On Amazon, performance counts for everything. But it's a new year. And while we're all still recovering from the rollercoaster ride that has summed up the past three years, your own marketing strategies on Amazon shouldn't remain the same.
Fourth quarter eCommerce revenue in the US alone surged to a staggering $262 Billion in 2022, accounting for 14.7 percent market share of total retail sales. Even in spite of inflation fears, those numbers are only predicted to rise.
As even staunch holdouts against digital commerce (believe it or not, they exist!) have been forced to recognize its value, both retailers and individual vendors need to adapt to the influx of consumer interest and demands. That includes marketing.
And leading the trend has always been and will always be Amazon. But what can you expect from Amazon marketing in the months ahead?
Trends in Amazon Marketing for 2023
eCommerce and Social Media Integration: The New Boss in Town?
In an age in which at least 72 percent of the population uses an average of eight other social media platforms and networks, it's only natural that digital marketing and social would make ideal partners. And so far it has, with ad dollars on social media representing an estimated 33.9 percent of total digital ad spend in January 2023.
But eCommerce is a different beast altogether than digital advertising. With a few exceptions, very few social media networks were willing to dip their toes into the digital retail media landscape until fairly recently.
It may be one thing to pay attention to a Twitter ad, but it's another to use it for shopping purposes.
That changed in 2020 when Facebook announced the launch of Facebook Shops, an online retail platform which users can access through both paid advertising as well as their own page. Promising a seamless merge between social media, video ads, and shopping, Facebook claimed early on that Shops would allow some 160 million smaller businesses to reach out to any of its 3 billion users.
By dint of comparison, Amazon only receives roughly 200 million unique visits per month. Nor has it integrated any form of social media for a very simple reason: Amazon is an online business, not a social media network.
Amazon has built its reputation by being a secure and virtually all-inclusive platform for retail shopping, not as a community hub. And while Facebook has experimented with eCommerce in the past in the form of Facebook Marketplace, it's been met with limited success.
It's too early to tell whether or not Facebook Shops will have any significant impact on digital commerce. And there's no way of knowing whether or not Amazon will launch its own social media hub in return.
There's no reason why businesses can't drive outside traffic to their Amazon storefront by leveraging social media as part of their marketing campaigns. In fact, there's no reason why they shouldn't. But in the meantime, Amazon has already beaten Facebook to the punch by integrating what is already a $60 Billion industry in China alone: live stream shopping.
Amazon Live: Where Retail Meets UGC
User generated content (UGC) may have been consistently on the rise for the past seven years, with an estimated 79 percent of consumers indicating consumer developed content ultimately impacts their purchasing decisions. And that number has been bolstered by a recent report from Deloitte indicating that some 46 percent of viewers wind up spending more time viewing UGC than they intended to.
Shoppable UGC is simply the next level of UGC, allowing viewers to automatically purchase the very same products they're viewing. And if you think Amazon isn't above capitalizing on trends developed overseas, think again.
Amazon Live is a live video streaming platform which allows brands and qualified influencers to showcase and introduce new products and directly engage with their followers on Amazon—all in real time, thanks to services including a chat feature that encourages direct, personalized interaction.
It's been estimated that the video ad industry accounted for nearly $50 Billion of total digital ad spend in 2022. And while outside media usage may be at an all time high, Amazon sellers have yet to fully recognize its potential as one of the most versatile and engaging advertising solutions available.
Part of that reason is fear of a negative ROI due to uncharted territory. But with video expected to account for over 80 percent of global web traffic over the next few years, sellers may no longer be able to afford not to take that leap.
Buyer-Seller Messaging: Just the Facts
Raise your hands if you can remember Amazon's chief mission statement.
We didn't think so. But just to refresh your memory, it's to be “the Earth's most customer-centric company.”
Customer-centricity is at the heart of the Amazon ecosystem. And there's virtually not an Amazon customer alive who appreciates a hard sell. That's one of the reasons why communication guidelines can seem increasingly stringent. That's also the reason why they'll seem even more inflexible in the months ahead.
Even external links to your site or landing pages are prohibited in buyer-seller messaging unless they're absolutely necessary to fulfill an order. Try to ensure that your messages with customers contain nothing but the essential facts about both a product and order.
Amazon Advertising has their own line of easily accessible solutions available; and using them will ultimately save you time and frustration in customer interactions.
Amazon Ads: Budget Conscious or Budget Conflict?
If you thought that the advertising industry was immune to inflation, you're in for a rude awakening.
While total ad spending was recently estimated to reach nearly $279 Billion in the US by the end of 2023 (according to a report from Business Insider), that number actually pales in comparison to the $326 Billion the US ad market was valued at in 2022.
Digital ad spend may be up, but so are the actual costs. And it's no different with Amazon ads, which reportedly saw an increase of over 50 percent as early as 2021. Amazon advertising trends may come and go. But the likelihood of cost increases will rarely change, even during times in which inflationary fears ebb.
When it comes to making ad dollars stretch, Amazon sellers need to be cognizant of both the suitability of available solutions as well as campaign performance. For example, sponsored display ads may frequently seem ideal for new to launch brand owners. But without a retail ready product, sponsored display ads may not provide the return brands can expect—not to mention the hours of time involved in monitoring campaigns.
Outside agencies can alleviate the burden of fine-tuning Amazon ad monitoring and developing campaigns. But outside agencies aren't miracle workers. They work with what they have. And if what they have is a product line that has yet to reach maturity, your sales will ultimately reflect that product line—regardless of your budget.
Don't let your ad dollars exceed your product development. It should seem obvious. But in a retail landscape where style can sometimes account for more than actual substance, the obvious can be overlooked. And if you can master the substance of your product line, you won't just be able to master your advertising budget.
You'll practically be a unicorn.
PPC: Amazon's Secret Marketing Weapon
Despite naysayers who assume otherwise, pay-per-click advertising is neither ineffective nor rigging the Amazon system for a very good reason: it works.
A 2019 survey from independent research agency Clutch indicated that some 31 percent of respondents clicked on a retail shopping ad, while over three-fourths stated that paid search ads made it easier to find the product or service they were looking for.
But while it's been estimated that PPC can bring an ROI of 200 percent on ad spend, that same survey indicated that only one-third of Amazon users clicked on an ad for brands they were already familiar with.
Visibility. That's why new businesses can't afford not to leverage PPC as part of their Amazon marketing campaign. Numbers don't lie. According to research from Google AdWords, paid advertising can increase brand awareness by up to 80 percent.
While campaigns implementing sponsored products, sponsored brands and sponsored display ads have consistently been proven an effective part of any Amazon advertising strategy, brands still aren't recognizing their full potential in ad space. Expect PPC advertising trends to develop more comprehensively as marketing continues to redefine itself in 2023.
And redefinition will be the key to successful digital marketing this year.
Has Amazon Advertising Already Reached Its Peak in 2023?
Amazon advertising trends are just as subject to consumer demand as a product line is in general. That's largely because Amazon trends aren't defined by advertising, but by the end users themselves.
There's no such thing as an advertising peak in eCommerce, be it on or off Amazon. Nor is there necessarily a single benchmark to measure efficacy by. Your customers are much more diverse and nuanced than you might think. And their shopping habits can sometimes be frustratingly complex. But underneath it all, what they will return to is a brand that understands their needs. All marketing can do is simply reflect those needs back to them in the strongest light possible.
And the strength of that light is, and always will be, the strength of your product.
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