What’s true for physical retail is also true for eCommerce. Nobody can turn down a freebie.
An estimated 55 million Americans enter sweepstakes each year, in the hopes of winning anything from free movie passes to luxury cruises. And it’s a pastime that can turn into a veritable obsession for some people. Even Amazon hosted their own Giveaway program as a promotional tool for vendors until it was retired in 2019.
But just because Amazon ceased their sweepstakes program doesn’t mean sellers can’t take advantage of outside traffic from promotions to boost their sales.
Why Outside Traffic Is Important
You’re on Amazon for one thing and one thing only: to sell.
Amazon’s algorithm has traditionally favored outside traffic when ranking product listings. That’s primarily because you’re not necessarily competing with other sellers in Amazon search queries, but sending traffic directly to your listing. But if you’ve only just launched your product line, your chances of visibility and ranking simply aren’t going to be that great. You’re up against millions of other competitors who are already well established on Amazon. They have an existing customer base. And it’s a base which can be fiercely loyal.
You may be able to convert their existing customers. But more than likely, you’re going to need an entirely new crop of customers in order to compete. While Amazon may be the largest global eCommerce site, outside traffic can convert both your competition’s customer base as well as new customers—organically, without relying on Sponsored Ads. And two of the most effective methods of convincing both are promotions and giveaways.
Email Lists: Not Just For Spam Anymore
Just how effective is email marketing? In a recent poll from SaleCycle, 59 percent of respondents indicated that marketing emails influence their purchases, while over 50 percent purchase as a result of emails monthly. A 2018 survey from MailChimp reports that the most opened emails relate to specific hobbies and interests, with an open rate of over 27 percent.
There’s a very good reason for that. No matter how much you can customize your social media feed, email maintains one innate quality: personalization. For each company a customer follows or likes, the same post is being sent out to millions of followers as well. There’s no sense of individual attention. Email, on the other hand, gives the impression of making a personal connection with a customer. It makes customers feel like their business is appreciated. It makes customers feel valued.
So do rewards.
Best Practices For Driving Traffic To Amazon Through Promotions
Amazon doesn’t permit you to contact customers for any purpose other than order fulfillment. In fact, doing so puts you in direct violation of buyer-seller communication guidelines and could effectively result in a suspension of selling privileges.
Amazon does allow the one time use of promo codes; and they’re an effective way of gaining new conversions. But there are other ways of offering promotions outside of Amazon to new, existing and even potential customers.
Create an email signup list and forms on the landing page of your website to alert customers of new products and discounts.
When creating an email list, add a “share” feature to increase click-through rates.
Avoid generic templates and hard sell approaches when creating a promotion. Be creative and connect with your audience. Make certain your offer entices and stands out from your competitors.
Your promotional sales funnel shouldn’t be limited to email marketing alone. Social media, influencers and even chatbots can be a great and inexpensive way to introduce new customers to your product. Facebook ads in particular can be scaled to fit your budget, and can sometimes cost no more than 28 cents per click.
Make certain you’re sending promotions out at the appropriate time. If you’re promoting a Prime Day sale, for example, send or post it no earlier than two weeks in advance.
Mobile marketing is expected to exceed desktop and laptop advertising by 2022, with nearly 60 percent of consumers clicking on a mobile ad at least once a week. Neglecting to include mobile in your promotional campaign means missing out on a significant portion of your customer base.
In short? Promotions aren’t just drivers. They can be just as creative as your Amazon listing.
And they can be as much of a destination as well.
Color More Lines provides white glove, global account management of your ecommerce platforms so mission-driven companies can focus on new product development, branding and growth strategies. Find out more at Color More Lines.