OCTOBER RECAP: Top 3 Amazon Seller Updates
Corey Brown - October 17, 2022
1. Amazon Premium A+ Content - Upgrade Your Branded Content For *Free*
Amazon is back with an update for your listings’ visual content! The newest edition of A+ Content (formerly known as Enhanced Brand Content) offers new ways to upgrade your listings.
Premium A+ Content takes up almost double the size of Basic A+, allowing for more details within your graphics. It also gives room for more modules, by a lot. In addition to the standard graphics, videos can now be integrated into your detail pages, along with a clickable Q&A, hover hotspots, carousels, testimonials, and more; making listings more interactive than ever.
As with Basic A+ Content, a Seller is required to have Brand Registry for the ASINs they want Premium A+ applied to. To be eligible to add Premium to a listing, an ASIN must already have a Brand Story applied. A Seller also needs to have 15 previously approved A+ Content project submissions within the last 12 months. This shows Amazon that as a Seller, you have a history of adhering to guidelines.
Access to these modules is not something that is automatically implemented, though. Amazon goes through a monthly review and handpicks Sellers to bring into this promotion. Chosen Sellers will be reached out to by Amazon, letting them know that they qualify.
Premium A+ Content is currently in the midst of a promotional period, where the use comes at zero cost, and there has been no word as to when this promotional period will end. Due to the steep price point, this is your sign to take advantage as soon as possible.
Once this promotional period comes to an end, you will no longer be able to add these modules to ASINs that did not previously have access during the promotional period. This being said, your products that already had Premium applied to it, will retain their new modules and you will still be eligible to make updates as you please. You just will not be able to apply Premium to any new products you plan to add in the future, without paying the hefty fees.
Implementing these new interactive modules has already proven to have an even higher sales rate than listings that have Basic A+ Content, boosting it by 5-12%. Utilizing these new modules enhance the customer experience and their confidence in your product, and brand as a whole.
Source: Amazon Sellers Forum
2. Amazon Vine Program - 50% Until October 31st
3. Amazon Tailored Audiences - Custom Email Marketing
With Tailored Audiences, brands can now engage customers who have purchased from your brand in the past. Through the free tool’s easy-to-use campaign templates and customer segmenting capabilities, you can reach out to select customers through email marketing to inform them of new products, offer deals, and inspire repeat purchases.
As of September 2022, we are testing Tailored Audiences in a beta program (in Seller Central, it’s located under Brands > Customer Engagement), with plans to make it available soon to all U.S. sellers who have become a brand registered with customers in the last 12 months. Tailored Audiences will be available as part of the Customer Engagement tool in Seller Central.
This goes along with any exposure being better than none. If you show more about your brand and the company behind it, there will be more for your audience to talk about and share with others.
3 customer groups you can engage with Tailored Audiences
Expand beyond brand followers when sending free email marketing campaigns and reach these three audiences who have already purchased products from your Amazon store:
Repeat Customers: Customers who have ordered your brand’s products more than once in the last 12 months
High-Spend Customers: The highest spending 25% of your brand’s customers in the last 12 months
Recent Customers: The most recent 20% of customers who have purchased from your brand
Source: sell.amazon.com
4. What Does This Mean For Amazon Sellers in Q4 and Beyond?
Amazon is changing swiftly and reinforcing brand features heading into 2023. These three major updates are just a piece of the sweeping updates coming up for Sellers. Amazon is testing becoming a social media platform, an email provider, and continuing their push to build serious brands through third party vendors.
If you're anything like our team, you're already solidly into your Q4 strategy and looking ahead to 2023. With that said, content is becoming even more important that ever. If you're lacking A+ or using old content, you're going to be punished by brands that are investing heavily into a serious digital presence. Premium A+ brings so many new features to the table and seems to be a testing ground for future updates to Amazon stores and product pages.
My quick suggestions are to A) Utilize Vine ASAP B) Test out email marketing (least excited about this feature) and C) Build out Premium A+ immediately! If you have access to anything Amazon provides early, take advantage. For 10 years we've seen that early adopters and heavy investors see the biggest ROI before everyone else jumps in and dilutes the space.
As always, if you need help building creatives or driving traffic, let's have a quick chat.
about the author
Corey D Brown | Founder & CEO @ buffaBRAND Marketing
For the past 10+ years, Corey has been focused on growing private label brands on Amazon through implementation of strategic marketing and brand development tactics.
Seeing the need for a higher quality eCommerce Agency focused on Amazon, Corey founded buffaBRAND Marketing in 2020. Since then he has been working with global brands to develop and execute complex omni-channel marketing strategies that drive sustained eCommerce growth. His brand management techniques have yielded massive success for his clients and employers, earning him a reputation as a problem solver and a strategic leader.
More Amazon Blogs
Written by Amazon sellers, for Amazon sellers.
COREY BROWN - OCTOBER 17, 2022
Why is Social Media Important to My Business?
1. Any exposure is better than no exposure.
There is always a chance of someone, somewhere, seeing your post. That probability will increase automatically the more often that you post. Even starting from zero, increasing your opportunity of exposure will do the job for you. (And word of mouth by family and friends to start off wouldn't hurt either!)
You can measure your reach, engagement, ROI, and customer retention to see what content is grabbing peoples' attention.
3. You can get this exposure for free, as long as you want.
You always have the option to utilize paid advertising, but it is not necessary to get the exposure you want. Using the resources you have can take you a long way before having to dig into your marketing budget for Instagram or Facebook.
Use hashtags, add locations, use the different post options (static posts, reels, stories, carousels, etc.)
4. Social media helps to build brand awareness.
This goes along with any exposure being better than none. If you show more about your brand and the company behind it, there will be more for your audience to talk about and share with others.
What To Remember When Using Social Media
1. Be human
Or not! Determine what you want your presence to be like online, and stick to it. If you want to give the essence of being a premium and exclusive brand, maybe showing your face and being casual doesn’t fit with your brand. On the other hand, you may have a strong preference for demonstrating nonchalance within your company.
2. Engage with your audience
Your level of and attitude regarding engagement adds to the character of your brand. Being personable as a brand may be something you are trying to achieve.
3. Try out different branches
Don’t just stick to one app; spread yourself out a bit. One post may flop on Instagram, but the same post could blow up on Tik Tok a day later! This doesn’t mean to go crazy on all platforms. Try out 2 or 3, determine the pros and cons, then determine if you want to move on to other channels.
4. Consistency is key
Going weeks without posting can make people think you’ve disappeared, and forget about you. This also drops your standing in the algorithm (if you’re posting on Instagram). You want to stay towards the top of your followers’ feeds every week. You can do this by being consistent with your posting schedule, and playing to the different platform algorithms. Try not to go overboard with the posts. Some people may like it, but I can’t say that many people want their feed to be flooded by companies that post 2x/day!
about the author
Corey D Brown
Founder & CEO @ buffaBRAND Marketing
For the past 10+ years, Corey has been focused on growing private label brands on Amazon through implementation of strategic marketing and brand development tactics.
Seeing the need for a higher quality eCommerce Agency focused on Amazon, Corey founded buffaBRAND Marketing in 2020. Since then he has been working with global brands to develop and execute complex omni-channel marketing strategies that drive sustained eCommerce growth. His brand management techniques have yielded massive success for his clients and employers, earning him a reputation as a problem solver and a strategic leader.
More Amazon Blogs
Written by Amazon sellers, for Amazon sellers.
Leave a comment