Understand all the options and get the most bang for your buck.
Running bloated and costly promotions on Amazon will inevitably end up hurting your profit.
We spoke with Maria Zarkova, Bobsled Account Specialist, about the importance of implementing successful promo campaigns on Amazon.margins.
Conversely, by avoiding promotions entirely (or running campaigns that don’t get any traction) you run the risk of getting left behind by the competition.
On the right: Bobsled Account Specialist Maria Zarkova
“Every type of Amazon Promotion can have its moment in the sun,” explains Maria. “It’s important to understand the differences between each of them. That way you can make an informed decision about which to use in each situation.”
Above: Screenshot from the Amazon Deals page.
Above: Percent-off promos appear below the fold on the product detail page.
Above: Multiple items can be eligible for the same social media promo code.
Above: Coupon tags appear prominently on the product detail page.
Above: Example of a Black Friday Prime Exclusive discount.
According to Maria there are two main reasons: visibility and control.
“In respect to visibility, Coupons appear on the search results page. They help your product stand out from similar products that are priced normally. Your coupons are also visible in any advertising tied to the promoted products and on the Amazon Coupons Page,” she says. “Coupons appear in multiple locations on the product detail page itself, including right next to the Buy Box. So unlike other promos, it’s hard for customers to ignore them.”
“On the control side of things, with Coupons you know exactly how much you will spend before the promo starts. At Bobsled, we always recommend that brands invest in some level of PPC advertising. Your PPC spend is always going to fluctuate because it’s linked to market forces. This is not the case with Coupons. You control the Coupon discount and the total budget for the entire promotion. This is great for all brands, but especially helpful for those with very tight profit margins.”
Brand registered sellers have access to the Brand Analytics tool. This tool provides great insights into the account, but it can be useful for running promotions as well!
“The ‘Market Basket Analysis’ shows the products your customers often buy together,” Maria explains. “This information can be utilized to create Buy One Get One (BOGO) promotions or Tiered Promotion Since you see that your customers are already interested in buying some products together, why not boost sales for both SKUs by offering the products at a slightly lower price?”.
“Also, ‘Item Comparison’ and ‘Alternate Purchase Behavior Analysis’ shows you the percentage of times your customers compare products, and also what your customers ultimately ended up buying once they visited your Product Page,” Maria says. “This information can also be valuable for running promotions. If you notice a pattern in the products that customers compare, there is a huge chance your customers will end up buying them both if they see them promoted. So why not run a BOGO or bundle them into a coupon?”
“The same goes for ‘Alternate Purchase Behaviour’. The products that often appear together could be a great fit for a BOGO promotion. Even if customers end up buying products from another brand, this can still be useful to run a promotion of a similar product you have in your catalog; maybe the price was the reason they ended up buying from the competitor.
Promotions are generally designed to help products that are already up and running.
“Some promos are invite-only, others need a minimum number of product reviews, so you can’t rely on Promotions to jumpstart traction for brand new products,” Maria says. “It’s important to ensure new listings are professionally optimized for organic search traffic and on-page conversion. You should also consider Amazon’s Review Programs like Vine and the Early Reviewer Program for those crucial first product reviews. Additionally, Brand Registered sellers can go a step further and organize Amazon Livestream around their new product or create Amazon Posts to educate potential customers about the new product.”
For more information about Amazon product launch best practices, read our recent interview with Bobsled CEO and Forbes contributor Kiri Masters.