Most businesses are starved for leads. They’re not generating the kind of amazing results they could be for their business. So they resort to expensive strategies that fail to deliver. They create expensive ads that fail to work, and they create landing pages that struggle to convert visitors.
There’s an easier way to get the kind of consistent results you need for your business.
I’m talking about Amazon.
Today I’m going to show you a few of the strategies and tactics you can use to create a consistent and steady stream of customers, leads and sales for your small business, using Amazon.
Why Your Business Needs Amazon
Amazon has earned your customer’s trust. Customer confidence in them is, for the most part, pretty unshakeable.
How do I know?
Time. Online shoppers spend more time on Amazon than the rest of the top 10 retailers combined.
What makes Amazon so significant is the fact that they sell a huge variety of products. They started with books but they’re now selling a huge variety of products.
We’re going to use that.
So here’s my assumption. I’m assuming you have the ability to create an ebook, introductory product, or app you can sell directly to customers on Amazon. I’m also assuming you know your target audience’s pain points.
Next, I’m going to show you how to generate a steady stream of leads from Amazon, for your business. At this point, you’re probably thinking “This advice is old news, Will.”
It sure is. Which why it’s so surprising that most people get this strategy or advice wrong.
The Secret to Amazon Success
It’s frustration.
Not what you were expecting, right? But it’s an absolutely indispensable part of any Amazon lead generation campaign.
Let me explain.
First, let’s take a look at the average approach. Let’s say you’re running a consulting business. You’re interested in generating leads so you do what everyone else does. You write a book. Then you drive traffic to that book. And inside that book, you add a link to a download. Some kind of lead magnet that’s designed to capture your prospect’s email address.
Pretty standard, right?
Here’s why this approach is so often a hit or miss. These extras or downloads are positioned as nice-to-haves. They’re positioned as helpful add-ons.
Here’s why it’s unhelpful:
- Readers aren’t all that motivated to go download your extras, so many don’t.
- Some readers are interested. They highlight your offer in their book, intending to go back to it later, but don’t.
- A few readers are motivated. They download your offer but they don’t use it.
- A small minority of readers are driven. You scratch their itch so they download and use your extras, but they don’t contact you for help.
- A tiny fraction of readers read your book, download your extras, use them and then finally contact you for help.
Why aren’t more readers motivated to take action on your free offer?
No frustration.
With most books or products there isn’t a compelling reason for customers to take advantage of your offer now. Ecommerce sellers struggle with the same problem. They want customers to buy from their ecommerce store directly so they don’t have to share their profits withAmazon but they don’t really have a compelling plan in place to make that happen.
Frustration Fuels Desire in Customers
This isn’t just an opinion. It’s scientific fact. Roy F. Baumeister et al. pointed this out in their study “Bad is Stronger than Good.” Bad events, problems, fears and frustrations, the unpleasant details of life have more impact than good events. These findings have been replicated in study after study.
Here’s the problem.
The vast majority of Amazon sellers present their book, product, download or offer as a solution to a maybe problem. Then, they present their offer as a solution to a one-sided problem.
Here compare these two.
Offer A:
“If you’re looking for help with your finances you can download my helpful budgeting checklist by clicking this link.”
vs.
Offer B:
“Most people making $50k to $95k lose a whopping $7.5k to $30k in unnecessary taxes, fees, penalties and interest payments each year. Download this free checklist and I’ll show you how to spot these income leaks.”
See the difference?
Which offer do you feel is more effective and compelling for most readers? If you went with offer B, you’re absolutely right.
Frustration.
Frustrating Amazon Customers Isn’t Enough
Frustration needs layers.
If you’d like to double your product or service business, you’ll need to provide Amazon customers with layers of frustration.
How do you do that?
- Create urgency e.g. “This free bonus is only available for the first 375 customers.”
- Be specific e.g.“Our free download will help you to save/recover $7.5k to $30k in unnecessary taxes, fees, penalties and interest you’re already losing.”
- Use genuine scarcity e.g.“This free bonus is only available for the first 375 customers. Why? Because we’re going to sell this free bonus as a product (for $79) to future customers.”
- Use a risk reversal e.g. “We’ll help you to save/recover $7.5k to $30k in unnecessary taxes, fees, penalties, and interest or we’ll give you 5x what you paid for this book.”
Think value.
Your goal here is to maximize the amount of value you provide to Amazon customers overall. Did you catch the common thread in each of these items?
Frustration.
- Readers are already losing $7.5k to $30k annually (yikes).
- Your free download will help them recover $7.5k to $30k every year (they’re losing money).
- It’s only available to the first 375 customers, then it’s a paid product afterward (they may not get it).
- You’ll get $7.5k to $30k back or we’ll give you 5x the value of this book (they’re still losing money).
This is how you double your service business. What about your product business? How would you structure an offer to sell more products?
Same thing.
Let’s say you’re selling baseball bats.
- Create a compelling offer e.g. “The wrong baseball bat decreases your on-base percentage. This bat/bonus combo will improve your on-base percentage.”
- Create urgency/scarcity e.g. “This bonus is only available to the first 573 customers.”
- Be specific e.g. “This bat/bonus combo will improve your on-base percentage by a minimum of 23%.”
- Use a risk reversal e.g. “We’ll improve your on-base percentage by a minimum of 23% or we’ll buy your bat back.”
Pretty convincing, right?
Here’s the amazing part about this strategy. Layering customer frustration gives you the ability to create compelling headlines, titles, and product descriptions. With a little bit of blog, guest post or PPC love, your product listings can easily outperform competing offers.
Wait a minute.
Why would we bother using Amazon to promote a book, product or service? Couldn’t we do the same thing with Facebook or Google Ads?
Absolutely.
But you’d miss out on the one thing Amazon provides that other platforms do not.
Validation.
If you’ve placed a follow-up offer or bonus in your book or product box you know a few specific details.
- These customers are serious. They paid for your product and they signed up for your follow-up offer.
- The minimum income you’ve received means you’ll be able to defray your advertising campaign costs.
- The leads you receive are highly qualified and far more valuable than a cold lead from Facebook Ads.
What does this mean?
You’re able to charge more for well-crafted follow-up offers (that are delivered on your site). You’re also able to increase your prices on demand, provided that you continue to generate significant value for your customers.
So Google and Facebook are irrelevant then?
Not at all.
Amazon’s just offering you a simple way to generate a never-ending supply of highly qualified leads. With the right offer and approach, you’ll have the strategies and tactics you need to double your product or service business.
Your Business Has Amazon, There’s No Need to Starve
Most businesses are starved for leads.
They’re not generating the kind of amazing results they could be for their business. There’s an easier way to get the kind of consistent results you need for your business.
Frustration.
Layered frustration gives you the tools and resources you need to attract the quality and quantity of customers you need. You can generate a steady stream of customers, leads and sales for your business. Lead with your customer’s frustrations. Layer them with risk reversals, urgency, scarcity, and specificity and you’ll easily double your business.