

It seems Amazon never left a stone unturned when it comes to various online marketing strategies. Each online marketing strategy of Amazon is tailored to one specific objective: customer satisfaction. 

For example, Amazon uses search engine optimization to show the most relevant products based on the customer's keyword. Amazon also values its customers' opinions and even designed their own space in the marketplace. 

Amazon uses different advertising avenues to improve their customers' buying experience. As a seller, besides thinking of "how do you sell on Amazon," you must also ensure that you're offering high-quality products and excellent customer service. Once you build your Amazon wholesale business about Amazon's objective, there's no doubt it will succeed.

Have you decided which online marketing strategy of Amazon you want to try? Let Seller Interactive help you! We have a team of expert Amazon consultants who knows how to start an Amazon business. For inquiries, email [email protected].