7 Outdated Amazon Strategies (And What Brands Should Be Doing Instead)

Too many brands are utilizing irrelevant Amazon strategies in every phase of the marketing funnel. With more sellers trying to target a wider audience, no product category is safe from the growing threat of fierce competition. The only way to get ahead is to throw out the Amazon tools that aren’t working for you! 

As an Inc. 5000 Amazon agency dedicated to helping hundreds of brands scale their ecommerce revenue, Bobsled has been quick to identify outdated Amazon strategies the moment they become redundant. Our marketing advice has lent us a voice on Amazon's very own blog, and we want to share some insights with you that will help keep your product listings on top. 

Below, Bobsled project team members Nikhil Chothani and Damiano Ciarrocchi have walked you through 7 outdated Amazon strategies you may be wasting your time on and what to do instead.

1) Amazon Spark

Amazon’s infamously unhelpful social media tool was finally shut down after it produced dismal usage results. The intention behind Amazon Spark was to give sellers a way to post pictures and share images with consumers, but ultimately it was a flop.

What You Should Be Doing Instead: 

One good thing that did come from Amazon Spark, however, was the popularity of Amazon Posts. Sellers can create posts on an Instagram-like social media feed for customers to follow. This tool can keep consumers engaged on the platform itself, giving you more time to focus on your digital storefront. 

💡 Check out Amazon Posts: Guidelines, Best Practices & FAQ

2) Seller Fulfilled Prime

Many brands use Seller Fulfilled Prime as a major shipping option. But big changes are coming up this year, and sellers should prepare for strategy changes. For some, this may mean saying goodbye to Seller Fulfilled Prime as their go-to choice. Others could continue to use this option if it is beneficial to adapt to the changes. 

What You Should Be Doing Instead: 

Brands should consider their own metrics to determine what next steps to take. Whether or not Seller Fulfilled Prime remains a good shipping choice for you, it is important to stay informed of its upcoming changes. To be included in Seller Fulfilled Prime, sellers must ensure that they are: 

• “Enrolled in SFP and MUST have nationwide delivery coverage for all standard-size products”.
• Working with “carriers that support the weekend delivery and pick-up (Saturday or Sunday)”.
• Meeting the target “for one-day and two-day delivery promises”.

More information about upcoming changes to Seller Fulfilled Prime can be found on the Amazon Seller Central hub.

💡 Check out the Bobsled Seller Fulfilled Prime White Paper

3) Piecemeal Title and Image Testing

A recent Amazon update saw a few impactful changes to the way sellers test titles and images. There is a built-in tool to compare different features, suggesting the best versions of a campaign for the most success. 

While this testing tool has been around for a few years, a significant portion of sellers still don’t use it. Instead, these sellers will simply add words to titles or change images after making comparisons to their competitors. 

What You Should Be Doing Instead:

Any brand looking to take advantage of this new and improved tool can start making changes that will immediately capture customer attention. Some suggestions include updating titles using high-volume keywords, changing product images with lifestyle, producing more content, and updating the main PDP image with a more striking picture. This tool can give brands insight into all of these elements and more.

4) No Brand Defense Investment

Advertising on Amazon is a lot like a game of chess. You need a solid defense structure (pawns) before you can conquer with your other pieces (rooks, knights, and royalty). 

In advertising, branded defensive campaigns are the pawns that create a solid structure of protection for your hard-hitting campaigns. Not only do these campaigns create a wall around your brand, but they also ensure that customers find your offerings as easily as possible. 

What You Should Be Doing Instead: 

Competition on Amazon gets fiercer by the day; it is no longer enough to simply be the only seller with a particular brand name. A successful brand defense strategy is one that incorporates all forms of your product offering, such as: 

• Keywords (brand name, product names, associated words)
• Product detail pages for all products 
• Sponsored Brand Campaigns (through branded keywords) 
• Product categories

If you’re stuck, Bobsled’s strategists can help come up with a solid all-around defense strategy for your brand!

💡 Schedule a call with Bobsled – FREE CONSULT

5) Only Starting With Automatic PPC Campaigns

Anyone who has invested in Amazon advertising will recognize the Sponsored Products automatic campaign starting strategy. Using this feature allows an automatic campaign to be created before all others, with the purpose of generating keywords for manual campaigns. But just because it is created first doesn’t mean it should be the only campaign actively running! 

What You Should Be Doing Instead:

Experienced PPC managers usually choose to launch new brands with a healthy combination of both automatic and manual campaigns. Starting out with a solid account structure and modifying it over time as data rolls in is a great way to launch a brand campaign with initial success. The most important elements to focus on at the beginning of a brand launch include keyword generation, brand defense, and keyword ranking campaigns. 

💡Check out Amazon Keyword Tips

6) Sponsored Products Vs. Sponsored Brands

Standard marketing campaigns have always relied on Sponsored Products for sale and Sponsored Brands for brand awareness. On paper, it makes sense: Sponsored Products earn a reputation for driving sales while Sponsored Brands build a bigger consumer base. But nowadays, many PPC managers will base their advertising strategy around the consumer’s individual journey, which can give you an opportunity to use these two tools in brand-new ways. 

What You Should Be Doing Instead: 

Think of Sponsored Ads as the means through which you target areas of your customer funnel (awareness, consideration, and purchasing). It is also important that a brand determines how much of their budget they want to invest in the different strategies. As an example, a brand awareness phase may have a 60% investment in awareness, 25% in consideration, and 15% in purchasing.

7) Amazon Advertising Only

An old-school methodology considered Amazon advertising as the only type of advertising needed for market cut-through on Amazon. However, advertising on Amazon has become uber-competitive. Most product categories are saturated with sellers who are all trying different strategies to outsell each other. It might be time to gain a competitive advantage by looking for advertising off Amazon that can bring more qualified eyeballs in from outside sources. 

What You Should Be Doing Instead: 

The two main strategies for advertising outside of Amazon include Amazon DSP and driving external traffic to Amazon from reliable sites. 

💡Check out Amazon DSP Retargeting - The First 30 Days

2) Driving external traffic to Amazon can be done by linking other advertising efforts to your Amazon product detail pages or store pages. The biggest benefit of this method is that you can possibly gain better organic listings, higher sales revenue, and more customer reviews. Those looking to explore this avenue further might want to check out the Referral Bonus Program, which rewards sellers for directing their external marketing efforts towards their brand store. There are some benefits and drawbacks to this program, so be sure to understand it fully before you commit.

Want to discuss the best Amazon strategies for your brand?

Schedule a free consultation with Bobsled now! There are a number of viable options for you to explore in order to expand brand awareness both on and off the Amazon platform. Say goodbye to outdated marketing strategies! We will work with you to discover new and actionable strategies to elevate your brand beyond your current bottom line.

Book a free consultation with one of our experts today!