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HOW TO MAKE YOUR AMAZON LISTING INTERESTING.

Marketing, social media, advertising

Walter Hay

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Amazon truly is a jungle, and now that so many more predators have found their way in, how do you avoid getting eaten?

Of course, having your listing appear in searches has always been a problem, and some have developed the necessary jungle survival skills using PPC and some other tricks. That is not my field of expertise, so I will leave it to experts in that field to chime in.

My point in this thread is that once you have paid to get someone to view your listing, that listing now holds the key to possible sales. Don’t blow it by being ordinary. Don’t simply present facts. As I emphasize in my labeling book, emotions outsell facts by a huge margin.

My successful marketing by direct mail and print Yellow Pages, (Any oldies here remember them) was a direct result of devising killer headlines.

Those headlines might appeal to the author, who might even read them repeatedly, relishing the written evidence of his/her cleverness, but it’s the customers that you need to entertain, startle, shock, give a warm feeling, excite, cause to salivate, or inwardly say “Yes, yes, yes!”, or “me, me, me”.

So how do you make those headlines relevant to your target demographic?

The answer is glaringly obvious. Put yourself in their shoes. Identify with them. Think about their needs (although you know they are really wants). Maybe the product is not one of life’s essentials, so why would they want to buy it? What emotion is driving their interest in your keywords? What socio-economic definition would fit? How well educated would they likely be?

I will now let you in on the best headline I ever wrote. The conversion rate from that direct mail letter was staggering.

Annually, I and my franchisees mailed the Principal of every school in the four countries where we operated. Now, school principals tend to like rules and I broke a big one. In those days when grammar was taught even in primary schools, students were taught to not use colloquialisms.

The principals in Australia, which at the time was our largest market, spoke British English, and had a knowledge of Australian colloquialisms. Those in the other countries we served also spoke British English, but would almost certainly have been curious or shocked enough to search for the meaning of the saying that I used.

Here’s the headline:

She’ll be right mate………….


Shock! Horror! Addressing a school principal as “mate” was bad enough, but saying in that extremely casual colloquialism that “everything will work out alright” had to appear contrary to everything they would expect from a company known for enhancing the image of schools.

The orders rolled in at an amazing rate. This result was achieved because I understood the conservative attitudes, social standards and norms of school principals. I shocked them into feeling compelled to read on.

Clearly it was essential that the following copy had to convey an impelling sales message, which the results showed was the case.

I should add that the apparently handwritten PS was the clincher.

Walter
 
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Walter Hay

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I figured that what ever it was could be translated into a lot more than Amazon. Was correct. Thumbs up!
Yes, it is a principle that has relevance in every aspect of selling. Even if you are just spruiking your wares at a flea market stall, you can size up your audience and make your spiel suit them.

You have the advantage there of actually seeing the people, but when you can't do that you must think. It might be possible to find some online data to match the type of people you expect to be attracted to your product.

Walter
 
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steelandchrome

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I read so many listings where they just copy and paste "specs" from alibaba even with spelling and grammar mistakes and am surprised that people still order. When I get my products up I will be sure to use features and benefits in the listing. "Features tell, and benefits sell" is a subject I cover in my book specifically and how they differ.

Example:
Feature- 6.5cuft washing machine
Benefit- This machine will wash 5 pairs more jeans in just one load over the standard size machines!

Feature- Stainless steel grill grates
Benefit- These grill grates are guaranteed not to rust for 10 years!
 
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Walter Hay

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Feature- Stainless steel grill grates
Benefit- These grill grates are guaranteed not to rust for 10 years!
I would also include something like: The ultimate grate for the fussy entertainer.

Walter
 

Kid

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Thanks Walter! That's great post.


One thing that bugs me... what was the product:eek: ;)?
 

Walter Hay

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Thanks Walter! That's great post.
One thing that bugs me... what was the product:eek: ;)?

Sorry I didn't answer this when you posted the question.

The product was actually an extensive range of products that all fitted in with the image boosting/team building/reward/recognition/achievement market.

That market covered not only the education sector, but big and small businesses, charities, clubs, political lobby groups, law enforcement, military, and government. Labels in various forms, including metal, comprised the bulk of the range.

Direct mail was a big part of our marketing effort, and the headline was a critical factor. Getting them to open the letter was the easy part, because the envelope obviously contained a physical object, and that sparked curiosity.

Getting them to read the letter required an irresistible headline so that they couldn't put the letter down without reading on. To dream up that headline necessitated thinking like the people who will read it. Letters to each market sector had to have a headline relevant to that sector.

Walter
 
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