We all have brands we prefer or trust, especially when it comes to products we use on a daily basis—from coffee and kitchen supplies to pet food and home goods—and Amazon has taken notice.
Recently, Amazon has unveiled a new feature for customers: the ability to follow brands and get notified about new products, discounts, and a slew of other things.
While this could be the first step in making Amazon a true “social commerce” experience, from a seller standpoint, it’s also bound to provide a new and more direct way to build brand affinity and solidify brand preference with their customers.
Say Hello to Amazon Follow
If you are a seller on Amazon, you’re probably wondering how you can add this feature to your own seller profile. Well, as with many things in life, there is a caveat to partake in this feature.
At the moment, adding the option to “follow” your Amazon store page is not available to every Amazon seller. However, if you are a registered brand on Amazon, then you should have the ability to add this follow feature to your Amazon store page via the Manage Your Customer Engagement tool.
If you are unsure about your eligibility you can visit the Amazon Brand Registry page to see where you stand.
How Amazon Follow Can Help Sellers
If you are a brand selling on Amazon (or elsewhere) you know how valuable it is to stay in front of your customers, especially during this upcoming holiday season, which we predict is going to be a prime (get it?) time for driving those purchases.
So, here are just a couple of ways that Amazon Follow can add some fuel to the fire when it comes to your campaigns this holiday season.
Keeping Dedicated Customers Informed
According to Amazon, the new follow feature “enables customers to stay up to date with the people, brands, and interests that they care about on Amazon.”
Now, Amazon has had a history of not wanting brands to speak with customers unless messaging with them directly from their brand page for specific issues. But that was then and this is now.
For registered brands on Amazon with the ability to attract “followers,” it does look like Amazon is opening up an email program called “Manage Your Customer Engagement (MYCE).”
According to Amazon, “The Manage Your Customer Engagement program currently supports new product announcements, and additional templates will be added in the future. The Manage Your Customer Engagement is available to registered brands that have an Amazon Stores page with followers.”
Amazon has also detailed the process for setting up your brand’s email campaign via the Manage Your Customer Engagement tool (see below):
1. Upload your brand logo: Logos can have a transparent background (PNG) or white or black background (JPG), and are required to be in a horizontal layout (3:1 or narrower).
2. Add a product: You can include only products available for purchase for the first time on Amazon within the last six months.
3. Select a supporting image: Add an image that highlights the product’s benefits or a lifestyle image. You’ll need to follow Amazon’s product image requirements.
4. Schedule your campaign: Choose your time range for when the campaign will send. It will be a 5-day period, Monday-Friday.
Here is an example of what your customer could see from your brand.
To be sure, there is an approval process for every campaign like this—we all know that Amazon has a QA process for pretty much everything. So don’t expect to build your campaign in the morning and have it land in your followers’ email inboxes by lunch.
According to Amazon, “Campaigns are reviewed by our moderation team, who will determine if your content meets our requirements. It takes a minimum of 72 hours for your image assets to be reviewed.”
Is this a hoop you will need to jump through? Yes, but even so, having this capability is a step in the right direction for brands on Amazon.
Getting Your Amazon Strategy on Point
We will keep you up to date with the latest information about Amazon Follow as it becomes available, and we are already testing these new capabilities with our clients. (Success stories coming soon!)
For many of our clients, Amazon is the prime place (see, we did it again!) for driving revenues throughout the year, not just during the holidays. So, if you are trying to pinpoint where you can ramp up your success on Amazon, our experts are always available to take a peek under the Amazon hood and assist you.
Use this link to connect with one of our team members, or feel free to call us directly at (818) 740-4774 anytime.