In the blink of an eye, we all do it. We judge.
In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell showed us that we make quick judgements in about 13 seconds or less.
More recent research shows that this judging happens in even less time than that! Our brains have been trained to unconsciously size up the situation in super quick time.
This is true in real life – making quick decisions about people we meet – and it’s equally true when we’re shopping online. Everyone is sizing up your product, your brand, as soon as they log on to Amazon. And they’re doing the same to your competitors.
What can businesses do to stand out and be judged in the right way on Amazon?
We often hear Amazon sellers complaining:
- Consumers don’t understand our products
- Amazon is just a race to the bottom
- There’s nothing different about our products – we just have the best margins
- Our content is ripe for optimisation but pricing is most important in our category
Many companies that sell on Amazon believe the platform is simply price-driven – it’s a race to the bottom.
That’s not entirely untrue, however in our experience, we find that companies can increase prices when they can influence the Amazon customer’s perceived value of the product. If the customer believes the product is more valuable than the competition, they will buy it.
If they don’t think it has added value, they’ll buy elsewhere. Because of those snap judgements we all make in 13 seconds or less, people will move on to another product listing quickly if they don’t see what they like.
How can we change the way consumers view products on Amazon and get them to buy more?
It’s about making your product RELEVANT to the right people.
You aren’t going to appeal to everyone, but you must appeal to your target customer, otherwise it will be a hard slog selling on Amazon.
When browsing on Amazon, every consumer is asking, is this RELEVANT for me? Does this product meet my needs, align with my identity, who I am, and how I want to be seen?
These questions go through our minds all the time when we are shopping – it just may not be something you do consciously. Whether you’re looking at high-end fashion or expensive tech, or whether you’re looking at cleaning products or groceries. We all make quick, snap judgements based on what we see.
CASE STUDY 1:
At Sell Beyond we worked with a company called Discount Fabrics who were selling a large selection of textiles by the metre on Amazon.
We helped them to narrow down who this product is relevant for and to ensure that customers saw themselves reflected in the product listing.
The CEO of Discount Fabrics was sceptical – “but these are commodity items!” he said.
However, the proof that relevance is important was in the results.
Tell people who should be buying this product in words and in pictures
With Discount Fabrics, after research and talking to the CEO, we redesigned their Amazon pages, to make sure we signalled to consumers if it was RELEVANT for them: this product is good for crafters, teachers and remarkably, gardeners. We told people and we showed them.
The technical details:
Sell Beyond identified that there were a lot of people who could be interested in buying fabric by the metre, but there were three main target markets:
- Females aged 45-65 who enjoyed crafting as a hobby and were experienced using fabrics
- Females aged 20-35 who were more likely to need guidance and might be more likely to commercialise their projects
- Teachers who would use certain types of fabrics for noticeboards
By taking photos of people using the fabrics, we ensured that the images were relevant to the customers most likely to buy the product.
- SHOW: Part of this included sourcing models to show them using the product for craft projects such as table?
- TELL: We listed out all the other types of customers that may be interested (teachers, upholsterers, gardeners) in an infographic – an image with a checklist
RESULT: The more people who looked at the content, the more people who purchased the product
TOP TIP: Don’t be afraid to be niche and focus in on at least one target customer
CASE STUDY #2
Shaun Jennings at Meldon Seeds wanted his new seed range to stand out from the competitors on Amazon. In his category (Garden & Outdoors) seed sellers were not working hard on informing customers. Many companies simply uploaded copy and images of a seed packet to Amazon.
As Sell Beyond we worked with Shaun to show two key points that would be relevant to target customers.
- We found that parents and grandparents browsing on Amazon would identify with the message that planting seeds and gardening is a family activity. We chose a stock picture of a child gardening to create the message that sowing seeds is a “family fun” activity and could lead to children being more likely to eat fruit or vegetables or connect more with nature because of watching and helping them grow.
- Each SKU also has a specific planting guide infographic – which informs potential customers when to sow in, sow out and harvest.
Shaun was surprised that this information wasn’t obvious to everyone! He believed that every customer would know this.
We reviewed Shaun’s Amazon images and made them relevant to potential customers, by giving them the information they needed. Sharing information that may seem obvious to the seller, but essential to the consumer ensures you stay relevant.
This planting and harvesting calendar image answers the customer question “does this product fit my needs”? A customer would expect this type of graphic on a seed packet. The planting guide is simple. It presents information in a clear familiar way which helps customers make their choice.
TOP TIP: Just because it’s obvious to you as the seller, it may not be obvious to the consumer. Don’t be afraid to promote the obvious. It means you are RELEVANT.
6 ways you can become RELEVANT and why “Optimisation” isn’t helping your Amazon
- Your agency used lots of stock images – but your competitors use the same photos! Customers on Amazon may not be able to tell the difference between your products because the images are the same.
BECOME RELEVANT: Use the stock photos to create your own infographics – add your own text, brand colours, and logo.
- Your agency added content but didn’t really understand your products.
BECOME RELEVANT: Try to think about who this product is aimed at. Who should use it? Make your content relevant by redesigning ONE image and ONE text bullet point per SKU that tells potential customers who the product is for and how they should benefit.
- You know your content is old, it’s not complete, informative or does not reflect your brand.
BECOME RELEVANT: Don’t bite off more than you can chew! Start by updating the text and images of ONE SKU – your best-selling SKU is a good place to start. Once you’ve got the hang of it and you’ve managed to upload it to Amazon, move on to updating your top 5 SKUs. Working on the top 3 or 5 sellers will likely have the most effect on customer conversion, rather than you trying to optimise all of your SKUs at once.
- You are thinking about paying for a brand store – is it worth it?
BECOME RELEVANT: Brand stores are a great Amazon optimisation project, they work best when combined with PPC, particularly sponsored brand ads that send people straight to the store.
- You know your A+ Content should be improved. Where do you start?
BECOME RELEVANT: Consider creating or updating A+ Content elements that could work for all of your SKUs – such as “From the brand” which can be applied on all of your listings, or a large image that includes your brand logo and a sentence about your target market or company. Additionally, adding cross-sell modules can also be an effective way of improving A+ Content to drive sales and ensure your customers find something relevant.
- You have had an optimisation job done … but you don’t know how to measure success of whether it worked or not.
BECOME RELEVANT: You should be able to review success of optimisation around 30 days after final upload, using metrics found on the Business Reports.
If you want to ensure that your product gets the right judgement within 13 seconds, get in touch and review our Amazon Optimization pages.
If you would like a chat about Amazon, get in touch by emailing heloise.finch-boyer@sell-beyond.com or call 01206 899020.