A Sampling of Success on Amazon - John Willkom - Amazon Legends - Episode # 142

Everyone loves a free sample, but did you know that you can use the power of Amazon to get samples of your product into consumers' hands? John Willkom is an omni-commerce expert, the Senior Vice President & Head of Ecommerce at The Mars Agency, and the author of the Amazon best-selling basketball book, Walk-On Warrior. John explains his unique approach to building brand awareness on Amazon, what’s on the cutting edge of ecommerce, and which two metrics you need to stay on top of to grow on Amazon. 

Takeaways: 

• Amazon uses a company called Send Me A Sample so that consumers can ask Alexa devices to send them a sample of a certain product and Amazon will ship it to them automatically. This is a great way to get your product out there and get feedback in.
• Using digital sampling through Amazon, you can replace the traditional, in-store demos with something that converts better, creates massive brand awareness, and doesn’t require a huge budget. 
• Send Me A Sample operates as a fulfillment service and they are where you send your sample inventory. Amazon’s role is just to feature the currently available samples on a webpage and when asked about samples through Alexa.
• A great way to get the most from your sample campaign is to simultaneously run digital ad campaigns that entice consumers to order the free samples. You will see more accurate results with a larger sample size of people trying your product out.
• The potential of voice is just beginning to come into view and it offers perhaps the most frictionless buying experience available. 
• You’ll never find one solution that will generate tons of orders in perpetuity. You need to have a test-and-learn mentality to find what works for your product and speaks to your customers, and when this changes over time, you need to keep testing.
• Amazon is currently beta-testing a new tool in Seller Central called Search Query Performance which allows brands to see the total number of impressions, clicks, add-to carts, and purchases for the brand.

Quote of the Show:

• “There's no reason why voice isn't going to usher in the future of TV shopping” - John Willkom

Links:

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