Sellers might have a variety of purpose to market their products on Amazon, for example:

1. Creating awareness of their products and services
2. Increase traffic to their website
3. Develop incremental product and service revenue opportunities
4. Promote repeat purchases

Overall, any seller who is marketing on Amazon wants to maintain an engaging presence on the platform so that more and more visitors get attracted to the product pages and convert into paying customers!

What Are The Perks Of Marketing On Amazon?

Let’s begin with the fundamental question: why should you consider marketing your products on Amazon? 

Well, as we all know that there’s no looking back for Amazon since 1995, when Jeff Bezos has launched the platform. 

Now, Amazon has become synonymous with online shopping and is continually evolving its customer base by introducing various service offerings, diversifying its target market, and developing new products. 

People turn to Amazon whether it’s about shopping for occasional gifts, everyday grocery, or digital downloads.

Source: Oberlo

There are four crucial reasons why Amazon has become the world’s biggest online marketplace:

I. Highly intuitive and customer-friendly Amazon interface, which is too advanced and integrates recent browsing history and personalized recommendations to offer the customers an uber experience.

II. Leveraging affiliate resources and products to contribute to the bottom line of the brands.

III. Offering the broadest range of products with hundreds and millions of items where most products are from third-party sellers.

III. Seamless scaling from small to large levels by giving retailers a chance to explore new business segments.

Nowadays, customers explore Amazon to do online shopping and find out new brands and original content. 

Maintaining a strong presence on Amazon can help you reach millions of customers, drive conversions, facilitate product education, and raise brand awareness.

How Would You Define An Amazon Marketing Strategy?

Source: Stray Media Group

Many sellers might know how to start an Amazon business, but marketing on the platform isn’t a piece of cake. 

An Amazon marketing gameplan is the blueprint of various tactics such as Amazon, SEO, Amazon advertising, or external marketing strategies retailers can use to gain a competitive advantage over Amazon. 

Every business has different marketing objectives to pursue on Amazon, and there are various ways to accomplish those goals.

Ultimately, your Amazon marketing strategy must help you embrace the growing number of capabilities on the platform to build your brand and drive more sales by leveraging tactics such as optimizing your product pages, offering rich content to the target audience, and paid advertising campaigns. 

A successful Amazon marketing strategy depends on four crucial factors:

I. Amazon’s 7 Ps Of Marketing

Amazon marketing mix or Amazon’s 7 Ps of marketing comprises the seven crucial elements of the marketing mix: product, place, price, promotion, process, people, and physical evidence.

Source: VentureHarbour

By leveraging Amazon’s 7ps marketing mix, businesses can review and identify their key issues that affect the marketing of their products to ensure that their target audience is satisfied, the value proposition is precise, and they are ahead of their competitors on Amazon.

II. Amazon’s Marketing Communication Mix 

Amazon’s communication mix comprises events and experiences, sales promotions, print and media advertising, public relations, and direct marketing tactics. 

In particular, Amazon the crucial marketing communication channels Amazon are sales promotions elements and print and media advertising, and sellers interested in marketing their products on Amazon should use these communication channels to reach out to their target audience.

III. Amazon’s Positioning & Segmentation Targeting

Amazon segmentation targeting and positioning comprises a set of activities and focuses on identifying specific groups of people as customers and developing products and services appealing to these customers. 

Amazon divides the population into different customer groups based on specific characteristics such as age, gender, demographic, behavioral, psychographic, geographic, etc. 

Businesses must select the marketing mix that’s most suitable for their target customer segment if they want more and more prospects on Amazon to become their customers.

IV. Amazon’s Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

Unique Selling Proposition (USP) refers to the aspect of a product or service that differentiates it from similar goods or services. 

Amazon’s USP offers the broadest range of products and services at competitive prices with exceptional customer service and the fastest delivery model.

Source: FourWeekMBA

Amazon has multiple USPs because it caters to several target customers in various market segments, and customers can quickly discover anything on Amazon, whether it’s Kindle or music. 

The eCommerce giant keeps its USP at the core of its marketing communication messages, and businesses should consider this while creating a win-win Amazon marketing game plan!

Why Do Businesses Fail On Amazon?

No one can deny that Amazon is the new Google in many respects, and by maintaining a robust presence on the platform, businesses can drive conversions and revenue. 

However, at the same time, Amazon is a complex channel. 

One must understand various aspects while creating an Amazon marketing strategy; otherwise, the chances of your brand getting failed on Amazon are high. 

So, let’s look at a few common mistakes brands commit when implementing their Amazon marketing strategy:

A. Not Optimizing Product Listings

You can have the best product on Amazon, but there’s no point if people can never find you!

So, if you skip optimizing your product listings by leveraging Amazon’s SEO, no matter how great your products are, you will fail on both Amazon searches and Google.

B. Not Diversifying Products On Amazon

One of the most common mistakes that sellers make on Amazon is not diversifying their products. 

It’s good that you understand your target audience, but focusing on a particular niche can restrict your brand to a minimal Amazon audience.

As an Amazon seller, you must consider expanding the variations of a favorite product in your catalog and offering different complementary products to reach out to a broader customer base.

You can explore your current products on Amazon and figure out what’s working for you and what other products your customers might find interesting. 

Based on that, you can diversify your Amazon selling portfolio.

C. Too Many Competitors

Unfortunately, if you are operating in an oversaturated market, it would be daunting to carve out your customer base and shine among hundreds of competitors. 

But you can offer unique products and find ways to outshine your competitors on Amazon with out-of-the-box marketing campaigns to cut the clutter and rise above the crowd!

D. Getting Undermined By Competitors

No one wants to get undercut by the competitors but if you observe that competitors are consistently undermining your price on Amazon, consider refining your buying strategy. 

Purchasing in larger batches from suppliers can help you grab better deals and price competitively on Amazon. 

Why Is It Crucial To Plan A Robust 2021 Amazon Marketing Strategy?

Irrespective of your business’s size or type, if you want to excel in the Amazon niche, you need a robust marketing strategy. 

Building a win-win Amazon marketing game plan for 2021 will let you identify what’s working and what’s not for your brand and figure out the areas that need improvement. 

Also, you can establish clear Amazon marketing goals and objectives for 2021.

Your 2021 Amazon marketing arsenal will be slightly different from the conventional marketing game plan, but there might be a few mutual elements. With the right Amazon marketing plan, you can take advantage of the lucrative opportunity that Amazon presents and reach millions of new customers from all over the world.

What Are The Steps To Building A Win-Win Amazon Marketing Strategy For 2021?

Amazon is consistently evolving to provide a seamless experience to its customers. In such a scenario, brands should perform extensive research and understand the various Amazon features if they want to stay relevant and marketable on the platform. 

Crafting a successful 2021 Amazon marketing game plan is tedious but crucial, so let’s walk through the essential steps of how you can adapt with such a rapidly evolving platform and set up a lucrative Amazon marketing strategy for 2021 and beyond:

1. Begin With SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is the best framework to determine your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. 

By analyzing your current Amazon selling profile and comparing your key competitors, you can identify what you are doing well and where you are lagging. 

Source: The Balance Small Business

Once you have figured out the areas where your weaknesses and strengths lie on Amazon, you can craft an Amazon marketing strategy for 2021 by keeping the risks in mind and capitalizing on the opportunities. 

Let’s look at how you can conduct a useful Amazon SWOT analysis before beginning to craft your 2021 marketing strategy:

A. Figure Out Your Strong Points

The first step in your SWOT analysis should determine your strengths by studying what worked well for your brand in 2020 and embracing those strategies in your Amazon 2021 marketing arsenal. 

Identifying strengths first helps you maintain focus for continued success, and knowing that you are already doing great in some areas, there will be no need to start from scratch!

B. Learn From Your Weaknesses

Amazon is the trailblazer of the eCommerce landscape, and if you are selling on Amazon, you have to deal with an ever-changing learning curve and grow consistently on the platform; you must learn from your weaknesses! Study what all didn’t work for you in 2020 and establish goals for improving these loopholes in 2021.

C. Embrace The Opportunities With Open Arms

Once you have identified what worked the best for you on Amazon in 2020 and what the gaps were, now it’s time to spot the opportunities that can lead your brand to rule the Amazon landscape in 2021. 

To identify these opportunities, you will have to explore the next section!

D. Keep Potential Threats In Mind Going Forward

Along with identifying strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities, you also need to figure out what threatens your Amazon presence? 

Is it one of your competitors who is doing excellent on Amazon? 

Or, you aren’t satisfied with the reviews you are getting! 

Whatever your potential threats are, you must learn from them and address them in the best possible manner, so there’s no roadblock in your 2021 Amazon marketing game plan! 

You can use one of the team collaboration tools to keep track of all the potential risks and help you develop a future-proof Amazon marketing strategy for 2021.

2. Hold On To 2020 For All Good Reasons

Everyone wants to leave 2020 as it was one of the most disappointing years we’ve ever had. 

However, being an Amazon seller, you can’t afford to do this as customers are still opening your products and pondering if they’ve made the right decision. 

In your 2021 Amazon marketing arsenal, impeccable customer service should be the top priority. 

Let’s explore a couple of tips for offering seamless customer service to your Amazon customers:

a. The initial months of 2021 aren’t meant to sit back and relax because there might be many buyers who have just received your product or are thinking of utilizing the gift cards they’ve received during the 2020 winter holidays. 

You should stay responsive to such customers throughout as you never know when you can turn a question into a sale.

b. It’s a fact that if you are operating in the product-based sales niche, you have to deal with returns. 

So, handle returns with customers in mind by being courteous and with ease and promptness. 

Many customers had purchased your products from Amazon in December 2020, and you are still handling their return requests. 

So, make sure you handle returns with as much preciseness as possible if you want to turn such customers into repeat buyers.

c. Customer reviews are one of the most integral aspects of Amazon’s ranking of your brand, and it’s the most popular feature of Amazon. 

Many buyers might have purchased products from you during the 2020 holidays, and the initial months of 2021 would be the ideal time when they’ll be leaving reviews. 

You should respond to every review, and if there are some negative ones, you must politely deal with them, so the customers are satisfied with your customer service.

3. Optimize Amazon SEO To Grab More & More Customers

Source: Engagio Digital

Suppose you are an Amazon seller offering an excellent product at an economical price. Also, your product page is adorned with visually engaging images and crisp product descriptions. 

Now, if you think that the only thing left for you is to sit back and wait for thousands of customers to knock at your doorstep, you are highly mistaken! 

Because here, Amazon SEO comes into the picture. Let’s understand in detail:

As we all know that SEO stands for “search engine optimization”, and in terms of Amazon, SEO is the process of optimizing your product listings so that more and more Amazon customers can discover your products.

Amazon’s search engines prioritize well-described product searches and pin them at the top of recommended searches that customers make while discovering products on the platform. 

Let’s look at a few of the crucial elements that you must consider while crafting your 2021 Amazon marketing strategy for optimizing Amazon’s SEO:

A. Relevant Keywords

Talking about keywords, you can add 250 characters on Amazon’s backend to impact product discoverability invisible to the buyers. 

You can use specific phrases and keywords associated with your product to make the description engaging.

Let’s assume you are selling house shoes on Amazon and if a potential buyer types “fuzzy slippers” in Amazon’s search box, great SEO will make sure that the potential customer sees your product in the search results. 

But poor Amazon SEO would make it almost impossible for the target customers to discover your product unless they type particular terms in Amazon’s search box or keywords similar to your product!

You must do proper keyword research to make your product discoverable and increase sales on Amazon in 2021. 

Let’s take our last example of house shoes; using keywords like “comfortable shoes,” “fuzzy slippers,” “moccasins,” etc., can help the seller in ensuring that the product will be discoverable when customers search for these relevant terms.

B. SEO-Optimized Titles

While creating titles for your Amazon products, you must be very cautious and put your customers in mind so that you can come up with titles that resonated with them. 

Also, make sure to use relevant keywords for optimizing your sales and clickthrough rates.

C. Crisp Product Descriptions

As discussed earlier, the way you describe your products on Amazon can either make or break the customers’ experience. 

Also, a crisp description sets you apart from hundreds of competitors, and you should use bullet points to highlight your product’s unique features and boost conversions.

D. Visually Appealing Images

Talking about incorporating images of your products on Amazon, there are precise guidelines that the visuals must be easy-to-comprehend, engaging, clear, high-quality, and information-rich. 

Also, showcasing large product images is one of the best eCommerce marketing tips to boost your Amazon store’s sales.

Visually attractive photos or informative graphics, such as images with text overlays to highlight your products’ critical features, can help share the product details in the best possible manner with the customers and answer the common questions.

E. Q&A

It’s crucial to provide your Amazon customers with all the relevant information about your products. 

Hence, by adding a Q&A section, it would be easier for you to answer your customers’ commonly asked questions and keep them informed.

4. Amazon Advertising

Optimizing Amazon SEO is one of the best ways to drive organic sales; however, sometimes your business might need some paid advertising, and thankfully, Amazon has a wide variety of advertising opportunities under its roof. 

Amazon advertising techniques help you put your products in front of the target audience who might not have discovered them on their own. 

Let’s explore the types of Amazon advertising strategies that you can add to your 2021 Amazon marketing arsenals:

A. Amazon Display Ads

Amazon Display Ads are one of the most popular forms of CPC (cost-per-click) ads and can be displayed not only on Amazon’s app and website but also on platforms that Amazon doesn’t own.

Amazon Product Display ads are displayed when customers search for similar products and not specific keywords. 

These ads can be customized to drive customers to your tailored optimized landing page or specific product pages, and the seller has to pay for these ads on a per-click basis.

An example of an Amazon Display Ad is:

Source: Hubspot

Let’s assume you are selling dog treats on Amazon, and if you have opted for an Amazon Display ad when a customer will search for Beggin’ Strips, your product will be displayed in search results.

B. Amazon Sponsored Product Ads

Amazon Sponsored Product Ads are created to drive customers to specific product pages as these are keyword-targeted ads. 

Sellers can choose relevant keywords and pay for these ads on a per-click basis.

For instance, you are selling gardening spades on Amazon and choose the keyword “gardening tools” as one of the phrases to target in your Amazon Sponsored Product Ad. 

Once you select the amount you will pay on a per-click basis for your ad, known as bid; the ad will go live on the platform. 

An example of an Amazon Sponsored Product Ad is:

Source: 3Q Digital

Whenever a customer searches for the term “gardening tools,” your product will appear right at the top of search results. If the customer clicks on your ad, you will have to pay the amount of your bid, and if not, then there will be no charge.

C. Amazon Sponsored Brand Ads

The purpose of Amazon Sponsored Brand ads is to raise your brand awareness by marketing your entire brand and not a single product by featuring your logo, a tailored headline, and up to three of your products. 

Sellers have to pay for these ads on a per-click basis.

Source: Search Engine Land

5. Third-Party Advertising By Leveraging Google & Social Media Channels

We are indeed talking about the Amazon marketing gameplan but sticking to only one platform shouldn’t be your objective. 

Here, third-party advertising comes into the picture as it helps you boost conversions and click-through rates. 

Google ads allow you to take advantage of features such as email marketing and retargeting. 

Source: Marketplace Academy By Sharetribe

You can leverage an email automation tool to send robust onboarding, shipping notifications, special offers, and shopping cart reminders to your Amazon customers to persuade them to make the buying decision.

Social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., are like goldmines for Amazon sellers as they help them reach out to 3.8 billion people by creating highly-targeted ads.

For instance, if you want to reach out to yoga enthusiast females between 25-35 years of age residing in the North East United States. 

With the help of Facebook, you can create targeted ads and push your brand to an entirely new audience that’s different from your Amazon customers!

An example of an engaging Facebook ad is:

Source: Hootsuite

With the help of Facebook PPC campaigns, you can promote your Amazon product only to the people who you want to discover your product and link to your product page on Amazon.

Besides, you can take advantage of Amazon influencer marketing by collaborating with social media influencers and paying them to promote your Amazon product in one of their posts.

6. Take A Plunge Into Amazon Live Videos & Virtual Experiences To Grab More Customers

In 2019, Amazon introduced live videos as a marketing opportunity for brands, and since then, they are one of the most popular features on the platform. 

With the help of an app, brands and influencers can go live on Amazon and do recipe demonstrations or share makeup tips. 

Source: Forbes

Besides Amazon live videos, there’s an “Experiences” platform launched by the eCommerce giant in September 2020 to offer live streaming sessions featuring virtual classes and sightseeing tours. 

So, suppose you want to optimize your 2021 Amazon marketing game plan. 

In that case, you must consider investing in these virtual and immersive experiences for offering your customers a virtually ‘try before you buy’ feel!

7. Get Involved In Amazon Affiliate Program 

Amazon Affiliate program allows you to collaborate with influencers to get your products in front of the target audiences. 

Influencers can generate traffic to your Amazon product listings by adding your links across various channels such as YouTube or blogs.

You can reach out to the influencers and partner with them by offering them an incentive such as a free product. 

Although the last call of choosing which of your products to advertise lies with the influencers only.

8. Optimize Your Amazon Listings

While creating your Amazon marketing strategy for 2021, you must optimizing your Amazon listings if you want to boost your rankings. Let’s look at some of the most effective ways of doing that:

a. Collaborate With A Content Creator To Do A Giveaway

You can team up with a content creator and do a giveaway to build trust and boost your Amazon rankings. 

Also, it helps you reach out to an entirely new set of audiences and pull them towards your product.

b. Provide Fast & Free Shipping

Free and fast shipping are the two crucial factors that encourage customers to make a purchase. 

Amazon ships approximately 1.6 million packages a day, and if you want to make sure you provide both if you’re going to match-up with the high standards set by Amazon.

c. Monitor Your Amazon Seller Analytics

Amazon’s seller analytics feature is one of the most useful features that you can use for keeping track of which products of yours are performing well on the platform and which are not!

The insights from Amazon’s seller analytics will help you make informed decisions about your brand in 2021, such as which customer segments you should focus on.

d. Keep Experimenting With Different Advertising Methods

If you want your brand to evolve on Amazon, you must experiment with different advertising methods such as Google or Facebook ads and Amazon ads. 

Over a period, you will be able to analyze your key performance indicators or KPIs of different ads and figure out which are working better for you and are not performing well. 

Based on these insights, you can refine your Amazon marketing strategy in 2021!

The Final Say On Crafting A Win-Win Amazon Marketing Strategy For 2021

With more than 50% of product searches starting on Amazon, retailers and manufacturers can’t afford to ignore the marketing giant now. 

2020 was a great year for Amazon, but there were many challenges that it has dealt with amazingly, and the struggle will continue in 2021.

A successful Amazon Marketing strategy needs thoughtful research, immaculate planning that can be achieved when you will take the help of one of the online team collaboration tools for keeping all of your team members on the same page. 

Remember, becoming popular on Amazon isn’t an overnight job. 

But now you have some fresh perspectives to focus on in the brand new year, and sleeping on new opportunities would be your biggest mistake! 

With an Amazon marketing strategy inspired by the above-listed ideas for 2021, you can boost conversions for your business and build a brand reputation. 

So, when you know what can work for you in the Amazon landscape, it’s the best time to relentlessly refine those parameters and look forward to a more innovative and exciting 2021.

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Author bio

Dhruv Maheshwari is a freelance content marketer who helps SaaS and online businesses boost their online presence. In his free time, he is chiseling his fitness-goals and traveling around the world.