Oct 11, 2017
On this episode of E-commerce Brain Trust, hosts Kiri Masters, CEO of Bobsled Marketing, and Julie Spear, Operations Manager at Bobsled Marketing, discuss running promotions on Amazon. What kinds of promotions are available to sellers and vendors? When are these promotions best used? How can they be used to kickstart sales of new products or brands, clear out inventory, or build momentum overall for a brand? If you’re a seller or vendor on Amazon, tune in to this episode for some great tips on how to maximize the value of promotions!
Key Takeaways:
[:30] On this episode, Kiri Masters and Julie Spear will be talking about promotions on Amazon.
[1:19] Why is understanding promotions on Amazon important?
[1:57] Julie has been in the Amazon world for the past few years. She talks about the changes in promotions available and how they are run.
[2:52] Amazon’s move to stop retailers offering free or discounted products in exchange for reviews was a good move, because of consumer trust being eroded.
[4:00] What other promotions are available to brands selling on Amazon? Julie discusses the options available to sellers on Seller Central and vendors on Vendor Express.
[6:50] There are different instances of Amazon that get displayed to customers, minute-to-minute, to test which features work and which don't. Checking out Amazon's own brands is a good place to get an indication of what may be coming through the pipeline next.
[8:25] Apart from product display page promotions, what other promotion types work really well on Seller Central? Julie discusses the controversy surrounding Amazon's Lightning Deal promotion.
[11:50] There is a significant halo effect resulting in increased sales for 1-2 weeks following the Lightning Deal. What is the reason for this halo effect?
[12:45] What is the difference between Lightning Deals run on Vendor Express vs. Seller Central?
[13:35] What are some promotions available specifically to vendors? Julie shares some information about Best Deals and coupons.
[15:55] Is there additional tracking available when using coupons to assess the effectiveness of the campaign?
[16:54] When is it a good time to run a promotion? Julie suggests running a promotion when launching a new product, when trying to clear inventory, or when you’re testing prices.
[21:12] What are some best practices when considering running a promotion, in the lead-up to the promotion, and during the course of running the promotion? A lot of it comes back to inventory management.
[25:10] One more way to prep and boost promotions is to look at PPC, to increase your ads budget, and do some bid management to ensure your bids for ads you’re running remain competitive.
[26:54] Kiri sums up how to approach thinking about Amazon’s algorithm and how it affects your product ranking: If you’re going to help Amazon make money, then your products and promotions are going to do better.
Mentioned in This Episode:
E-commerce Brain Trust Podcast