As the face of your products on Amazon, any brand owner can appreciate the opportunity that an Amazon Storefront provides. However, it’s essential to keep in mind that design and branding are skills and not something to take lightly. While the platform has gone to great lengths to make Store creation simple and accessible to any Amazon business, the task will benefit from a well-devised strategy and an experienced designer. 

For companies that opt to use the drag-and-drop tools or pre-designed templates to undertake the creative process themselves, it’s important to understand some of the fundamental aspects of the process. Beyond familiarity with Amazon Seller Central and the Amazon Brand Registry process, Sellers should know how the most effective techniques and best practices can influence the design. But first, the foundation of every Amazon Store starts with the self-service Store Builder, available through the advertising console. 

Amazon Storefront Building Blocks

An ‍Amazon Storefront consists of various pages that feature a brand’s products and organize them in a customer-friendly way. The best Amazon Stores will often have an engaging homepage highlighting the most popular products. At the same time, an intuitive set of sub-pages makes it easy for shoppers to navigate the shop and find exactly what they are looking for. 

The pages that make up an Amazon Storefront are composed of content tiles and widgets. These can contain text, video, images or product listings. Each page has a header section that features a hero image that remains consistent throughout your Store’s pages, as well as a brand logo and a navigation bar. Every page requires at least one additional tile beside the header section and can only be divided into 20 total sections. In addition, there are further limitations on certain types of tiles used in each area. These per-section restrictions limit the sections to:

• Four background video tiles
• One product grid tile
• One gallery tile
• One featured deals tile
• One recommended products tile

More on Tiles and Widgets

As more and more brands have added a Store to increase brand awareness on the Amazon marketplace, the flexibility and options available have grown. Currently, there are nearly a dozen different types of tiles and widgets to choose from when designing a Storefront. Some of them automatically populate based on sales data or user preferences, and most can be combined in countless ways to customize the user experience to align with a brand’s goals. The current options when designing an Amazon Store include the following:

Product tile – Once you add the product, a product tile auto-populates with the product’s price, primary image, and Prime status. A full-width product tile will also allow you to add more information from the product detail page or input your own title and description.

Image tile and image with text tile – Images are added via an image tile, while an image with text tile allows you to enhance an image with overlaid or adjacent text. These tiles can also link to a page in your Store or any product detail page.

Shoppable collection images tile – This tile is intended to feature your products in use or to group your complementary products easily. Most brands will use lifestyle images within this option to engage customers and strengthen their branding. 

Text tile – Text tiles allow you to add copy within your Amazon Store and highlight product details or your brand story outside of an item listing. Text tiles can link to a page within your Store or to a product detail page by adding a “Shop now” or “Learn more” button below the text.

Video – Videos are a valuable part of any Amazon Storefront and can be added to split-section tiles and full-width tiles. Just remember, Amazon does not allow links or references to external websites, so existing videos that promote your direct-to-consumer site may need to be adjusted for compliance before uploading. 

Product grid tile – Companies that want to display a group of four or more products can use this tile to showcase the product name, image, price, star rating, and shopping actions like “Add to cart” for multiple items simultaneously. 

Gallery widget – The gallery widget adds visual interest to an Amazon Storefront by integrating between three to eight images that are at least 1500×750 pixels. Use this to capture multiple shots from your brand.

Best-selling products widget – This is a simple, automatic way to highlight a brand’s bestsellers. When selected, this widget auto-populates to reflect your top products and will update as new ones reach that status.

Recommended products widget – This tile automatically generates products for the Amazon shoppers who visit your Store based on their purchases and preferences.

Featured deals widget – If you have active promotions for any of your products, the featured deals widget will display those promotions automatically in your Amazon Store. 

Background video – Background videos can make a bold visual statement by adding dramatic motion to your Store. A background video will auto-play and loop silently for visitors while serving as a background for your page.

Amazon Storefront templates

While Stores can be completely customized and built from scratch, one of the most popular methods of building an Amazon Storefront is to rely on the available pre-designed templates. These can help sellers create Stores and pages that meet acceptable design standards and support a quick launch even by novice sellers. Amazon offers three template themes and suggests determining the best one based on your brand’s goals. 

The marquee template is intended for companies that want to educate shoppers about their entire selection of products. It focuses on presenting multiple subcategories in an organized, easy-to-navigate way.

Brands looking to build awareness about a product or range of products are encouraged to use the product highlight template. Its design attempts to promote specific products in a catalog (like bestsellers or new launches) and make them more visible to shoppers.

Finally, a product grid template aims to boost discovery and sales of individual products and is well suited for companies with many items to display or that want to give shoppers a total view of your portfolio.

Strategies for Success

Maintaining an Amazon Store requires continuous focus and an understanding of various tools available to improve the customer experience. As you’re building an Amazon Storefront, don’t overlook these essential strategies to ensure a stronger brand and encourage long-term growth. 

Be creative

One overlooked advantage of an Amazon Storefront is its flexibility to supplement your brand’s seasonal swings or Amazon advertising. Tiles, featured products and categories can be easily adjusted to reflect the changing interests of consumers during holiday periods or when certain products are in higher demand. 

Amazon brand stores even offer a “Versioning & Scheduling” option to support temporary sales. This can be used to capitalize on events such as Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday, or Cyber Monday while minimizing the disruption to your usual Storefront design and the amount of work required to adjust between versions. 

You should also consider that your Amazon product presentation within a Storefront doesn’t have to be limited to an Amazon listing. It’s important to also clearly communicate the benefits that the items you sell can provide to a purchaser. You can make these benefits a key piece of your enhanced brand content through endorsements from credible reviewers or informative videos. 

Similarly, Amazon Stores can be an opportunity to educate customers more broadly about your brand and introduce them to other products they may be interested in. Rather than focusing entirely on promoting each product description individually, consider how the items in your inventory can complement each other and which tools within the Storefront can be used to showcase those relationships. 

Keep it organized

One of the most critical aspects of an effective Amazon Store is organization. In addition to telling the story behind your products, a brand store should improve a customer’s shopping experience on the Amazon platform, not make it more complicated. You also want to create a structure that will introduce shoppers to new products that complement the ones they are already familiar with. 

In many cases, the navigation within your Amazon Storefront should be set up similarly to your direct-to-consumer site, assuming it is already rooted in how consumers shop your products. We recommend setting up the navigation by need or “job to be done.” This approach prioritizes the perspective of customers who typically shop based on a problem they are trying to solve. 

The design must be simple and organized regardless of the product category. One of the quickest ways to lose potential customers is by presenting them with a confusing layout that frustrates them and makes finding products difficult. Opt for simple naming conventions for your Store’s pages rather than trying to cram descriptive details into each one. Save those long-tail keyword efforts for your product listings. It’s also best to create a minimum of three pages for your Amazon Store. Finally, don’t forget to evaluate the brand analytics data that an Amazon store unlocks to look for empirical evidence that your navigation plan is working as expected. 

Make it mobile-friendly

Any Amazon store that plans to meet customer expectations needs to perform well on a mobile device. Fortunately, the folks at Amazon realize this and have given Store Builder users the ability to switch between mobile and desktop views as they design a storefront. But don’t rely on Amazon’s tools. Instead, once a Store launches, check the live version on various devices continually, as screen proportions and response can change as mobile options evolve. 

Brands that want to optimize their Store experience for mobile shoppers should plan to keep text to a minimum and avoid split sections that will result in a discouraging amount of scrolling on smaller screens. Large featured images and videos can be among the most effective tools for Amazon Stores on a mobile device and are among the tiles that display most consistently across a range of screens. Be sure to keep your navigation and product organization simple enough to avoid frustrating customers who will be shopping from a mobile device. 

Embrace Inspiration

Of course, there’s no shortage of examples to look to when designing an Amazon Store. A little time researching successful Storefronts will reveal that captivating images and high-quality photography are integral to the best Amazon Storefront design. Video is also an underused feature that shoppers rate among the most helpful factors when making a purchase decision. 

Don’t hesitate to spend some time shopping in existing Stores before you begin building your own. It can help you identify problems that disrupt a customer’s search flow and find strategies that will work well to lead shoppers to complementary products seamlessly. And don’t focus only on the product categories you’ll be competing in. Look for brands with a similar number of products or that target the same types of customers to find fresh ideas that will stand out. 

Amify Can Help

At Amify, we’ve helped many of our clients refine the Amazon shopping experience for their customers. Moby, Stella & Chewy’s and Because are just a few examples of our proven approach to designing an Amazon Storefront that strengthens a brand and moves products. 

Contact us today to learn how our experts can lead an Amazon Store design process that brings your brand’s growth and conversion goals closer to reality. 

Success within the e-commerce business model requires a unique mix of business strengths. This is especially true when brands are pursuing customers in multiple ways. For example, growing a direct-to-consumer website is much different than winning on an online marketplace like Amazon, where companies face fierce competition for shopper attention. 

Fortunately, there are Amazon marketplace success strategies that can help companies grow their business on these platforms. So whether your brand is only focused on Amazon or looking to improve its sales outlook on multiple marketplaces, this guide can lead you in the right direction.  

Build a Strong Presence

Much like making the most of a social media platform, presence means a lot when it comes to turning an online marketplace into a powerful sales channel. Small businesses, in particular, need to take advantage of every opportunity to establish their brand. Otherwise, they may wonder if they’re in the right marketplace. 

Engage in optimization

Amazon content is the lifeblood of businesses selling on the platform. Producing exceptional Amazon product listings should be a priority for any brand or marketplace seller pursuing growth and long-term success on Amazon. However, creating product listings that reach the right shoppers, earn the Buy Box and have high conversion rates requires more than a desire to achieve those goals or even the existence of quality products to back them up. It demands a strategic plan for optimization and the ability to execute it.

The best listings are optimized for Amazon’s search algorithm and maximize the opportunities that come with each of its key components. A failure in these fundamentals can undermine further efforts to elevate their effectiveness. While writing a listing’s title and description may seem intuitive, the nuances of optimizing these often trip up inexperienced sellers. 

Create an Amazon Store

Since 2018, Amazon Storefronts have offered a way for brands to showcase all their Amazon products to online shoppers within a custom-designed and branded store interface. So rather than sacrificing such a significant advantage when selling on Amazon, businesses can create a Storefront that organizes and features their listings to reinforce their unique brand, introduce new products and enhance the customer experience. 

As the face of your products on Amazon, brand owners should be highly involved with creating their Amazon Store. However, it’s essential to keep in mind that design and branding are skills and not something to take lightly. While Amazon has gone to great lengths to make Storefront creation simple and accessible to any seller via templates and drag-and-drop tools, the task will undoubtedly benefit from a well-devised strategy and an experienced designer. 

Remember your branding

E-commerce success doesn’t just come from selling products online. It also requires selling your brand to customers in a way that strengthens satisfaction and encourages loyalty. You want to relate to your customers as people, not just treat them as numbers on a spreadsheet. 

Customers who connect emotionally with a brand name have three times higher lifetime value. And according to Deloitte research, 80 percent of consumers would pay more for products if the company committed itself to be socially responsible, environmentally responsible, and/or paying higher wages. While there are several ways to share your brand’s story on Amazon, clear and concise writing, content marketing, professional photography, and integrated video can all be critical to the effort. 

Reach the Right Customers

Growing consistently on a marketplace platform requires a thorough understanding of your target audience. But beyond reaching potential buyers, brands also need to be able to convert them into loyal customers whose experience can result in more sales and new prospects. 

Implement a pricing strategy

Every brand selling on Amazon should take a deliberate approach to price. As e-commerce continues its rapid growth, pricing policies are becoming more important for both retailers and manufacturers. Online sales are likely to continue their growth trend while also consolidating among the most prominent online marketplaces. As this happens, the desire of smaller resellers to compete with industry leaders is more likely to lead to destructive price wars for products that aren’t backed by effective pricing strategies. 

Implementing effective pricing policies can help companies create mutually-beneficial relationships with retailers and shoppers. In addition to the positive impacts that a successful pricing strategy can have on a company’s retailers and customers, there are also substantial benefits for the brand. Prioritizing margins and protecting retailers from price wars increases a brand’s value in several ways. 

An effective pricing policy can enhance profits by avoiding these short-term price wars and making the company a more attractive partner for retailers. The market awareness required to implement and monitor pricing policies can also result in less competition from businesses that will likely seek out more vulnerable targets. Relatedly, well-executed pricing policies will likely lead to greater market share as brand awareness improves and reaches more prospective customers. 

Drive traffic with online advertising

Every brand on the platform is looking for ways to strengthen its Amazon sales. However, while Amazon Search Engine Optimizations (SEO) can give sellers the edge regarding organic search results, it’s not the only path to a better bottom line. 

‍Pay-per-click (PPC) Amazon ads can be a more direct way to drive traffic to your product listings or Amazon Storefront. These PPC ads allow e-commerce businesses to break through the immense competition on Amazon and increase their reach. But it requires a solid plan, a broad understanding of the tools available and skilled execution on behalf of the advertiser. While online advertising can be quite cost-effective, a poorly planned campaign will have very little Return on Ad Spend (RoAS), meaning you will have paid too much, no matter the cost. 

Focus on Fulfillment

As Amazon grew its dominance as a shopping platform, its vast network of distribution warehouses has made fast shipping a mainstay of customer expectations. One of the impacts of this is that long-term success as a seller on the platform now relies on a brand’s ability to live up to those customer demands and maintain an efficient fulfillment process. 

Brands pursuing Amazon marketplace success have several options to ensure a steady supply of their products and that they reach customers quickly and in good condition. Many Amazon businesses take advantage of the platform’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) program, while some expand Amazon’s role in their shipping strategy with Amazon’s Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF). The latter can simplify logistics by providing the same features and services of Amazon FBA to fulfill orders that originate from most online merchants, including a brand’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) website. However, the lack of an effective fulfillment plan is often too big a hurdle to overcome. 

Find Ways to Improve

No marketplace marketing strategy is complete without ongoing refinement. From Amazon product data to google analytics, there are plenty of resources to help companies make sure they are on the right track. But without a commitment to maximizing those opportunities, they risk their outreach to a potential customer missing the mark or falling short. 

Utilize analytics and reporting

Whether from Amazon or elsewhere, one of the advantages of e-commerce is the incredible amount of data sellers can access. There’s often an overwhelming number of reports available regarding inventory, shoppers, advertising, buyers and more. But, the most effective Amazon sellers will understand how to leverage the data to reach more customers and increase conversions.

Remember, it’s not just about monitoring this enormous cache of data. It must also be appropriately analyzed to reveal actionable insights that optimize and grow sales. In particular, Amazon sellers can utilize the platform’s proprietary reports via Seller Central and supplement those metrics with other online store or marketing data to create a fuller picture of a brand’s strengths and weaknesses. 

Monitor Competition

Regardless of what or where you sell, it’s always advisable to be mindful of your competition. An e-commerce site such as Amazon is certainly no exception. Using the most relevant search terms can help you identify competing brands and products, evaluate pricing strategies, compare reviews and spot ways to differentiate your product listings. 

Be sure to review what products are available, how they are organized and what tactics are used to describe and promote them. Most importantly, you’ll need to do so regularly to remain aware of any changes to the competition that could begin to undermine your other optimization strategies. If your brand is building a presence on Amazon 

Don’t overlook Customer Reviews

Online shopping is more popular than ever, and buyers are extremely savvy about their options. As a result, many view reading product reviews as one of the best ways to inform their purchasing decision. Surveys have shown that nine out of 10 customers read reviews before clicking the buy button, while eight out of 10 give them as much weight as a personal recommendation. 

There’s no question that reviews, positive and negative, can impact product sales and conversion metrics. What may not be clear, though, is how the relationship between Amazon reviews and sales can begin before a prospective customer even finds your listing. Product reviews on a site like Amazon can impact your organic rank among the search results. That’s why brands need to pay close attention to customer reviews and develop a strategy to mine them as part of their ongoing customer service and marketing efforts. 

Let Amify Guide Your Amazon Marketplace Success

If you’re in need of a marketplace expert to lead your target audience from shopper to buyer, consider trusting your brand with the Amazon experts at Amify. We can develop the right digital marketing strategy for your business and provide the skills necessary to execute it effectively. Schedule your free Amazon Account Consultation to get started.

Amazon’s competitive environment presents a challenge for sellers on the platform. In pursuit of winning the Buy Box and climbing to the top of the site’s organic ranking, they often need to become an expert in building brand awareness, designing Amazon advertising campaigns and managing customer fulfillment. 

However, some brands have discovered there is a viable alternative to do-it-yourself Amazon product listing optimization and management. A full-service Amazon agency or qualified partner can allow them to eliminate the learning curve by shifting specialized, time-consuming responsibilities to a capable third party. But finding an Amazon optimization partner that can actually help you reach your goals requires a deliberate approach. 

Identify your deficiencies

The first step is to identify the deficiencies in your Amazon business that must be addressed. This can vary significantly between 1P (Seller Central) and 3P (Vendor Central) sellers. Service providers may also have different strengths. For example, some may focus on high-visibility components such as an Amazon listing or Amazon Store, while others support backend operations like logistics management or data analysis. Regardless, there is likely to be an opportunity for improvement. 

Warehousing & Logistics

Amazon seller success hinges on a company’s ability to get its products to customers quickly. Whether a brand is shipping to Amazon as a vendor, supplying Amazon FBA inventory, or fulfilling customer orders directly, the storage, packing, labeling and shipping of a product need to be expertly managed. Long-term growth is unlikely if your products don’t arrive on time, show up damaged or don’t match what a customer ordered.

In addition, poorly-managed inventory can negatively affect a company’s bottom line. Customers who find the products they are shopping for are out-of-stock often turn to alternatives, while companies can end up paying extremely high prices for storage fees and penalties if their inventory is not managed correctly. Brands struggling with warehousing and logistics are ideal candidates to partner with a company experienced with overcoming these hurdles for an Amazon seller. 

Platform Management

As the dominant e-commerce platform, selling on Amazon is a high-stakes undertaking for any business. Getting started is relatively simple, but finding success and maintaining it is much harder. Many Amazon sellers have trouble setting up listings correctly, identifying or removing unauthorized sellers, responding to customer inquiries and reacting to negative reviews. An Amazon optimization consultant can help brands establish and maintain a healthy Amazon Seller Central account, taking many of these fundamental but time-consuming tasks off your plate. 

Listing Optimization & Marketing

The competition on Amazon is fierce. And although listing products for sale on the site is a critical first step, it is by no means the end of the effort. Regardless of how many shoppers land on a listing, the most successful Amazon sellers know that a high-quality Amazon listing is necessary to lead to sales. A failure to understand the platform’s search algorithm or make adjustments based on the preferences and behaviors of customers makes it nearly impossible to succeed on the platform. Unfortunately, it’s also a common weakness among Amazon sellers.

In addition to Amazon Search Engine Optimization (SEO), thriving businesses also need a data-driven marketing strategy to get products in front of their ideal online customers, even beyond the Amazon platform. Integrating a paid digital marketing plan with Amazon optimization ensures the best possible return on investment. Due to the complexities of Amazon PPC services, a results-oriented Amazon marketing partner can be well worth the investment when internal efforts are not meeting expectations or are being neglected completely. 

Analysis & Strategy

Whether from Amazon or elsewhere, one of the advantages of e-commerce is the incredible amount of data sellers can access. There’s often an overwhelming number of reports available regarding inventory, shoppers, advertising, buyers and more. As a result, even long-time business owners can struggle with the intricacies of selling on Amazon and benefit from a strategic plan aimed at growth on the platform. 

Brands that aren’t capitalizing on this data and using it to develop an informed and well-defined strategy specifically for Amazon are missing a huge opportunity. However, they can often correct this with an Amazon consultant that can take a deep dive into the data and build a plan to reach the company’s marketplace goals. 

Evaluate experience carefully

Judging experience may seem straightforward, but examining a prospective agency’s claims closely is helpful. Focus on more than just how long the agency has existed. A newer Amazon consulting service may have a talented team with decades of relevant experience. In contrast, an established agency could have had lots of turnover resulting in leadership or specialists who have spent minimal time in the industry. 

Remember to also pay close attention to an agency’s current roster of clients and past results. Any reputable agency should be able to provide detailed case studies that shed light on their capabilities and tactics. Ask for examples that have parallels to your company’s challenges and will reveal whether the agency would be a good fit as an Amazon consulting expert. As important as who they have been able to assist is when their seller support took place. Amazon’s tools and policies are constantly evolving, and a service provider needs to be able to adjust accordingly. An agency with continuous success over time is more likely to be effective regardless of what lies ahead for the platform.

You should also inquire how the resume of those managing your Amazon account matches your company’s goals. An agency with direct experience in your product category may seem ideal, but sellers are often better served by comparing an agency’s strengths with the brand’s goals.

Seek a partner with broad alignment

Unfortunately, experience alone is not enough to guarantee that a service provider will be a good fit for your company. It’s also critical that any Amazon partner aligns with your brand’s goals, team and budget. 

Goals

The Amazon marketplace is an $800 billion business. The services needed by the largest companies on the platform vary drastically compared to smaller brands. Finding an Amazon seller consultant that aligns with your brand’s business model, sales level and service requirements is crucial. 

Providers usually break down into those serving brands with less than $500k in annual sales, agencies specializing in mid-sized sellers with $500k-$2 million of annual sales, and partners targeting companies with more than $2 million in sales each year. Your brand should align with the size the provider focuses on to limit the risk of low-quality service, overly-high costs, or the possibility of not being a priority for the provider.

Amazon consulting services are typically split between firms that help brands following a 1P Vendor Central model (selling products to Amazon) and those pursuing growth on the 3P Seller Central marketplace (selling products on the Amazon marketplace). Therefore, picking a provider that focuses on your brand’s business model is best. If a provider says they do everything, you may find they are not good at either. 

In your search for an optimization partner, consider creating a list of the functions necessary to run your Amazon business. Then, when comparing proposals from partners, confirm who will be responsible for each of those tasks. It’s a common mistake to overlook the specific services offered and simply choose the lowest-priced provider before realizing that some responsibilities will still need to be done internally and for an additional cost.  

Team

It is easy for firms to claim to be Amazon Buy Box experts, but what differentiates most providers is their ability to deliver the quality level that a brand expects at a reasonable cost. The number one reason brands leave Amazon seller consulting services is a misalignment of the quality of the team they are working with. By asking to meet the team upfront, a brand will quickly see if there is an appropriate alignment. 

Sometimes, a service provider consists of five people in a townhouse claiming to offer expert Amazon marketing services. These smaller providers have difficulty providing the consistency and breadth of the service many brands require. Larger, established companies have learned from their mistakes with previous clients and can likely provide a higher quality of consistent service. In addition, understaffed providers that rely heavily on contractors usually have difficulty delivering high-quality work. 

A brand should look at the provider’s client roster to determine if they match up well in size and product category. If the brands that a prospective Amazon consultant is currently working with have similarities to your business, the likelihood of success is much higher. 

Budget

Amazon claims it is easy to run a brand on its platform. In reality, it requires a lot of expertise in various areas ranging from graphic design and customer service to copywriting and advertising strategy. All of these specialties cost money and need to work together flawlessly. It is easy for a brand to underestimate how much work is involved and focus on price rather than quality. 

Low-cost Amazon consulting is more likely to rely on offshore teams with less quality control, while the most expensive Amazon consulting experts will often provide your brand with director-level staff capable of accelerating growth. 

People with valuable Amazon marketing experience are expensive to hire, and it’s important to remember you get what you pay for. A common rule of thumb is that it requires one employee for each $1 to $2 million of Amazon revenue. 

Amazon is a huge opportunity, but it is also very competitive. It will take a brand many months or years to reach its potential on Amazon. Brands that expect huge success in the short term will usually be disappointed by the results, regardless of which agency they choose. 

Start your search with Amify

Don’t spend any more of your valuable time trying to optimize your product page or searching for an internal staff member who can add keyword research to their existing duties. Instead, let Amify do the heavy lifting on Amazon SEO services and your quest to reach new potential customers. We already have the experts to help you dominate the buy box and keep your company on track for its growth goals. Contact us today to learn more.

Amazon copywriting is more than just words. For sellers on the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace, the copywriting they feature has a tremendous effect on everything from algorithm performance to customer satisfaction. Find out exactly why it matters so much and how you can do it better. 

Search Engine Optimization

Obviously, Amazon is an online marketplace. But as much as it’s a place to shop, it is also a search engine. Hundreds of millions of products from countless sellers are listed for sale, and they are all competing to be among the top results when a customer types in a relevant search term. Successful Amazon copywriting is mindful of this fact and incorporates relevant and well-researched keywords into product listings. However, it’s not enough just to include the right words. They need to be integrated seamlessly without sacrificing the effectiveness of engaging copy. 

Storytelling

E-commerce success doesn’t just come from selling products online. It also requires selling your brand to customers in a way that strengthens satisfaction and encourages loyalty. Often, it starts with clear and concise writing. Whether it’s bullet points, item descriptions or the landing page of an Amazon Store, the style and tone should enhance your brand, not compete with it. The copywriting on Amazon is also your brand’s story, and you want customers to enjoy reading it. 

Customer Service

The most effective Amazon copywriting can be essential to your customer service efforts. By taking a proactive approach, the information featured in your product listings can clear up any potential confusion about your product’s size, color or use before it becomes a problem for future buyers. Scour your reviews, particularly the negative and neutral ones, to find the most pressing FAQs and address them in compelling copy.  

Conversions

Even if copywriting capitalizes on the algorithm, conveys your brand’s story, and describes your product thoroughly, it still has critical work left to do. Success on Amazon comes down to conversions. Fortunately, optimized copywriting will typically result in more eyes on your product listing, which is a reliable way to increase sales. But the words only have a small window to resonate with shoppers and transition them from searching to buying. To accomplish this consistently, writing needs to be engaging enough to keep their attention and persuasive enough to convince them they have found what they were looking for.

Where copywriting matters

Despite the limitations of an Amazon product listing, there are three main areas where copywriting is critical. The words chosen for each element of a listing have the potential to influence search results, and more importantly, they can determine whether that search leads to a view or, ideally, a conversion. 

Product Title

An ideal product title is bold, concise, informative and imminently clickable. While it may seem intuitive, it’s a combination that can be difficult for both novice and experienced writers to achieve. Amazon titles are limited to 250 characters and receive more emphasis in terms of SEO than other parts of a listing. This can make choosing which keywords to include in the title a critical choice with substantial consequences. In most cases, the product title will consist of the brand name and most important product details that apply universally to any variants available in the listing, along with one or two relevant keywords. 

Key Features

The key features of an Amazon product listing provide an overview of an item in a bullet point format. This text receives prominent placement near the top of the listing and typically focuses on the specifications or key selling points that are most useful to shoppers. Amazon sellers are limited to five bullet points of up to 100 characters each. One tip that professional e-commerce copywriters understand is that an emphasis on benefits can lead to more conversions than simply the product features. Therefore, approaching this section of a listing with the goal of explaining how the product solves a shopper’s problem rather than just describing the item can pay big dividends. 

Product Description

Comprising the bulk of any Amazon listing, the product description offers up to 2000 characters to dive into the details about the item you’re selling. The length gives the best opportunity to incorporate your brand storytelling and long-tail keywords. 

Unlike the title and key features, Amazon product description writing should do more than try to lure in potential customers. Instead, by the time they reach a product description, these shoppers are invested in their search and putting substantial effort into finding the right product for their needs. 

Many Amazon sellers fail to capitalize on the copywriting opportunity that a product description presents. Instead, they use common marketing words and cliches to describe the item rather than trying to make a stronger impression with would-be buyers. In addition to addressing the most important questions about a product, effective copywriting for a product description can connect with shoppers and begin the vital goal of building customer loyalty by appealing to shared values. 

The keys to successful Amazon copywriting

There are several ways to improve your Amazon copywriting. Mainly, they result from taking a deliberate approach that accounts for the customer’s perspective. Write what shoppers want to know, not what brands want to tell them. We’ve included some of the most impactful copywriting strategies below. 

Differentiate your product

As brand owners, you know what makes your product different from everything else out there. The problem is, when you’re that close to it, it’s easy to focus on the what instead of the why. Optimized Amazon copywriting will always lead with benefits and explain the deliberate ways your product outperforms the competition.  

Do your research

Before writing new copy or adjusting existing content, it’s imperative that you do the necessary research. Keyword research to identify both head keywords and more specific long-tail keywords will ensure the best chance to break through the noise. Competitive research is also essential, but keep the focus on your product. Look for differences you can highlight that are true, relevant and that you can win on. If it doesn’t meet those criteria, it’s best to look elsewhere for content. 

Address customer concerns

As mentioned above, copywriting presents an incredible opportunity to strengthen your brand’s customer service. You can’t make everyone happy, but you can make sure the people who buy your product know what they’re getting. And doing so will minimize the possibility of a poor review. Remember, surveys have shown that nine out of 10 customers read reviews before clicking the buy button, while eight out of 10 give them as much weight as a personal recommendation. Be honest with yourself and your customers. Your listings should actively address customer concerns and complaints, as well as reassure them about the quality of the product. 

Make a connection 

Don’t underestimate the power of emotion when it comes to the words promoting your product. Your branding should feature an emotional connection that you are attempting to make with customers. Do you want them to feel safe? More confident? Happier? Whatever it is, your copy should incorporate language that reflects those same feelings. Customer reviews or discussions with users about their product experience can be great ways to identify the target emotions that will guide any copywriting.

Keep it simple

Despite the complex demands of Amazon copywriting, keeping your prose simple is still helpful. You want a prospective buyer to be able to scan the copy quickly and easily land on the area of most interest to them. Reading an initial draft of any new copywriting aloud is an excellent way to spot any areas readers might get hung up on. If possible, it’s also best to have multiple people review it for additional perspectives on the readability. 

Finding the right copywriting partner

Once you decide that copywriting is too important to be an afterthought, you may find that partnering with a professional is the best route to improving your Amazon listing content. If so, there are a few areas you should pay careful attention to during your search for the right provider. 

E-commerce Experience

Experience isn’t just a function of time. You want to work with a writer who has a proven track record writing for the e-commerce industry. While it can be helpful to work with someone familiar with your product category, understanding the best practices for online writing and optimizing for Amazon is likely to be the more critical factor. 

Alignment with your Brand

The long-term success of any Amazon partnership hinges on how well the provider’s capabilities align with the brand’s expectations. Creating a solid foundation requires compatibility across several areas. Obviously, you need a partner with the ability to provide effective copywriting, but they should also be able to meet your expectations when it comes to cost, communication and goals. Most brands will be better served by finding a copywriter who is the best fit for their products, not the one with the most impressive lineup of previous clients.

Bundled Services

In many cases, there is value in working with a partner that can provide more than an efficient Amazon copywriting service. Since the writing works in conjunction with so many other parts of the Amazon marketplace, bundling Amazon listing optimization services can maximize the impact. If you’re looking for copywriting help, consider a provider that can assist with photography, Amazon Store creation, digital marketing campaigns and more. Just be wary of companies or individuals who claim expertise in too many areas without the staff and experience to back it up. 

Amify your business

Whether it’s copywriting, Amazon SEO strategy or general platform management, the team at Amify is ready to help elevate your brand in a competitive e-commerce marketplace. We have the right combination of best-in-class tools and hard-earned experience to lead your Amazon listing optimization and achieve the results you want. Contact us for a free consultation. 

Simplify Amazon Store Management with an Agency Partner

Amazon store setup is designed to be relatively simple for brands utilizing the platform. And while the individual steps required are within the capabilities of most sellers, achieving the desired results is often more complicated. Pursuing the initiative successfully requires a strategic approach similar to developing a direct-to-consumer website. 

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Product organization, creativity and ongoing refinement are essential. However, an Amazon Store also unlocks access to new customer data that can increase conversions and ROI if used effectively. So, rather than an isolated tactic, Storefronts should be implemented as part of a broader campaign to develop followers and strengthen your Amazon business. If this combination of creative design, data analysis and campaign synergy seems overwhelming, you’re not alone. That’s why, for many Amazon businesses, choosing a partner to help build and manage an Amazon store is the ideal solution. 

When to consider outsourcing an Amazon Storefront

As an online seller, you know your inventory and product descriptions better than anyone. Unfortunately, building and optimizing an Amazon store takes more than familiarity with the products it carries. Rather than struggle to find the right formula before the opportunity is gone, e-commerce businesses facing these particular hurdles may find that a little help will go a long way toward winning on Amazon. 

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Lots of Competition

Due to its dominance, Amazon is one of the most competitive sales channels any brand faces. The challenges can be exponentially more difficult for items in highly-popular product categories, and breaking through the clutter can require extensive focus. Unfortunately, most companies don’t have the time or resources to dedicate to the task. As a result, they often juggle the responsibilities of multiple sales channels, product development, customer support and many other business demands. 

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Brands that face particularly stiff competition on Amazon are ideally situated to benefit from third-party Storefront management. Not only can the added expertise help them stand out, but the analytical and strategic edge that an effective agency can offer is also critical to their continued growth on a platform that is becoming ever more important to e-commerce.  

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Growing Product Line

Amazon Storefronts are the face of your entire brand on the marketplace. If your product line is changing or growing rapidly, uploading the latest inventory, optimizing the content and organizing them in your store can be a time-consuming process. 

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When you outsource your Amazon store to a professional service provider, adding a new product listing can become a less tedious step toward your goal of ramping up sales. They will have experience in batch uploading products, using parent-child variations appropriately and navigating the intricacies of copywriting, photography and optimizing content for each product listing. 

Underperforming Sales

In some cases, retailers with a record of success in traditional sales or via a direct-to-consumer website have trouble replicating that profitability on Amazon. Other times, established sellers don’t see any growth after launching an Amazon Store. In either case, the underperformance can be a frustrating experience and hard to reverse. Rather than a problem with the products, the discrepancy suggests a platform-specific weakness in strategy in execution. 

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Clearly, the size, competition and nuances of Amazon make it a challenge to master, even for brands that have found success elsewhere. An agency with deep experience and diverse expertise can ensure that the features and strengths that are working elsewhere reach the right shoppers and translate into conversions on Amazon as well. With a bit of help, an Amazon Storefront can join your other sales channels as a productive opportunity for growth. 

High impact advantages of expertise

A successful brand owner knows better than to dismiss the value of expertise. Instead, they will embrace a partner who can help their business achieve its Amazon goals sooner rather than later. Whether they support transitioning to Amazon FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) or completing the Amazon Brand Registry process, there’s no shortage of self-proclaimed experts willing to work with you. However, choosing the right expert to manage your Amazon Storefront can give you confidence in these five areas. 

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Branding

One of the most significant advantages of creating a well-designed Amazon store is its incredible opportunity to raise brand awareness among shoppers. Research has shown that connecting with customers emotionally adds value for companies and that shoppers will pay a premium for products from brands that are aligned with their social priorities. 

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An Amazon Storefront offers sellers a chance to share their brand’s story with shoppers and develop that critical relationship. It’s also the best way to introduce customers to your entire product line, encouraging brand loyalty and using the success of one product to grow others. However, managing an Amazon store that meets these lofty expectations is hard. It demands knowledge of shopper preferences and Amazon-specific techniques to capitalize on the potential fully. 

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Efficiency

Amazon Storefronts are a valuable tool for sellers. Still, most marketplace shoppers will first find products through a traditional search before being introduced to the brand’s entire product line in their store. This structure makes it hard to isolate Storefront management from other areas of Amazon optimization. 

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Partnering with an Amazon agency can ensure your brand stays up-to-date on the latest trends, tools and features from Amazon more efficiently. It also allows you to focus your internal team’s skills and efforts on their current strengths rather than asking them to develop new ones. You can rely on a qualified agency with passionate experts to streamline your brand’s path to winning on Amazon.

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Responsiveness

Although an Amazon seller can expect some support from the global retailer initially, the company’s responsiveness and willingness to address issues are unlikely to satisfy brands in the long term. It’s not unheard of for companies to complain that their ability to get help from Amazon declines as they become more established sellers, and Amazon’s resources shift toward new businesses that will impact their own growth more. 

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When trying to maintain and improvise a feature as important as an Amazon Storefront, you don’t want to be stuck waiting for a response from the Amazon support team when something goes wrong or isn’t performing as expected. When you outsource this responsibility to an Amazon agency, you will know exactly who to contact about your account and have confidence that any problems will be addressed and resolved quickly.

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Optimization

Almost every aspect of selling on Amazon can be optimized for better performance. But Amazon listing optimization requires both SEO experts and familiarity with Amazon retail analytics. So rather than letting the optimization learning curve monopolize your time, why not turn it over to an agency that understands the goal and already has a process in place?

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In the case of Amazon Storefronts, there are a lot of ways for sellers to improve the design, content, and role it has in a company’s marketing plan. However, doing so requires the ability to perform detailed keyword research, data analysis and campaign planning. The decision to outsource Amazon store management is often based on a brand’s capacity to meet the demands of optimization. For many, the value of a partnership with Amazon experts and experience getting the most out of an Amazon Storefront is well worth the cost. 

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Conversions

Typically, shopper conversion is the most crucial measure of success on the Amazon marketplace. Leading prospective customers from search to cart to purchase is the funnel an Amazon store intends to accelerate.

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A results-oriented agency partner understands how to leverage an Amazon Storefront to increase your conversion rate. They can leverage digital marketing and Amazon platform promotions to attract shoppers and rely on high-impact design and features such as Enhanced Brand Content to increase customer orders. Launching and maintaining an Amazon store management requires a substantial amount of work and needs to positively impact your conversion rate to justify the effort. 

Selecting the right Storefront Partner

Finding a store builder suitable for your needs is about more than the services they provide. How they plan to make your Amazon product stand out could be even more critical. The team supporting your Storefront should align with your company in several ways. 

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Experience

Focus on more than just how long the agency has existed. A newer agency may have a talented team with decades of relevant experience. In contrast, an established agency could have lots of turnover that has led to leadership or specialists who have spent minimal time in the industry. You should also inquire how the resume of those managing your Amazon account matches your company’s goals. An agency with direct experience in your product category may seem ideal, but sellers are often better served by comparing an agency’s strengths with the brand’s goals, in this case, Storefront creation and management. 

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Track Record

Remember to pay close attention to an agency’s current roster of clients and past results. Any reputable agency should be able to provide detailed case studies that shed light on their capabilities and tactics. Ask for examples that have parallels to your company’s challenges and will reveal whether the agency would be a good fit as an Amazon partner. As important as who they have been able to help, is when their seller support took place. Amazon’s tools and policies are constantly evolving, and a service provider needs to be able to adjust accordingly. An agency with continuous success over time is more likely to be effective regardless of what lies ahead for the platform.

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Approach

Before settling on an agency partner, confirm their approach to managing your Storefront is a good fit for your company and your communication preferences. For example, find out if the agency relies primarily on a team of offshore specialists, junior staff or director-level staff to service their accounts. The approach will significantly impact the cost and quality of service the agency can provide, and your brand should choose a tier that aligns appropriately. 

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Goals

Much like the products for sale on the site, there are Amazon agencies to serve almost any need. Some specialize in Amazon Vendor Central, not . Others may focus on content rather than logistics. And many service providers will prefer to work with small, mid-size or large sellers instead of trying to attract clients from across the spectrum. 

Much like choosing an agency with the right experience for your needs, outsourcing Amazon Storefront management will likely go more smoothly if you choose an agency with a history of working with similar-sized companies on similar projects. You may find that those claiming to do it all struggle to meet expectations. 

Partner with Amify

The pros at Amify know that the Buy Box is just the first step to winning on Amazon. To be successful, a business needs an integrated and interconnected approach. That’s why we operate as your business partner, providing full strategy and execution throughout the product life cycle on Amazon. From supply chain management, warehousing, content creation, advertising, and more, Amify helps you drive growth where your business needs it. Schedule your Amazon Account Consultation today. 

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After a difficult start to the year for both the economy and most e-commerce brands, Amazon recently updated investors on its third-quarter earnings and what lies ahead. The global giant shared that even though Amazon Web Services showed some concerning signs of deceleration, their e-commerce division displayed more promising trends. For Amazon sellers with an eye toward the future, we wanted to spotlight the key takeaways that will most likely impact brands utilizing the platform:

#1 Growth is accelerating again

E-commerce sales on the Amazon platform grew an estimated 14 percent compared to last year, showing significant acceleration. However, Year-over-Year (YoY) growth last quarter settled in at a much more modest 4 percent. Now, after a year of slow and decelerating growth, the third-quarter numbers are the first to show a dramatic reacceleration. 

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We think this should be viewed as a positive sign and an indication that e-commerce is returning to its expected trendline growth of approximately 15 percent per year. What may be even more impressive than a return of meaningful growth is the fact that it is occurring despite the fears of a slowing economy and rising interest rates.  

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Sellers should be ready to capitalize on this return to normal. Effective optimization efforts, inventory management and impressive customer service will be the difference between the companies that experience similar growth and those that get left behind. 

#2 Third-Party (3P) sales still have the edge

As we have noted repeatedly, 3P sales continue to take market share from First-Party (1P) sales on Amazon. Much of this is driven by the fact that Amazon would rather be a marketplace than a retailer. Based on the reports from Amazon, we estimate that 3P sales increased 18 percent YoY in Q3. This slightly outpaced Amazon’s overall 14 percent growth but doubled the 9 percent YoY gain displayed in the previous quarter. Comparatively, 1P sales also saw a reacceleration this quarter to 7 percent YoY, up from the 4 percent decline they experienced in Q2. Currently, we anticipate 3P to continue its trend of becoming the more dominant sales model on the Amazon platform.  

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If they haven’t already, the remaining 1P brands should give serious consideration to shifting their model toward 3P sales. However, vendors who switch to Seller Central need a plan to do so successfully and be sure they have the internal resources or the right Amazon partner to provide the skills that 3P success demands. 

#3 The emphasis on advertising is increasing

The Amazon advertising business grew a hefty 25 percent YoY to reach $9.5 billion in revenue. Amazon ads are now an estimated 6.4 percent of total Gross Merchandise Value. However, ads grew faster than GMV, which means the ad prices are increasing. 

As Amazon’s ad business continues to grow and the ads become more expensive, it will require more emphasis on efficiency. Brands will need to be careful not to overspend on unprofitable keywords. However, this explosive growth also means that even more sellers are using Amazon advertising, and it’s becoming challenging for brands to compete on the Amazon platform without an appropriate advertising budget.  

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Moving ahead, successful Amazon advertising campaigns will require a talented team of people with experience in keyword research, A/B testing and compelling copywriting. Otherwise, you’ll risk spending more for less impact.

Prepare for what’s ahead with Amify 

Find out how an experienced team and proven process from Amify can evaluate your brand’s account health, provide daily monitoring, and help your business win on Amazon. ‍Connect with us today for a free consultation or to discuss our full-service Amazon platform management. 

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Amify, the groundbreaking Amazon agency, recently extended its track record of providing award-winning optimization services for sellers on the dominant e-commerce platform. Four of Amify’s partners received a MarCom Award in the 2022 competition thanks to an outstanding Amazon presence, created in collaboration with the agency’s experts. 

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“We’re thrilled that the creativity and skills of our team contributed to these client wins,” said Sam Bowman, Amify’s vice president of marketing. “Success on Amazon is hard to achieve, and the recognition from MarCom is yet another endorsement of our comprehensive approach. Amify pioneered the Amazon-as-a-Service model, and we’re proud that our clients can reap the benefits of our 10-plus years of experience.”

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Leading the way among the award recipients were Medicine Mama’s Apothecary and Blenders Eyewear, which each earned a Platinum Award as two of the most outstanding entries in the competition. Platinum Winners are spotlighted for their excellence in terms of quality, creativity, and resourcefulness, and represent the highest award given by the organization. 

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Medicine Mama’s Apothecary offers natural and organic skincare and personal care products that moisturize, soothe and nourish from head to toe. Created in a California kitchen in 1988, the company today consists of two brands: Sweet Bee Magic, a pure, natural skincare line, and Vmagic, a 100 percent natural feminine care line. Both product lines are made with pure, certified organic ingredients with active raw materials to create the highest quality natural products possible.

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Blenders Eyewear produces a wide range of men’s and women’s sunglasses and snow goggles. Driven by a company-wide motto of “live life in forward motion,” the products are predicated upon a bold aesthetic that emphasizes progressive colors aimed at an active lifestyle and demographic. As a result, Blenders is currently one of America’s fastest-growing sunglasses brands.

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Amify client Because Market also received a Gold Award in the international competition. The Gold Award is presented to marketing efforts that the judges found exceeded the high standards of the industry.

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The Because brand got its start when the founders’ sought to help their grandparents and then realized others could also benefit from getting cheaper, high-quality bladder control products delivered to their front door every month. The company’s products contain fewer chemicals than other brands and use materials sourced from the U.S. 

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Finally, MobyFox added an Honorable Mention certificate to Amify’s strong 2022 showing by meeting the expectations of the discerning judges. 

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MobyFox creates unique, high-quality, officially licensed smartwatch bands and exclusive Watch Faces for the Apple Watch. High-quality silicone, state-of-the-art printing, the easy-to-use Watch Face App and a large selection of beloved brands allow its customers to showcase their style.

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“The fact that every one of our four submissions earned recognition, two of them claiming a top spot, speaks to the consistency of our team’s work and the effectiveness of our data-driven insights into shopper expectations,” added Bowman.

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The 2022 international creative competition for marketing and communication professionals featured more than 6,000 entries from throughout the United States, Canada, and 43 other countries. 

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Judges are industry professionals who look for companies and individuals whose talent exceeds a high standard of excellence and whose work serves as a benchmark for the industry. Entries come from corporate marketing and communication departments, advertising agencies, public relations firms, design shops, production companies, and freelancers.

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MarCom is one of the oldest, largest, and most-respected creative competitions in the world and is sponsored and judged by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals (AMCP), a 27-year-old international organization consisting of several thousand creative professionals. Winning a MarCom Award is highly sought-after, peer recognition from the creative industry. 

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About Amify

Amify delivers turnkey, award-winning services to help brands launch, manage and continually optimize their Amazon channel strategy. As the first Amazon-as-a-Service provider, we serve as an outsourced Amazon team, which helps companies own their brand on the world’s largest e-commerce platform. Responsible for more than $200M of goods sold on Amazon, the Amify team brings vast expertise to sellers, from branding and advertising to data analytics and business operations. From our high-performing, beautiful Storefronts to our optimized forecasting and logistics, our mission is to make it painless for clients to win on Amazon.

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A few improvements to an Amazon product listing can go a long way. Whether you’re trying to win the Buy Box or want to strengthen your branding, it can be challenging to determine where to focus your efforts. 

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However, as competition on the platform has increased, a growing number of sellers are relying on Amazon optimization services from outside agencies. These partners can offer teams of experts across diverse specialties to drive conversions and maximize ROI. Of course, there are some areas where this type of experienced help is most needed.  

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Product Title

The interaction between a prospective customer and your product listing often begins with your Amazon product title. A well-constructed and optimized product title can be the difference between profitable shopper conversions and a struggle to get your item in front of the appropriate audience. 

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An optimized product title is more than just a description of your Amazon listing. It needs to be a concise balance of accuracy and detail that targets the most valuable keywords for your brand. One of the challenges of listing optimization is crafting a title that simultaneously satisfies the expectations of Amazon users and strategically influences the site’s algorithm.  

While it may take up less real estate than other parts of an Amazon listing, it certainly plays an outsized role in results. An optimization service partner with experience in copywriting and keyword research, as well as a clear understanding of the competitive landscape and Amazon’s algorithm, is the best way to ensure a product title supports sales growth rather than misses opportunities. 

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Keywords

Identifying the primary keywords that are most important to a listing’s performance is typically within a brand’s in-house capabilities. However, prioritizing those terms and effectively integrating them into an Amazon product listing is much more complicated. Search engine optimization (SEO) on the platform gauges relevance and value to determine how to best leverage a keyword in a product title, feature bullet points, product description or elsewhere. 

Optimization is also not as simple as repeating keywords numerous times. When it comes to Amazon’s algorithm and keywords, quality is way more important than quantity. In many cases, once a search term appears in your Amazon listing, it has likely added all the value it can. Therefore, adding it repeatedly, especially to the detriment of the copywriting, is unlikely to improve your spot in the search results. 

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An Amazon listing service can help identify and prioritize relevant keywords more effectively than most brands can accomplish alone. Reputable service providers can create an Amazon SEO optimization plan for both the broadest keywords and the long-tail keywords that help differentiate a brand from its competition and reach customers who are closer to the point of purchase. Most importantly, they have the experience to do so within engaging copy and while taking advantage of Amazon’s backend keyword tools that many brands overlook. 

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Images

Among the most influential pieces of Amazon content are high-quality images. In fact, 78 percent of people say video has convinced them to buy a product, while 30 percent of shoppers won’t even consider a product that presents low-quality images. However, optimizing photos means more than just good resolution and high resolution. The media on your product page should tell a story. Your products should be showcased from multiple angles and in use. In addition, any product image included in a product listing should reinforce the featured benefits you are trying to convey. 

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Well-designed and appealing infographics that add compelling text overlays and use precise measurements and comparisons to establish size and function are essential to this area of Amazon listing optimization. And remember, this deliberate approach to Amazon listing photos is about more than convincing buyers to add the product to their cart. It’s about ensuring that shoppers are informed and have the appropriate expectations when they receive the item so that the confusion or disappointment that might otherwise occur, and result in negative reviews, can be avoided. 

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A qualified Amazon agency partner can offer one-stop shopping for both the artistic skills that product photography requires and the campaign mindset necessary to make them a seamless part of your brand’s story. 

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Features & Description

While some brands might see much difference between their product’s key features and description, the ones that take optimization seriously know better. Amazon’s key feature section relies only on short bullets to communicate the most important aspects of a product to consumers. The text displayed in the key features can also weigh more heavily in the ranking done by the platform’s algorithm, making keyword placement critical. 

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Alternatively, the product description is the place to provide detailed information about product features and product usage to guide a customer’s purchase decision. It’s the place to highlight specific product information that was not included in other areas of an Amazon listing but may still influence Amazon shoppers. In both the features and description areas, sellers must follow Amazon policies, such as the restrictions on mentioning competition or promoting temporary price cuts. 

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Developing a key features section and product description that complement one another, taking advantage of keywords and captivating the audience with an eye toward conversions is not easy. Like so many parts of an Amazon listing, a single weak link can have a detrimental effect on the entire listing and result in long-term problems for an Amazon seller. That’s why relying on an Amazon expert to make sure these fundamental pieces are completed correctly is often the best way to ensure growth on the site. 

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Price

Most companies already know that product price is integral to their future success. However, brands that are new to Amazon may underestimate the impact that the site can have when calculating the optimum price. The immense competition can push sellers to lower prices, while the expense of selling on Amazon can make margins difficult to manage. 

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Pricing on Amazon should consider all these factors and be informed by the data available in the Brand Analytics dashboard. The pricing of any product also needs to be monitored continuously to identify threats from illegitimate sellers and avoid missing the opportunities that come with a fast-paced and fluctuating market. 

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A strong Amazon partner can help brands navigate pricing optimization amid various fulfillment options. Their Amazon experts will understand how the storage, packing and shipping costs will

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Storefront

Creating an Amazon Storefront is an incredible opportunity to raise brand awareness among shoppers and drive more sales. Customers who connect emotionally with a brand name have three times higher lifetime value. And according to Deloitte research, 80 percent of consumers would pay more for products if the company committed itself to being socially responsible, environmentally responsible, and/or paying higher wages.

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The process of creating a Storefront begins with the completion of the Brand Registry process within the Amazon marketplace. Still, beyond attaining eligibility, the initiative also requires a strategic approach similar to developing a direct-to-consumer website. Product organization, creativity and ongoing refinement are essential to an Amazon store. A Storefront also unlocks access to new customer data that can be used to increase conversions and ROI. 

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Rather than an isolated tactic, Storefronts should be implemented as part of a broader campaign to develop followers and strengthen your brand. The combination of creative design, data analysis and campaign synergy that is required for a successful Amazon Storefront makes it an ideal place to add help from an Amazon listing optimization service. 

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Fulfillment

Even as Amazon grows its share of online sales, the company continues to pioneer ways to disrupt the e-commerce industry beyond its retail marketplace. Currently, Amazon sellers have the choice of several fulfillment strategies to get their products to customers. And determining the best option is not always obvious. 

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Sellers, particularly those pursuing Amazon Prime status for their products, will often rely on Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA). Self-fulfillment remains an option for brands that wish to control the entire process from order to delivery. Meanwhile, recently-introduced Multi-Channel Fulfillment is growing in popularity, particularly among brands that already rely on Amazon FBA inventory for their sales and are looking to simplify their responsibilities. 

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Companies that rely on Amazon for fulfillment support must pay close attention to inventory management policies and storage costs to avoid unnecessary expenses that can substantially reduce margins. Similarly, sellers still using self-fulfillment often consider the possibility of transitioning to another model too overwhelming. In either scenario, the knowledge and consistency that Amazon agencies with expertise in fulfillment can offer may be well worth the cost for many brands facing these circumstances. 

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Customer Service

There’s no question that reviews, positive and negative, can impact product sales and conversion metrics. This is just one of the reasons why Amazon optimization should extend to the customer service experience that brands provide their customers. Poor customer service, and the subsequent poor product reviews that will appear on a site like Amazon, can impact your organic search rankings even before a shopper discovers your product detail page. 

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Although the FBA model shifts much of the customer service process from the seller to Amazon, it’s not an excuse to ignore customer response to your products. Brands retain responsibility for setting customer expectations and creating content that leads to positive reviews. The evidence is clear that anything less can be disastrous for growth. Surveys have shown that nine out of 10 customers read reviews before clicking the buy button, while eight out of 10 give them as much weight as a personal recommendation.

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From ensuring inventory remains in stock for loyal customers to scouring reviews to identify early signs of quality issues or customer confusion, an Amazon optimization agency can be an invaluable partner for companies that are committed to excellent customer service. 

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Amify can help

If you’re looking for help with your Amazon product listing optimization, Amify is the partner you need. Our optimization experts can provide award-winning SEO services, content creation and inventory management support for your brand. Contact us today to find out how to get started. 

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Most of our brand partners come to Amify from other Amazon service providers, unhappy with the service they have received. However, after hearing their stories, it’s clear that asking the right questions during their search could have helped companies avoid a terrible experience. 

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In some cases, these questions should have been asked of the prospective agency. In others, it’s a question the brand needs to answer to guide its search. Regardless, we wanted to share our insight on the inquiries that can make all the difference for brands trying to find an Amazon agency that is the right fit for their goals. 

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It’s all about alignment

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The long-term success of an Amazon partnership hinges on how well the agency’s capabilities align with the brand’s expectations. Creating a solid foundation requires the following:

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• Alignment on the services the brand needs to be successful on Amazon and the provider’s ability to provide them
• Alignment on quality, responsiveness, and ability of the provider to do what they say they can do
• Alignment on the realistic costs involved in running an Amazon business and the ability of the brand to pay for the desired level of quality

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Let’s break each of these areas of emphasis down to the key questions to ask…

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Alignment on the services the brand needs to be successful

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The Amazon marketplace is an $800 billion business. The services needed by the largest companies on the platform vary drastically compared to smaller brands. Finding a provider that aligns with your brand’s business model, sales level and service requirements is crucial. 

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What Amazon business model does your provider focus on? 

Amazon business providers typically split between those helping brands following a 1P model (selling products to Amazon) and those pursuing growth on the 3P marketplace (selling products on the Amazon marketplace). Therefore, picking a provider that focuses on your brand’s business model is best. If a provider says they do everything, you may find they are not good at either. 

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What services does the provider offer? And which ones will the brand need to handle internally? 

To run an Amazon 3P business, a brand needs help with Amazon strategy, content, copywriting, SEO, PPC advertising, customer service, Seller Central management, inventory management, fulfillment, exception handling, pricing, assortment management, financial planning, and many other aspects. Most service providers only handle a few of these, requiring the brand to manage the rest internally. It’s easy for a brand to assume the partner will do it all, only to realize they are still responsible for most of the workload. We suggest that brands have a list of the functions necessary to run the Amazon business and have a clear owner for each. When comparing proposals from partners, it’s a common mistake to overlook the specific services offered and simply choose the lowest-priced provider. Only later does the brand realize that most of the tasks will still need to be done internally and for an additional cost.  

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What size businesses do you focus on?

The needs of a big Amazon seller are different from the needs of a small brand. Understanding if the provider aligns with your brand’s size is also important. Providers usually break down into those serving brands with less than $500k in annual sales, agencies specializing in mid-sized sellers with $500k-$2 million of annual sales, and partners targeting companies with more than $2 million in sales each year. Your brand should align with the size the provider focuses on to limit the risk of low-quality service, overly-high costs, or the possibility of not being a priority for the provider. If an agency claims to serve brands of all sizes, that may again mean they will take any client and perform poorly. 

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Alignment on quality, responsiveness, and ability of the provider to deliver

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It is easy for firms to claim to be Amazon experts, but what differentiates most providers is their ability to deliver the quality level that a brand expects at a reasonable cost. 

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Can I meet the team I will be working with?

The number one reason we see brands leaving our competitors is a misalignment of the quality of the team they are working with. Providers often have a slick salesperson who can promise the world, but when the sale is closed, the brand is passed off to a junior employee with little experience managing accounts. By asking to meet the team upfront, a brand will quickly get to see if there is an alignment here. 

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How many employees does the provider have? Is the staff mostly employees or contractors? 

Sometimes, a service provider consists of five people in a townhouse claiming to be Amazon experts. These smaller providers have difficulty providing the consistency and breadth of the service many brands require. Larger, established companies have learned from their mistakes with previous clients and can likely provide a higher quality of consistent service. In addition, understaffed providers that rely heavily on contractors usually have a hard time delivering consistent, high-quality work. 

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Who are some of the agency’s key customers? 

A brand should look at the provider’s client roster to determine if they match up well in size and product category. If the brands that a prospective partner is currently working with have similarities to your business, the likelihood of success is much higher. 

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Alignment on costs involved to run an Amazon business and the ability of the brand to pay for the desired level of quality

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Amazon claims it is easy to run a brand on its platform. In reality, it requires a lot of expertise in various areas ranging from graphic design and customer service to copywriting and advertising strategy. All of these specialties cost money and need to work together flawlessly. It is easy for a brand to underestimate how much work is involved and focus on price rather than quality. People with valuable Amazon experience are expensive to hire, and it’s important to remember you get what you pay for. A common rule of thumb is that it requires one employee for each $1 to $2 million of Amazon revenue. 

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Who do you want your head of Amazon to be? Offshore, junior employee, or seasoned director?

Is your brand a scrappy startup that hires a lot of offshore people? Or is your brand an established company with senior directors running its e-commerce divisions? In either case, your company needs a provider that employs teammates on an equivalent level. A damaging misalignment occurs when a brand that is accustomed to working with seasoned executives pays a low price for a lower tier of service. Amazon providers staff their teams using three primary models. 

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Offshore – The provider has a majority of its teams offshore. These models offer lower costs but sacrifice quality. 

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Junior staff- The provider mixes offshore teams with primarily junior staff in the United States. This mid-cost model offers a nice mix of higher quality and value. 

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Director-level staff – This model is made for established businesses that realize junior staff will not take them to the next phase of growth on Amazon. These companies are looking for quality over low cost. 

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Is your brand willing to make a long-term strategic investment in Amazon? 

Amazon is a huge opportunity, but it is also very competitive. It will take a brand many months or years to reach its potential on Amazon. Brands that expect huge success in the short term will usually be disappointed by the results, regardless of which agency they choose. 

Ask for Amify 

Start a conversation with Amify to find out if our decade of experience helping Amazon sellers grow and extensive platform knowledge is the right fit for your brand. Take some time to read our case studies, and discover why our clients average 100% growth in the first year after partnering with us..

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