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Are you an Amazon FBA, Walmart, or Ecommerce Seller, or someone interested in becoming one? The Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10 is an unscripted, unrehearsed, BS-free, organic conversation between host Bradley Sutton, and real life sellers and thought leaders in the ecommerce world, where they share the top strategies that will help sellers of all levels succeed. In addition, every week there is an episode of the ”Weekly Buzz” which gives a rundown of the latest news in the Ecommerce world. ► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast ► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension ► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life) ► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft ► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos
Episodes
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
Thursday Nov 07, 2024
New Amazon coupon change? Is live shopping finally taking off on TikTok shop? and a new way to update images by marketplace. These buzzing stories and more on this episode!
We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.
How TikTok Shop is ‘reimagining’ Black Friday-Cyber Monday
https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2024/10/31/how-tiktok-shop-is-reimagining-black-friday-cyber-monday
Alexa is now available as a new supply source for online video ads for self-service advertisers
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/online-video-ads-on-alexa-home-screen/
Explore Amazon’s new Virtual Holiday Shop—an immersive 3D shopping experience that makes it easier to find the perfect gifts
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-shop-holiday-gifts
How livestreams are taking over TikTok Shop
https://www.modernretail.co/technology/how-livestreams-are-taking-over-tiktok-shop/
But that's not all—we've got some exciting updates from Helium 10 to share! Grab the chance to join us in Milan, Italy, for an empowering workshop co-hosted with Avask.
Helium 10 Elite Milan, Italy Amazon Seller Workshop
https://h10.me/milan - Use Code HELIUM50 to get 50% Off Your Tickets
Plus, we're rolling out next-level tools like the enhanced Follow-up for bulk review tracking and the Managed Refund Service for Diamond members, ensuring you maximize your reimbursements from Amazon. And let's not forget the mighty Helium 10 Market Tracker tool—essential for honing in on specific keywords to boost your product group's market presence. Tune in to equip yourself with these serious strategies and gain a competitive edge in the Amazon-selling arena.
In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers:
- 00:48 - Amazon Coupon Update
- 02:29 - TikTok Shop Exclusive
- 04:24 - Country Specific Images
- 06:19 - Amazon DSP x Alexa
- 07:42 - 3D Holiday Shopping
- 10:20 - TikTok Shop Lives
- 13:06 - Helium 10 Italy Workshop
- 14:10 - New Feature Alerts
- 17:42 - Training Tip: Amazon Market Share Tracker
► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast
► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension
► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)
► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft
► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos
Transcript
Bradley Sutton:
New Amazon coupon change? Is live shopping finally taking off on TikTok shop, a new way to update images by marketplace. These stories and more on this version of the Weekly Buzz how cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Hello, everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that is our Helium 10 Weekly Buzz, where we give you a rundown of all the goings on in the Amazon, TikTok shop and e-commerce world. We give you training tips of the week and we also let you know what new features that Helium 10 has that will give you serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. Let's see what's buzzing All right, let's go ahead and hop directly into the news. We've got what's buzzing. All right, let's go ahead and hop directly into news. We got a few news articles to go over today, some of them pretty interesting. Now, this first one is going to be from, actually, your Seller Central dashboard, in case you missed it, a pretty cool update that they are doing on coupons, which may be relevant to you, especially with Black Friday coming up.
Bradley Sutton:
Cyber Monday, maybe you've got some coupons plan. It's entitled percentage off coupons can now be applied on up to five items per order. So what's different? Well, before, if there was a percentage off coupon we're not talking about the dollar off, you know, like $5 off but it was the ones where you can save, like 10% off. 15% off, the customer could only use one coupon per order. So let's say you know they had, you know from your store, three different items that they wanted to get, but each of them had a 10% off coupon. The customer would have to order that three times, like three separate orders. They couldn't add all three to the cart and have that coupon work. Now, when you create a coupon in seller central you can select no for limit redemption to one per customer. Now that means the percentage off coupon can be applied to a maximum of five items per order. All right, if you select yes in that section, only one coupon is going to be allowed to order, all right. So again, for example, it gives an example here If a customer clicks a 10% off coupon, let's say the offer price is $50. Okay, and then they buy three of your items. They're going to be able to use the coupon on all three items in one shopping cart for a $15 discount total. Why is that? Well, if it's 10% off, it's a $50 item each one. That means it's $5 off, but again, we're talking about three items total of $15 off. So again, a pretty cool update here. You'll keep that in mind as you're creating your coupons here in this shopping season and beyond.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article, switching marketplaces. Now is an article from retailbrew.com and it's entitled how TikTok shop is re-imagining Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Now, this is interesting because they're doing something a little bit different. Now, historically, a lot of the sellers maybe I could say most who are selling on TikTok shop they're probably selling on Amazon the same product as well. Right, very rarely do you see larger sellers launching TikTok shop only products that you know they just came up off the top of their head and they're not selling it on other marketplaces. But now TikTok, it says, wants to offer US shoppers products from lesser known, smaller DTC brands that may not have the resources to operate on rival platforms like Amazon. All right, so that's interesting, ok. Now it's saying that new product launches, exclusively for Black Friday, will be on TikTok shop shelves in November. Now this is like some special new promotion that some TikTok shop sellers are going to be able to participate in. However, according to this article, it seems like you're only going to be able to participate in it if you have a product that is TikTok shop exclusive, in other words, not on Amazon or Shopify or Walmart or other websites. Now this article goes on to say how there still will be special ways to participate in Black Friday, Cyber Monday, even for bigger brands or ones that are across platforms. But how many of you guys are shipping or selling on TikTok shop these days? I've started it on a couple of my accounts and it's going pretty pretty well for not that much effort my accounts. So I think it's definitely something that you guys should consider starting on, especially if you are based in the United States. If you're based overseas, it's a little bit harder to get a TikTok shop open. But let me know in the comments below how many of you guys are selling right now on TikTok shop and how many of you are going to participate in some kind of Black Friday, Cyber Monday deals.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is going back to Seller Central. It's entitled Image Managers'. Country-specific Features Give you More Control Over Visuals. All right. So we announced something like this before, but it's kind of like a reminder by Amazon In case you didn't know. You know, historically a lot of sellers had problems when they're selling a product, you know, maybe, let's say, in USA, and then they expand to the Mexican marketplace, or they expand to Amazon Germany, right, or they expand to Amazon Japan. Well, amazon would pull in the listing information right, the images right, and maybe the rest of the listing is translated okay. But the images that share across the platform and sometimes you change your image in US well, it changes it across. You know the platforms.
Bradley Sutton:
Now, for those selling in marketplaces with other languages, you want you know the images to be for that marketplace, especially if you're using infographics that have you know words on it. You don't want you know Japanese words, you know coming up in your Amazon Germany marketplace. So now Amazon's like saying, hey, we've got new country specific features in the image manage tool. Right, you can view and delete localized images that display in a specific country, such as images that contain text in the local language. So the new features in this tool are country specific image views, so you can view both global and country specific images in separate sections, and now an image deletion capability, where you can delete country specific images directly from image manager to keep your library organized and up to date. So those are two like mini features, but perhaps this whole feature of of this, this page, is new to you and you were just thinking that you could only edit your images with flat files or in the edit listing in each marketplace and you're worried that the same image would publish across marketplaces. Make sure to check out your image manager tool, especially for those of you selling in multiple marketplaces.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is from Amazon itself and it's entitled Alexa is now available as a new supply source for online video ads for self-service advertisers. All right, there's been rumblings that that there's going to be more of an emphasis on shopping on Alexa, especially if Alexa goes the generative AI route. But even before that happens, you can now, if you're advertising with amazon DSP, you can now select Alexa as a video supply source. All right, so those advertisers, if you're running self-service online video ads on amazon DSP, you are going to be able to see Alexa as an additional inventory supply that is checked by default for video line items. Now one question you might have is well, amazon is cost per click pay per click right. When is a click recorded? Well, it says here it's recorded when the customer clicks on the autoplaying online video ad on the Alexa home screen to launch the video ad in the full video screen view. So it sounds like if the ad just plays and maybe the person in their house is across the room, they just listen to it, and maybe the person in their house is across the room, they just listen to it. They're still getting that view, but you're not going to have to pay for the click unless they actually go to their Alexa device and click it to expand the video out to full screen. For now, this is available only in the United States.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article, also from Amazon, and it's entitled Explore Amazon's New Virtual Holiday Shop an immersive 3D shopping experience that makes it easier to find the perfect gifts. That's literally the for those listening in their cars or on the radio and not seeing this on YouTube. That is literally the entire title for this article, and it's you know. We've talked about this before and shown you how. You know, some big, huge sellers have access to these like 3D storefronts, right? So that's what's happening, where there's going to be these virtual holiday shops. That has 3D technology powered by Amazon Beyond that will showcase different products that buyers can buy All right Now this is mainly right now for huge companies.
Bradley Sutton:
It says items from sought after brands like Beats and Kim Kardashian, Kate Spade, Bumble and Bubble Coach, et cetera, et cetera. So you can kind of like you know, for those not watching this on YouTube just it's like you're going into this virtual reality for a shop and you're looking at shelves and different. There's like Easter eggs where products, their product offers, are going to come up if you find the Easter eggs on the top of the shelf somewhere or something like that. But it's this kind of like virtual reality shopping experience. Now, the reason why I mentioned this even though it probably doesn't affect 99.9% of us who aren't beats by Dre and Kim Kardashian etc. Is that again, this is kind of like a preview of what could be the future for even just regular sellers. Remember, before you know, prime video and different advertising on TV and stuff was only available to like humongous you know sellers. Services like AMC was only available to bigger sellers who are using DSP. A lot of the things that start off at the top level of Amazon sellers and brands eventually trickles down for the rest of us, and so, you know, I could absolutely imagine a world where these virtual reality based shopping experiences are going to eventually be open to the rest of us and then maybe we're going to be able to make a virtual reality like shopping kind of mall or mini room where we can have our products. Like, imagine a spooky one where I can design it and then there's coffin shelves on the wall that people can buy and bat-shaped bath mats and all of our other spooky, Manny's Mysterious Oddities products. What about you guys? How's your creative mind Like? Can you start thinking about how you would design your virtual shopping mall? Those of you who want to get a preview of how it's going to look, make sure to check out your regular Amazon app. Go to some of these big brands and maybe you'll be able to see these virtual holiday shopping centers.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is from modernretail.co and it's entitled how Livestreams Are Taking Over TikTok Shop. You know, for literally years now the four years we've been doing the weekly buzz we have been talking about articles and articles about how live shopping. Different marketplaces keep trying to make it a thing you know Amazon, et cetera and it just doesn't seem to take off in this country, like it has in China, for example, where it is huge, booming business. But now more and more we're reading about perhaps you know things are shifting and it's mainly because of TikTok shop. So this article here talks about a brand called BK Beauty. They hosted an eight-hour live stream. Remember we did a seven-hour Meganar, a live webinar, in Helium 10 a few weeks ago, where they're like, hey, we can do one better, we'll do an eight-hour live stream. And they did it at the brand's headquarters in Austin, texas, and the eight-hour live stream ended up getting them $100,000, over $100,000 of sales in eight hours. Is that worth the eight hour live stream? All right, that is pretty amazing. All right, $100,000. Now, a couple of weeks later, it says that TikTok flew the BK Beauty staff members to their own studios, the TikTok studios in LA, to do more live streams. And then now TikTok gave them like this whole big fancy setup in order to live stream again and then they ended up doing a 10 hour live stream and that was so successful that it says BK Beauty has now made live streaming a key part of its e-commerce strategy and they're going to go to the LA studio again for TikTok this month to do even more.
Bradley Sutton:
You know Black Friday and Cyber Monday campaigns for, for live selling. But again, you know, does this mean that finally, you know, live streaming is going to take off? I'm still a little bit hesitant to say that I need to see more success stories, but I have been hearing a little bit more rumbles around live streaming lately than, like, say, last year. Um, thanks to Tik TOK shop. Uh, those of you selling on Tik TOK shop, are you doing live streaming? You don't have to do it in a fancy studio or go eight hours live. Um, you know, give it a test, uh, sign up for it. And you know, do a test, sign up for it and do a test, maybe just in your own home studio. Or you don't even have a studio, just do it in your bedroom. See how it goes. Sometimes TikTok shop buyers are kind of like open to genuine streams and videos. They don't need fancy setups all the time, but it's worth a try. I don't think you'll be able to get $100,000 in eight hours, but let's see what you can get if you do live streaming on TikTok shop.
Bradley Sutton:
All right, last up, last call, all right for next week, just in a couple of days, on Monday, myself and Shivali and a bunch of other top speakers from around the world will be in Milan, Italy, for our first ever Helium 10 workshop there in Italy, all right, so it's going to be on the 11th Monday and it's going to be co-hosted by Avask, and you can get there by going to h10.me forward slash Milan, h10.me/milan, and it's going to be an all day event. We're going to have lots of networking. If you want to save 50% on the tickets, the tickets are already cheap it's only like 89 euros, I think but if you want to save another 50% off, use the code Helium 50, helium 50 upon checkout. It would be great to be able to meet you guys out there. I just talked to somebody last night on Instagram. He's like let me book my flight and get over there, I'll see you on Monday. So if you guys are in Europe, I would love to see you in Milan, Italy, on Monday.
Bradley Sutton:
All right, that's it for the news this week. Let's go ahead and hop into our new feature alerts from Helium 10. Now, the first one is about follow up. All right, so, first of all, follow-up is a tool that every Helium 10 platinum member and above has access to, all right, so it's not like something that's gated at a very high level. You can set up, guys, uh, your, your follow-up for all your products to send automated review requests using either the Amazon request review or even your own custom email. But an important aspect of this is being able to measure hey, how are your review requests working? Like, what kind of engagement are you getting? Like, how many ratings and reviews are you actually getting as a result of your outreach campaign? Well, the new feature is now you can do that in bulk, all right. So how this works is right here in your follow-up dashboard. These are the rating trackers that you can actually see. You can see how many reviews requested and then how many uh ratings you received, and so you can see your request and rating conversion rate, right. So now the new thing is, go to your product ratings tab right here, and then you can do bulk the ones that are not active. So, for example, I'm going to go ahead and select the united states marketplace and I'm going to be like, hey, here's, my egg tray is not active. I see here, my large coffin shelf isn't active, so I just select as many as I can. Uh, you guys should select all in opinion, that all of your active products and then hit enable product rating tracking. All right, so if you're new to follow up, you're not going to be tracking any of them, all right, so make sure to go ahead and hit enable product rating tracking and that will go ahead and start tracking so you can see how many reviews you're getting week by week, month by month, et cetera.
Bradley Sutton:
Next new update is going to be, for some of you, diamond members All right, so we've been rolling this out little by little. Uh, check your account. All right guys. So if you have a diamond account, check your account on the very top. Do you have something that says manage refund service? All right, so this is a new feature that is coming out to diamond members. Before it was only our supercharger counts, but this is the Helium 10 version of being able to get you reimbursements and refunds from Amazon, but where Helium 10 is the one that's actually going to go in and set everything up for you. Like, we have refunding. You guys know about refund genie, where we'll give you the reports for loss and damage items and then you submit it to Amazon in order to get the money back. Well, with MRS or managed refund service, we're the ones who are going ahead and fighting with Amazon for you, filing those claims and arguing with Amazon, trying to get your money back, and then Helium 10 takes a percent of whatever we find for you, all right. So, those of you who have diamond plan, you're not automatically entered into this, but let me show you what you can do. You hit manage refund service. Now mine is going to be already active, but what you're going to want to do is, if you have that, just go here. You can see in one of my accounts I got 400 bucks already back and you're going to hit set up account, all right. So hit set up account and it will like run you through the system. Again, we're only taking 15% of whatever we find. So, like, if we can't find any money that you're owed and we can't win any money for you pay us nothing, all right. So this is a new feature for some Diamond members. Eventually, all diamond members will have it later. So if you want to see if you have access to it, just go to your dashboard and see if you have managed refund service there, all right?
Bradley Sutton:
Next up, let's do our training tip of the week, and this is a tool that sometimes I think people sleep on. It's been. We've had this tool for maybe four years now. It's called market tracker, all right, and this is available at all levels of Helium 10. Even if you have Platinum, Diamond, doesn't matter. I highly recommend setting this up for every single one of your product groups you have, all right, for example. Uh, I've got a product that is a bat shaped bath mat, all right. So I set it up, and the first thing that I did was I set up the very specific keywords. Don't do broad keywords like bat bath mat. Um, you know, I'm sure I get some sales from the keyword Gothic decor, but that's very broad right. I pick very, very specific keywords. It doesn't have to be your best keywords or the highest search volume. You want to pick the keywords that really define your product. So I did bat bath mat. I put bat rug and bat bath rug right, and then you put in your own products and those who you already know are your direct competitors, and then we set up the market.
Bradley Sutton:
And then the reason why this is cool is the kind of things that you are looking at. First of all, is your market volume, right. So many people sometimes say, oh hey, is anybody sales down? Or I'm not sure if I'm doing really good, my sales are down. This is terrible, but sometimes, if your sales are down, there's nothing wrong with that why? And your sales are going to go down. Well, you're just staying with the market, all right. Your market share, your piece of the pie, is what matters, all right. Your percentage of how big your pie is? Now, if the whole pie gets smaller, as long as your piece of the pie stays about the same percentage, you're not doing too bad, all right. So that's what Market Tracker can do is telling you, hey, what's the size of the pie, and then what is your market share? So, like, my market share of the Bathmat market is 7.8%. And then, over time, how is your share changing? I used to have 15% of the market, look here but now I'm only at 6.9%, 7%, so I'm losing market share, right?
Bradley Sutton:
The other thing that this tool does is it gives me a heads up if there is a new mover and shaker that it detects in my niche. So, for example, it's saying hey, look at this, um bat bath mat. You know, do I want to track? I'm like, yeah, that looks like a bat bath mat. I'll go ahead and track it. I don't have to be like trying to look for new products that are popping up in the in the niche. I don't have to be constantly refreshing my keywords hey, is there a new mover and shaker in my niche? No, market Tracker is going to tell me. Sometimes it's going to throw me some products that it's suggesting that could be in my niche but it's not really like.
Bradley Sutton:
Look at this one here's a Halloween bat or bath rug, but it looks like ghost or something. Is this my direct competitor? Is this a bat shaped bath mat? No, so I'm going to hit ignore, right. But before I do that, I'm going to go ahead and copy this ASIN and I might want to go ahead and either. Number one, think about it as a potential expansion to my product line, like if I'm selling bat-shaped bath mats, maybe this ghost-shaped bath mat would hit my target market, right. But number two, I might test this in one of my ASIN targeting campaigns in PPC, you know, maybe a sponsor display campaign or a product targeting ad.
Bradley Sutton:
Here's another one, a coffin shaped bath mat right Again, that could be a potential new product for me or at the very least somebody who might be interested in a bat shaped bath mat. They could be interested in a coffin shaped bath mat. Maybe I want to go ahead and target this product in a PPC. So again, this tool is super cool. It's been around for years, but I think a lot of you haven't been utilizing it. Make sure for each and every one of your product groups. Go into market tracker, create your market and start tracking how you're doing in your niche. Is your size of the pie increasing or decreasing, who are the new movers and shakers in your niche and what are some potential product line extensions and what are some potential targets for product targeting ads? This tool can do all of that and more, but only if you use it. So make sure to get in there today and start using it. All right, guys. That's it for this week's news. We'll see you next week to see what's buzzing.
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
#611 - How To Hire Amazon VA's
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
Tuesday Nov 05, 2024
Do you need help scaling your business? Maybe you're considering hiring a virtual assistant (VA). In this episode, our expert guest will discuss everything you need to know before hiring your first remote employee.
Are you feeling overwhelmed with the growing demands of your e-commerce business? Join us as we chat with Gilad Freimann, Founder and CEO of VAA Philippines, an expert in training and hiring virtual assistants (VAs) from the Philippines for Amazon sellers. Discover the transformative benefits of hiring remote employees to handle tasks like customer service, Amazon PPC management, and inventory handling. By outsourcing these routine tasks, you can free up valuable time and energy to focus on strategic business growth. Learn when it's the right time to consider bringing on a VA to ensure you don’t miss out on growth opportunities and can maintain flexibility in your business operations.
Explore effective hiring strategies for virtual assistants, especially when you're unsure about transitioning from traditional in-person roles to remote positions. We'll share insights into what makes a successful long-term hire, emphasizing the importance of focusing on candidates' personalities and commitment rather than just their resumes. Understand the challenges that Amazon sellers face as their businesses expand, such as time constraints and the need for outsourcing. Listen in as we highlight the growing trend of employing social media VAs to enhance online presence and the increasing need for specialized roles in the dynamic world of e-commerce.
Finally, we take a closer look at the unique advantages of hiring Filipino VAs, shedding light on cultural and business nuances that can lead to successful integration into your business. Gilad shares essential tips on bridging cultural gaps, such as understanding local customs like the 13th salary bonus, to foster a positive working relationship. We also discuss the importance of hiring specialists for specific tasks, ensuring each role is filled by someone with the right skills and character. This approach not only boosts productivity but also aligns with the strengths and expertise of the VAs, leading to more successful outcomes for your business.
In episode 611 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Gilad discuss:
- 00:00 - Hiring Amazon Virtual Assistants for Business Scaling
- 02:04 - When Should Amazon Sellers Outsource?
- 06:20 - Misconceptions About Virtual Assistants
- 07:31 - Effective Hiring Strategies for Remote Workers
- 08:21 - Finding Quality Candidates for Offshore Jobs
- 11:18 - Hiring Amazon PPC VAs and Social Media
- 15:16 - The Impact of AI on Jobs
- 16:24 - Virtual Assistants in E-Commerce
- 20:53 - TikTok Influencer Marketing Success
- 24:12 - Hiring Filipino Virtual Assistants
- 27:42 - Outsourcing Specialists vs. One Generalist
- 33:00 - New Helium 10 Tool Suggestions
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
#610 - 5 Ways To Track Amazon Keywords
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
Saturday Nov 02, 2024
In this episode, we're going to go deep into keyword tracking and what are some special things you can do with tracking your keywords that can put more money in your pocket.
Imagine harnessing the full potential of keywords to revolutionize your e-commerce sales strategy. In today's episode, we explore the indispensable role of keyword tracking for Amazon sellers, with or without advanced tools like Helium 10. We uncover how Amazon's own features, such as Product Opportunity Explorer and Search Query Performance, can be leveraged to stay ahead, even as AI technologies evolve. Keywords continue to hold immense power in enhancing product visibility and discoverability, and we share how AI can amplify this by linking your products to relevant search terms through customer reviews and Q&A sections.
Unlock the secrets to optimizing your keyword tracking for maximum sales impact with our expert guide on Helium 10 tools like Keyword Tracker and Cerebro. We dive into the importance of understanding search query volume, ASIN impressions, and conversion rates to make data-driven decisions for boosting your advertising strategies. Learn how to select the most effective keywords to track, conduct competitor analysis to spot untapped sales opportunities, and ensure your products are visible for precise customer searches, all aimed at elevating your product's ranking on Amazon.
For those ready to automate their keyword tracking, we discuss how Helium 10's features can streamline your efforts, allowing you to keep your listings relevant without the manual hassle. From automating keyword discovery with Cerebro to visualizing performance with heat maps, we provide strategies to manage keywords efficiently across multiple products. We also delve into the strategic use of Helium 10's Atomic feature and the nuances of aggressive PPC strategies during product launches, offering seasoned insights for both new and experienced sellers in this ever-evolving marketplace.
In episode 610 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley discusses:
- 00:00 - Maximizing Keyword Tracking for Better Profits
- 06:07 - Utilizing Related Keyword Data on Amazon
- 12:26 - Optimizing Keyword Tracking for Sales
- 19:25 - Understanding Keyword Tracker and Rank Fluctuations
- 22:18 - Automating Keyword Tracking for Sales
- 25:15 - Keyword Tracking Importance for Amazon Success
- 29:48 - Maximizing Keyword Tracking Efficiency
- 32:08 - Managing Keywords for Product Variations
- 34:58 - Keyword Tracker Deep Dive Special Episode
► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast
► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension
► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)
► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft
► Watch The Podcasts On Youtube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
Thursday Oct 31, 2024
For this week’s buzzing news, the ability to potentially capture your abandoned carts on Amazon, Walmart's Black Friday multi-event deal experience, and Venmo now accepted on TikTok!
We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Senior Brand Evangelist, Shivali Patel. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.
Walmart Black Friday Deals Events Dial Up the Thrill of the Deal
https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2024/10/28/walmart-black-friday-deals-events-dial-up-the-thrill-of-the-deal
TikTok Shop pushes livestreams to drive holiday shopping
https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2024/10/29/tiktok-shop-pushes-livestreams-to-drive-holiday-shopping
TikTok Shop Partners With Venmo Ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday
https://wwd.com/business-news/business-features/tiktok-shop-venmo-partnership-black-friday-cyber-monday-1236704924/
Amazon announces the launch of Rufus, a new generative AI-powered conversational shopping assistant, in beta across Europe
https://www.aboutamazon.eu/news/retail/amazon-announces-the-launch-of-rufus-a-new-generative-ai-powered-conversational-shopping-assistant-in-beta-across-europe
Amazon’s latest actions against fake review brokers: Amazon and Google file parallel lawsuits against a fake review website
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/policy-news-views/amazons-latest-actions-against-fake-review-brokers
Lastly, we explore keyword search volume research strategies using Cerebro, providing valuable insights to enhance your Amazon selling strategy, particularly for the crucial Q4 planning.
In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Shivali talks about:
- 00:51 - Valid Tracking Rate Update
- 02:44 - Brand Tailored Promotions
- 04:40 - FBA Export Expansion
- 05:28 - Product Videos Go Global
- 06:14 - Walmart's Multi-Event
- 07:55 - TikTok Livestreams
- 09:55 - TikTok x Venmo
- 11:14 - Rufus AI Beta EU
- 12:37 - Fake Reviews
- 13:43 - Amazon Marketing Cloud Strategy
- 14:00 - Training Tip: Find Search Volume Number Of Refined Key Phrases
► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast
► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension
► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)
► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft
► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
#609 - AI Optimized Amazon PPC Campaigns
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
Tuesday Oct 29, 2024
In this episode, we will discuss Destaney’s top Amazon advertising strategies, from setting up initial campaigns to advanced strategies such as Amazon AMC, and what's coming in the future.
What if you could transform your Amazon advertising game with just a few strategic tweaks? Join us as we sit down with Destaney Wishon of BTR Media, our guest expert, to uncover the secrets behind mastering Amazon PPC. From understanding the fundamentals of conversion rates and bid management to leveraging advanced AI strategies, Destaney sheds light on how sellers, both newbies and veterans, can optimize their ad spend. We explore the intricacies of using tools like Helium 10’s Adtomic to benchmark product performance in competitive categories like home decor, ensuring your campaigns hit the mark and convert clicks into sales.
We take a closer look at what it means to truly optimize your Amazon advertising campaigns. Discover how identifying underperforming ads and adjusting bids can significantly impact your ACoS and ROAS. We discuss the importance of relevancy and the power of long-tail keywords in capturing less competitive niches. With Destaney's insights, you’ll learn how monitoring account activity through tools like Adtomic can prevent unnecessary expenses and how adjusting strategies based on competitive factors like pricing and reviews can troubleshoot conversion barriers.
Ready to elevate your strategy with AI-driven advertising? Destaney highlights the potential of new AI features of Helium 10 Adtomic in streamlining keyword performance and improving budget efficiency. We explore how transitioning budgets from traditional to AI-optimized campaigns can enhance both new and existing Amazon PPC campaigns. Whether you are launching a new product or defending your brand against competitors, our discussion emphasizes the importance of bid management and using data-driven insights to align your Amazon advertising endeavors with your business goals. Don’t miss this opportunity to take control of your Amazon advertising success.
In episode 609 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Destaney discuss:
- 00:00 - Amazon Advertising Strategies and Tips
- 04:31 - Granular Insights in Home Decor Advertising
- 08:53 - Comparing Adtomic and Amazon Ad Console
- 09:40 - Amazon Advertising Conversion Strategies
- 16:08 - Long Tail Keywords and Competition
- 17:00 - Amazon Advertising Beginner Strategy Guide
- 25:19 - Strategies for Amazon Advertising with AI
- 26:58 - Optimizing Your Amazon PPC Campaigns
- 33:55 - Optimizing Advertising Strategies With Adtomic
- 37:41 - Maximizing Sales Strategies Without Adtomic
- 42:57 - Adtomic Campaign Optimization Session
Saturday Oct 26, 2024
#608 - Improve Your Amazon Brand with AI
Saturday Oct 26, 2024
Saturday Oct 26, 2024
In this episode, we speak with Mark DeGrasse who shares his deep insights on AI's role in building a strong brand identity and ultimately fostering stronger customer connections for sustainable growth.
Join us as we engage with digital marketing expert Mark DeGrasse, former CEO of Digital Marketer and the Founder of AI-Branding Academy, to explore the transformative role of branding in e-commerce and the significant impact of AI on marketing strategies. Mark shares his insights on why branding is more crucial than ever for Amazon and e-commerce sellers, as the market shifts focus from merely acquiring new customers to retaining them. Discover how AI tools can refine branding elements such as product development, logos, and messaging, and learn why building a strong brand identity is essential for thriving in today's competitive landscape.
Listen in as we uncover the power of branding in securing long-term success and stability for businesses. Drawing parallels to the spread of major concepts throughout history, we discuss the importance of consistent messaging and vision for brand sustainability. Using examples of iconic companies like Apple, Amazon, and Coca-Cola, we highlight how strong branding can serve as a protective shield against changing technologies and increasing competition. Moreover, we emphasize the importance of ensuring that every customer interaction is an opportunity for brand recognition and instilling brand values in all employees.
Finally, we navigate the future of branding and marketing strategies in a rapidly changing digital landscape. As reliance on paid media and easy attribution has overshadowed customer relationships and innovation, we examine the challenges posed by AI and potential platform bans. Discover how leveraging AI to create original content and streamline brand management can secure your business's future. Mark discusses how employing AI to guide decision-making based on brand values and company performance can transform traditional marketing methods, fostering stronger customer connections and sustainable growth.
In episode 608 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Carrie, Kevin, and Mark discuss:
- 00:00 - AI Branding and Customer Retention For Amazon Brands
- 06:26 - Building Brand Trust With Customers
- 10:04 - The Power of Branding in E-commerce
- 16:35 - Consistency Over Perfection in Branding
- 18:55 - Navigating the Future of Branding
- 21:22 - Building Brands With AI Content Strategy
- 27:43 - Evaluating Brand Strength and Improvement
- 32:02 - Building a Strong Amazon Brand Strategy
- 32:11 - AI Branding Academy Maximizes Marketing Potential
- 36:46 - Maximizing Earnings Through Brand Extension
- 37:04 - Expanding Product Offerings with a Solid Brand
► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast
► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension
► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)
► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft
► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos
Thursday Oct 24, 2024
Helium 10 Buzz 10/24/24: Big Amazon Shipping Delays | Amazon Temu-Ish Service Rumors
Thursday Oct 24, 2024
Thursday Oct 24, 2024
Amazon warehouses on the West Coast are full. More details about the potential Amazon Team Wish service have leaked. These buzzing stories and more on this week's episode!
We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.
Amazon sets ultra-low pricing plans for Temu rival store, The Information reports
https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-sets-ultra-low-pricing-plans-temu-rival-store-information-reports-2024-10-22/
Amazon to shut down speedy brick-and-mortar delivery service
https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/22/amazon-to-shut-down-speedy-brick-and-mortar-today-delivery-service.html
Amazon Announces New Fuel Savings Offer for Prime Members
https://press.aboutamazon.com/2024/10/amazon-announces-new-fuel-savings-offer-for-prime-members
Amazon’s enhanced homepage features make shopping easier and more personalized
https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/retail/amazon-homepage-redesign-features
One man’s mission to save his sick dog sparked a thriving pet probiotic business on Amazon
https://sellingpartners.aboutamazon.com/one-mans-mission-to-save-his-sick-dog-sparked-a-thriving-pet-probiotic-business-on-amazon
Lastly, we also introduce the latest features from Helium 10, including enhancements for our Chrome Extension for Amazon Influencers and a revamped Keyword Tracker tool. Tune in to discover all the exciting developments and strategies designed to help you succeed in the Amazon marketplace.
In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers:
- 00:49 - Big Amazon Logistics Problems
- 06:20 - Amazon Temu Clone Details
- 08:08 - Deferred Transactions
- 09:00 - Amazon Today Closing
- 10:23 - Image Manager
- 11:03 - Amazon Gas Savings
- 12:08 - FBA Shipment Notifications
- 12:44 - Amazon Homepage Update
- 14:05 - Amazon Seller Story
- 15:33 - X-Ray For Amazon Influencers
- 18:50 - Keyword Tracker Heat Maps + PPC Data
- 24:45 - Sydney Australia Event
- 25:17 - Milan Italy Event
► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast
► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension
► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)
► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft
► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos
Transcript
Bradley Sutton:
Amazon warehouses on the West Coast are full. More details about the potential Amazon Team Wish service have leaked. Find out how, if you have Amazon Prime, you can get up to $70 of free gas. These stories and more on this week's Weekly Buzz. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think.
Bradley Sutton:
Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that is our Helium 10 weekly buzz, where we give you a rundown of all the goings on in the Amazon TikTok shop and e-commerce world. We give you training tips of the week and also let you know what new features Helium 10 has. That will give you serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. Let's see what's buzzing. We've got tons of news articles today, lots going on, so let's go ahead and hop right into it. All right, the first news article of the day actually starts off from Amazon Seller Central. I've got some additional information that Amazon sent over that you sellers need to know. It's kind of like important, especially those of you trying to get inventory in here in q4. Uh, it's entitled updates to support us. FBA peak inventory shipments says we understand this is from amazon that many of you are experiencing longer receive times that are affecting your shipments. High demand has led to longer receive times at some of our west coast inbound locations and for palletized freight. It says they're trying to actively take steps to resolve the situation, including rerouting shipments to other regions. So, effective immediately, they're making the following adjustments to inbound requirements. Number one they've extended the automatic closure window to 90 days for shipments created after August 7th through October 31st. Okay, you know, usually it's a little bit shorter where they automatically close a shipment that hasn't been received and they're extending the abandoned shipment window from 30 to 45 days for shipments in that same time period. All right, so now that's kind of like the official notice that went out to sellers, you know, on your Seller Central dashboard.
Bradley Sutton:
But I got my hands on some other information here that Amazon wanted sellers to know about and it was kind of like a frequently asked questions about what's going on. So maybe some of these questions you've actually have actually had and maybe this answers it all right. So the first question is why is this happening? Well, it says hey, there's an increased demand to send inventory to the West Coast facilities and it's resulting in longer p times or lead times. Right, so, so we already got that. But then they said, hey, is amazon rerouting non-partnered carriers to inbound locations? The answer is no. So if you're not using an amazon partner, they're not telling, like your own freight company, hey, you need to go to Texas or something you know to deliver. No, if you're shipping your inventory with a third-party carrier and you have longer receive times, you could actually still reach out to your carrier, amazon says, and get a new appointment through Carrier Central.
Bradley Sutton:
What changes are you making to the inbound placement service fee? Inbound placement service fee? Amazon says hey, effective immediately, where we've temporarily reduced the rate range for the inbound placement fees for minimal shipments into the East region by 5 cents. Better than nothing, guys, right, 5 cents per unit, okay. So you know, like, if before you had to ship to the East coast and you had to, you know, have certain placement fees that were, you know, 30, 40 cents each, you get a 5 cent discount. Now, because of these issues, what are the temporary fee changes to help move out of the West? Same thing 5 cents in reduction in fees for the minimal shipment split option to the East region. Next question says if inbounding to the east region still is the most expensive, even with this five cents difference, what should I do? Amazon says we recommend that you use the Amazon optimized shipment splits or select central or east regions under the partial shipment splits or the minimal shipment splits options.
Bradley Sutton:
Another general question that some are asking hey, my shipment is still showing delivered status, but the inventory has not been received. What should we do? It says most delivered shipments are received within a week of delivery to ensure placement of your inventory. Now, if you're using a non-partnered carrier, communicate with the carrier to get progress reports. If you're using Amazon Freight, they can help locate your shipment by submitting If you submit a carrier, missed pickup request to Amazon and that'll help you get more information.
Bradley Sutton:
Another question are fulfillment centers equally affected by the long receipt times? In other words, we know the receipt, the inbound is having trouble, but are my customers going to start having issues on the West coast because of what's going on? The answer no. These longer receipt times are mainly affecting the West region because it's a popular location for inventory shipments, but fulfillment centers are not experiencing that issue. Why do I still not see the partial shipment split options to the West? Answer. The partial shipment splits inbound option will be provided if your shipment qualifies, but due to the busy holiday season and high demand, partial shipment splits to the West may not be available on send to Amazon. So you might be like wait a minute, how come? You know, normally when I create my shipment I usually see this the shipment split to the West available and now it's not like showing up at all. Well, this is the reason why, because of this, this issue that that we're talking about now. Hopefully that's not the case for you, but this is the answer If that is happening to you.
Bradley Sutton:
Now here's a funny one. Are there alternative shipping methods, ship mode, when possible, of course. Where'd that be? I mean, how do you use air all the time If it didn't cost five times as much as ocean shipping? So for most of us that might not be an option, but hey, at least Amazon's giving you an alternative. In case you didn't realize that you can ship your product via air. All right, so that's most of the information there about what's going on with Amazon West Coast. Let me know in the comments. Have you been affected by this? I actually haven't. Thankfully, knock on wood, I haven't had to ship anything in the last week and a half or two weeks I got most of my stuff in early. I'm about to send a shipment in tomorrow for my warehouse, so let's see how it goes. What about you? Let me know in the comments below if you guys have been affected by this.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is from Reuters.com says Amazon sets ultra low pricing plans for Temu rival store. The information reports Now this is something we reported a couple of months ago how Amazon might be launching like a Temu-ish kind of service for sellers from China, where it's going to ship directly from China to customers might take 10 or 12 days. Well, some more information has come out. Supposedly there's going to be caps on what they can charge, uh, in the categories. So if it's jewelry, if it's going to be part of the service, it's $8. If it's a guitar a guitar it's 13. If it's a sofa, the most expensive sofa you can ship is $20. I mean a Lego sofa, like what in the world sofa costs under $20. Now I saw other reports that said, hey, the total price is $20. I saw some reports that said, hey, it had to be less than a pound or less than 14 inches long. If it's less than 14 inches long. How are you going to have a sofa even in there? So there's so much information and misinformation out there right now, like I'm not sure what to trust yet. I'm just throwing out information as I get it. This is an actual article in Reuters.
Bradley Sutton:
Now, what do you guys think about this? I know the last time when we first announced this, people were upset. They're like man, this is not good. So, like, my biggest question still is are US-based sellers European-based sellers? If we have a factory in China, will we be able to use this service to at least have an equal playing field, or only Chinese manufacturers are going to have access to this shipment? So let's see how things go. I think a story I saw where it said maybe somebody said hey, only you can't even have branded products here and it's going to be separate from Amazon's websites like a sub site. Who knows Can't have branded products, you only can say generic. There's all kinds of stories, but as they keep coming out, we'll let you know and hopefully there'll be some clarity on what exactly is going to happen with this program soon.
Bradley Sutton:
Next up is article from the Seller Central and it's called view your reserve payments in the new deferred transaction report. All right, so if you get a sale, you don't get the money from that sale right away. Like, let's say, your disbursement is every two weeks and it's on the second Monday of the month or whatever. Well, if you've got an order on the second Sunday of the month that those orders, you're probably not going to get that money the next day. All right, because there's usually kind of like a reserve Right In addition to your account level reserve, take a look at this article because now they're saying that, hey, you're going to have more visibility into which exactly which orders exactly are being deferred until the next pay period. You're going to be able to see this in your payments reports repository. If this is something you're curious about I'm not going to go too much into detail Go into your Seller Central News. You'll have the link right there of how you can find this new deferred transaction report.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is from CNBC. It's kind of interesting because we've been doing the buzz so long, that stuff that we broke as stories about what was going on amazon before. It's like now being defunct, like we announced the release and now, a couple years later now it's going away. So CNBC says amazon to shut down speedy brick and mortar delivery service. This was called amazon today and if you remember that weekly buzz years ago. Basically what it means is like if there's a amazon seller who actually has a brick and mortar store, kind of like.
Bradley Sutton:
I think what the example gave was like GNC and if it's sold products, it would allow fulfillment of the products directly from the local GNC, like a neighborhood. So if somebody orders from GNC on Amazon and they have inventory at that local GNC, then Amazon would hire these local drivers to go pick it up at that GNC and then deliver it to the customer down the street. Whatever, you might not even know that existed. Good for you, because now it doesn't exist anymore anyways. In reality. So Amazon's laying off all the employees that were part of that system. It would have been interesting to see if that played out more Like. I could have seen how you know. Maybe it could eventually roll out to you know sellers who have warehouses in certain you know localities. You know, maybe they could have just delivered to local customers on their own, but that service is gone.
Bradley Sutton:
Next up, an article from seller central fix image issues fast with a new image manager feature. All right, so this is a new feature that you can go in your seller central. You go to catalog and then manage your images and then you're going to come up to this page and basically, if there's image issues, you're going to see in the bottom left like a, like a red flag, and then, instead of having to go one by one into your listings and edit the listing and then try and fix your images from this one page the image manager any issues that Amazon has with your images you can just fix them directly on this interface here. So if you want more information on that, check your seller central news dashboard.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is a press release from Amazon. It's kind of interesting because this is not really for sellers. But if you're an Amazon member, guess what? You can now save up to 10 cents a gallon at Amoco or AMPM locations, all right, so I'm assuming AMPM is like Arco, right, like that's what Arco, that's what AMPM is here in California. But anyways, you can save 10 cents a gallon, which averages like $70 a year on gas. Again, maybe this doesn't affect you. It does if you live in America and I just got you $70 right now. But I always like reporting on any benefits that, like Walmart Plus or Amazon Prime give, because it's just going to make our customers more sticky to Amazon Prime, right? Because if they're getting this $70 of free gas, if you want to see how to activate this, real easy, if you're an Amazon Prime member, go to amazon.com/fuelsavings. It's a one-time setup and then next time you go to an ARCO or AMPM you'll save 10 cents a gallon.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article, again from Seller Central. This is called New FBA Shipment Notifications for Better Visibility. So if you are using a partner carrier pickups and you're experiencing FBA shipment delivery disruptions, you're now going to get an email from Amazon. So this is something that you are going to need to opt in or opt out of, depending on if you want a whole bunch of emails about what's going on with your partner carrier deliveries. So make sure to go into settings and to notification preferences and then go to FBA inbound shipment status notifications and make sure toggle on or off if you want to get these notifications or not.
Bradley Sutton:
Speaking of Amazon and the website on the front side of the website, not seller central, amazon has been testing new homepage new homepage on amazon.com. Also on the app. This is an article from about amazon.com and it says improvements include personalized recommendations, improve browsing and streamline reordering in time for the holiday shopping season. Now, I did not see any of these updates on my personal Amazon that I use for my Prime account, but they showed some pictures here where there's kind of like a new interface with big images, kind of like tailor-made, I guess, supposedly for the people who are buying, and more intuitive design. It says here it's called a window display, like there's these big tiles or windows of products that it's showing. Um, the other addition is that there's a improved buy again hub. All right, so you're going to see this buy again section, or amazon buyers are going to see that and then products they bought before real easy to almost kind of like one click and get it in the shopping cart. So it'll be interesting to monitor this because, like, is this going? You know, like those of us with replenishable products, could this potentially help increase our repeat orders? You know could be so. So let let's see uh, how this, this new Amazon website and app, uh might help or hurt some of our sales.
Bradley Sutton:
All right, last article of the day. It's from Amazon's website. They're selling partners website. It's funny because Helium 10 members a lot of times are featured on Amazon's ad page and I was like, wait a minute, I know this guy. So if you go to the link is in the comments below. But if you go to this Amazon website, it's entitled. One Man's Mission to Save His Sick Dog Sparked a Thriving Pet Probiotic Business on Amazon, and some of you might recognize this. This is Santiago Galvez. He's a Helium 10 member. He comes to our elite workshops, he's been at a lot of our events and he's actually been on the Helium 10 Serious Sellers podcast en Español. All right, so take a look at the link here. It's a really cool story about how he came up with his brand. It has to do with his pets and everything. And then if you speak Spanish and you want to hear more of his story, check out episode 147 of the Serious Sellers Podcast en Español. That's not this one. You can search it on whatever you have Si habla en Español. And his podcast title was Así Lance Mi Marca en Amazon. So it sounds like it's the same kind of like story he talked about in this one, as he told to Amazon.
Bradley Sutton:
So pretty cool to see Helium 10 members being featured on Amazon's main website. All right, that's it for the news this week. Let's go ahead and hop into some new feature alerts. All right, we're not going to do a training tip of the week this week, because the new feature alerts kind of doubles as a training tip. It's going to be pretty cool. Now you're going to see a lot more content from Helium 10 about the Amazon Influencer Program. All right, amazon Influencer Program is a really cool way for Amazon sellers to get some money initially to build up to be able to do private label. It's a great way for maybe your family members to kind of like get involved in Amazon, or even you yourself, if you want to make some extra money.
Bradley Sutton:
So one of the first things that we are going to have in the for Amazon influencers, if you have updated the new version of the Helium 10 Chrome extension, go to any search result page or any product page and then run X-Ray like normal. Ok, so once you hit X-Ray, it'll pull up on the page, just like you know any other time. And now what's going to happen, though, once you pull up x-ray, is that there is a toggle on the very top right. You're going to see, and I'll say standard. That's the default for Amazon sellers. But let's say you wanted to dabble in the influence. If you're a Amazon affiliate Amazon influencer, you hit the button on the top right and then select influencer version. Now what happens is X-Ray now is going to show some data that is interesting to Amazon influencers, who? Those are the ones who create videos that go on listings and then those videos end up showing up in the carousel in the bottom row and then if a buyer watches the video, right, and then they buy the product, guess what that Amazon influencer has? The video is going to go ahead and get commission on that.
Bradley Sutton:
So now the kind of things that you can see in Helium 10 Chrome extension x-ray is you'll be able to see stuff like what's the opportunity score for an influencer? How many videos are in the upper carousel, like look how many products on the coffin shelf page have no videos? I mean that could be interesting to Amazon sellers at all. I just want to see who's got videos in their carousel right. How many videos are in the lower carousel, the one that's kind of like at the bottom of the page? That's also where influencer videos, customer review videos, can go. How many of these videos are influencer videos on the page. The one that's opportunity for Amazon influencers is when there's like one or zero influencer videos. That means you're kind of have a better chance perhaps at getting your video featured in that upper or lower carousel, meaning that if you're the only video there, every time somebody watches the video and then they buy the product, you're getting commission on that product. This shows how many brand videos All right.
Bradley Sutton:
So again, this is for Amazon sellers or influencers. You want to know the brand itself. How many videos did they put on their own page? You can see here. There's some here that have six and even eight, oh my goodness. And some have two and some have zero. What is the commission rate for an influencer for the product? The commission rate for Amazon influencers varies across different categories. You can now see that right here. And then, even if it's your product, maybe you're curious how much is Amazon giving to influencers who are promoting my product? Well, here you can see that. You can also see the affiliate commission. Affiliate commission is different than influencer commission rates. And then the affiliate commission actual dollar amount. So some cool information here now is showing up in the Chrome extension. This is just the first of a lot of things we might have for Amazon influencers out there, but some of it is still relevant to Amazon sellers as well.
Bradley Sutton:
Another update that Helium 10 Elite members have had for a while but now it's being released, even all the way down to the platinum plan is some new features inside of keyword tracker. All right, so in keyword tracker you probably noticed that a few weeks ago the new interface already, but now you are going to have additional features. All right, so here's a new interface. You can see the keywords here, and I've done videos before I talk about how now you can add competitors and kind of see where your competitors are ranking, like all on a certain grid, so that you can see for each keyword you know who's got the best rank with those keyword harvesting, where we're going to like follow up based on what you're saying and tell you what keywords that your competitors are ranked for in the top 10 that maybe you're not ranking for, or keywords that you weren't even tracking that you're ranking for because you didn't even know that you're ranking for. Right.
Bradley Sutton:
But some of the newest things this week, uh, one of them is a heat map. You know we've always had uh in market tracker 360 heat maps for our keyword tracker there for like two years and users were like man, we want this to be in the regular keyword tracker. And it took us a couple of years, guys, but now we have it. So we brought the Market Tracker 360 feature of heat maps into the regular keyword tracker and you're going to be able to also not only see the day of week like maybe you want to see, hey, every Sunday does my rank change? But also there's going to be little gift boxes that you see on some dates on this keyword tracker graph. This is indicating like a holiday. Like maybe you want to kind of like eyeball in and say, hey, did something happen to my rank on if there was a holiday? So here on October 14th, I can see that was Columbus Day. I can take a look at my ranks. I can change this to go from left to right to right to left. I can also change like hey, maybe I don't want to see the exact rank, but I'm just curious what page am I showing up? Page one, page two, page three, page four.
Bradley Sutton:
Don't forget that helium 10 is one of the only keyword trackers that actually checks all pages. A lot of popular keyword trackers out there, you'll notice it only goes up to like 100 or 150. That means it's only giving you two page of search results. We're giving you all pages of search results, all 306 locations or or positions. Seven, the full seven pages that appears in search results. You can see in helium 10 keyword tracker. But this is the heat maps. It's kind of like a different way to visualize what's going on. And then, don't forget, if you see this red dot in any of this, that means that you had boost on during that time. Again, that's another thing that only helium 10 has. Well, we're checking in one day, if I have boost on, 24 different browsing scenarios 24 times a day. It's checking different browsing scenarios in Edge or Chrome or Safari. And then what if the zip code is over here? What if the address like even in the same zip code it's an address across the street over here, an address over in Florida or whatever, like it's doing a lot of random things, so that you can really have an idea about what is going on with your rank and then you'll be able to see what happened throughout the day if you have that boost on. So that's the heat maps.
Bradley Sutton:
And then now, if you have. For those of you who have Atomic remember Atomic is now in the diamond plan You're going to have access to this ad section. That means we're ready to have you all your PPC and your advertising information and now you're going to be able to see some super cool things about what's going on with your keyword rank as it relates to your advertising. So, for example, I can see hey, how many campaigns did I have active where I got at least one impression or a click of coffin shelf? I've got four exact match campaigns where it came up. I've got zero auto campaigns where it came up.
Bradley Sutton:
I can change the date range. I can see all right, how many PPC sales did I have during this time? How many units did I sell? What was my spend during this time on this keyword? What was my ACoS? What was my ROAS? How many PPC clicks did I have? What was my impressions overall? Like here, I got 8,000 impressions in PPC for the word coffin shelf. But then, guys, the reason why this is in Keyword Tr tracker is it's now tying in all of this information.
Bradley Sutton:
So if I hit this graph next to coffin shelf, now all of a sudden I can start graphing different metrics where I can say let me graph my organic rank and graph it versus my cost per click, right? So now here I'm looking at this graph and I'm like, okay, here's my cost per click. As it decreased, my impressions increased somehow, and then, as my cost per click increased, my impressions, for whatever reason, went down on that same day. However, that's just one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is no, things don't happen exactly on the same day. However, that's just one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is no, things don't happen exactly on the same day. But look, every time that my cost per click increased, the very next day, my impressions increased. My organic rank. Maybe I want to you know what? I want to see how it changed my sponsored rank. Take a look at this. My cost per click was 55 cents. I increase it to 55 cents. What happened to my sponsored rank the next day? Uh, it started going up from 17 all the way to five. Take a look over here. My, you know, I decreased my, my bid, potentially, or just whatever Amazon was giving me as cost per click, and my rank increase. Uh, my, my rank decrease. So this is really interesting to kind of see what effects does what you're doing in PPC have on what is going on in your organic and sponsored keyword rank. So make sure again, if whatever plan of Helium 10 you are on, make sure to dive into keyword tracker and play around with some of these new functions. Well, I'm going to have some more detailed training in the future podcast where I'm going to go deep into tracking keywords and all the new features that Keyword Tracker has.
Bradley Sutton:
One more thing, guys, A couple events in the next couple of weeks. Next week I'll be in Australia. So if you're anywhere near Sydney, come to the Amazon advertising event. I'll be speaking there. There'll be a Helium 10 booth. We can come hang out, maybe the night before. I know a lot of you are already coming out, h10.me/sydney for information on that. And then also the following in a couple of weeks we're going to be in Italy First time. We're doing a Helium 10 event in Italy and I would love to see you guys go. I'm going to go ahead and throw out a discount code too for you. Anybody is open to this. It's normally an elite workshop but we're opening up to everybody h10.me/milan. It's on November 11th, if you want to save 50%. So it's going to be less than $40 to even attend for a full day of great training and networking, h10.me/milan. Use the code Helium50, no spaces, and save 50% off your registration. I would love to see you either in Sydney or in Milan, Italy. All right, guys. That's it for the news this week. Uh, don't forget to tune in next week. I will have Shivali back here to let you know what's buzzing.
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
#607 - What is the Best Amazon Keyword Research Tool?
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
Tuesday Oct 22, 2024
In this episode, we do a live case study as we compare Helium 10, Product Opportunity Explorer, Jungle Scout, and Data Dive for Amazon keyword research. See how Helium 10 uncovers more keywords and boosts potential sales by $6,000!
Can unlocking the true potential of Amazon keyword research tools lead to a significant boost in your sales? In this episode, Bradley Sutton dissects, with a live case study, the Amazon keyword research capabilities of tools like Helium 10, Jungle Scout, Data Dive, and Amazon's Product Opportunity Explorer, revealing why Helium 10 might just be the game-changer you've been searching for. Through a live case study, Bradley showcases how Helium 10 stands head and shoulders above its rivals by uncovering a staggering number of relevant keywords that could translate into thousands of dollars in additional sales. With a focus on transparency, we promise an unfiltered look into how effective keyword research can transform your Amazon SEO strategy.
Our journey into the art of keyword research begins with launching a Tamago Yaki pan on Amazon. We guide you through the crucial steps of identifying top competitors and selecting the right keywords to ensure success, even if you don't have access to advanced tools. You'll learn how to interpret search volumes and conversion rates to identify purchase trends and refine your keyword lists by exploring related niches like "square pan" and "omelet pan." With personal anecdotes and insights sprinkled throughout, this episode offers practical advice for sellers at every level.
As we peel back the layers of keyword analysis, discover how tools like Helium 10 can help you sift through the noise and focus on keywords with true potential. We emphasize the importance of aligning with Amazon's algorithm and the role of sponsored ads in securing product visibility. By exploring tactics like creating comprehensive keyword lists and leveraging Helium 10's unique features, you'll understand why our Amazon keyword research tools are an indispensable ally for serious sellers. So, let’s enhance your product's visibility and sales potential on Amazon, one keyword at a time.
In episode 607 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley talks about:
- 00:00 - Amazon Keyword Research Tool Battle Royale
- 07:41 - Amazon Keyword Research Strategies Using Tools
- 13:28 - Amazon Keyword Research Tutorial
- 16:41 - Amazon Keyword Research Tools Comparison
- 19:23 - Product Opportunity Explorer Niche Research
- 25:16 - Data Dive and Jungle Scout Keyword Research
- 26:42 - Amazon Keyword Research Tools Analysis
- 33:42 - Keyword Ranking Analysis and Competitor Evaluation
- 39:03 - Amazon Keyword Research Tactics and Strategies
- 41:35 - Keyword Research and Analysis Strategy
- 49:32 - Keyword Analysis for Listing Optimization
- 52:45 - Keyword Research Comparison and Analysis
- 56:05 - Keyword Research for Amazon Products
- 1:00:55 - The Importance of Getting Enough Keywords
- 1:08:14 - Keyword Analysis Comparison POE, Jungle Scout/Data Dive, & Helium 10
- 1:14:57 - Amazon Keyword Research With Helium 10
- 1:18:02 - Conclusion: What is the Best Keyword Research Tool For Amazon Sellers?
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Saturday Oct 19, 2024
#606 - There Is No Such Thing As The COSMO Algorithm!
Saturday Oct 19, 2024
Saturday Oct 19, 2024
In this episode, our guest is an expert on AI and Amazon Science papers. He'll talk about Rufus, COSMO, Project Amelia, and all other AI advancements from the Amazon side and beyond.
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Join us for an engaging discussion with Kevin Dolan from Pacvue AI Labs as we explore the cutting-edge advancements in AI and Amazon's pivotal role in shaping this dynamic landscape. We'll unravel the mysteries behind intriguing names like Rufus, COSMO, and Project Amelia, representing Amazon's ongoing AI initiatives. Kevin shares his expertise on the evolution of AI from its early conceptual roots in the 80s to the transformative impact of transformer models around 2019, which paved the way for groundbreaking applications like ChatGPT. Discover how Amazon's increased investment in AI research is manifesting in published papers and sophisticated models that are revolutionizing customer interactions.
We also explore Amazon's integration of AI in tools for sellers, highlighting the launch of advertising AI that optimizes campaigns with precision. The potential of AI in enhancing tools like Helium 10’s Adtomic and Cerebro for more efficient Amazon PPC campaigns and keyword filtering is discussed, along with the impact of Amazon's Rufus on the shopping experience. While Rufus aims to improve customer interactions, we critically assess its current limitations and ponder its potential to shift some search activities directly to Amazon from platforms like Google and Pinterest. Additionally, we dive into Amazon's transition from lexical to semantic search, emphasizing the importance for sellers to align their product listings with customer needs for visibility and success in an AI-driven environment.
Lastly, we examine AI-driven tools like Project Amelia in Amazon's Seller Central and their potential impact on brands and sellers. While chat-oriented interfaces may translate vague intentions into useful actions, skepticism remains regarding their revolutionary potential. We emphasize the importance of exploring third-party tools like Helium 10 for added value and addressing the hype surrounding changes in seller practices, reassuring listeners that successful strategies remain largely unchanged. Kevin's insights and our conversation shed light on the future of AI in e-commerce, leaving us excited for what's to come in this rapidly evolving field.
In episode 606 of the Serious Sellers Podcast, Bradley and Kevin discuss:
- 00:00 - Advancements in AI and Amazon Science
- 00:41 - Decoding the Amazon COSMO Algorithm
- 08:42 - AI Model Cost Efficiency Advancements
- 09:48 - Amazon's AI Innovations and Rufus
- 14:59 - Implementing AI Chatbots Inside Online Marketplaces
- 20:29 - Enhancing Amazon's Semantic Search Capabilities
- 21:12 - Leveraging Rufus and COSMO for Selling Success
- 26:59 - Impact of Science on Amazon Practices
- 28:10 - Enhancing Amazon's Product Understanding With AI
- 30:01 - Customer Preferences for Pregnant Women
- 35:22 - Amazon's Data and Product Listings
- 37:30 - Amazon's Project Amelia in Seller Central
- 38:42 - Amazon's AI Recommendations for Sellers
Transcript:
Bradley Sutton:
Today we talk to the person who knows more about AI and Amazon science papers than maybe anyone else in the world, and he's going to talk about all things Rufus, COSMO, Amelia and all other AI advancements from the Amazon side and beyond. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think. Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Series Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I'm your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that's completely BS-free, unscripted and unrehearsed organic conversation about serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world.
Bradley Sutton:
I'm not exactly 100% sure what I'm titling this episode, but I might have done something kind of clickbaity and say something. There is no such thing as the COSMO algorithm or something to get people to click on this. But let me just quickly explain that. Now. I don't mean that there's no such thing as Cosmo. There's a lot of documents out there from Amazon that talk about it, but there's nothing that says, hey, Cosmo is the new A9 algorithm, or there's nothing official from Amazon that says, hey, Cosmo is now in full effect across 75% of searches, or anything like that.
Contrast that with all the articles from Amazon that talk about Rufus. I mean, Rufus is a thing you can actually see in everything. So I just wanted to do a clickbaity title like that and we'll definitely get into Cosmo and things like that later. But I've got back on the show probably one of the persons who's the highest expert in the world as far as AI and also what Amazon has been doing as far as on the AI front, and that's Kevin from our own Pacvue AI Labs. That's why I'm wearing this. It's actually a Brazilian soccer team, Palmeiras, I think.
Bradley Sutton:
I wanted to get something with a P on it. Yeah there you go.
Bradley Sutton:
I have a Padres P hat too, but since I'm a Dodgers fan, it hurts every time I even wear that hat. So I was like, no, I'm not going to do it, considering the times that we're in right now. But anyways, Kevin, welcome back. It's been a little over a year since you've been on the show.
Kevin Dolan:
Yeah, thanks for having me back. Last year was a lot of fun and we've been seeing a lot of things happen in the last year in AI, especially around Amazon's implementations of AI, so excited to talk about those updates.
Bradley Sutton:
Cool. Now let's just talk about AI in general, general. You know, like AI is kind of like, I guess, like about two years, I mean, people have been talking about AI for years but as far as the, the more recent trendy version of the topic, AI, um, it's really been, you know, like you know, ChatGPT and things like that over the last couple of years. And let's just talk about what's happened in general over the last year. You know the improvement
Kevin Dolan:
Okay, sure, yeah, I mean, like you said, AI has been around forever. We've been using the term at least since the 80 s in terms of technologies that we can actually use for actual production purposes. As we're using the term today, its meaning has shifted to largely refer to this current generation of models that we're seeing. That began in around 2019 with the introduction of what was called the Transformers model. This led eventually to a variant of that model called Large Language Models, popularized by Open AI's ChatGPT, and we've been seeing a sort of explosion in AI technology and investment into hardware, investment into research as a result of some of these findings. That has become sort of the current modern label of what is AI. We're talking primarily about transformer-based models that perform language or other modalities, including image generation, and we're talking about basically whatever is that front line of research that's happening right now. So you see this explosion happen with the release of the paper around 2018, 2019. And then you see the proliferation of training hardware that led to innovations like ChachGPT, where we're starting to see these emergent behaviors, where these models do start to exhibit something that you can really call intelligence. These models do start to exhibit something that you can really call intelligence.
I came on here last year to talk about all of the different papers I had read from the prior four to five years at Amazon Research. You can tell, when you look at the number of papers that Amazon is releasing, that around that time around 2021, 2022, they started to invest a lot more in their research department. When they started releasing papers in Amazon Science in 2018, there were five papers about search. The following year, in 2019, there were 18. By 2021, there were 40. And then the next year there were almost 70 papers. That seems to have leveled off at this point. We saw about 70 papers last year and so far in this year we've seen about 60 papers. So we're probably going to end up in the same realm.
So the number of papers that Amazon is releasing isn't really changing. What is changing is the complexity of the models that they're using is much more sophisticated and they're being targeted for much more practical use cases. You're seeing larger A-B tests where they're being run on material percentages of traffic on Amazon. You're seeing Amazon release actual AI features that are customer-facing, like Rufus, and we're seeing investments in hardware that make some of these models that used to be impossible to run in production now very conceivable. So I think we are seeing confirmation that Amazon is taking these technologies seriously. They're implementing it in production and it is starting to impact customer behaviors.
Bradley Sutton:
What about non-Amazon AI Like what you know? ChatGPT, imagery you? Know, like a couple of years ago it was just hallucinating nonstop, and then last year a little bit better. You know images. You could not create humans, you know, or products in there without seven fingers and stuff in the general world of AI. How has that come along in the last year?
Kevin Dolan:
Yeah, so I mean we are seeing continued investments in research and continued improvements on these models. The transfer model really revolutionized things, but the initial results that we were seeing out of those transformer models were a little disappointing. For the first time, we were starting to see computers understand language, computers being able to generate images, and our initial reaction was holy cow. We didn't know computers could do this, and then, as we started to use it a little bit more, we became really disappointed, because we're like, oh you know, all the people have six fingers. It's making up facts. You know, the things that it's saying don't really make sense. And so there's been a lot of people who have looked at this potential and started to invest material dollars in improving it to basically get to the point where now these technologies produce more reliable, more consistent results. There's still really major shortfalls, there's still issues, and I think you're going to see continued investment in this. The optimistic projections that you're getting from OpenAI. You know I'm personally a little bit cold on those, but who can predict the future? Who could have predicted that this would have happened? Yes, you are seeing improvements in image generation models, where the images that they're producing are now closer to reality. We're starting to see these used widely in industry, especially in fields like advertising, where you need to produce high volume creative. If you look at the features that Photoshop has released related to their Firefly AI image generation model, we're starting to see not only improved models but improved workflows for creatives to actually be using these tools in a way where, instead of just somebody typing some random prompt and getting whatever the system decides to give you now, people are actually able to control the output and get the output that they're looking for. So, between all of these things, you're seeing a lot of development to make these tools more practical to use. I'd say the biggest and most recent news is OpenAI's release of its strawberry model, which they call O1 in their release vernacular. The O1 model from OpenAI is performing thinking steps before it answers the question and hiding that thinking from you, the way that if you're asked a question, you might think about it a little bit before you answer it, and they're seeing really, really impressive results from that. You know we're getting closer to the place where these AI models might be able to do something that's a little bit more functional, a little bit more capable of actually interacting with real life data and real-life processes, you know, but we're still a little bit far away.
Another issue that we keep running into is the dollar cost of running these models. Towards the end of last year, at Helium 10, we developed a review sentiment analysis model that basically would read thousands and thousands of reviews for your Amazon products and produce some analysis and produce an analysis of what people are saying about your product. You know Amazon has a similar product. Ours goes a little bit deeper than that but the idea is essentially the same. You know what are people saying about your product, what can you learn about it in order to improve your product, improve your listing, etc. And one of the things that we ran into with that model is just how prohibitively costly these models can be to run on large sets of data, and so we're starting to see investments in making models smaller and more special purpose, and we're also seeing improvements in hardware that make running these models more cost effective. This is really going to start to unlock production capabilities, and that companies will now be able to run AI models profitably.
Bradley Sutton:
Interesting, interesting. Now, yeah, we're always looking to add things that can utilize AI that helps Amazon sellers. You know we are launching this week advertising AI on our Atomic side, which is allow somebody to just enter in an ASIN and then our AI engine will kind of just create all the campaigns on its own and optimize them on its own. That's something that we've been using at Pacvue for a while, and we're integrating some AI things into tools like Cerebro, where you could have a prompt that allows you to filter out keywords or say, hey, can you please remove any Spanish keywords from the results? Or, hey, can you remove any branded? You know search terms, you know things that you know you could probably do on your own, but it just takes a lot longer. So, so, definitely, we're, we're keeping track of what AI can do, because anything that is doable. We want to go ahead and bring it into Helium 10.
Bradley Sutton:
We know that getting to page one on keyword search results is one of the most important goals that an Amazon seller might have. So track your progress on the way to page one and even get historical keyword ranking information and even see sponsored ad rank placement with Keyword Tracker by Helium 10. For more information, go to h10.me forward. Slash keyword tracker.
Bradley Sutton:
Now going back to the main topic, amazon. Before we get into the science more detailed, into whatever science documents have been released and things this year, let's talk about what is 100% already out there or talked about, which is like the Rufus and so Rufus, Cosmo I've got some personal opinions on it and that's all. A lot of this is, you know, until Amazon actually publishes something for sure, like you can't even say that, oh, a science document said this or that, because the great majority of the content of science documents actually doesn't actually get into production on Amazon. You know per se. You know so just because Amazon talked about in a science document. It's just a research paper, you know. But let's first about talk about the stuff that you know Amazon announced at Accelerate or has already rolled out to customers, like Rufus.
And then my general thought on that and again I could be wrong and I'll be happy to switch my thinking when Amazon does make some different announcements is that Amazon is always about the customer. Right, they want to give a better result for the customer. And then I don't feel that, like Rufus, for example. Fyi, in my opinion it's terrible as a buyer where I'm like, hey, what did the review say about this product and it gives me an answer. And guess what? There's no reviews on that product. So, as a consumer, being kind of skeptical about some of these AI things, I just can't use it. And now the other part of it is I don't think anytime soon the traditional way of searching on Amazon is going to be improved in that if I know I want to buy and I talked about this in a previous episode recently if I want to buy a coffin shelf, there is no better process than me opening my Amazon app and typing the word towards coffin shelf and looking at the results like there is nothing unless amazon connects my brain to, to the app. That is going to ever be better than that where? In other words, I am not going to go and have a conversation with Rufus with my thumbs, you know, like taking typing in a whole bunch of I used to be a secretary. I type like a hundred words a minute. So like, let's say, I was on the desktop app, I'm still. I'm a lazy person, as all human beings are. I am not going to say what do you think, Rufus, about coffin shelves out there? Like, like, no, I'm going to type in nine letters and then. So that part. I almost don't think Amazon is necessarily trying to change that part, because they know that it's already the most optimized experience for people who know what they're looking for.
Now here's the thing, though how did I get to that decision that I wanted a coffin shelf, like maybe I just knew it. But another thing is, maybe I'm just browsing like, hey, I want to uh, search on google what are trending, um, trending gifts in 2024 for teenagers with a gothic inclination, or something like that. Like, right now, I'm not doing that in Amazon, or, historically, I'm doing that like in Google, maybe Pinterest, you know, or maybe these other websites where I'm trying to get ideas. And then, all of a sudden, I read a blog, or I arrive on a TikTok or whatever, and I see, ooh, Coffin Shelf. I didn't even know that existed. Now let me go and type in coffin shelf on Amazon.
So I think the potential of, of a fundamental change in the way we shop could be that maybe some of these searches that people would normally start on a Pinterest or on a Google, maybe now you can start in the Amazon app, where what I would have typed for the Google AI or things like it's just going to go ahead and, and, and I can start the Amazon app where what I would have typed for the Google AI or things like it's just going to go ahead and I can start, you know, just browsing, browsing things, and at the end of it, you know like Amazon might, or Rufus might, tell me yeah, you know, like we see some spooky families by coffin shelves, and then here are the coffin shelves Now. Anyways, I normally don't talk very much when I interview somebody, but I'm very passionate about this. But are we on the same page here, or what? Correct me if I'm wrong or if you have different ideas.
Kevin Dolan:
I mean totally with Rufus.
You know Rufus is out, it's public, it's something that anybody can interact with. So we know it's been implemented and if you've actually used it, I'm sure you found the experience a little bit disappointing. You know it does two main things it helps you to figure out what search you might have wanted to type in if you weren't completely sure, and it answers questions about a product once you're looking at a particular product. I think that those two things could be useful. You know, I think that it's certainly early in the implementation of chatbots to say that these things are fully capable, but I think what you're seeing with Rufus is mainly two things here. The first is there's intense industry pressure to implement AI in a visible way that all companies are feeling. After ChatGPT was released, no major tech company wanted to fall behind on that trend, and so you started to see these types of very visible generative AI features implemented in tech platforms across all industries. If you've got a website, there's a good chance you've got a chatbot at this point, and so it's hard to imagine a world where Amazon was not going to release something like this. They really, really had to because there was so much pressure to at least try it, see if it works, see how customers respond to it. Also, we know that Amazon looks towards other retail experiences to try and understand what ways they can improve the e-commerce experience.
It was not always the case that Amazon's primary vehicle for finding a product was a search bar. When Amazon was first released, it was largely node browse based. You would search through a series of categories and get to the product you're looking for, which is much akin to going to a store, looking at the different aisles, walking down the aisle that has your type of product and getting there. It was a major innovation for them to create a search engine that could search through any type of product and understand at some level what a person was looking for, and they've been making continuous improvements to that over the entire development of their company. I think with Rufus, the corollary in real life retail is going to a store and talking to an associate. If you go to a nice store where they have a more curated shopping experience, you might want to go and just talk to a person and ask them questions about the products that they're experts on. I think that's a sort of natural corollary to try to implement in an online context, but when I go to a store, if somebody comes up to me and starts telling me about their products, I'm personally not the type of person to respond to that, and so you know it's natural for me to look at Rufus with a little bit more skepticism than you know somebody who might enjoy that real life experience.
I think that there are shortcomings with Rufus. I don't think it's going to materially impact the majority of purchase paths for the majority of customers. I agree with you. There is no easier user interface that I can imagine. When you are looking for something, you want to just go to Amazon, type it in a search box, a brief description of what you're looking for and then yeah, all right, I've got a list of things to look at. I've got some pictures. I can scan some results.
I do find some utility with Rufus with respect to answering questions about products. You have to take it with a grain of salt because it can hallucinate. It can produce unactual information. However, I have used it in some context to ask a specific question about you know, can this product be compatible with some other product? And it will give you some kind of information that you can then verify using the listing, using the questions and I think that's helpful in order to use Rufus to come up with search ideas and things like that.
I found that those features are a little bit less useful but, like you're saying, if they start to integrate the experience of asking these questions in a more core way, in a way that feels less bolted on and gives you more than just a text output with links if it were to give you, say, a sort of a Pinterest board for product discovery, help you to better understand how to get to the listings that you want to find.
I could see a world where those user interfaces become material for less targeted searches, where you aren't really sure exactly what you want to buy off the bat. One of the things that they point out in the blog post about Rufus because they haven't released a scientific paper about it detailing the implementation. But one of the things they point out is, if you are going to involve yourself in some kind of activity like, let's say, ongoing camping in Joshua Tree, I might use a tool like Rufus to answer the question of what types of things do I need? You know the kinds of things that you might talk to a store associate at a camping store about and it can start to give you some ideas about this. But I think we're pretty far from the point where you would give it the same kind of trust as you would give as somebody who has put their body in a camping experience routinely.
Bradley Sutton:
I agree. I think Rufus definitely has some potential to help things if the hallucinations stop, because there are things that as consumers, we do that takes time. After I land on a couple of products, I might start looking at the reviews. I might start looking at details of the bullet points and descriptions to see use cases and try and find out material. I might look at the images to see the stats and the ingredients of something, and these are all things that can take a lot of time, especially if I'm not sure where to look.
Like I don't know where a seller has put in their listing. You know which material to use, so I can definitely see Rufus helping there. But then, you see, my thing is then you know and this kind of goes now into the Cosmo discussion is I materially do not believe that sellers should be doing anything differently right now. To me, the people who Rufus and Cosmo might help, if anything, is the people. It's kind of like maybe leverage or leveling the playing field a little bit for some of the people maybe who are not doing the best practices.
You know, maybe I didn't put all the right keywords in my listing and so I wasn't indexed for it on day one, but then Cosmo or whatever, over time recognizes that the people who are buying my product are actually looking for it for this certain use case. It's kind of like what you and I showed last year on the podcast where noodle camera. Right, you know, noodle camera was not that keyword, was not at the time, I don't know about now, but was not in any listings on Amazon and it didn't have much search volume. So it's not like it was a big loss. But Amazon learned and we don't again. We don't know if this was Cosmo that did it or it's just Amazon algorithm, you know but Amazon learned that, hey, these people who are searching a noodle camera, they're actually looking for this stethoscope kind of camera that looks like a noodle, and so who don't? We don't know how long it took for that to actually become indexed as something, butthat's a benefit you know like. But at the end, if noodle camera was an important keyword, I, if I would have put that keyword in my listing from day one, I would have been the only one searchable. I wouldn't have had to wait for Cosmo or whatever A9, to kind of learn about that. And so again for the person who only keyword stuffs right, you're like, hey, I'm going to pull all my keywords from Cerebro and Magnet and just throw it in my listing and try and get it, each keyword four times.
Yeah, you know what? You probably should change your, your methodology, because that's not. That hasn't been the best way of doing things for years. But we've been teaching here at Helium 10 that you have got to talk about pain points to your product solves in your listing. You've got to show it in the images. You know what use cases. If you have collagen peptides, you've got to show people using it in their coffee. Not that they use the keyword coffee to search for collagen peptides, but that's how they are searching for it. They want something that is going to dissolve well in their coffee, and so you've got to be indexed from day one. You've got to talk about what pain points your product solves, and then that's what's going to put you on the radar of these Amazon AI things. And so in that sense, I don't think a seller's you know, most sellers should be changing their methodology at all because of any of these new things. What are your thoughts on that.?
Kevin Dolan:
Yeah Well, I mean, I think it'll first be helpful to talk about what Cosmo is and what Cosmo isn't, because I've been reading a lot of the blog articles, watching the videos and I'm seeing something that tends to happen in tech sometimes, where a word or a technology is being used as a stand-in for some broader movement within the space. I'm seeing a lot of people conflating Cosmo, which is a specific research paper, a specific tool that was built and was tested. It's described very specifically in a scientific paper. Cosmo is this tool, but I think it's being used more broadly to capture a shift into focusing more on semantic search and less on lexical search, which is exactly what I had come on last year to talk about.
Amazon has been working on this for years and years, improving their search algorithm to not rely on a listing creator to actually put a specific keyword in their listing and then find it based on the existence of that keyword in the listing. Instead, try to understand the meaning of a product, how people use it, what people think about the product and all of these kinds of details, so that when somebody types in a search, it can effectively find the product that they're going to want to buy. That is a shift that's been happening for years. That predates transformer models, but we have started to see for sure an increased ability to actually do these things on Amazon. I think that what you're saying is correct. You know the best practices and what sellers should be doing with their listings hasn't changed. But that really depends on what they were doing, whether they were following the best practices to begin with. You know like you said, if they were keyword stuffing trying to find as many keywords as people might type into a search box and stuff it into their listing in as literal a fashion as possible to make Sammy-looking listings that cover as much search volume as possible yeah, that's a bad practice, and as we move into a more semantically focused search world, that becomes an even worse practice. Semantically focused search world that becomes an even worse practice.
What it also tells us is that some of the efforts that are required today to create listings that do involve inserting specific keywords and things like that. You may be able to shift your focus to what would actually be more helpful to customers, which is accurately describing your product, accurately describing how your product will be used and targeting specific customers and specific pain points. The more specific you are and the clearer and more accurate you are, amazon wants you to be in front of the customers who want to buy your product. So that's always going to be a good practice and that's ultimately what Amazon is trying to do when they're doing these types of experiments.
Now the Cosmo paper is interesting. The Cosmo paper was tested on a really large chunk of Amazon traffic using a very heavy, large language model. Compared to prior research, which does tell us that Amazon has made investments in the server capabilities to be able to run these models in production and keep searches within their tight latency expectations, so that, I would say, is certainly significant, it tells us that Amazon does have the hardware capacities to run some of these more advanced models and it tells us that we are going to see an increased focus on semantic search. I think that does affect consumer behaviors, it does affect the way that we rank for keywords, but what it doesn't affect is that best practice of describing your products accurately.
Bradley Sutton:
Based on those scientific documents. What are some of the things where, again, just because it's in the science document doesn't mean that it's going to be implemented. But, you know, based on the results and sometimes you can kind of tell like, wow, this one had some pretty amazing results, so it's probably for sure going to be implemented. Can you talk a little bit more about the kind of things that maybe you've seen already implemented or you think will be based on all you know? Again, nobody has read more Amazon science documents than Kevin here. So what would you predict as far as the future, the next year or so?
Kevin Dolan:
I mean, Cosmo is a specific tool and I think that the function that it performs is valuable to enhancing Amazon's understanding of a listing. So I certainly would not be surprised to see Amazon implementing this in a production capacity on a large swath of searches. That would not be surprising to me, but it's not as massive as the shift that we've seen into semantic focused search. Cosmo in particular discusses essentially a mechanism for enhancing Amazon's understanding of a product by taking into consideration things that aren't expressed in the query and things that aren't expressed in the listing. The example that they use in the paper, the canonical example, is if you're looking for shoes for pregnant women, a listing might not literally say shoes for pregnant women. It might produce a specific type of open-toed shoe that has good support, good comfort. That might not literally be listed as a keyword in the listing, but it might be something that the system can infer based on its knowledge of the universe, about what it's like to be a pregnant woman and the types of products that they might benefit from.
Cosmo is essentially a mechanism for enhancing listings with additional information to get closer to the user's intent based on a particular search.
If you zoom out and you look at the broader task of semantic search. That's always been the focus. The goal is something might not be said in the same language in a query as it might be when it's written in a listing, when it's answered in a question or when it's written in a review be when it's written in a listing, when it's answered in a question or when it's written in a review, and so the domain of language that's used for these two different ways of expressing thought aren't the same, and so we need to create algorithms that better understand what a user actually means when they type in a search, and what a product actually does and what functions it performs. This idea of understanding deep intent and the actual composition of a product is essentially the goal, and we are seeing for sure that Amazon is making these changes. We're seeing more results come back for listings that do not literally have the keywords typed into search and better match what is a user's real intent on shopping.
Bradley Sutton:
But for it to learn that something is a good shoe for pregnant women, it basically would have to have some context, like maybe the reviews. Like somebody said, oh, I was in the second trimester and this was great. It's not going to pull that out of nothing unless, no, I was going to say maybe it knows that. Like, maybe somehow it knows the customer is pregnant and then, without even a review, it's a wow. We see an abnormally large number of pregnant women who are buying this. But I don't, I don't know. I mean, I think I big dad.
Kevin Dolan:
I could tell you that, Cosmo, the paper itself does. You're talking about what's usually called avatar personalization, based on your purchase history. I know some things about you. I can kind of put you in this category of person, and I know that these types of people tend to buy these types of products. The Cosmo paper doesn't actually explicitly discuss testing avatar personalization. Doesn't actually explicitly discuss testing avatar personalization. What it does talk about is using recent Search Queries to better contextualize later Search Queries. So like, for example, if I'm searching for camping gear and then I search for mattress after that, there's a good chance that I specifically mean a camping mattress or an inflatable mattress rather than a mattress for a bed in your home that weighs 200 pounds. It can better contextualize a particular search query based on the searches that you've been performing in the recent past.
Avatar personalization is another thing that Amazon is always investigating and we have yet to see any really material evidence that it's been implemented. Almost all of the studies that I've read relating to that type of personalization they talk about the potential of it, but in practice they tend to perform pretty poorly. They either reduce sales or they don't materially impact sales, which is a major problem. They don't materially impact sales, which is a major problem, especially considering that cost of performing that personalization. Amazon does a lot to make sure that the searches that come back are within a very tight latency. They need to come back as quickly as possible and that's very important to the shopping experience. The more personalized search results are, the more expensive those search queries are going to be to run and the longer it's going to take, which materially affects your experience as a purchaser. Yes, hardware is improving. Yes, technologies are improving, but if you can just reuse results, it's always going to be a lot faster than if you compute it on the fly.
Bradley Sutton:
But then, still, using the same example, I think, if you knew that, hey, your shoes have good cushioning and you designed it actually for pregnant women to be able to use, the best practice still is to put that keyboard in your listing for day one, so that at least you have a. You know, you don't have to wait for the AI to learn based on activity, you know. But then, if it's not something that's readily like, maybe you had no idea that people were using your shoes for gifts for people who are pregnant, like, maybe you had no idea. That's where, like, I think Cosmo, Rufus and stuff is going to help to uncover these sub-niches of people who are getting your product. But again, at the end of the day, this scenario, I don't think there's anything different that the seller needs to do as far as with their listing that we haven't already said. Now, at the same time, maybe they learn. I think this is going to open up some new potentials down the road. Like, let's say, Helium 10 starts seeing what the common Rufus things are being said about the product or what's the common queries. Maybe Amazon will make that available for sellers through some API that says, hey, this persona is buying your product.
Well, maybe I would go into my listing and change one of my images to show a pregnant person walking around with these shoes. But again, that's what you should have been doing for years. You know, like when you read your reviews and you notice like I used to sell this or I still do sell this egg tray, and I was reading the reviews one day and people were using this egg tray, this wooden egg tray, to as a serving platter for like sushi and also these chocolates, because you know the holes for an egg tray is very similar I was like I never would have thought that so in that situation, who knows, maybe Rufus would have seen the reviews and saw these images and now, all of a sudden, even though I don't have chocolates or sushi in my egg tray listing, I would be searchable for those keywords. But again, as soon as I would have seen that review or known that people are using my product in a way and this is what I did years before AI. You know cause this was years ago that I did this I went in and I did a reef photo shoot showing other use cases of it and I did one image, or like a quadrant of four images that showed somebody putting sushi in it, somebody putting chocolate in it, somebody putting this and that's, and then I put it in my listing too.
So, I was like I didn't want to wait for Amazon to hopefully index me for these keywords. So again, I just go back to the point that what Amazon is doing is not really making things where sellers are going to have to do something completely different, but they they're helping maybe the sellers who haven't been doing the best practices to get indexed for keywords that maybe they weren't smart enough to put in their listing. Yeah, I mean, I think so.
Kevin Dolan:
What you're ultimately seeing with Cosmo is taking information from Amazon's entire catalog, which includes billions of products, billions of product listings, billions of questions, billions of answers, billions of reviews.
There's a lot of information contained in all of that data, which starts to build a picture of how the universe works, and so, in a sense, you could think of it as Amazon using the information it's learned from existing listings to enhance all listings and build a more comprehensive picture of their catalog.
I totally agree with you that it doesn't change the best practices, and still, I would say it's now even more critical that you are taking into consideration the use cases for your products, the people who might be using it, and accurately describe these in your listings. I think that that is still absolutely the best way to rank for products. I think what it does is it shifts focus from some of those old school techniques that we were probably recommending 10 years ago. It's no longer necessary for you to enumerate all possible customers of a product, but instead focus on the key use cases and the key customers to your products, describe these things as accurately and as naturally as possible. It's not required for you to think of all the ways that you could possibly say pregnant woman. Instead, you can just describe the fact that this is useful for a person who is pregnant.
Bradley Sutton:
Outside of Cosmo, Rufus. Obviously, they announced a lot of things at Amazon Accelerate, like Amelia for Amazon sellers. Any comments on other things that Amazon have been working on the AI front? Yeah, I mean I would say Amelia is Amazon sellers. Any comments on other things that Amazon have been working on the AI front.?
0:36:59 - Speaker 2
Yeah, I mean I would say Amelia is certainly interesting. Amelia is Amazon's internal chatbot for Seller Central. You know, I've yet to play with it. I've yet to see anybody who's actually had access to it, so I think it's just an early announcement. Maybe some limited people have access, but I would imagine it's going to undergo the hype cycle that we see for most chatbots, including Rufus. There's going to be a lot of excitement. The initial version will be pretty terrible. It will slowly get better over time.
The question is whether it will continue to receive enough investment to make it into a chatbot product that is useful for people, and whether chat is as natural an interface.
As you know, Seller Central is in and of itself. You know, I think we've spent a lot of time over the past 30, 40 years developing software interaction paradigms, so we have a good idea of what is easy to use software. There is potential that we could be using these more chat oriented interfaces to get to our vague intents that we have in our head a little bit more quickly, but we haven't really proven that out yet, and so I would say Amelia has a very similar potential to Rufus in that it's something that I believe could be useful if it is properly invested in, but the jury's still out on whether or not it's going to be a material impacting to people's workflow as you start to get access to it. I do recommend that sellers give it a try, just like with any of these tools see if it's useful for their workflows, but I'm not really holding my breath on it being revolutionary.
Bradley Sutton:
A lot of the recommendations that Amazon gives in Seller Central is. I think a lot of sellers have learned to just ignore them because they're not exactly that useful.
And then. So, if this is, it's like putting lipstick on a pig, you know like sure you could put the AI word up, but if it's being based on something that you don't trust in the first place, you know, might be a little bit of time before we can implement it, but I think that Amazon is definitely moving in the right direction and that Amelia has nothing to do with the customer. You know, like we always say, Amazon is all about the customer, which is true, but I think that's just in itself is a step in the right direction, that, hey, Amazon is doing things that are going to try and help the seller, and that's a trend I've been seeing over the last few years. I think it's a very nice step in the right direction.
Kevin Dolan:
On that front, we've definitely been seeing Amazon release features in Seller Central using AI that are more seller oriented, that help sellers to understand their products. They've released their own features for review analysis, which does get some basic, surface level summary statistics that could be helpful for people. I think Amazon is making investments there. However, they're always going to be a little bit step removed from the customer. They're always, at the end of the day, competing with sellers to some degree. There are certain things that they can do, certain things that they're limited on in terms of where their interests lie versus where the sellers lie, and so that's where tools like Helium 10 become much more valuable to customers, and so I do recommend that you look at the full suite of tools that you have available to you, because there's going to be things that Amazon will implement and there's going to be things that they're going to be hesitant to implement, for whatever reason.
Bradley Sutton:
All right. Well, Kevin, thank you so much for riffing on this with me. It's something I'm passionate about because I'm all about. I'm not like Amazon, I'm all about the sellers, not about the customers, and so anything that affects sellers or you, you know, if there's going to be some big inherent change in the way that sellers need to do things, then I get very passionate about it. And especially when I hear I don't want to, you know, use the word misinformation, you know out there, but almost like scare tactics or just clickbaity stuff, which I just did in this very podcast with the title of it but with at least, if you're in a clickbait, at least let people know that what the real situation is, because I don't want I've had so many sellers come up to me because of just hearing things where it's like, oh, my goodness, I've got to change everything I'm doing for my keyword research.
I've got to change everything I'm doing for my listing optimization. And right now, the fact of the matter is, no, I'm still doing the exact same things I did last year. There are some slightly different things because there's new rules at Amazon of what you can and can't do and of course, I've switched, but as far as the way I make my listings and I structure it and how I do my keyword research. Not one iota different am I doing it now, and I have had the exact same success with getting to page one on all my main keywords and getting sales for the keywords I think I'm relevant for.
And so I think that's just important to know, guys, that as AI evolves, I'm sure I'm positive there's going to be new things that we might have to do as sellers and stay tuned. We'll let you know what those are, but right now, as long as you've been paying attention to our tutorials the last few years, you're not having to do anything different, in my opinion. So, anyways, thanks, Kevin, let's definitely bring you on in 2025. And you know, who knows, maybe AI will be we'll be driving all of our cars and we're driving like the Jetsons or something. I don't know what's. What's going to happen, but we're going to find out with you next year.
Kevin Dolan:
Super excited. Thanks for having me.
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
Thursday Oct 17, 2024
This week’s buzzing news: The Project X account was booted from Etsy, Amazon bundling has changed drastically, and 15 updates were announced at Amazon Unboxed this week!
We’re back with another episode of the Weekly Buzz with Helium 10’s Chief Brand Evangelist, Bradley Sutton. Every week, we cover the latest breaking news in the Amazon, Walmart, and E-commerce space, talk about Helium 10’s newest features, and provide a training tip for the week for serious sellers of any level.
TikTok wants to turn millions of Americans into paid shopping influencers
https://restofworld.org/2024/tiktok-shop-influencers-us/
Amazon bundles online shopping of groceries and nonfood items
https://www.retaildive.com/news/amazon-fresh-whole-foods-ecommerce-delivery-pickup-automated-micro-fulfillment/729619/
Amazon Unboxed Updates:
Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) eligibility expanded to sponsored ads advertisers (through partners)
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/expanding-amc-eligibility-to-advertisers-and-partners/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Increase engagement through audience bid boosting for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/unboxed-audience-bid-boosting/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Amazon Marketing Cloud (AMC) Audiences can now be used in Sponsored Ads
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/amc-audiences-for-sponsored-ads/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Increase engagement through audience bid boosting for Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/unboxed-audience-bid-boosting/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
New Sponsored TV releases make it easier than ever to reach relevant audiences and measure performance
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/amazon-ads-new-sponsored-tv-releases/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Deliver more relevant ads everywhere, independent of ad ids, with Ad Relevance
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/ad-relevance/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Understand the top combinations of ad touchpoints that drive conversions
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/ad-touchpoints-drive-sales-with-conversion-path-reporting/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Build a holistic first-party data strategy with Ads data manager
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/ads-data-manager-beta/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Amazon DSP launches Performance+ tactics into beta
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/amazon-dsp-launches-performance-plus-tactics/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Create impactful interactive audio ads in just a few clicks with Audio generator
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/audio-generator/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Create high-quality AI-generated videos in minutes
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/create-high-quality-ai-generated-videos-in-minutes/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Make creative development a breeze with AI creative studio (beta)
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/unboxed-ai-creative-studio/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Interactive ads expand availability across streaming TV into Prime Video
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/interactive-ads-expand-across-streaming-tv-into-prime-video/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Understand the value of new-to-brand shoppers beyond immediate sales
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/long-term-sales/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Maximize your campaign impact with the new Amazon DSP experience
https://advertising.amazon.com/en-us/resources/whats-new/new-amazon-dsp-experience/?ref_=a20m_us_wn_gw
Don't miss out on the details of upcoming online and in-person events designed to sharpen your e-commerce strategies:
- Freedom Ticket Webinar - http://h10.me/ftoctober
- Meganar - http://h10.me/meganar
- Winning Amazon Advertising Strategies - http://h10.me/adsoctober
- Sydney, Australia Event - http://h10.me/sydney
- Milan, Italy Elite Workshop - http://h10.me/milan
- Dubai, UAE Event - http://h10.me/dubai
Whether you're new to Amazon or running large-scale brands, these updates are sure to provide valuable insights and opportunities for growth. Listen in as I break down these developments and what they mean for you as a seller.
In this episode of the Weekly Buzz by Helium 10, Bradley covers:
- 01:07 - Etsy is THE WORST!
- 05:38 - Amazon Bundling Change
- 06:44 - TikTok Influencers
- 08:23 - Amazon Shopping Test
- 09:59 - Compliance Fast Track
- 10:31 - FBA New Selection Perk
- 11:30 - Large & Heavy Returns
- 12:15 - Online Events
- 15:19 - Sydney, Australia
- 15:49 - Milan, Italy
- 16:30 - Dubai, UAE
- 16:51 - Amazon Unboxed Recap
► Instagram: instagram.com/serioussellerspodcast
► Free Amazon Seller Chrome Extension: https://h10.me/extension
► Sign Up For Helium 10: https://h10.me/signup (Use SSP10 To Save 10% For Life)
► Learn How To Sell on Amazon: https://h10.me/ft
► Watch The Podcasts On YouTube: youtube.com/@Helium10/videos
Transcript
Bradley Sutton:
The Project X account was unceremoniously booted from Etsy this week. There's been a huge change. For those who do bundling on Amazon, a complete guide of the 15 updates announced at Amazon Box this week. This and more on this week's Weekly Buzz. How cool is that? Pretty cool, I think.
Bradley Sutton:
Hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Serious Sellers Podcast by Helium 10. I am your host, Bradley Sutton, and this is the show that is our Helium 10 Weekly Buzz, where we give you a rundown of all the news stories and goings on in the Amazon and e-commerce world. We also give you training tips of the week and give you serious strategies for serious sellers of any level in the e-commerce world. Let's see what's buzzing. Today is going to be almost all news, guys, because we've got like 24 different news articles to talk about due to the Unboxed conference that was held this week, and we're going to get to pretty much every single announcement that was done at Unboxed. And also we got some cool online events that you guys might want to participate in, so make sure to stay tuned for that. Let's go ahead and hop right into the news.
Bradley Sutton:
I wanted to tell you a story. I got this email this week from Etsy for the Project X account. So you guys know Project X is where we sell coffin shelves and egg trays and you know these. Actually, most of the products qualify for Etsy. All right, because you've got to either design it in the USA and slash or it's not. It doesn't have to be both. Or have you know a member of your own shop is the one who is putting it together and it's not like you know mass production, you know line and the products on project X that qualify.
Bradley Sutton:
Um, I've been selling on Etsy for like five years. You've probably heard me talk about it, sold maybe a hundred thousand dollars worth over the years, and so what happened was I got this email this week and it said the following hey, how cool is that store? We've reached out that you've got listings that were not in line with eBay's creativity standards. All right, blah, blah, blah, blah, your account has been permanently suspended. I'm like what? Like? First of all, you guys should know who we are. We're Helium 10, guys Like we're not trying to like game the system or something. We're trying to like actually promote Etsy by having an account. We're not trying to make money, we're trying to like, promote people to sell on Etsy Now, of course, and so you should let us do whatever we want. No, but we're 100% in compliance.
Bradley Sutton:
And they just send this list like nonstop or this just like big long thing of can't sell on Etsy anymore. You can still ship pending orders. You may see a delay of getting paid up to 180 days and at the very end it says if you think there's a mistake, duh, you may be able to file an appeal with Etsy. Here's how it works. So, of course, I filed appeal and then I went through the questionnaire. I send them video proof. I'm like, guys, we have not violated one policy. I mean, there's thousands, tens of thousands of products on Etsy that are clearly not in policy. Not how, not how cool is that project X stuff? So, uh, you know, I I showed them details, like showed that it was our shop making it.
Bradley Sutton:
You know, like even videos of myself. Uh, you know, I showed them details, like showed that it was our shop making it. You know, like even videos of myself, you know, helping to make some of the products. I actually showed the original Project X videos. I was like, hey, we actually did a reality TV shows that shows when we're designing this product in the USA. You know, kind of like your policy says got to be designed in the USA. Here's some proof of that.
Bradley Sutton:
And then I told them I was like no, maybe you didn't know, but like we're an educational platform here, we don't make tools for Etsy at Helium 10, but we liked helping people to sell online, submitted it and then two days later get this message. It says this is Etsy's trust and safety team and we're like Etsy's dumb and dumber team. But anyways, we appreciate you taking the time to file an appeal. No, no, you really don't. After careful consideration, no, I'm pretty sure you did not carefully consider anything. We've determined your account does not qualify for reinstatement. We performed a comprehensive review. No, you did not and we're unable to further reconsider. You know they don't allow me to say anything. I can't talk to anybody. There's like no, but no customer support to reach out to discuss I mean this whole process of this, not one person to reach out. So, anyways, my point is yeah, you're not going to see me here promoting etsy to for you guys to sell on etsy. I've done that before. But then also those of you who are selling on ety and you do get, like these notification warnings. You know, maybe do a little bit more than me as far as trying to get somebody on the line to talk to you to see why in the world you're getting these notifications when you're if you're fully in line with their requirements.
Bradley Sutton:
Who have bad? You know, I hear bad experiences all the time with Walmart, amazon customer service. Everybody always has complaints. Guys, it could be worse, right? I've not seen a worse experience with customer service than Etsy. It was kind of funny. At the bottom of the email it says their address and I was like wait a minute, 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, new York. I looked it up Sure enough. Coincidentally, 27 years ago when I lived in New York, I actually worked down the street there in Brooklyn Heights and in that building, 117 Adams, where Etsy's headquarters is I used to give tours at that building. That was part of my job. It was a printery in those days and I'm like, wow, what are the odds of that? I live in California, that's on the other side, anyways, I digress. Wow, what are the odds of that? I live in California, that's on the other side, anyways, I digress, that doesn't even matter, I'd love to give a tour there. Now, look at this here we have customer service representatives who have no idea what Etsy's policies are. No, I'm sorry, I'm just a little bit bitter here, but anyways, let's move on to other news here, the first article of the day.
Bradley Sutton:
This is kind of big actually for a lot of people who do bundling. It says updated product bundling policy for consumables. All right, so, effective October 14th, you can only list bundles that are created and offered by the original manufacturer. So what does that mean? Let's say I've got a blue diamond almonds here and I've got Wetzel's pretzel nuts or pretzels, something right. Well, what you could do in the old days was you could go and put them and make a new bundle, all right, like Blue Diamond Almonds and Pretzels, and this is my Bradley's Amazing Snack Box brand, and there's no problem, I can have products. But now you can no longer do that going forward. All right, this was a big strategy by people who do bundles and didn't want to like have to compete with just the blue diamond. You know, uh, the blue diamond brand, right, you just put under your own brand and differentiate yourself by maybe offering other products. But you are no longer going to be able to do that. So check your seller central dashboard. That's kind of going to affect a lot of people out there who do, uh, certain kind of bundling.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is from restoftheworld.org and it's entitled TikTok wants to turn millions of Americans into paid shopping influencers Super interesting article that talks about the promotions that TikTok is doing to get more influencers out there. And guys, let me just tell you that this thing works from sellers. It was funny. I was talking to my family the other day. I had set up a TikTok shop account on the Project 5K Not even the Project X one, my Project 5K Amazon account or products and I only put one on there and I just wanted to go through the process. It was like a month ago and I sent our product like a sample to some influencers. I chose maybe like a maximum of like eight different people, maybe it was only five and then I forgot about it. Right, I was just like, okay, whatever. Now again, as you guys know, I don't ship my own products for my factory, my family or my factory, my warehouse, my family handles all of that. And then I was just looking at some report and the TikTok was like what? We sold 23 of these products in the last couple of weeks. I didn't promote it at all, other than sending it out to these influencers on TikTok. So again, that is, the way to success on TikTok shop is through influencer marketing. It's kind of an interesting article that talks about that. There's going to be stuff you know from Helium 10. Look forward to that. That might help with that in the future, not only for TikTok but also Amazon influencers too. It's a great way to make extra money yourself as sellers or newer sellers trying to make extra money, or you're an experienced seller and you want to. You know you should want to reach out to these influencers that are on Amazon. They can make unboxing videos and things and other UGC for your products, all right.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is from retail dive.com and it's entitled Amazon bundles online shopping of grocery and non food items. All right, so this is a test that they're doing. I think it was in Arizona where you could like actually order Amazon fresh products, whole foods and your Amazon in one shopping cart experience and then get like everything like a couple hours. Now, you know you might think, well, how does this? How is this going to affect me? I don't sell in Whole Foods, right, but it's an interesting advantage for Prime members and another benefit of being a Prime member. You know, in the past you'd have to physically go to Whole Foods perhaps. Maybe use the Amazon Fresh subsection to make just an Amazon Fresh grocery order. And then your third thing would be hey, let me order a couple of things from the Amazon Prime app, and then now there's three different deliveries and so Amazon is testing. Hey, can we give Prime members who live in certain regions the ability to just do it all in one shopping experience, saving customer time and money? This, I think, would be good for us Amazon sellers. Obviously, we're not selling Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods, but how many of orders maybe the person decided you know what? I'm just going to go in person to whole foods and let me just get my other items, like the snacks that maybe they could have gotten on Amazon, that maybe you carry. Or you know what? I'm going to go to a whole foods and let me go next door to Walmart to pick up. You know the toilet paper I need, right, maybe you sell toilet paper, but now your Amazon Prime order might get the order because people are trying to buy in this little bundle. So you know, this is not a hashtag game changer or anything like that, but I think, a good move by Amazon that will help sellers down the road if it's picked up by customers.
Bradley Sutton:
Next article is from your Seller Central dashboard and it's entitled Make Product Compliance Easier with Compliance Fast Track. We talked about this. This is one of those announcements at Amazon Accelerate, and now this is one of those ones that's now available. So check your dashboard, because now in such product categories as electronics, arts and crafts, you are now going to be able to get your compliance documentation in a more automated way instead of having to one by one do it. So for more information, if you're in one of those categories, make sure to check that on your dashboard.
Bradley Sutton:
Another program that you might not be aware of is called the FBA New Selection, and now there's a new benefit from this program and, effective last month, they're going to offer now a 25% discount. I don't know why they're just mentioning it now it was available last month, but it just got announced yesterday or day before where you can get a 25% discount on Vine for your eligible new products If you are in FBA new selection. Now I would go into that article and it actually links to the knowledge base about FBA new selection, like wait, who qualifies for FBA new selection? What are the other benefits? There's actually a lot of other benefits, more than just a discount on Vine. You can actually get a 10% rebate for sales on eligible ASINs. You can get free monthly storage, and so this is a program. If you have not heard about it, check your Seller Central dashboard. Go through to the knowledge base article on Amazon Seller Central about that and get some more information. Next article going back to the seller central dashboard, again, a seller fulfilled prepaid returns are now offered through UPS for large and heavy items, right, so that wasn't available to do UPS before, and so if you are selling a large and heavy item, make sure to check this article on your dashboard. This is like a product that weighs more than 90 pounds, et cetera. Check this article on your dashboard. This is like a product that weighs more than 90 pounds, et cetera. Amazon has some new programs in place that you need to be aware about, because now buyers are going to automatically be able to trigger some of these returns, and so you might all of a sudden start ending up with, you know, with like 50 refrigerators. If you sell refrigerators in your warehouse, you're like, where did all these return refrigerators come from? I never got returns before, but it might be part of this new program, so make sure to check that out if it affects you.
Bradley Sutton:
Now, before we get into Amazon Unbox, a few on and offline events I think are really good for you guys to know. About the online ones, obviously, anybody can register for All right. The first event is actually tomorrow, the 18th, at 11 am. It's going to be a our monthly freedom to get workshop where Kevin King brings on an expert to do an advanced training for Amazon sellers, and this one is going to be entitled why Branding has Always Been your Biggest Marketing Problem and how AI Will Solve it All right, so, completely free workshop. If you guys want to register and watch it live, completely free workshop. Um, if you guys want to register and watch it live, uh, you can go to h10.me/ftoctober. F T for freedom ticket.
Bradley Sutton:
Next online event is something I haven't done in years. How many of you guys out there remember Meganar? You guys remember that I did like a Meganar. It's like a mega webinar years ago. It's probably been like five years where I went live for 16 hours straight. It was insane. They wouldn't let me go live 16 hours again. But this Monday I am going to go live, this time with the help of Carrie and Shivali and others, and I'm going to have maybe 10, 20 guests on the show. We're going to go live from 7 am all the way into 2 pm Pacific time. So we tried to pick some times where different people can hop in, hop off, and the basic theme of it is tips from top sellers that we're going to be inviting on on how to really have a great Q4, have a great Black Friday to Cyber Monday, cyber Weekend, cyber 5, and some tips that are really going to help you in the coming weeks. I've invited a really wide variety of sellers with different experiences that they're going to be giving their top tips throughout that. We're also going to be trying to get money live back from Amazon because, remember, the deadline is going to be in a couple of days for that. So we're going to be doing some of that, like we're trying to get up to maybe $500,000 back. We're going to have prizes, like like trivias and giveaways with swag. It is going to be a fun time. So to register for that, go to h10.me/meganar.
Bradley Sutton:
All right One. The very next day, on Tuesday, we are going to have a special workshop with Destiny about AI advertising, something new that Helium 10 has, and Destiny has helped optimize a little bit and she has some cool templates that are going to help for Q4. So it's kind of like continuing the conversation about Q4 and how to get your advertising ready coming up, how you can now set up campaigns in seconds with a new tool that you might not know is available to you without even having to buy this tool separately. So it's going to be pretty cool. That's going to be Tuesday of next week. If you want to join that, go to h10.me/adsoctober.
Bradley Sutton:
Now some in-person events that I think are, uh, you should go to. I'll be at almost all of these and would love to meet you guys and hang out. The first one is coming up is going to be October 31st this month. I think that's Halloween. I'm not sure if they do Halloween in Australia, but it's October 31st in Sydney, Australia. Uh, I would love to see you guys there. It's an Amazon event, all right, this is like made by Amazon corporate in Australia, h10.me/sydney. If you guys are interested in going, I think it's a free event, all right. So would love to meet and hang out with you guys there my very first ever trip down under, so it'll be great to go there.
Bradley Sutton:
Next event will be in Milan, Italy, November 11th. This is an elite workshop, but it's open to everybody. Elite members go free, but instead of $400, we are doing a special where anybody can go to this high-end elite workshop for only 89 euros. It's going to be in Milan, Italy, h10.me/milan. It's going to be with Avast. We're going to have some great speakers. I'll be speaking there my first time speaking at Elite Workshop this year. We'll have Mansour from Incrementum Digital coming from Canada, We'll have George from ClearAds coming from the UK, Jana from Serbia we have a very international speaking group and I definitely think you guys, um, should make it out to that one. And then last will be a December, the 4th I believe and fifth in Dubai. I'll be speaking at a pretty big event over there and that is h10.me/dubai. It's called World EF, Dubai event, so there's going to be a bunch of people speaking there. It'd be great to meet you there.
Bradley Sutton:
All right, now let's get into Amazon Unboxed and this is probably going to be your biggest or the most comprehensive recap. I hope so. I wasn't even there, but I really tried to read up on all the articles and what people were writing to get a good kind of like picture of what happened at Amazon Unboxed. I was able to go last year, but this year didn't make it. So let's go ahead and hop into it. Some of this stuff, guys, is a little bit in the weeds. It's a little over my head, like I'm not a professional advertiser. Obviously, I spend $100,000 a year on advertising, but I don't consider myself, like you know, some advanced person who does DSP and all these things. As a matter of fact, I don't think I spend a hundred thousand dollars more. I'm probably down to like $70,000 this year. But anyways, let's go ahead and hop into it.
Bradley Sutton:
The very first announcement was Amazon Marketing Cloud, AMC. The next few ones are going to be all about AMC. That was like a big theme of. Unbox says AMC eligibility expanded to sponsored ads advertisers Me I have never used AMC Before. You would have to have DSP to be able to use that or work at an advanced agency and things. That wasn't me. Helium 10 didn't have AMC before. Helium 10 is going to have AMC, so be looking forward to that. But basically, what AMC is? We're going to have some training on it at that Destiny workshop for PPC next week.
Bradley Sutton:
It says AMC is a secure, privacy, safe and cloud-based clean room solution. Like you might be a clean room solution, what the heck I? My room is clean. It's not that kind of clean room, all right, so this is like I said. It's going to get into the weeds here for some of you, but make sure to stick through all of these announcements because they're important. A clean room solution in which advertisers can easily perform analytics and blind audience across. They're using like fancy language here pseudonymized. I love it. See, is that a word, guys? Pseudonymized. Come on, amazon, with your press releases. You got to use better words than this. Like us, illiterate, not well-educated people like myself don't understand words like pseudonymized signals, including Amazon ad signals as well as their own input.
Bradley Sutton:
But this is going to be interesting, guys, because, like here in this article, it says why is this important? It says with this launch, we're democratizing AMC insights and actions, because before it used to only be available in DSP, but now, basically, you guys are going to understand the buyer journey a lot more and it's going to allow you for different targeting. Speaking of AMC, another article that they announced was AMC marketing cloud audiences can now be used in sponsor ads. So that's critical. Like I said before, you could only use it for, like, DSP and things like that, or just, just, you know, like for data gathering, but now, uh, you're going to be able to take the audiences that come from AMC and actually use it as a target audience in sponsored ad campaigns. All right, so make sure to check, by the way, every single one of these articles I'm doing. I have linked in the comments below to the specific article where Amazon goes a little bit deeper into it. So make sure to read it.
Bradley Sutton:
But why? Amazon says it's important, says, with AMC, advertisers are going to get an in-depth understanding of customers journeys across Amazon ads, media and channels. This launch helps advertisers take action on these insights across Amazon ads versus media and channels. This launch helps advertisers take action on these insights across Amazon ads, versus previously only in Amazon DSP. It says, for example, an advertiser can build an audience similar to their high value shoppers to expand the reach of their campaigns or to re-engage audiences reached through Amazon streaming TV campaigns. Through this launch reach through Amazon streaming TV campaigns. Through this launch, advertisers can leverage granular AMC insights to more efficiently move customers along their journey down the funnel.
Bradley Sutton:
All right, so, again, like I said, some of this stuff might be a little bit over your head, some of it's over my head, but this is something that we're going to break down for you guys. We're going to be educating you guys a lot about what exactly is AMC, how can it be used, even by, you know, smaller sellers out there, where before it was only used by, like, very big companies? Next, unbox release increase engagement through audience bid boosting for sponsored products and sponsored brands All right, so this will allow advertisers to reach and engage audiences that they define and create. So, for example, you are going to be able to create custom audiences that you were not able to do before, such as shoppers who have not previously purchased their product, shoppers who are exposed to a streaming TV campaign. You're going to be able to adjust bids just like you would like in a regular campaign, and so this bid boosting is going to again be tapped. This is another one of those AMC announcements. This is part of this whole AMC. Remember, AMC is not just about this clean room thing, but it's about it's about, you know, seeing people throughout the funnel. All right, so I'm not going to go too much more in depth in this article. If you want to learn about all of these AMC stuff, make sure to check out the article that's linked to below.
Bradley Sutton:
Next one is introducing new product campaigns from Amazon ads now available in the U S. All right. Uh, it says brands selling on Amazon now have full funnel advertising solution to quickly introduce their latest product innovations to customers. So another way they referred to this, I guess that unbox was kind of like. This is a like a product launch, kind of like a campaign, and it says this managed service provides data driven media plans leveraging a curated set of 1P and 3P audio video device and display inventory. All right, so this is not for the faint at heart or for me. Maybe you know launching a coffin shelf that I want to sell maybe 10 units a day of no, this is obviously for bigger customers.
Bradley Sutton:
Now look, if you just look at this visual example those of you watching on YouTube you'll see here, here is this kitchen smart coffee maker, and then you see a huge ad, like on the Amazon homepage, right, and then now you see a ESPN app where you're going to see an ad. You can you can barely see it there, but you can see there's Caitlin Clark doing some kind of highlight right, and then right above that, you see an ad for this coffee maker. And then you see the ESPN desktop app on a computer and the customer is seeing that same ad. And then now it looks like somebody's watching streaming TV maybe Amazon Prime Video or something and then they see a full 15 second ad of this kitchen smart ad. And then to the right, now you see this Alexa device and that same ad is coming up there. And then, uh, the last one here. This looks like I guess it's like Twitch or something, so maybe they're watching a Twitch streamer and then they see that same ad. So now this is going to like be this, this, this thing that Amazon is like providing as a solution where you don't have to come up with. Hey, what, what's my strategy for getting my initial push out there. We're going to go ahead and handle all of that for you. So, again, if you want more information on that, make sure to check the article that is linked to below.
Bradley Sutton:
Speaking of sponsored TV, a new sponsored TV releases make it easier than ever to reach relevant audiences and measure performance. Was this next announcement All right? So last year at Unbox, they really talked about sponsored TV a lot, and now we're about a year into sponsored TV and now there's more features that are coming up here. So the new thing is that now there's going to be lifestyle and life stage audiences that advertisers are going to be able to use, audiences that advertisers are going to be able to use. So it's not like hey, let me just make an ad and let me just target replays of the walking dead or something like that. No, like, amazon has all these audiences that they have based on all their information. For example, a couple of things that they give here is like outdoor enthusiasts or environmentally conscious shoppers they give us an example of, and so it's not just a matter of like, hey, let me just throw up this TV ad and target TV shows. But then it's like let me target these TV shows, but then only the people watching it that are outdoor enthusiasts, right, so there's gonna be some really interesting stuff, as Amazon kind of like makes media advertising digital media advertising, uh, tv media, uh a little bit more accessible to the common folk like me. I'm still not sure I'm ready for that yet, but Amazon's getting it closer to make that more accessible to me.
Bradley Sutton:
Next one is deliver more relevant ads everywhere, independent of ad IDs, with ad relevance All right. So it says ad relevance. What is that? It's an innovative approach to deliver relevant ads for all products and services advertised through the Amazon. DSP All right. So since this is about DSP and I don't know too much about DSP and not many of you are using it, I'm not going to go too in depth here, but anybody who is using DSP out there make sure to check the article about some of the details on this one, because there are some new enhancements, definitely for you.
Bradley Sutton:
Next one here I think a lot of you might find interesting. It says understand the top combinations of ad touch points that drive conversions. All right, that's something I think everybody wants to know about. All right. So conversion path reporting shows the ad touch points on the customer's 30 day path path to conversion, starting with purchases. It's going to be available in both sponsored ads and DSP, all right, so it's going to be able to allow you to see the most frequent and efficient customer paths.
Bradley Sutton:
For example, some of the examples it gave was maybe the first time somebody got exposed to your brand was through a streaming TV ad, and then they happen to see next the display ad, and then they saw a sponsored brand video ad and then they saw a sponsor brand video ad and then they saw a sponsored product ad, then they saw a sponsored video display and then they purchased the product. Right? Maybe another kind of like flow is something different. Maybe it was a they only saw a sponsored video ad and then an audio ad from like audible or something, and then boom, went to purchase. Now let's say that that one was working a lot better. Well, that all of a sudden means like hey, you know what? I'm not going to go spend all this money trying to get that customer through that six stage step of the customer journey. Let me double down on this sponsored brand video to audio DSP ad, because that's like my quickest way to get to that purchase.
Bradley Sutton:
I mean, that's just a random example there, but before could, could we see this? No, like we, we we speculate, right, like sometimes, uh, we have sponsored brand video ads or display ads that you know, maybe, uh, RoAS or ACoS and things like that are not that great, right, but we still do it because it's more of a branding play. We're like no, I need to get in front of customers more. I want them to see my brand so that by the time they see my sponsored product ad or some like on page ad or just an organic purchase, it makes them more likely to go ahead and purchase my product, because they've been conditioned to kind of like, see my brand and think about purchasing it before, right, so, but you didn't really have visibility as a regular seller, at least we haven't had visibility to see how that purchase journey works through the ads, and so this is going to be something cool. I think that will allow us to do that. All right.
Bradley Sutton:
Now the next few. I'm just going to kind of skim over a little bit, because once I got to this stage, maybe your head is hurting as much as mine with some of this, how deep some of this stuff goes. But the next announcement was entitled build a holistic first party data strategy with ads data manager. All right, so ADM ads data manager is a new standalone offering that simplifies and streamlines the process of first party data management through Amazon ads tech. All right, um, this is going to be for DSP or AMC. Um, again, most of that doesn't affect you guys yet, so if you're interested in that, make sure to check out the article.
Bradley Sutton:
Speaking of DSP, one more article that they had talked about is entitled the Amazon DSP launches performance Plus. It's a little fancy name. Almost sounds like something that helium 10 would call something. This is your new Performance Plus Cerebro tool, but anyways, amazon took it before us Performance Plus Tactics into Beta. Now, for those of you who are doing display online video or streaming TV, with a conversion KPI of ROAS for endemic advertisers or CPA for non-endemic advertisers, you're going to have this performance plus tactic available, and if that was just sounded like a whole bunch of gibberish to you, this article is probably not for you, like it's not for me, but for those of you, I know we've got some nine figure sellers out there that are really into this stuff. Make sure to check out the article link to for that I wanted to make sure to include everything, because I know we have listeners out there that are brand new on Amazon. Keep listening, guys. We got stuff for you too. We have listeners who are nine figure sellers. I want to make sure I give stuff that is relevant to everybody. More unbox announcements.
Bradley Sutton:
Now, this was interesting and something I hadn't considered. I alluded to a little bit earlier about audio ads, right, so this is entitled Create Impactful Audio Ads in just a few clicks with Generator. So these next couple announcements have to do kind of like with AI. So Audio Generator leverages generative AI capabilities to turn products into interactive audio ads in minutes for the ad to cart call to action. All right, so you might not have thought about audio ads or thought about adding, you know, like, maybe, fancy audio to your, to your video ads. But with this audio generator, there's a cool demo here that you guys make sure to click on the article and then go watch this demo here. But you're going to be able to choose your product and then use AI to generate audio including, like you know, add copy, like you can get somebody with a British accent to read some kind of script that you have and you not have to go like go hire a professional voice actor for some of this stuff. So really interesting stuff.
Bradley Sutton:
Speaking of AI, another thing that Amazon announced uh, this was something that was actually originally announced at Amazon accelerate, so I'm not going to go too deep into this, but it says create high quality AI generated videos in minutes. And it says Amazon ads has introduced a new powered video generator, currently available for use in sponsored brands campaigns. You guys already heard us talk about this at Amazon Accelerate, but another cool demo is on this video in our link below, so make sure to check that out. The last AI update for Unbox is called make creative development a breeze with the AI creative Studiobox. Is called Make Creative Development a Breeze with the AI Creative Studio, which is in beta. So this is AI Creative Studio is a centralized experience that combines AI functionality with expert level controls All right.
Bradley Sutton:
So this is a new kind of like homepage where you're going to have the studio, the sandbox and the inspiration gallery In the studio. It says you're going to gain access to a suite of tools that can be used to transfer your concepts from in progress to design complete. You know, you can like start with a picture of a cup and then, all of a sudden, you put it in this like crazy background and choose different backgrounds you can have different effects and different lightings and then you're going to be able to generate that image. Now, with the sandbox, you're going to be able to test out new features, like, maybe you take one of those things that was just an image before and then now you're going to be able to animate the image. You know, like, if you remember, in Accelerate they showed how you can make smoke coming out of a or not smoke, but like steam coming out of, like a teacup or or coffee, right, so that's kind of cool. And there's also going to be the inspiration gallery where you're going to see examples of AI generated content. Uh, and then you can actually like, click these If you like, like, hey, like, I like this vibe right here. I like, I like this, the way that they did this headphones here I want to be able to do that to my product. And then you're going to be able to like, choose these kinds of like templated things or examples and then apply it to your own products. All right, so this is one of those ones. Guys, you do need to click into the article where this was announced, because I got the link for you in order. If you want to join the wait list, all right if you want to join the wait list for this AI creative studio, because not everybody's going to be able to get into this right away. So make sure to find whatever article this is about the AI creative studio in the comments below and check it out.
Bradley Sutton:
Only a couple more uh unbox announcements. Uh, the next one is called interactive ads expand availability across streaming TV into prime video. Right, this was, uh, we had an article about this before in the weekly buzz. But you know, sometimes you might think of when you see commercials on TV regular TV, right, that's all. It is a commercial, like a Superbowl commercial. You see a GoDaddy website, or you see you know, chips, or Michael Cera showing his CeraVe lotion, or whatever, right, but what, what does? How does that help the advertiser? Well, the only way it helps lead, leading to an immediate sale, is maybe they go on Amazon or they go somewhere else to the store later on the day and they go buy that product. Right, but now, on prime video, you still can do just generic ads, but now there's going to be shoppable ads, all right, so you can see a 15 second ad on prime video as an example here, and then it'll be like you know you're not in your computer but it'll say, hey, just hit OK on your TV remote and you're going to buy the product, like if it's connected to your Amazon account. So now, all of a sudden there's going to be like a direct connection where somebody doesn't have to go and pause the video to go buy a product. Just by hitting like OK on the remote they're going to be able to buy some products that you're advertising on Prime Video. So make sure to check this article. That could make streaming TV a little bit more lucrative for some of you.
Bradley Sutton:
Last couple, I'm just going to breeze through here. There's a couple new metrics here. One is called long-term sales, and long-term sales RoAS, is the acronym LTS RoAS. I guess they're getting crazy with these. These acronyms are already, like you know, 10 letters long here. But anyways, this is going to be interesting because it's a historical 12 month return of a given customer engagement with your brand, right, you know, like there's an attribution window right when you know like, let's say, something has a 14 day attribution window.
Bradley Sutton:
Somebody clicks on something on Monday and a week and a half later they buy it. That original click gets attributed with that sale from that ad. Right, but let's say somebody clicked on it but they don't buy it in two weeks, maybe they four months later or something. They buy the product. Have you ever had any visibility into that? That purchase can be tied all the way back to that original click. No, you have not been able to do that until now. All right, so this is going to be something cool. This LTS ROAS uh is going to be able to allow you to take a look back even, uh, throughout a year to see, like, how your ads are doing. So make sure to check the article for more information on that.
Bradley Sutton:
And then, last one is DSP has a new experience. So if the whole DSP page for those are like UI of their homepage has been completely redone, I guess I wouldn't know the difference because I never saw the old DSP page part. But for those of you who use it, go ahead and check it out and see if you like their new UI. That is it. Believe it or not? Guys, for Amazon, unboxed and all of the news and events this week. Obviously no time to do our normal training tip of the week or our new feature alerts. We'll have to save that for next week. We actually got some pretty amazing things coming for you guys. By the way, as guys hope, you enjoyed this in-depth coverage of all the goings on in the news this week. Make sure to tune in next.