How to Boost Amazon Sales With Off-site Traffic
After starting my journey on Amazon back in 2014, there have been countless changes to their terms of service and how I launch products. But one fact remains the same: Amazon continues to be the best place to sell as an e-commerce brand, manufacturer or retailer. Besides being home to over 310 million customers, it also has a robust ecosystem equipped with all the tools you need to build a successful business. However, let’s face it, Amazon has become a very competitive marketplace in the last couple of years. More often than not, advertising on Amazon alone is not enough. Today’s Amazon sellers need to look at alternative traffic sources to find success. So, what does it take to generate traffic for a new product on Amazon in 2019? There isn’t a “one-size-fits-all: answer, but I’m here to share some viable off-site traffic sources that you can leverage to grow your business
Chatbots
Chatbots are undeniably the future of marketing. They fall in the sweet spot between automation and AI. What exactly is a chatbot? It’s a program that automates tasks such as customer service, order processing, and mailing. Task automation is, however, not the only reason why chatbots make such useful marketing tools. Their versatility is the primary reason why they’re so effective. You can use bot marketing anywhere, whether in social media or email marketing. The most popular bot marketing strategy is the use of Facebook Messenger chatbot. Facebook messenger is still an under-utilized marketing tool since most marketers only perceive it as a messaging app. Don’t be one of those marketers!
To get started with messenger bots, you’d have to run straight-to-Amazon ads on Facebook. Once you set up your Facebook ads, you can begin creating an audience on your Facebook page that you can later market to using your messenger chatbot. The good thing about chatbots is that you can create a personalized experience for your audience. For example, instead of just advertising using normal boring copy, you can offer product suggestions and answer questions about products. You can even send relevant fun facts and other forms of entertainment to increase engagements with your audience.
Facebook retargeting
Retargeting is an essential component of any marketing funnel. According to “The rule of Seven,” a customer needs to see or hear an ad seven times before they can take action. Meaning that you will have to target a customer not once, not twice, but for seven freaking times before they can buy from you. That simple fact gives one some perspective regarding the power of running retargeting ads. Now let’s talk about Facebook retargeting and how it can help boost your Amazon sales.
We’ve already discussed how you can run direct-to-Amazon ads on Facebook, but how do you retarget the people that click your ad? Usually, you’d use a Facebook pixel on your website. Unfortunately, you can’t add a Facebook pixel to your Amazon listing. What you can do, however, is set up a landing page and send your Facebook traffic there instead of sending it directly to your Amazon listings. The landing page gets your potential customers to fill in their email addresses using an incentive such as a discount coupon. Once you have the email addresses, you can input them to your Facebook ad manager to create a look-alike audience for retargeting
An alternative way to achieve Facebook retargeting for your Amazon store would be the use of video ads. With video ads, you have access to viewers’ data unlike when using picture ads. Using this data, you can create a look-alike audience on your Facebook manager and set up a retargeting ad.
Pinterest is one of the most underrated traffic sources. The key to finding success in converting Pinterest traffic is understanding its layout and audience. For starters, 81% of Pinterest users are women between the ages of 25 and 44. Pinterest is also a very visual platform so some products might do well than others. Ideally, the best products to advertise on Pinterest are visually appealing products that attract female customers.
Amazon sellers in the women’s fashion, jewelry, and beauty industries can get highly converting traffic from Pinterest. Sellers in other sectors whose primary audience isn’t women need not fret. They can also get conversions from Pinterest traffic depending on how they package their ads. For example, a seller dealing in toys can package them as gift items for kids in their Pinterest ads. That way, the female audience would buy the toys as gifts for their kids. The same case applies to sellers in male-oriented industries such as male fashion, gadgets, and sports gear. They can tailor their Pinterest ads to portray their products as gift items for men. The target female audience can then buy them as gifts for the men in their lives.
The bottom line is, your success in converting traffic from Pinterest largely depends on your image quality and the way you package your products. SEO also plays a critical part in increasing your images’ and products’ visibility. Leaving your image description as 20190215.jpg will not be of any help to the image’s ranking. Changing the image description to include relevant keywords, on the other hand, helps rank your images higher and increases visibility for your products.
Influencer marketing
Influencer marketing means partnering with an influential person or business and leveraging their audience to drive sales to your business. About 40% of customers use ad blockers, meaning that by only using traditional ads, you’re not reaching 40% of your potential customers. It’s therefore imperative for Amazon sellers to look into non-intrusive and powerful marketing tactics. Influencer marketing is one of the most effective non-intrusive marketing tactics today. So effective is influencer marketing that 49% of online shoppers purchase items after seeing them being used by influencers. Most millennials trust an influencer’s recommendation just as they would a friend’s.
When choosing an influencer, you want to select one whose audience matches your target market. For example, if you sell pet supplies, partner with an influencer whose audience is made up of pet lovers. You also need to know where your target audience likes to hang out. Do they hang out on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram? Does your target audience prefer blogs as opposed to social media? Once you establish this, you can then choose an influencer specializing in your niche on that platform.
Grow your business with external traffic
There’s no reason why you shouldn’t drive external traffic to your Amazon listings. Besides increasing your sales, driving off-site traffic increases your product ranking on Amazon search results. You’ll also be glad to know that Amazon loves external traffic. Amazon’s goal is to expand its customer base and what’s a better way to win than aligning yourself with Amazon’s goals?
When you bring in highly converting external traffic, you help Amazon acquire new shoppers and their dollars. In turn, Amazon rewards you with good product ranking even if your off-site visitors don’t end up buying from you. Just remember to run your external traffic through a landing page first to filter out the traffic. If you would like further insight on using external traffic to grow your Amazon business, book a free consultation session with me. Happy selling!