Amazon Prime: Online Marketing by Prime – Amazon.co.uk

Amazon Prime: Online Marketing by Prime – Amazon.co.uk: by Jason Li 2013 ©
 

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT (For Marketeers Regarding Amazon Prime)

“Try Amazon Prime FREE for one month: Unlimited FREE One-Day Delivery on millions of eligible items; Express Delivery for £4.49 per item (delivery before 1pm).”

“Over 300,000 popular Kindle Books to borrow for free, as frequently as one book per month and with no due dates.”

(Taken from Amazon Prime)

 

Amazon Prime – what you have just read is about a service that is changing the world forever.

It’s the single most important business copywriting and strategic marketing reveal that you must analyse and understand if you want your business to succeed.

So Am I Promoting Amazon As A Secret Amazon Prime Employee?

No... Although - I admit straight away: I LOVE AMAZON.

For me... first came the internet, and then came GOOGLE and Amazon as the world’s most useful internet services in the world.

And it’s going to be for the foreseeable future possibly humankinds most valuable consumer supplier of goods and services.

Here’s Why (And How Amazon Prime will do this)...

Amazon has played its card in how it is going to get even more rich, and you’re about to see why this is with Amazon Prime.

What is Amazon Prime?

There’s some clue in the opening paragraphs so I’m going to state how important it is and have you read it again:

“Try Amazon Prime FREE for one month: Unlimited FREE One-Day Delivery on millions of eligible items; Express Delivery for £4.49 per item (delivery before 1pm).”

“Over 300,000 popular Kindle Books to borrow for free, as frequently as one book per month and with no due dates.”

In summary, at the time of writing in June 2013, customers get to borrow free Kindle Books and enjoy free delivery. Plus there are streamlining movies services too.

So you see, for those who understand how effective direct marketing and strategic marketing is... Amazon is going to be

The De facto World’s Greatest Direct Marketing Business!

Here’s some stats to prove it:

Amazon was launched in the United States in 2005.

(Taken from Wired.com) In the fiscal year of 2012, analysts at Morningstar suggested that Prime members grew from 7 million to nearly 10 million. Prime membership was greatly boosted by promotions to customers who bought a Kindle Fire.

In total, Amazon had about 182 million customers during the year, so Prime members make up about 4 per cent of the total customer base.

So here is the significant bit about profit: Prime customers accounted for $78 more in profit before interest and taxes per customer than non-Prime customers, as revealed by Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottoy.

And now the comparison bit: The average Amazon customer when calculating the operating profit from the 182 million customers is $10 per customer.  So Amazon Prime customers are about

SEVEN TO EIGHT TIMES MORE PROFITABLE

than a non-Amazon Prime member.

And now for the insane bit: about a third of Amazon’s profit come from just 4 per cent of customers who buy stuff on Amazon.

So how does Amazon go on to be the de facto direct marketing business on the internet?

Amazon Prime is capturing all the people in the world:

a)      Who have money to spend.

b)      Who are happy to buy direct... that is online.

c)       By offering people with money the convenience, opportunity to save money, and the service of wider selection of goods; so that it is easy to just go to one-stop Amazon to see if what the buyer wants is listed by searching Amazon’s product database.

d)      By keeping in touch with people who keep on spending by being constantly relevant...Prime members keep revisiting... and spending.

Once you’ve got used to buying books, Amazon’s fantastic web designers and copywriters make it easy for you to notice other items in other categories by:

·         Promoting other books.

·         Promoting non-book items such as brand name watches to streaming films to baby toys.

Emails

The secret power of Amazon is in emails.

Amazon sends you regular emails on all sorts of categories to tempt you to buy special offers. It’s really hard for consumers to resist.

Just think of near enough every item that are resold in retail shops (eg. Your Armani watch or Nike T-shirt) in the most popular and largest locations. Think of John Lewis, or Oxford Street in London, or even the Trafford Centre in Manchester. Amazon will likely have the item available.

Think about it, you can kit out your whole home by buying off Amazon without having to leave the sofa.

But Amazon Destroys Business

Isn’t that what locals always say when a successful innovative business comes along.

(Hey... there’s nothing better than a local business with tradition and history.)

In fact, we’re lucky we live in a free market system and innovation is here to improve customers’ buying power, or else monopolies can dictate products and prices.

So yes, you may not like your Tesco’s taking customers from local businesses, but look at it this way... if there are two restaurants on the same street, and one is busy and the other hardly has any patrons...

Is It The Restaurant That Is Struggling That Is Wrong

Or Obviously It’s The Consumer Who’s Wrong?

So the question must be posed? Is it big businesses that destroy local businesses, or consumers who are not considerate and change to shop at big businesses; or the local business who cannot be bothered to innovate and improve? Hold that thought.

Amazon Prime Innovation

Remember the paragraph describing the services of Amazon Prime?

Amazon would have spend months analysing the customer research data to come up with their new compelling strategy of capturing the segment of

The world’s most CONSISTENT SPENDERS in the online direct marketing category

During a history of innovation and technology to improve humankind, humans cannot resist technology.

You see – humans choose the easy option when faced with similar choices (a consumer psychology tip that can help you win orders by just mastering this technique alone – it’s in the ebook The Goose Bump Effect in more detail.)

Here are some examples to prove it:

·         We wore clogs and moved onto shoes.

·         Transport was once by horseback, now it’s by car, bikes, trains, airplane (and skateboard).

·         Messages were sent by letters, and now sent by text, social media or email.

·         Once we drove into town to buy books or a film... now you just search Amazon.

And this is where we are today: Innovation, convenience, better pricing, wide selection of goods and so on and so on.

That’s why Amazon Prime is the most important development in direct marketing.

Scared by Amazon Prime?

You don’t have to be. You just need to keep being systematically pro-active.

Here’s some ideas that might help your business:

·         Don’t ever stop innovating even if you are top of the tree.

·         And don’t forget the importance of direct marketing. Keep in contact with your customers.

·         Make sure you systematically collect data and research your customers.

Thanks for reading. Please share this article with friends who like Amazon.

 

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Good website design can help with on boarding lots of prospects better than sales people

Good website design can help with on boarding lots of prospects better than sales people: by Jason Li 2012 ©

Of course, its common sense and we all know that clever websites with the best websites designed on being focused on being a sales machine can help with on boarding prospects needs, but better than sales people?

How the best sales people on board prospects

It is fair to say in fact that in a one-to-one challenge, an excellent sales person can possibly outsell most websites at a quicker conversion time. What I’m saying is that given both methods to on board a prospect, an excellent sales person will no doubt move a prospect through the sales process further through the sales funnel, and possibly quicker than the website too!

A sales person will spend quality time learning about meeting the needs of prospects so that they move to the next stage of the funnel. Sales people are laser sharp and look for the quickest way to help the prospect move to the next stage.

The sales challenge verses ecommerce website design strategy

However, if you have a very good ecommerce website design strategy that can move prospects through the sales funnel, then a good website can beat many excellent sales people. Why is this? Well a good ecommerce website that has been tested and brings in good leads on a regular basis just needs help in systematically getting more prospects to the website. Once this is done, a website will systematically take a whole lot more prospects (and decision makers) through a sales funnel then a sales person that is doing this one-at-a-time.

Let’s look at some numbers, which I’ve made up. Let’s say the excellent sales person has 300 prospects every month at stage one in the sales funnel and there are five stages to an order. Consistently they have twenty prospects who reach stage four ready to order each month. This includes being flat out with talk time, admin like emails, answering queries, objection handling et cetera.

Now the website that is also a smooth running function can take prospects through the funnel, either with one prospect or a million. Yes, but the website is not proactive in any way you may say. Yes, you may also point out that the website is likely to be much slower at moving prospects through the sales funnel. But if you feed it prospects, a good website will give out a greater output. What are the chances of the website handling 10,000 prospects as well as 500? You’re right; the website will do this mechanically over-and-over again just as efficiently and effectively.

If we were to say to the excellent sales person to take on say another 100 prospects, so 33% more, oddly enough the conversion of prospects to being on board may reduce. This is due to a number of factors such as: quality of talk time being less with prospects, not answering to queries quick enough, or being too brief, and so on.

A good website designed to be a sales machine is a long term investment

It takes time to create a good website that takes people through a sales process. You might say ‘well I don’t have time to put into it. I just want one to put up on the web and it is done with'. In that case is it worth it?

Here is my answer: “By the way, doesn’t it take months or years for sales people to get used to your industry, prospects, customers, and competitors to move prospects through the sales funnel?” What’s to say that a website can be developed and launched first time round and generate results? Or even second or third time around?

Yep, you guessed it. You will have to keep investing time every week in understanding and fine tuning your website until it is a good website designed to be a sales machine. That means a bit more work than creating one that looks really cool; uploading it and then telling prospects you have a website. Just like sales people, a website has to try new ideas and change the presentation.

Latent needs

A latent need is a need we have but not seen as important. Good sales people are able to help prospects see that they have a need or problem and make a decision to take action.

Again, the best websites designed as a sales machine can do this too. See “How to generate more leads for my business” article. This is where a good website can help a prospect consider their latent needs. I have at times seen it where people have taken it as far as possible with a prospect and passed the lead to another sales person because the other sales person just hits it off better, or plays “good cop-bad cop” to try and re-motivate the prospect to have another go through the sales funnel. This is what a website can do. Be the other sales person that hits it off with the prospect.

Top-of-mind-awareness

In advertising this is one of the Holy Grail’s of marketing – for the customer to keep your brand in mind when they are ready to buy. That’s why big brands spend millions advertising everywhere possible whether it’s on television, or at the cinema, or on radio, newspaper, online and so on.

With a targeted website, your website is both an advert and sales funnel vehicle. Adverts gain interest or trigger latent needs. Your website can do this with the right information initially. Then as the prospect keeps coming back, you can use tactics to move them through the sales funnel, automating the sales process.

You still need sales people to close deals.

That’s not to say that you won’t need sales people anymore. Excellent sales people are still the difference between some businesses. People still buy from people. People still need to speak to people about queries and have a human touch.

You might even find in a funny way that a good website is generating enough good leads that you might even need more excellent sales people. If your company does better because of the website and additional sales person, then this can only be good in the long run.

So invest in the best website designed as a sales machine with content that takes prospects through the sales funnel to gain more orders over the long run.

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“How to generate more leads for my business?”

“How to generate more leads for my business”: by Jason Li 2012 ©

“How do I generate more leads for my business?” is one of the biggest business questions of all time, and I’m not foolish enough to say I have the definitive answer. But you want to know how to get more business? Well I can provide you some ideas that get you closer to where you want to be.

Everyone in business will be at a certain stage in their growth cycle and want to get from A to B. B is the goal. What I can offer are ideas on how to get to B that I have seen work for some businesses.

Lead generation software

Is lead generation software or a lead generation service the answer? Certainly if you find a good vendor for either method and it works then you have done very well. As you can see in the article about the sales funnel... no new prospects equals no business. We all need new leads and new prospects. So if you have found help in generating leads then definitely use it, as long as it is profitable.

Website lead generation

However, in the modern age, there is a more permanent way to generate business for your business, and that is with a website. With a website that contains the right targeted content to keep your prospects in your targets niche segment interested, you can keep all the prospects engaged in your products and services so that when they are ready to buy, they are likely to buy from you.

With a well constructed and written website, you can also find prospects on other sites and direct them to your web site and move them through your sales funnel.

Best of all, you are in control of the lead generation asset. A website is an asset owned by your business – whether or not you develop it or you or another outsourced vendor is the administrator.

But firstly let’s double check how does this compare to other lead generation methods?

No more cold calling, networking and gatekeepers

In an ideal world we wouldn’t need to do the above anymore and just sit back and rely on the website to generate leads. But I’m not advocating this too in a contradictory way. You see some people are brilliant at getting leads from cold calling or networking, so why stop. In fact, if you are good then do more (See the Pareto Principle) as you have found an effective lead generation method.

So yes, if you are a cold calling guru, keep going if it gets you results. But keep in mind that even cold callers use websites to search for information when they were looking to buy a certain product or service. A website has also helped a cold caller out there in some way decide who would be their vendor when they wanted to buy. Imagine now if you could also generate a few inbound leads for yourself too.

You should see websites as a great add on to your existing lead generation method. Any enquiries you get should be further advanced in your sales funnel. Especially if the prospect has decided they want a product or service like yours and are actively looking for a vendor to fit. And guess what, after being on your website they know about you and trust you more than many of your competitors, so you will be ahead of the rest at this point in the funnel.

If you’re worried about having a website that educates a prospect and then they go elsewhere; well don’t. If you are worried, it means you have just created a general educational brochure site and have failed to create any added value for why the prospect should use your products and services. Keep on reading to see how to combat this.

Keep visitors sticky on your website

The only way to make sure prospects are interested in returning to your website is by making it sticky. If you have problems such as people visiting your site and then leaving after looking at a few pages or never returning again, then possibly your website is a half hearted job.

Remember the articles I have written about creating value and marketing, the reason your website is not helping the prospect to buy from you is that it is offering nothing to be of meaningful use or value to your prospect.

Your website might also be too general and try to capture everyone who ever logs online. Have you ever come across someone who says if I start a full English breakfast cafe then I will get everyone who eats breakfast. It’s just not possible. If you look at my sales funnel article, you will see that your website has to be targeted.

It is not easy. I have a background in marketing strategy and worked with entrepreneurs on marketing strategy. I’m not as conceptual as some consultants who want to draw out the award winning big idea and concepts into weeks of consultation, I’m a bit more let’s get down to basic marketing strategy and fundamentals before jumping to slogans and concepts. If the big idea fits, then great. But that’s not the sole major objective when pleasing the customer. But if you cannot have a really good grasp of marketing strategy and understanding the consumer then you’re going to end up with possibly a website which is maybe well written and pleasant looking but not effective. Then when you look at the results a few weeks down the line you will say it can’t be the website as it looks really cool and reflects how I like to see a brand to be seen.

Unfortunately, this is where I have to let you know that you will have to get a person with a very good understanding of marketing strategy involved in making sure your website has the right targeted information. Of course, you want the website to have nice design too. But cool design and a good looking website alone will never get you leads. If this was the case, every good looking website will be owned by a multi-millionaire. All graphic designers or website designers would be millionaires. The most expensive looking websites would take the most market share.

Relationship building

Websites built on good marketing strategy with targeted content will keep prospects in your sales funnel. Some prospects can take a long time to admit they are ready to buy. Some will simply wait for their current supplier to upset them enough before they “can be bothered” to change. But over time, people make the change.

A good website will be automated in keeping prospects interested in working with your business when they are ready. In marketing it is simply “top-of-the-mind-awareness”. You are already talking in their language. The prospect knows that you can help them achieve their goals, whether it is a good hair style to be more attractive to finding pet food that keeps their pet healthy to software that helps their business productivity.

Once a prospect is on your site, you can keep them engaged longer in your products and services until they are ready. They may even move themselves through the sales funnel by sharing your information with other decision makers. You might find a web page which is read the most and tells you scientifically what it is that gains people’s interest.

Referrals

Once you have a prospect converted to a customer, how do they let others know about your business a year down the line? Well it’s easy for the new customer to tell a friend...because they spent a long time looking and reading your information you created for them which is of high value. So you are harder to forget.

Moreover, you’re on the internet so their friend can also learn about you in their own time and take themselves through the sales funnel.

Could a website help bring you and your prospects closer to being a customer? If this has website has given you new ideas or angles to look at your business, would you make a referral to a friend?

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