An extinction event for Amazon sellers 🦖?? [MDSR #16]

Breaking: 50% of MDSR readers are focusing their time and budget on Amazon ads right now.

And we have the news and million dollar advice you need to see a better return on those investments. Let’s get into it.

Hot Off The Presses 📰

This month we’ll see Amazon implement the latest in a series of new fees for sellers — on top of the $140 billion of seller fees they collected in 2023. You know what that means, right? 

Well, many Amazon sellers are facing an extinction event as the fees change the climate on planet Amazon to one that no longer supports their BAU. 

And for some, the fees’ cost and complexities will force them to overhaul their business operations to give the tech giant less control over their supply chain — and / or pass those price increases onto the end-customers… for whom $45 was the median amount of their last “splurge” purchase…

Our take? This is the perfect time to fine tune your Amazon ad strategy for better ROI to offset those costs. Especially considering that TikTok Shop isn’t the solid alternative it once was for the 20% of Amazon sellers who were planning to expand there before the ban. 

Speaking of alternative avenues in this head-spinning landscape, YouTube and X are emerging as leaders for social media advertising attention. And there are more reasons to believe each day that consent-based personalization will be the new frontier of digital advertising in the privacy-first era. 

Google’s one of many big players currently leveling up their personalization with new gen AI tools across the shopping experience. But for nearly half of the 1,300 retailers Salesforce recently surveyed, a lack of data strategy still stands in the way of any meaningful progress with generative AI. 

The good news for those still untangling their data is that AI-powered personalization wasn’t a major influence on Amazon purchasing decisions in Q1 2024 — but finding the best price was the biggest influence for 71% of shoppers, followed by products with the best ratings and reviews (64%) and products with reviews containing photos and videos (60%). 

The takeaway is that legit reviews with rich UGC could be a good antidote to consumer price sensitivity and fear of counterfeits right now.**

**As long as you don’t use the sophisticated review fraud RPT-1000 gadget to get said reviews…

Million Dollar Advice 💸 

If you’re tracking and monitoring basic KPIs for your eCom business, you probably think you have enough information at your fingertips to make data-driven decisions.

But that’s only half the battle.

And if it takes you significant time and effort to get to the bottom of why those KPIs are trending in a certain direction, you should let Krishna Poda tell you about the many ways AI-automated data analysis can transform decision-making for your business so you can act on the most important insights even faster.

Listen to Krishna Poda: How AI Transforms Decision-Making

Amazon Advertising Data Rush 🌊

When’s the last time you benchmarked your Amazon ad strategy against the vast seller landscape? 

If you’re not sure what CTR, CPC, CVR, or ACOS metrics are — let alone how yours stack up against other sellers — take a minute to get familiar with these Amazon PPC stats from Ad Badger.

Here are some stats that stood out to us about Amazon ads in 2024…

• 0.35% → average click-through rate 

• $.91 → average cost-per-click 

• 9.58% → average PPC conversion rate 

• $29.91 → average advertising cost of sales (ACOS)

• 90,875,833 → average daily impressions each day on Amazon

Want to know more? Read the full post here.

And if you think these are helpful?

The Inner Workings of the Amazon’s Choice Badge ⭐️

At this point, we’ll assume it’s common knowledge that social proof like reviews, ratings, or third-party badges make digital marketing and advertising more effective. 

But most of us have no idea how the Amazon’s Choice badge works beyond the basics — or that listings with one can get up to 17% more traffic and increase conversions by 25%. 

When a listing has an Amazon’s Choice badge it means that product is not only the best match for the keyword a shopper typed in, but that product also has the absolute majority of all sales resulting from that keyword. 

So, this is a badge sellers have to earn. And that’s what makes it so compelling to choosy shoppers whether they’re seeing it organically on a listing or on a paid ad. 

Apart from genuinely being the best Amazon seller you can be, here are some steps you can take to increase the odds you qualify for the Amazon’s Choice badge:

1. Maintain a high seller rating. This one’s self-explanatory — Amazon prioritizes reputable sellers for this badge, but they use more than customer feedback to calculate seller ratings: It also comes down to delivery speed, order withdrawals, payment reversals, your average response time, and A-to-Z guarantee claims.   

2. Optimize product titles and descriptions. Keyword performance is a big part of the Amazon’s Choice distinction, and optimizing titles and descriptions with targeted keywords is the first step to showing up in Amazon’s search results.

3. Price competitively and offer promotions. Amazon shoppers are always looking for a deal, so competitive prices and things like flash deals or coupons can help you get the lion’s share of sales you need on a particular keyword to qualify for the badge.

4. Boost your visibility with ads and marketing. To earn the badge that makes your ads and marketing work better, you may have to invest in ads and marketing to boost your visibility and sales. Consider using Amazon’s sponsored products or sponsored brands options to start driving up your sales to help earn the badge.

5. Monitor customer reviews. Staying on top of customer reviews is the best way to ensure you address any concerns or complaints in a timely manner so you build up a glowing seller reputation. And don’t underestimate the potential of bad reviews — they’re an opportunity to publicly demonstrate your excellent customer service and prove you can be trusted because you don’t censor negative feedback. 

The best part about shooting for the Amazon Seller’s badge is there’s nothing to lose by taking these steps.

Even if you don’t qualify for the badge today or tomorrow, you’ll still see more traffic and sales from making these optimizations — or even wind up with a Best Seller badge. 

Watch Ezra Firestone’s Keynote Presentation from MDS Inspire 2024 🗝️

We don’t know about you, but we’re still reeling from the fun and inspiration we took away from MDS Inspire 2024.

In case you missed it, here’s your chance to watch the exclusive keynote presentation from Ezra Firestone, the founder of Smart Marketer, Zipify Apps, and Boom! — and one of the leading eCom marketers in the world who joined us at MDS Inspire this year.

Can’t get enough of this stuff? Check out our official highlight reel below for a more in-depth look at the 3 fantastic days we had, full of networking, masterminds, and contagious energy. 

It was a true adrenaline shot of resources igniting inspiration and drive in us all. 

This could be you once you secure an early bird ticket for MDS Inspire 2025…

Did you see that post 📲

Laughing so we don’t cry…

Until Next Time ✌️

As always, thanks for sticking with us until the end. 

If you’d care to share your thoughts on this newsletter, we’re all ears. Just hit reply to sound off. 

See you next time with more of the latest and greatest content you need to succeed this year 🔥

Sincerely, 

Looking for a mastermind community?

Million Dollar Sellers (MDS) is an exclusive community of 650+ like-minded Amazon and DTC sellers from all over the world. Collectively, our members generate more than 8 billion in annual sales and dominate some of the biggest categories on Amazon. MDS offers world-class events, chapters, industry discounts, resource libraries full of SOPs, templates, and video recordings of private trainings, workshops, events and so much more.

If you are looking for a business professional community made for ecom entrepreneurs, then consider applying today. 

*To qualify, you must be a full-time seller or brand owner and do at least 1 million in verified annual revenue.