Engage Shoppers Checklist — Amazon Growth Strategies That Attract & Hold Shopper Attention (Download Included)
This is the final part in a three-part series on Amazon retail strategy. If you haven’t already, see our Retail Readiness Checklist and Scale Smart Checklist before reading this article.We’ve reached the tip of the iceberg, the icing on the cake, the cherry on top — the 10% of your Amazon strategy that shoppers actually interact with, and it needs to be perfect.Amazon presents consumers with a seemingly endless supply of brands and products. Competition is fierce, and the only way to win your audience’s attention is to stand out from the noise.
Understanding Your Amazon Audience
To see more common mistakes brands make on Amazon, read our Top 10 Mistakes Brands Make on Amazon articleShoppers behave differently on Amazon than they do on other retail channels. They look for different signals — price, product features, reviews, return policies, etc — and have different customer service expectations. Understanding who that shopper is, where they are in the buyer’s journey, and what they need to make a confident purchase decision is essential to winning them over.For shoppers in the awareness phase, being in the first few search results for broad-reaching keywords might be the best approach. For shoppers in the consideration phase that have already narrowed down their options, having the most detailed feature points and highest customer rating might be the deciding factor. Most likely, you want to reach both these shoppers and more, and that requires multiple strategies to work together.
Effectively Engaging Your Audience
There are two steps to an engagement strategy: attracting consumer attention and keeping it. Attracting attention has to do with driving traffic, both organically and through paid advertising. Keeping attention has more to do with content and customer service.From a strategy perspective, keeping attention is the part that needs to come first. If you can’t hold a customer’s attention, then there isn’t much of a point in attracting it in the first place.
Resonating with Your Audience through Content
Amazon listings present several areas of opportunity to inform and persuade shoppers through content: images, titles, feature points, descriptions, videos, and A+ content. All of these content areas need to work together at their fullest potential to resonate with shoppers and hold their attention.
Images
Images are the first thing a customer sees, and the very first image is called the hero. This is the digital equivalent of a product’s appearance on the shelf. Ideally, a hero image should be a clear photo of the product isolated on a white background. Additional images should display more angles and provide information about the product.The number of images shown changes depending on the browsing device (mobile, desktop, etc), but the first six images are always displayed and should be the main priority.
Titles
Titles are also an important piece of making a first impression. Titles contain the first words a shopper reads and should include all the relevant information at a glance. Brand name, product name, a brief description, and any additional information— such as pack size and a few details— are all good things to include. That seems like a lot of information, but a well-written title can provide all that information while still being concise.Titles should also contain strategic keywords, but we’ll talk more about that in our driving traffic section.
Videos
Videos should be 30-45 seconds long and provide helpful information about the product. A video might demonstrate how to properly size a product, or it might highlight the product’s top benefits. Whatever the case, our research shows that videos are most effective if they show a product within the first five seconds.
Feature Points
Feature points contain the bulk of information about the product. Instead of a long-winded description, feature points should be broken up into smaller, skimmable sections that highlight the product’s selling points. This can be done using headlines and short, skimmable fragments. Keywords should also be naturally worked in (more on this to come) to improve searchability. Here’s an example of some well-put-together feature points:
A+ Content
A+ Content is your chance to add branded creativity to a listing. Additional product descriptions, images, brand logos, charts, and narrative copy can all be used to tell shoppers more about your brand and product.Each of these content areas contributes to the overall completeness of a listing. Having each section dialed makes the listing more appealing to shoppers and will improve the listing’s performance.To get more in-depth on this topic, check out our Content is the Conversation article.
Attracting Audiences by Driving Traffic
After your listings are in tip-top shape, you’re ready to drive traffic. This is a very expansive topic that we’ll barely be scratching the surface of. There are tons of strategies out there, and we’re only going to be focusing on basic, high-level concepts.There are two types of traffic we’ll be focusing on, organic and paid. Organic refers to traffic that is generated without paid advertising. Paid is the opposite. Both are necessary parts of an Amazon strategy and should work together to attract the attention of shoppers.
Organic Traffic through Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The goal of SEO is to have your listing appear near the top of Amazon’s search engine results page (SERP) for strategic keywords. The higher up your listing is, the higher your click-through rate will be. Paid positions — which have the word “sponsored” written on them in small, grey letters — always take up the first few spots, but immediately after that, there are opportunities for organic rankings.Organic rankings are determined by Amazon’s A9 algorithm, which considers both on-listing and off-listing factors. Off-listing factors aren’t content, but they work alongside content to contribute to a product’s ranking. These include things like compliance, inventory, marketing, price, and Amazon-assigned badges, including “Best Seller” and “Amazon’s Choice.” On-listing factors have everything to do with content. These include keyword placements in product titles, feature points, descriptions, and A+ content.If done correctly, SEO is a powerful way to boost your listing’s ranking and drive organic traffic, but you have to be careful with how you use your keywords. Less is almost always more. Keywords should be worked in naturally, and not “stuffed.” Titles and feature points are both opportunities to place keywords, it just needs to be done sparingly and strategically.Organic results don’t always happen overnight. It’s a long term strategy, so don’t be alarmed if you don’t see immediate results. Organic success takes patience.
Paid Traffic through Amazon Advertising
To see more common mistakes brands make on Amazon, read our Top 10 Mistakes Brands Make on Amazon articleAmazon has invested heavily in its advertising business and is now considered the third-largest digital ad seller in the US. There are many different ways to advertise through Amazon — display, programmatic, search engine advertising, and so on.Successfully driving traffic through Amazon advertising is about knowing which of Amazon’s tools to use and when. A strong advertising strategy should make use of each tool to reach shoppers in every stage of the buyer’s journey.Typically, you’ll want to start by reaching easy-to-win shoppers that are at the bottom of the funnel and work your way up from there.To learn more about this topic, check out our Amazon Advertising is More Than a Conversion Tool or our Brief Introduction to Amazon’s Demand Side Platform article.
Delivering Engaging Experiences through Packaging Design
We already went over packaging in our Scale Smart article, but that was more focused on efficiency. This section will focus on the actual aesthetic appeal and creative design. Just as a reminder: a package should never take more than a few seconds to open, no matter how nice it looks.A package’s appearance is a great chance to make an initial impression. Having a branded box with a logo or design is a good starting point, but that will only last a few seconds. There’s still another opportunity to reach shoppers once they’ve opened the box, and that’s through a nicely designed insert.An insert is packaging and marketing tied into one. Inserts can provide additional information about the product, or even better, include a promotion or coupon that encourages repeat purchases.Aesthetically-pleasing, easy-to-open packages that encourage repeat purchases are a great way to make a final impression on shoppers. When you combine packaging with well-done listing content and a solid Amazon Advertising strategy, you’re well on your way to creating an engaging experience for your customers.
Final Thoughts
Amazon is a challenging marketplace for many brands. In our three-step series, we’ve briefly outlined what it takes to be successful on Amazon — and although these checklists make it seem simple, we know this is far from the truth. Success in any business is difficult, but we hope that by following our method, you are able to take your brand to the next level on Amazon.Many of these steps are formidable for brands to take on without help from a creative group, marketing agency, or e-commerce partner. If you are in need of further assistance or advice regarding your Amazon strategy, don’t hesitate to reach out to us. Most of all, thank you for taking the time to read our series.
Attract & Keep Your Audience
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