Develop an Amazon Marketing Strategy To Boost Online Sales
Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer so you know that for your book to be competitive in the marketplace, you need to be selling your book there. But what you might not know is how dramatically you can increase your visibility and credibility on Amazon by reaching out to real readers and asking them to review your book. It’s important to develop an Amazon marketing strategy as part of your overall book publicity campaign.
Perhaps you have already tried sending advance copies of your book to the big literary review magazines and top newspapers with less than satisfactory results. But think about how many of your potential customers read big literary magazines versus how many of them visit Amazon.com on at least a weekly basis. Customers head to Amazon to conduct product research, browse topics, and get suggestions for gifts but consumers are savvier than ever so helpful, high-rated reviews are integral to influencing their purchasing decisions.
You might be able to get a good base just by asking friends and family to post reviews, but when a book no one has ever heard of by a first time author has nothing but five star reviews filled with superlative exclamations like “best book ever!” it’s going to look suspicious. You need to get real people to give honest, thoughtful reviews. Look for potential reviewers on Amazon’s Top Reviewers list -- which you will find at www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/top-reviewers.html -- and seek out reviewers who read books like yours.
In order to reach out to these reviewers, you will need to click on their pen name to view their profile. Active Amazon reviewers will often list their email address right on their profile. If you find someone you think is really worth reaching out to but are unable to track down any contact information, you can click the Invite to be an Amazon Friend. You can then send a personalized message to that reviewer and Amazon will forward it as email.
In addition to garnering reviews, another important part of your Amazon marketing strategy is tagging. Tagging a product allows it to be categorized or grouped together with other similar products on Amazon. This way when a customer searches by keyword, they are recommended products tagged with that keyword. This can be a really effective way to get customers to find your book. You can begin by tagging your own book with up to 15 keywords. Then, ask anyone who has reviewed or plans to review your book to either agree with your tags or come up with 15 keywords of their own.
Tagging not only increases the probability that your book shows up at the top of search results within Amazon, but also on other websites and newsfeeds outside of Amazon. For example, we tagged solar energy handbook (Solar Basics) with handful of eco, environmental, and clean energy related terms. The very next day, Solar Basics appeared front and center on the homepage of a popular environmental issues blog.
To learn more of the particulars about tags and how to use them in your Amazon marketing strategy read this article in Amazon’s help section: http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=16238571
