This piece was contributed by Jeff Lieber and Jenna Lieber at Turnkey Product Management, which helps brands manage and automate their Amazon stores and sales growth. Below is a summary of how they use competitors to make a brand more successful on against Amazon competition.
Competition is a fact of life if you sell your products on Amazon. However, there are ways to use your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses against them. By analyzing your competition and recognizing what they do well and what you do better, you can create a superior listing that makes buying from you a no brainer! There are several parts of your competitors’ listings that you’ll want to take an honest, unbiased look at in order to beat them!
Sales Copy
Read through your competitors’ sales copy as if you were a customer. What jumps out at you? Are there any pieces of the bullet point or description that you think are particularly strong? Try to identify at least one piece of copy that you feel does a good job of informing or persuading the customers to buy from that competitor.
While looking through the copy, you’ll also want to identify any “why selling” that might be present. These are statements which give the customers a reason to purchase. For example, if your niche is lipstick instead of the your competitor's listing stating that their lipstick is full of moisturizers, they might use a why selling statement such as “Keep your lips kissably soft with our patented moisture locking formula”. Identify the ideas that you feel are the strongest and try to create why selling statements that you can use within your the bullet points, descriptions, and enhanced brand content of your listing.
Bonus or Value-Added Items
Take a look at the items your competitors include along with their main product. Do they offer case or holder for the item they sell, a free e-book, an instruction manual, an app or even a guarantee with the purchase of their product? These are all considered value-added items. While none of them cost any significant amount of money, adding one or more of them can make the difference between customers choosing your product over your competitors’.
When choosing a value-added item, it is important to think about your customers’ interests and activities. What information would they find valuable? Is there an inexpensive accessory that might make using your product a little easier? Great examples of this can be found in the cell phone case niche. The styluses, screen protectors and even screen wiping cloths that some sellers include with their cases are all excellent ways to distinguish their product from their competition.
Product Reviews (Positive And Negative)
One of the most valuable things you will ever receive as a seller is an understanding of what your customers think of your products. Having this knowledge about your product is incredibly important; having this knowledge about your competitors’ products is priceless! As you learn to recognize where your competitors are dropping the ball you will gain a unique opportunity to highlight your product in ways that will entice your competitors’ customers into becoming yours!
Also be sure to take some time to look through your competitors negative reviews and identify the trends you see. Does your competitors’ product often arrive to the customer damaged? If so, make sure to highlight how your product is carefully packaged to prevent breakage during shipping. Do customers complain about the aftertaste of your competitors’ product? That’s funny, because your listing mentions how your product has no unpleasant aftertaste. Highlight how your product is superior to your competitor’s without ever having to mention them.
Product Images and Infographics
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then your images speak volumes about your product. When analyzing your competitors’ images, once again you must put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What do you think will appeal to those customers? Look out for lifestyle images. These are pictures of the target demographic for a product actually using the product in an everyday setting. If you can paint a picture of how your product will integrate into your customers’ lives, it makes the buying decision that much easier for them.
There are any number of additional things to consider when analyzing your competitors’ images. Is the size of your product important? Look for clever ways this information might be demonstrated. Are there any special features that need highlighting? Your competitors might have addressed these in a unique way. Pay attention to the types of details that your competitors are including in their infographics and how they are displayed. Also, look out for images that do en excellent job of displaying the packaging or showing what the product includes.
Making It Your Own
You’ve made it through your competitors’ listings and found a number of interesting ideas. Now what? The most important thing to remember is that all of the work you just did means nothing if you end up with a listing that is nearly identical to your competitors. The last thing you want to do is look like a copycat or knock off! To avoid this, dig deep. Identify why you found the sales copy compelling or the product image captivating. Then use that underlying truth within your listing. Did that image of a mother and child laughing while using your competitor's product touch your heart? Don’t copy the image, think about why you are feeling that way about the image and utilize that. Bring your own sense of familial enjoyment into your images.
Sun Tzu, the author of The Art of War once said “When you know both yourself as well as your competition, you are never in danger. To know yourself and not others, gives you half a chance of winning. Knowing neither yourself or your competition puts you in a position to lose.” Analyzing your competition is an important step in the process of beating them and becoming a success on Amazon!
Do you want to use more strategies like this in your business?
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