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Writer's pictureAlberto Carniel

The best 5 Amazon FBA product launch strategies (2022)

Updated: May 9, 2022

If you are searching for legit strategies to launch and market your products with Amazon FBA, this is the place to be.


In this full guide, I’ve included all the proven profitable methodologies that allow you to launch your product on Amazon, rank higher for specific keywords and successfully advertise your listings on Amazon Advertising (formerly AMS: Amazon Marketing Services).


As always, all of my marketing strategies are perfectly legit and you won’t find shady cheats or shortcuts that violate Amazon policies.


If you have an Amazon Vendor Central account you won’t be able to exploit all the strategies mentioned in this article, since you might have different options and tools available. Not to mention the different business relationship in place with Amazon itself, since you are the supplier and Amazon is the client.


For laymen, having an Amazon Vendor Central account means you are selling directly to Amazon. The latter is your client and you are its supplier. Having an Amazon Seller Central account means you are using Amazon as a marketplace.


Well, without further ado, let’s begin.



Table of contents


Amazon product launch formula
Alberto Carniel explains the best proven strategies to launch and market a product on Amazon.




GET YOUR PRODUCT REVIEWED BEFORE LAUNCH WITH AMAZON VINE




The first strategy I want to show you is how to launch a product with Amazon Vine. The objective is to get your listing reviewed before you invest in advertising or other publicity.


While reviews are not necessary to launch a product (read the next chapters to discover why), they surely increase trust and contribute to higher ranking.



What is Amazon Vine?

Amazon Vine is a program that gathers Amazon’s most trusted reviewers and invites them to share their opinion about a new or pre-release product… after they have tested it for free, of course!


Positive Amazon Vine review
Example of positive Amazon Vine review.

Users have to satisfy several criteria before they become Vine voices and the program is invitation-only.


Leaving a review is not mandatory, but Amazon updates the voices pool regularly in order to keep the most active reviewers.


On the other side, businesses must:

  • Be a brand registered in Amazon Brand Registry;

  • Sell the product with the FBA (Fulfilled By Amazon) program;

  • Sell a non “adult product”;

  • Have less than 30 reviews on the product detail page;

  • Have already launched (published) the product at the moment of enrollment;

  • Have available inventory;

  • Have an image and description.


Amazon Vine might charge an enrollment fee depending on the season, product sponsored and other internal marketing criteria.


Usually, it’s pretty much affordable and sometimes there is no fee at all!


There are some limitations, tho.


For example, the quantity of Vines available (the products that you can enroll in) can vary. So, you should be very selective and only enroll your best items.


Amazon Vine's enrollment limits
Amazon Vine's enrollment limits. Selling Partners are allowed a limited number of concurrent active enrollments.

You may also have caps for the amount of units you can give away per each Vine.


Amazon Vine's enrollment details page
Screenshot of Amazon Vine's enrollment details page.

Basically, if your ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Numbers) is eligible for enrollment, your Vine will be active in 24 hours and you’ll start seeing reviews after15 days (based on Vine’s worldwide reviewer population as of December 2019).



Why you should use Amazon Vine

If you believe in the uniqueness and quality of your product, you have nothing to fear.


In fact, you don’t have any control over Vine reviews and aren’t allowed to contact the voices directly.


So, if your product isn’t up to par, Amazon Vine may become a double-edged sword.


You don’t want to flood your listing with negative reviews even before starting, do ya?


Agreed with this pre-requirement, this method will boost the social proof on your listing.


The higher your social proof is, the higher the likelihood visitors will purchase your product.


Who doesn't read reviews, after all?





HOW TO GET MORE REVIEWS WITH AMAZON MARKETING AUTOMATION




According to Amazon Advertising guidelines, one of the parameters to consider an item retail ready is to attain at least 15 reviews.


So, how can you request more reviews for your listings?


You have two choices:

  1. Manually. You can manually invite buyers to leave a non-biased review by using Amazon’s Request a Review button;

  2. Automatically. You can automate review invites by using a third party marketing automation software for Amazon. There are many tools out there like FeedbackWhiz, Seller Labs Feedback Genius or Helium10 Follow-Up. In this article, I’ll show you how to use Follow-Up, since Helium 10 is an industry standard for Amazon keyword research and on-page optimizations.



How to get more reviews with Amazon’s Request a Review button

This manual method is not scalable, but it can be useful if you are a new Amazon seller with low budget, low sales volume and can’t afford Helium 10.


Manual actions vs marketing automation
But don’t worry, follow my guide, get sales and buy Helium 10! I got you.

The Request a Review button is a free Amazon feature that becomes available in the order details page once the transaction is complete.


From your Amazon Seller Central console, navigate to the Orders section and click on Manage Orders from the drop down menu.


Amazon orders on Seller Central console
In the top menu of your Amazon Seller Central console, select Orders and then click on Manage Orders from the drop down menu.

On this page, you can find the history of your orders. When you see an order with a green badge Payment complete next to it, you can invite the buyer to leave a review.


So, click on the seller order ID link to reach the order details page.


Amazon seller order ID
To access an order details page, click on the seller order ID (I partially hid mine for privacy).

Once you are on the order details page, find the button Request a Review on the right.


Amazon Request a Review button
In an order details page, click on the Request a Review button.

After you click the button, Amazon will remind you that you can request just one review per order. It means that if you use this free feature, you can’t send another notification to the buyer for the same order requesting a review.


This issue can occur when you are already using an Amazon marketing automation software and click on the Request a Review button.


Request just one review per order on Amazon
Amazon warns you to send just one review request. So, if you use Amazon's Request a Review button, you shouldn't iterate the request with other third party marketing tools.

The image below represents what an Amazon email looks like when you request a review to a buyer.


Amazon request a review email
This is an email example that Amazon sends to buyers requesting a product review.


How to automate Amazon product review requests

If you are serious about selling on Amazon, you should set up a marketing automation to request reviews from your buyers.


Automating this process is the only scalable solution available and it is a one time process.


Basically, you “set it up and forget”.


As mentioned before, I really recommend using Helium 10 Follow-Up, since you will be using this platform for other Amazon optimization activities.


Do I recommend this tool because I’m a Helium 10 partner?


Dude, I recommend this tool, because it really is the best on the market when it comes to Amazon organic optimizations and email marketing. I use it every day with my clients.


And yes, I tried Seller Labs, Jungle Scout and other tools. Helium 10 is the best.


The first step to setting up Amazon email marketing automation is to click on the profile image on the top right corner and select Connections from the drop down menu.


Helium 10 connections
The first step to integrate your Amazon Seller Central account with Helium 10. is to click on the profile image and then on the tab Connections.

You need to integrate your Amazon Seller account with Helium 10 first.


Then, click on Add Seller Account beneath Connect Your Seller Accounts. Follow the wizard to complete the set up.


Helium 10 and Amazon Seller Central integration
Follow Helium 10 installation wizard to connect your Amazon Seller account.

One of the information required in the integration process is your merchant token or seller ID.


You can find this information by logging in your Amazon Seller Central console, then click on Settings > Account Info > Merchant Token (in the Business Information section).


To be faster, just log into your Amazon Seller Central account and click on this link. It will direct you to your merchant token page straight away.


Once your seller account is connected to Helium 10, use the side menu to reach the Follow Up - Email Automation Tool button in the Operations section.


Helium 10 Follow-Up feature
To reach Helium 10 Follow Up feature, click on the Operations tab on the left side menu.

In this page, you will find different email automation templates. If you are looking for Amazon reviews, use the Request a Review template.


Request Amazon reviews with Helium 10
Select the Request a Review template in Helium 10 Follow-Up tool.

Follow the configuration wizard and personalize your email automation.


WARNING: you can’t ask for biased reviews. So, don’t ask for positive or only 5-star reviews: it’s against Amazon policy.





HOW TO GET MORE REVIEWS WITH AMAZON PACKAGE INSERTS




Another technique every business should utilize is the power of Amazon inserts.


In other words, you can insert a poster (or other marketing material) in the product’s package to prompt buyers to leave a review.


Amazon package insert example
Amazon package insert example by Alberto Carniel.

I’ve created the example above to make you understand how easy it is to make a difference, in terms of reviews count, with just a basic flyer in the package.


You should include:

  1. One single and clear CTA (Call To Action) which is, in this case, to leave a review;

  2. Your company contact point. It can be your email address or phone number according to the product and type of business.

  3. The direct link to your product feedback page on Amazon (keep reading to know how to generate it);

  4. Short and clear text. Now, it’s useless that we debate on the meaning of “short”. Just get straight to the point and give essential information. Don’t dwell on secondary details.


Disclaimer: if you have an e-commerce store, you should use Amazon package inserts to drive traffic to your website instead. But this is not the scope of this article. Schedule a digital marketing consultancy with me to learn how to seize the full potential of Amazon package inserts for your business!


WARNING: don’t exchange discounts for a 5 star review or you will break Amazon policy. Amazon can randomly open your packages for quality check and see that your behavior breaks their rules. You risk having your Seller account suspended or worse.



Where to find the direct link to “leave a product review”?

In your Amazon package inserts, I recommend using a QR code (read the next section to learn how to generate free QR codes) and a written plain link to the product’s Amazon feedback page.


You have two choices:

  1. Universal link: amazon.com/review/create-review. You can provide this link to display all buyer’s recent purchases for which they can leave a product review. Buyers will need to locate your particular product from what is displayed. Products are listed by newest orders first;

  2. Modified universal link: amazon.com/review/create-review?&asin=XXXXXXXXXX. In this second case, the link is more difficult to memorize, but it directly leads to your product. Substitute the series of “X” with your ASIN. This formula will move that ASIN product to the top of the list, so buyers won’t have to scroll through past orders to find your product.



How to generate free QR codes for your Amazon products

You have really many options to generate QR codes, just hit Google search and find hundreds of tools.


What I like to use is QRCode Monkey.


QRCode Monkey is a free QR code generator that gives you a certain degree of personalization, in terms of design.


As you can see from the pictures below (slide to the right to keep viewing images in the gallery), after you set the destination link, you can customize colors, patterns and even add your logo.



QRCode Monkey is free, but if you want to track and edit all your QR codes in one place, you should get the paid version called QRCode Studio.



Why you should use Amazon package inserts to get reviews

With this strategy, you will achieve much more than getting your product reviewed.


Once Amazon customers directly connect with you, you can use their contacts for other marketing activities.


This point is critical for growing your online business.


In fact, Amazon doesn’t give you access to buyers data. You can only pay for Amazon Advertising or other third-party marketing tools that will never share shoppers data with you.


When buyers use your contact point from the insert, you can collect their details and prompt them to move forward in their journey.


For example, you can remarket them on external advertising platforms, like Google Ads, Facebook Ads and so on.


On Facebook Ads, you can eventually use Amazon buyers’ contacts to generate a lookalike audience. In this way, you’ll target people with similar characteristics to those who have already bought from you.


Another tactic is to use their data for email marketing or other workflows (chatbot, sms marketing...).


Be aware of privacy concerns. Above all, if you do business in the European Union.


If you don’t want trouble, ask users if they want to get in touch for further commercial communications, discounts and promotions.





HOW TO LAUNCH AND MARKET A PRODUCT ON AMAZON WITH ADVERTISING




While you should read my Amazon Advertising Bible to become a real PCC evangelist, I want to give you some basic tips and high level best practices on how to structure your product launch campaigns.


While reviews are not fundamental for a product launch, advertising is.


In fact, advertising increases sales velocity which is the main metric Amazon uses to rank listings.


Basically, you have 3 different ways to drive traffic to your Amazon product page:

  1. SEO: you optimize the listings with images, text, keywords and A+ pages in order to help Amazon search engine easily find and index your product;

  2. Email marketing: you use third party tools like Helium 10 Follow-Up, FeedbackWhiz or Feedback Genius by Seller Labs to retarget previous customers and bring them back to your Amazon listings;

  3. Advertising: you use third party platforms (like social media ads) or Amazon Advertising to drive paid traffic to your listings.


Your product launch formula should include all three.



What type of advertising campaigns can you launch on Amazon Advertising?

As of December 2020, Amazon Advertising offers three different types of campaigns: Sponsored Products, Sponsored Brands and Sponsored Display.


You use Sponsored Products campaigns to drive sales and have a conversion window of 7 days.


You use Sponsored Brands campaigns to drive awareness and should evaluate their performance according to impressions rather than conversions. In fact, the conversion window is 14 days instead of 7. In other words, their conversion window is too broad to be reliable.


You use Sponsored Display to disturb competitors and steal their customers. Even if they have a conversion window of 14 days, you can evaluate their performance according to the sales driven because of their specific placement. They are placed beneath the Buy Box and the description’s bullet points, so they actually represent a direct attack to the competition.



How to structure your campaigns on Amazon Advertising

Let’s consider 3 tiers of budget available: low, medium and high:

  • If you have a low budget, just focus on Sponsored Products campaigns;

  • If you have a medium budget, add Sponsored Display campaigns;

  • If you have a high budget, use a combination of all three campaign types.


In general, follow this scheme (this is a very simple structure, but effective):


1. Sponsored Products campaign with automatic targeting.


Create a Sponsored Products campaign with automatic targeting to sponsor all of your items.


Automatic campaign Amazon Ads
How to setup a Sponsored Products campaign with automatic targeting on Amazon Advertising.

Leave Dynamics bids - up and down selected and consider $10/15 per day, per product as a starting budget.


Create an ad group per each product or products category sponsored. If you place multiple products in the same ad group, you must be sure they are strictly related or very similar.


Amazon ads structure with automatic targeting
How to structure ad groups on a Sponsored Products campaign with automatic targeting on Amazon Advertising.

You use this automatic campaign to find profitable search terms to use in a manual campaign (see next steps).


After a week (or less) this campaign is going, select the Search terms tab and extract the most profitable keywords.


Amazon Advertising search terms
How to select profitable search terms on Amazon Advertising campaigns.

How can you decide whether a search term is profitable or not?


The most important metric to watch is the ACoS (Advertising Cost on Sale). For example, if you have an ACoS of 30%, it means you spend $30 in advertising for every $100 of sales.


What is a profitable ACoS?


A profitable ACoS depends on the margins you have for each product. Each product has a production cost, then you have to add Amazon fees, shipping cost and so on.


So, calculate the margin for each product (item price - overall costs).


The ACoS shouldn’t be higher than your margins. If ACoS is equal to your product margin, you are at break even (you are not losing or making money).


Copy and paste on a Google Sheet all the search terms from the auto campaign that have a profitable ACoS.


For example, in the image published before, the search term “rainbow glitter polish” gives me an ACoS of 7.30% which is very profitable for me.


Example of profitable ACoS on Amazon
In this Amazon Advertising auto campaign, the search term "rainbow glitter polish" has a profitable ACoS (7.30%).

So, I save this keyword for the next step.


Remember that an auto campaign also generates profitable target ASINs!


If a search term is not profitable (has an ACoS higher than your margin), add it to your negative keywords. If it is an ASIN, add it to the ad group’s negative products.


Amazon negative targeting
Add negative targeting (negative keywords and ASINs) to each ad groups.

In this way, you won’t spend budget on those search terms anymore.


Remember to add negative targeting to ad groups and not to campaigns: work at an ad group level to be more precise and organized.


2. Sponsored Products campaigns with manual targeting.


Create a Sponsored Products campaign with manual targeting for each ad group that you had created in the auto campaign.


Sponsored Products campaign with manual targeting
How to create a Sponsored Products campaign with manual targeting on Amazon Advertising.

Start with a $10/15 daily budget and select the option Dynamic bids - down only. If you don't have a strong understanding of bid management, use Dynamic bids - up and down instead.


Create two ad groups per each manual campaign according to the targeting match type. You will call them ASIN match and Exact match respectively.


Ad groups structure in Amazon's manual campaigns
How to structure ad groups in a manual targeting campaign on Amazon Advertising.

In the ASIN match ad group, target the profitable ASINs found by the automatic campaign. Remember to insert the ASIN of the item you are sponsoring for brand protection.


In the Exact match ad group, target the profitable keywords (or search terms) found by the automatic campaign. When you add the keywords, remember to select only the exact match type option!


Keyword match type on Amazon Advertising
Pick just one keyword match type per ad group. Don't mix multiple match types in a single ad group.

So, retrieve your Google Sheet document and copy and paste your data.


Keep optimizing the campaigns by repeating this loop.


Stay tuned and subscribe to my YouTube channel, so you won’t miss my Amazon Advertising full guide when I release it.


If you want me to manage your Amazon Advertising campaigns, schedule a free digital marketing assessment with me!





HOW TO RANK HIGHER IN THE SEARCH WITH AMAZON GIVEAWAYS




With this strategy, I’ll guide you through the process of using social ads, chatbots, Amazon giveaways and many other tools to boost your listing’s ranking on Amazon search.


The bulk of this strategy comes from Myles Dunphy, alias Nomad Millionaire, a multiple 7-figure Amazon Seller. I’ve improved his product launch formula by simplifying the tool set and substituting some paid tools with free ones.


With my guide, you’ll spend less money and achieve the same goal faster.


Before I deep dive into the topic, you need to understand the fundamental concept on which this strategy is based on.



What is a super URL on Amazon?

A super URL on Amazon is a product’s URL which contains a specific keyword. Whenever visitors land on your product page through this URL and add the product to the cart, that product receives a ranking boost for that keyword.


Whenever you hit the search button on Amazon search bar, the AI inserts the keyword used in the URL.


For example, in the image below, I searched for “best dumbbells for home” and this keyword is also present in the URL.


Keywords on Amazon search results URL
Every time you use the search bar, Amazon inserts the keywords used in the URL.

Let’s say I’m interested in the second result displayed and click on it. As you can see from the image below, the URL of this product contains the keyword I used in the search.


This is the super URL.


Amazon super-URL
Amazon super-URL contains the keywords users used in the search bar. The listing gets a ranking boost every time users add it to their cart.

So, if I click the button add to cart, Amazon will boost the organic ranking of this product for this specific keyword.


In other words, whenever another user will search for the same keyword, this product has more probability to be displayed higher in the search result page.


Your main objective, as an Amazon seller, is to exploit the super URLs to rank your listings higher.


You can achieve it in many different ways, one avenue is the use of giveaways.



Keywords to use in the super URL: short-tail vs long-tail

The first step to create a super URL is to research for profitable keywords. As profitable, I mean keywords that are relevant for your listing and drive consistent and high traffic volume.


Usually, you have two macro-categories of keywords.


1. Short-tail keywords.


They are general and highly competitive keywords that drive a lot of traffic.


For example, “sneakers” is a short-tail keyword: it drives a lot of traffic and many sellers will compete to rank for it.


When someone searches for “sneakers”, Amazon will display a series of general results. You’ll see sneakers of different colors, models and brands. Users that search for short-tail keywords may not know what to choose yet and they are still exploring all the options available.


2. Long-tail keywords.


They are specific, drive less traffic than a short-tail keyword, but they are also less competitive.


For example, “blue sneakers for men” is a long-tail keyword. If you want to be even more specific, you can add details like “blue mens sneakers for gym”.


When users search for long-tail keywords, they usually know what to buy and aim at specific products.


When launching a new product on Amazon, you probably want to focus on long-tail keywords, since your brand is not popular yet and you don’t want to clash with your competitors’ wallet.


Short-tail vs. long tail-keywords
Differences between short-tail and long-tail keywords.

In the image above, I pulled search volume data from Ubersuggest to show you how conversion rate is strictly related to keywords specificity.


Long-tail keywords match users’ intent and generate more relevant results than short-tail keywords. That’s why long-tail keywords have a higher conversion rate.


The challenge for your Amazon Seller account is to find profitable long-tail keywords that are not too competitive and drive enough traffic to generate consistent sales over time.



How to research for profitable long-tail keywords on Amazon

Let’s suppose you haven’t started your advertising campaigns yet, so how can you know what keywords to use on Amazon?


The first and only free method that you can use for Amazon keyword research is to exploit Amazon’s search bar autofill.


Amazon search bar autofill
Amazon keyword research by using the search bar autofill.

As you can see from the screenshot above, when you start typing your keyword on Amazon’s search bar, the AI gives you a few suggestions based on what other users search.


This method works well and is perfectly reliable, but has its limits.


The major limit is that you need to start from a keyword to prompt the autofill.


So, what if you want more seed-keyword ideas?


In this case, you need a paid tool that helps you research the right keywords for Amazon.


While there are plenty of free keyword research tools for Google SEO, I haven’t found 100% free ones for Amazon.


If you know free keyword research tools for Amazon, please share them with me by posting a comment below.


For Google SEO, I usually use SEMrush (or Ubersuggest which is free), but if you want a specific tool for Amazon, I recommend Helium 10.



The image above represents Magnet, a specific keyword research tool for Amazon by Helium 10.


Helium 10 allows you to generate a list of keywords from an ASIN (a product listed on Amazon) or from a seed keyword.


You can generate keywords from a successful product (in terms of sales) listed by your competitors. In this way, you’ll be able to see for which keywords it is ranking for and eventually use them too.


This dashboard gives you many useful parameters to evaluate the efficacy of a keyword and, besides the search volume, I will focus on the recommended giveaways (CPR 8-Day Giveaways, pointed by the red arrow).


Since it’ll help us calculate how many giveaways we need to finalize our strategy.


Here are the column definitions as stated on Helium 10:

  • Phrase (not in any particular order): keyword or phrase used by customers in a search for a product;

  • Magnet IQ Score: score based on the ratio of estimated search volume vs. number of competing products. A high score means a relatively high number of searches compared to the number of competitors. A lower score means the opposite;

  • Search Volume: estimated number of times this keyword phrase is searched for monthly;

  • Sponsored ASINs: number of ASINs detected running sponsored ads recently in search results associated with this keyword phrase;

  • Headline ASINs: number of ASINs detected appearing in Sponsored Brands (formerly called Headline Search Ads) recently in search results associated with this keyword phrase;

  • Competing Products: total number of products returned in a customer search using this keyword/phrase;

  • CPR 8-Day Giveaways: Cerebro Product Rank (CPR) estimates how many units of the ASIN need to be sold in total, over an 8-day period, resulting from a search for this keyword/s, in order to rank on page one for that keyword/phrase. ;

  • Match Type: source from which a keyword is drawn.


Use Magnet to explore relevant keywords related to your listing: use both the search by ASIN (Cerebro tool on Helium 10) and keyword.


Select the top 3 keywords according to their Search Volume and Magnet IQ Score (if you select more than 3 keywords, you’ll have to spread the budget too much in the next steps).


In other words, you want to select keywords that represent very closely the content of your listing and also drive a high volume of traffic. For this specific strategy, I wouldn’t pick keywords that trigger less than 20,000 monthly searches.



Do you want to learn how to do a keyword research like a pro? Read my guide on Amazon keyword research!



Decide how many giveaways you need to rank on page one

Once you have your keywords for which you want to rank on the first page, keep using Magnet to find out how many giveaways you need to achieve your objective.


Insert the keyword in the search bar and take a look at the CPR 8-Day Giveaways column.


Let’s consider the keyword “sneakers for men” from the example before.


Example of Amazon keyword search volume
Search volume of the keyword "sneakers for men" on Amazon, according to Magnet by Helium 10 (November 2020).

Magnet recommends giving away 1,200 items in 8 days which means 150 items every day in order to rank on page one for that keyword.



Create your Amazon super-URL with Helium 10 GEMS pages

Helium 10 has an amazing free tool that allows you to generate promotional URLs to market your Amazon or Walmart listings.


Head to Helium 10 GEMS pages and select your Amazon marketplace (.com, .fr, .de and so on).


Amazon super-URL generator via field-ASIN
Helium 10 super-URL generator via field-ASIN for Amazon.

As shown in the image above, you should use the third method (via field-ASIN) to carry out this giveaway strategy. This super-URL sends users to an Amazon search result page with only your ASIN displayed (without competitors’ sponsored products displayed).


Insert the keyword for which you want to rank for and the ASIN to promote in the designated fields.


You will use the super-URL generated in your ads on social media to send traffic to that ASIN on Amazon.


Every time a user will add that ASIN to their cart, you will receive a ranking boost for the keyword used in the super-URL.


The difference between the third step and the second (via hidden-keyword) of Helium 10 GEMS pages is that the latter allows competitors’ sponsored products to appear on the page. And you don’t want that.


Amazon super-URL generator via hidden keyword
Helium 10 super-URL generator via hidden keyword for Amazon.


Create the discount codes from Amazon Seller Central console

Now, it’s time to create the discount codes to share on social media. Head to your Amazon Seller Central dashboard, click on the Advertising tab and then on Promotions.


Amazon promotions on Seller Central
How to create a promotion on Amazon Seller Central.

You want to create a percentage off, so click on the related section.


Amazon promotions percentage off
How to create a percentage off promotion on Amazon Seller Central.

The image below represents Amazon Seller Central’s promotion dashboard.


Create a promotion percentage off on Amazon
Create a promotion dashboard on Amazon Seller Central: percentage off.

Besides setting a starting and ending date or using clear descriptions for your promotion, you should pay extra attention to the following points:

  • Buyer purchases: you want the promotion triggers when buyers purchase at least 1 of your products, right? So, set 1;

  • Purchased items: select the ASIN that you want to include in this promotion. If you don’t find it in the drop down menu, just use the guided procedure to create a new product selection;

  • Buyer gets: set percentage off and insert a ridiculous discount, like 90%;

  • Claim code: set Single-use, otherwise you may have buyers who purchase the discounted item without limits;

  • One redemption per customer: remember to tick this option, you don’t want customers use the code multiple times;

  • Claim Code Combinability: Amazon got rid of the option Exclusive, so just tick Preferential and be aware that smart buyers may combine multiple promotions. For example, if you run this giveaway and you also have a coupon active for the same ASIN, buyers can combine the two promotions and get the item for free. So, I really recommend not activating any other promotion during this type of giveaway campaign;

  • Detail page display text: be sure this box is unticked otherwise visitors will see the discount codes on the product page.


Once your promotion is under review, head back to the main Amazon promotions menu and click on the Manage Your Promotions tab.


Manage your promotions Amazon Seller Central
Manage your promotions on Amazon Seller Central: dashboard screenshot.

Search for your promotion in the list. If you don’t see it, use the filter to display promotions under review (select Promotion Status and then, Pending from the two drop down menus accordingly).


View your promotion and head to the tab Manage your claim codes.


From this dashboard, create as many discount codes as Helium 10 recommended giveaways (if you have forgotten about this step, check this article’s previous section about the CPR 8-Day Giveaways metric on Helium 10).


Download the list of coupon codes in .txt format and get ready for this strategy’s next step!



Set up the inventory protector for the promoted ASIN

If you don’t want your inventory to be wiped out by bloodthirsty customers, set up your inventory protector for the promoted ASIN.


Through the inventory management dashboard, edit the ASIN and set the Max Order Quantity to 1. Each customer will be able to purchase just one item.


Amazon inventory protector
Amazon inventory protector: Max Order Quantity.

Once this giveaway campaign is done, you can come back here and remove the protector.



Set up a chatbot for your Facebook Ads

Prepare your chatbot to integrate with Facebook Messenger.


This step’s objective is to deliver one on one conversations for a single Amazon discount code to each user.


Using a chatbot for your social ads offers many other advantages.


First of all, it allows you to build a list of subscribers that you can reuse in the future with your automated marketing systems.


I usually recommend ManyChat, since it has the best quality/price ratio to me.


It works with many platforms like Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp, SMS and emails. If you don’t find an already integrated platform, you can always use Zapier or the API feature to broaden its integrations.


In addition, it also has a forever free version that allows you to test its capabilities.


I’ll use ManyChat in this guide, but if you don’t like it, you might be able to use a different chatbot for your Amazon giveaway campaign.


From Growth Tools, select Facebook Ads JSON as shown in the image below.


Facebook Ads JSON on ManyChat
ManyChat's growth tools: Facebook Ads JSON.

Use this tool to create a custom conversation.


Introduce the offer and ask users if they want to purchase the item with a unique 90% discount code.



How to deliver unique coupon codes in ManyChat with Google Sheet

While Myles Dunphy suggested using CouponCarrier which is not free, I recommend using Google Sheets instead.


It requires a pinch more effort, but it’s worth it. You’ll see.


Create a Google Sheets document with two columns:

  1. ID;

  2. Coupon Code.


Copy the list of coupons from the .txt file generated before and paste it in the column called Coupon Code.


Follow the video tutorial below to finish the procedure (source: ManyChat).




Set up your social media campaign on Facebook Ads

Enter your Facebook Business Manager, head to Facebook Ads and create a new Messages campaign from the Consideration tab.


Facebook Ads messages campaign
Facebook Ads messages campaign.

Follow the guided procedure: name your campaign, select a target audience and so on.


How to pick a budget?


You have to give away at least the number of items shown under the metric CPR 8-Day Giveaways on Helium 10. And you have to do it within 8 days.


So, I recommend picking a daily budget of $10 - $20. After one or two days, see how the campaign is performing and adjust the budget accordingly.


Let’s consider you must give away 200 items in 8 days and the campaign is converting 10 users per day with $10/day.


It means this campaign will only convert 80 users after 8 days (10 x 8 = 80).


To achieve your objective, you need to convert 25 users per day (200 ÷ 8 = 25).


Supposing that a budget boost will increase the reach and, consequently, the number of conversions, do the following math:


Divide the daily budget by the number of users who used the coupon to find out how much a conversion costs. In this example: $10 ÷ 10 = $1 (each conversion costs you $1).


Multiply the single conversion cost by the daily conversion objective. In this example: $1 x 25 = $25 (per day). This is the daily budget necessary to reach your final objective.


State your offer right away in the ad’s text and be as clear as possible with the design. Usually, the simpler it is, the better.


Facebook Ads creative example
Facebook Ads creative example to promote an Amazon listing. In this image, I used a pair of shoes from Under Armour.

In the example above, I just put together the Amazon Prime logo, a star counter and the product image with Adobe Photoshop.


Remember that for this type of ad, Facebook formats are (as of December 2020):

  • Squared 1:1 for Feeds;

  • Horizontal 1.91:1 for Facebook Search Results;

  • Vertical 9:16 for Stories.


Insert the CTA (Call To Action) Shop now and head to the options at the end of the page.


In the Message Template section, select Create New, Advanced Setup and Edit.


Copy the JSON code generated with ManyChat’s editor in the related slot (see image below).


Advance JSON setup for Messenger
Advance JSON setup for Facebook Messenger.

And that’s it, you are ready to go!


This is everything you need to know on how to launch a product with Amazon giveaways!





CONCLUSIONS




Whatever strategy you decide to undertake, remember the most important metric for Amazon AI (A9 Algorithm) is sales velocity.


Your product launch formula should focus on selling the item as fast as possible.


I really recommend using a mix of the tactics explained before.


I would pack my items with the Amazon inserts to drive new reviews and enroll in Amazon Vine and Amazon Early Reviewer Program.


Then, I would start advertising right away in order to boost the sales velocity.


Using giveaways to rank higher and increase the sales velocity works, but it’s very risky.


So, I suggest starting with a mix of the first four strategies (Amazon package inserts, Amazon Vine, Amazon Early Reviewer Program and Amazon Advertising) and then, when sales are more consolidated, I would create a giveaway campaign and test its profitability in the mid-term.


Well, what’s your favorite Amazon product launch formula?


Let me know in the comments below!



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