Staying on the Cutting Edge of Amazon PPC

October 1, 2020
By The Badger

The seller who knows more sells more. It may seem obvious, but with sellers flocking to Amazon, the competition is getting tougher for everybody. What’s the best way to get a leg up? Know more than your competitors. Stay on the cutting edge of Amazon PPC tactics and trends.

It may seem simple, but you just don’t know what you don’t know. That’s why we sat down with Kiri Masters from Bobsled Marketing to discuss how sellers and their teams can improve their identification of trends, marketing networks, and communication about emerging strategies.

Adopting the Mindset of a Professional Researcher

If you want to get your organization on the cutting edge, you have to be the first person to get there. No matter what your title is, whether it be CEO, Agency Representative, or Marketing Intern, you are the catalyst for getting your business on the cutting edge of Amazon PPC.

E-commerce and Amazon in particular change very quickly. That’s why our team members spend at least 25% of their time searching for trends and vetting potential strategies.

Is that attainable for everyone? No, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to stay as up-to-date as possible. Find out what’s happening in your industry in e-commerce and in the retail space. Listen to podcasts and read blogs about areas of Amazon advertising that you haven’t explored yet.

All in all, become a sponge when it comes to Amazon PPC trends and the overall direction of your industry. Once you begin studying these areas, it will be much easier to get your entire team on board.

Staying on the Same Page

Once you’ve gotten on the forefront of Amazon PPC knowledge, make sure that every single team member knows about it. One of the best ways to spread this information is to send a weekly report on emerging trends. The rising tide that is knowledge should lift every boat in your company.

If you have multiple team members searching for new tactics and trends, compile those findings in a single place. At Ad Badger we have multiple Slack channels centered around Amazon PPC knowledge and interesting marketing strategies.

Find Your Tribe of Amazon PPC-ers

One person can only know so much, and you can only see things through one lens. That’s why it’s imperative to build or insert yourself into a network of people who are also looking for the next big thing in Amazon PPC.

Almost every account manager, marketer, and entrepreneur we work with is constantly looking for answers or ways to improve. Leaning on a group of like-minded people who are working together to solve problems and answer questions is the best way to see how trends are affecting sellers and strategies are implemented.

Also realize that when you join these groups, you also have to contribute. That can be scary for someone who is just starting out, but realize that everyone can benefit from a different perspective. One of the great things about the PPC community is that people genuinely want to help you.

Helping Your Team Spot Trends

Very few PPC-ers operate in a vacuum. Oftentimes, people are in teams where one of the main focuses is Amazon PPC. When a team is focusing a significant amount of time on learning about the ins and outs of Amazon PPC and what is changing about the Amazon landscape, a company’s collective knowledge increases exponentially.

One of the easiest ways to bring every team member closer to complete mastery is to encourage a team member with strengths in a particular area to give a presentation about their area of expertise. We do this at least once a week, and it has made everybody more well-rounded in their PPC knowledge.

In an agency setting or even in a company where multiple people handle the Amazon advertising, sharing information is the key to success. That’s why we’re big fans of building a system to implement new strategies and techniques. Obviously, if you want to experiment with a new tactic, you should start on a small scale. However, everybody on the team should know about this test and the results.

A tactic may not work in one account and for another it may be a huge success, but if tactics are only tried on a single account it’s impossible to gauge their effectiveness.

Key Takeaways

We do our best work when we are on the cutting edge of Amazon PPC strategies and trends. Our most successful clients perform their best when they have their sights set on the future of their industry as it relates to e-commerce and Amazon advertising.

Also realize that no matter where you stand when it comes to PPC knowledge, there’s people out there who want to help you. Peer groups are a great place to learn and exchange ideas. In addition, staying connected with outlets that frequently publish content surrounding new strategies is the easiest way to stay ahead of the competition.

Relay new ideas and information about emerging trends to your team members or teammates. Fostering a culture where everyone is staying up to speed and constantly looking for ways to improve is essential to getting or staying ahead.
Most importantly, never stop learning. Amazon PPC changes constantly, and no one person can know enough.