Rankster Newsletter #32: Where are your customers?

Brief Builder | Past Issues | Case Studies | TikTok Mastery

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The weekly newsletter that’s as good as a 90’s comic book... but we have real superheroes working behind the scenes. (Fun Fact: If you get changed in a phone booth, people will think you are homeless…..not superman… go figure)

In this edition:

• 🤔 Guess Where Half of Product Searches Begin?… spoiler alter: It’s Amazon (if you didn’t guess that….. go to the corner! 👉)

• 🚀 Amazon’s 2022 Traffic Report….Hold onto Your Shopping Carts 🛒

• 😞 TikTok Penalises Call to Actions.... How to get around it

• 📋 Increased Sales By 58%.... Have you read our latest case study?

Let’s get started……

🤔 Guess Where Half of Product Searches Begin?

Spoiler alter: It’s Amazon (if you didn’t guess that….. go to the corner! 👉)

Where do users discover products? Try asking Amazon.

Because it turns out half of product searches start on its e-commerce platform.

Where it all starts: PowerReviews surveyed more than 8.000 US consumers to figure out which platform is best for the discovery phase in the buyer journey.

Google (31.5%) is trailing behind Amazon (50%), believe it or not.

Retail and brand websites (14%) sit in third place, and reviews and social media are in fourth place at 2%.

… But reviews still matter a lot: Social proof can affect sales more than factors like price, free shipping, free returns, and so on. In fact:

94% of users seek reviews on Amazon.

77% trust customers with photos and videos.

63% use Google or other search engines to learn more about the product.

However, youngsters trust Google (38%) more than Amazon (36%), and are more inclined to start their journey on social media (5%).

So if you’re targeting a younger demographic, search engines and social media like TikTok could be the way to go.

_{Credit goes to Stacked Marketer - Been following them for 6 years}

🚀 Amazon’s 2022 Traffic Report….Hold onto Your Shopping Carts 🛒

It’s a wealth of information and so many nuggets…..I will be creating a full case study comparing the data to my 100+ TikTok campaigns… expect that next week 👊

In the meantime, take a look at this summary from  Georges Blog on LinkedIn to wet your appetite:

The Brand Referral Bonus team examined approximately 11 million clicks from traffic related to Amazon Attribution in 2022 to assess how consumer behaviour varies across marketing channels. Here are the findings.

➡️ Search had the highest total sales with a high purchase intent

• The majority of sales came from off-Amazon search channels (41%) where customers were more likely to buy after adding items to their cart (58.6%). The conversion rate for search channels was 2.6%, or 3.1% when considering non-promoted goods. This suggests that search engines playing a role in users' purchase decisions may be driving the higher intent to buy.

➡️ Email had the highest conversion rates in nearly every category

• Email consistently outperformed other traffic sources in conversion rate tests. Specifically, emails leading to Amazon listings had an average click-to-purchase conversion rate of 4.7%, which was double the rate of the next most popular source. The ability of brands to tailor their message and call to action to recipients' needs contributes to this result.

➡️ Social media is an important awareness driver, showing the highest clicks with low purchase intent

• Social media channels accounted for 44% of the 11 million clicks, but their conversion rates were relatively low. They had the second-lowest click-to-purchase conversion rate and purchase rate for items added to the cart. This could be due to advertisements loading in the user's default browser on mobile apps, where they may not be logged in, causing tracking issues. Nonetheless, social media remains important for brand exposure and reaching customers where they are.

➡️ Driving traffic to Amazon increases additional product sales by an average 24.5%

• Within the Brand Referral Bonus program, 25% of sales on Amazon were from non-promoted products. On average, brands sell an additional product for every four consumers who buy the promoted product. Non-promoted product sales also increased the overall click-to-purchase conversion rate by 23% across all traffic sources.

➡️ Video drives the most cross-selling opportunities

• Video links were responsible for less than 1% of consumers who clicked to purchase a product, but they excelled in cross-selling non-promoted products. Video accounted for 37% of total purchases from non-promoted products and increased the click-to-purchase conversion rate from 0.7% to 1.1%. While not the highest-performing channel, video remains crucial for building brand awareness across various product lines.

😞 TikTok Penalises Call to Actions.... How to get around it

Do you know what every social media platforms hates?

Sending traffic off their platform.

So when you include a link or CTA in a post, the algorithm does not like it as you are purposely sending traffic off their platform.

Meaning, you won’t get any organic reach and ads are your only option.

However….

Barney Brown posted a great solution on LinkedIn:

📋 Increased Sales By 58%.... Have you read our latest case study?

Here is our latest case study.

‘Cos I create these case studies for one reason.

One reason only….

To get more Amazon sellers on TikTok

Why?

Because…..

Sounds a bit violent….. but isn’t selling on Amazon another form of violence, but in digital form?

‘Cos a one star review feels like a knife through the heart.

If they are a Vine reviewer then it feels like they are twisting it.

If you just launched the product….. then you are dead…. along with the ASIN ☠️

Brutal…. but that’s life on Amazon.

But right now, no one is using TikTok.

But if you are, then you are ‘bringing a gun to a knife fight!’

Let the battle begin!

That's it for this week 👊

Thanks for reading.

- Paul

PS.... Here are the previous editions if you want to catch up

PPS…. I am using AI to build a ‘rebate bot’ through TikTok…. All TOS compliant…. but keeping it secret and not launching it publicly. If you want in, message me 👊